It was the biggest non-news event in the mayoral race thus far: Bob Brady is running for mayor. Long rumored to be a potential contender, Brady officially announced his candidacy at the Convention Center yesterday evening, becoming the fifth and likely final candidate to enter the upcoming Democratic primary.

Walk past the field outside Harrison College House late one night and you might see a crowd of people circled around a hookah, with Aman Agarwal passing the hose to his left. College students like Agarwal, a Wharton and Engineering sophomore from India, are increasingly smoking hookahs as a way to relax and socialize.

If the first win is the hardest, things will only get easier for John Ceralde and Penn gymnastics. Penn looks to improve to 2-1 at home this season in its upcoming meet on Saturday against Temple and Towson. Penn already faced Towson in its first meet. The Quakers came up short against the Tigers, who have two very strong all-around competitors in senior Christina Ghani and freshman Jackie Schweitzer.

In her illustrious Penn career, Diana Caramanico set records that nobody else has approached, with 2,415 points and 1,207 rebounds. Still, there are days when she wishes she could make one more easy layup or sky for one more board. After all, her team needs her out there.

Most students used their winter breaks to tan, shop and catch up on much-needed sleep. Others took a less conventional route and traveled all the way to Africa - but to do community service, not to take a luxurious vacation. Three students, one alumnus and one faculty member from CommuniTech - an information-technology service organization in the School of Engineering and Applied Science - installed about 100 computers at 20 different locations in Cameroon.

By Molin Zhong Staff Writer molin@sas.upenn.edu Dave Micahnik has a dilemma. He doesn't know just how good his fencing teams can be. Only now, the time for scouting has run out. Flip over your cards. Show us what you got. That's the challenge that will be presented to the Penn men's and women's teams at the Penn State Invitational tomorrow at State College.

For Philadelphia, it's nothing less than the royal treatment this weekend. Prince Charles of Wales and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, are coming to the city to attend the Academy of Music's Gala Ball this Saturday, but will also be making stops around the city, including an afternoon trip to University City.

Challenges for international graduate students don't stop after they recover from jet lag: Once they adjust to American culture, and even after they secure their visas, there's still a major price to pay. Graduate students at Penn on fellowships - research-intensive Ph.

It's almost over. Penn's gauntlet of three straight Big 5 games in 10 days is two-thirds complete, with the Quakers (11-6, 2-1 Big 5) grabbing two wins by only three total points.

Stephen Schultz is a College senior from Massillon, Ohio. His e-mail address is sno@sas.upenn.edu.

The University has tapped Pamela Caudill to be the next executive director of the Office of Research Service, Penn officials announced earlier this week. Under her new post, Caudill will manage a wide range of proposals and final reports relating to various administrative research projects.

As College junior Annabelle Lyons wanders the stacks and study areas of Van Pelt, she observes not only stressed students unable to remove their gaze from their computer screens, but also a more worrying site - a number of laptops out of the eyesight of their owners.

Joanne Tong is a Wharton junior from Manila, Philippines. Her e-mail address is tong@dailypennsylvanian.com.

By Josh Wheeling Senior Staff Writer jw4@sas.upenn.edu No matter how hard he tried, Fran Dunphy couldn't avoid the media circus that was his return to the Palestra. Leading up to the game, the Temple coach was bombarded in television interviews about returning to Penn - the school at which he won 310 games and 10 Ivy League titles.

For students looking to travel to the Big Apple on a budget, cheap transportation just got a little easier. The P2P Circulator service, which operates low-cost buses between Philadelphia and New York City, is now available at a newly opened Philadelphia terminal at the intersection of 30th and Market streets.

A recent price hike for birth control is a dangerous step towards overrestricting women's lifestyle choices.

Princeton University announced this week that it will not raise its tuition for the first time since 1967, but some experts do not believe the move will spark a trend among Ivy League schools. Princeton will keep its tuition for the 2007-2008 school year at $33,000, though room-and-board costs will increase $1,780 - a 19-percent jump from last year.