Graduate students in Penn's nine Ph.D.-granting schools will enjoy longer childbirth leaves and increased faculty support under two policies recently revised by the Graduate Council of the Faculties. The Graduate and Professional Student Association is "very excited," chairman Andrew Rennekamp said.

Penn is leading the way in learning how the mind works. The University is part of a consortium that received a $10 million grant for five years from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to establish a 21st Century Center for Cognition and Science Instruction.

Las Vegas is typically known as "America's Playground," but for a group of Penn School of Nursing Nurse Practitioner students, it was the site of the culmination of months of hard work and diligent research. Graduate students Rebecca Hogan, Lisa Cantore, Ellen Clore, Amy Felix, Anne Grifo, Michelle Haimowitz and Megan Kinnear were awarded first prize for their research poster, "Assessment of the growth, nutrition knowledge, activity level and type 2 diabetes risk factors of children in the community," which they presented at the 24th Annual Pediatric Nursing Conference in Las Vegas.

Boycotting the U. of Perelman To the Editor: The renaming of Logan Hall to Claudia Cohen Hall is really an outrage because it was done without forethought. Perelman donates his money and expects something named after him or a member of his family. Why not rename the school as University of Perelman instead? Because that is where it's headed with Perelman's money.

At least one Penn athlete has participated in every Summer Olympics since the 1900 Paris games. And, thanks to two rowers, that streak will continue through to next month's Games. Tom Paradiso (Col '02) and Susan Francia (Col '04) qualified for the men's lightweight four and the women's eight, respectively.

According to a recent Standard and Poor's newsletter, Philadelphia Media Holdings, LLC -- the company that owns The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News and prints The Daily Pennsylvanian - has lately been experiencing financial difficulties.

For the 37 years that he has spent behind the wheel of a taxi, Ken Schwartz, supervisor for Quaker City Cab, Inc., has believed that "a rolling cab is always first out," he said. Even today with gas prices at all-time highs, Schwartz keeps his wheels spinning and air conditioning blowing.

Some Quakers alumni saw their dreams of Olympic glory fall short at last week's U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Leading the group was 2004 graduate Brian Chaput, an NCAA champion in the javelin throw during his time as a Quaker. At last week's trials, none of the American javelin throwers obtained the Olympic 'A' standard of 268 feet, 4 inches.

On June 26, Philadelphia's citizens finally got what they'd been waiting for: Mayor Michael Nutter endorsed PennPraxis's recommendations for clearing and greening the Delaware waterfront. Community leaders gathered at Independence Seaport Museum to hear the announcement.

The men's and women's golf teams are in for another coaching shake-up this year. Francis Vaughn, the head coach for both the men and women, resigned from his duties last week. Vaughn, with Penn for 12 years, cited the increasing obligations of his business ventures as the primary reason for stepping down.

By instating Score Choice for the SATs, the College Board puts low-income students at a disadvantage and devalues its own tests.

On June 27, outgoing senior Mike Hall received one of 58 NCAA postgraduate scholarships for his academic performance and athletics success. The scholarship - valued at $7,500 - is given by the NCAA to 29 male and 29 female student-athletes participating in spring sports.

The announcement that Logan Hall would be changing its name to Claudia Cohen Hall first appeared in The Daily Pennsylvanian on March 19. Now almost four months later, the signs of the building have been changed to feature the name of the famous entertainment journalist, and they are attracting widespread media attention following a New York Times article on Sunday.

With all the attention that gun control has garnered in recent months, it's no wonder that Philadelphia is renewing its efforts to reform and enforce its gun policies. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey announced the start of a 30-day moratorium on reporting lost or stolen guns yesterday in an effort to begin enforcing one of the gun control measures passed in April.

Penn researchers might be soaring into uncharted territory with new research that brings them a step closer to a vaccine against the avian flu. Sixth-year Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate Dominick Laddy recently won the Maria Hillerman Award for his research of a vaccine that will hopefully prevent multiple strains of the flu, including avian.

Last month, Penn received two three-year contract extensions to continue managing Henry C. Lea and Alexander Wilson schools, despite the Philadelphia School District's decision to seize six schools from outside managers. "The decision was made on a case-by-case basis," Director of Philadelphia Public School's Accountability Office Michael Shlesinger said.

For nearly 20 years, drug companies sold contraceptives to college and low-income health clinics at deeply discounted rates. But a provision of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, which took effect in 2006, excluded the centers from low-price eligibility. The law's "sudden and unexpected" impact sent birth control prices soaring nationwide, said Penn's Women's Health Director Deborah Mathis.