It has killed a Hollywood actor and been the subject of a Superbowl ad - prescription drug abuse is definitely on the national radar. Marijuana and alcohol are still more popular on college campuses than prescription drugs, but adolescents who abuse substances for the first time are beginning to choose prescription drugs more often than marijuana, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

In an effort to enhance campus safety, a nine-member panel led by Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush discussed a new system to inform students about campus emergencies last night in Houston Hall.

Wharton freshman Ben Lewis would like nothing more than to walk into any convenience store and see GIVE, his own brand of water, for sale. That just might become a possibility very soon. Lewis was 18 years old when he founded his own bottled water company called PurBlu with his cousin and two high school friends, including current Wharton freshman Jesse Rudolph.

The Faculty Senate has debated self-disclosure for prospective professors over the past year, and now students are also getting a chance to voice their views. With two weeks remaining until the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meets to discuss the proposed criminal self-disclosure policy for faculty, student leaders have been meeting with members of the Faculty Senate to discuss the divisive issue.

I have a confession to make: I'm a Hillary Clinton fan. I'm always a little reluctant to tell people about my love for the former first lady. It seems so tragically uncool - the kind of thing that Midwestern soccer moms do, not urban college kids. Obama-mania has hit Penn, and it's hit hard.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) spoke about prose and politics last night at the Penn Bookstore. In front of a crowd of about 50 students - many of whom were from the Penn Democrats - Murphy promoted his new book, Taking the Hill: From Philly to Baghdad to the United States Congress, and conveyed the common democratic theme of change.

As Ben Franklin once said, an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. That was the idea behind the original GI Bill. Enacted in 1944, the legislation covered tuition and other expenses for veterans going to college. Over the past fifty years however, Congress has scaled back the program to provide a flat payment.

The women's basketball team has struggled with injuries all season. Only six Quakers have played in all 22 games this season, and only one, Anca Popovici, has been a constant in the starting lineup. While the Red and Blue aren't making excuses for their poor record, they have lost more than just playing time due to injuries - it has been difficult for Penn to establish an offensive rhythm.

Girls who missed out on rush, don't lose hope: formal recruitment is not the only time of year that offers the opportunity for sorority membership. During Continuous Open Bidding, the informal process that sororities use to acquire new members during the fall and spring semesters after rush, houses may offer bids to girls that either did not participate in rush at all or dropped out early.

Alicia Puglionesi is a College junior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

For the women's lacrosse team, the bar has never been set higher, the goal never so lofty. Coming off their best season in program history, the Quakers will try to top their Final Four appearance, No. 2 ranking and Ivy League Championship with their ultimate goal: ending the season No.

Last week, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter released his first budget for the city, which began to address his ambitious inaugural goals - including a reduction in crime and improvement in the city's education system.

Recent cell phone registration numbers for the UPennAlert notification system show an approximately 10 percent increase from the beginning of October. Sixty-one percent of students and 31 percent of faculty and staff have registered their cell-phone numbers, compared to about 50 percent of students who had done so in the beginning of October, according to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush.

It's Valentine's season. If you're lucky, you've received a letter from a lover, finding out someone cares. If you're an AlliedBarton guard, you might have received a letter saying no one cares. And that you no longer have health insurance. Here's a beautiful message one guard (who requested anonymity because Allied forbids media contact) received in early February: "Our records indicate that you have not consistently maintained full-time status; as a result, you have lost eligibility for Health and Welfare Benefits through AlliedBarton.

If a recession is on the horizon for the economy, Penn officials and finance experts say the University should not be too worried. In the last quarter of 2007, the U.S. economy saw a staggeringly low growth rate of 0.6 percent. While growth was not negative, as it would be during a recession, it might be a signal that the nation is headed there in the coming years.

How do you find a compromise between preserving free speech and protecting students from becoming victims of libelous and defamatory comments? That is the question raised by Juicycampus.com-, a Web site launched last October on seven college campuses that serves as a forum for students to post campus gossip anonymously.