The Wharton School has awarded the Dean's Medal to Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica. The Dean's Medal is the highest award given by Wharton. It was created in 1983 to recognize leaders in business, public service and academia who have successfully used their management talents to make a positive impact on people's lives.

Construction is proceeding on schedule on the Radian student-apartment building, according to a spokeswoman for the building's developer, Inland American Communities Group Inc. Located on the 3900 block of Walnut Street, the high-rise building will house 500 students in 154 apartments and will also feature two stories of retail space totaling 40,000 square feet.

The third trial of Irina Malinovskaya, a Wharton undergraduate accused of murder, is to begin with jury selection this Tuesday.

Reeling back her leg and sending ball after ball high into the air, Kylie Mitchell would watch it arc towards the target. But as the ball sailed over the crossbar, her teammates wouldn't grumble; they'd cheer. Many of Mitchell's exploits haven't come on the soccer field - she doubled as a varsity football kicker at Carman-Ainsworth High School in Michigan for three years.

In the past two weeks, three robberies have occurred near campus, according to the Division of Public Safety. Two of the incidents involved a weapon, and two robberies involved victims affiliated with the University. A shooting also occurred just outside the Penn Patrol zone and a gunshot was reported just off campus, both in mid-August, according to Philadelphia Police.

There's a new incentive to keep kids' hands out of the cookie jar - a perfect attendance record. A recent study by fifth-year School of Arts and Sciences graduate student Andrew Geier found that obese students are more likely to miss classes than are students of normal weight.

After a bruising primary for Michael Nutter, the actual election should be a breeze. Nutter emerged from an extremely competitive five-way Democratic primary in May, taking 37 percent of the vote. But while experts now peg the former Councilman as a lock to win the general election, Nutter is still plowing full steam ahead with his campaign as the election enters its final stages.

When classes start next week, there will be two notable professors missing from campus. Elijah Anderson, a Sociology professor for over 32 years and a noted specialist on urban inequality, will join the sociology department at Yale University this fall, while Religious Studies professor Michael Eric Dyson will teach at Georgetown University.

Students should try courses outside their home schools to get the most out of their college experience

As the start of the semester approaches, the Undergraduate Assembly is gearing up for what board members promise will be an eventful year. After getting back from a summer spent traveling through China and Capitol Hill, respectively, UA Chairman Jason Karsh and Vice Chairman Wilson Tong sat down for a chat with The Daily Pennsylvanian.

After five years, Penn is revamping its main Web site. The site, www.upenn.edu, now contains one large photo that covers the page, changing upon repeated access to the site. It also includes prominent text describing "Penn values," as well as a link to a new page called Penn Digest that describes current news and events on campus.

A Darfur advocacy group is revolutionizing the way concerned citizens can protest issues that matter to them

Cynthia Clark had been crying for hours. Holding a sign that read "I really am 25, just ask for ID," the under-five-feet-tall New York native stood in the downtown Wachovia Center with one goal in mind: landing a spot on American Idol.

Students arriving at Penn this week may not recognize the campus, which has undergone plenty of groundbreakings and renovations over the past four months. Some noteworthy - and hard to miss - projects include: n Demolition and utility relocation is underway for a new building at 36th and Locust streets: The Annenberg Public Policy Center.

Tom Sollecito, associate dean for academic affairs at the Penn School of Dental Medicine, will act as dean of the school until current dean Marjorie Jeffcoat recovers from an illness. Jeffcoat was admitted to the emergency department at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in July.

It's back to the top five. After dropping to the seventh slot on the U.S. News & World Report's national university rankings last year, Penn has climbed back to tie the California Institute of Technology for No. 5.

Theft Aug. 24 - An employee of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania had money removed by an unknown suspect from an unsecured cabinet. Aug. 24 - A person unaffiliated with the University had a GPS system removed from his car at about 5:00 p.m.