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.

When former men's golf coach Rob Powelson resigned earlier this summer, the decision about who would fill the vacancy was simple, according to Penn director of golf Francis Vaughn. Already the women's coach, Vaughn himself would take over the head coaching duties of the men's program as well.

A change in dean is often accompanied by further changes in a school's faculty and administrators. What follows is a list of who is leaving Wharton along with former dean Patrick Harker, who will assume the presidency at the University of Delaware: - Former Undergraduate Dean Barbara Kahn was appointed the Dean of the University of Miami Business School.

Philanthropist Leonore Annenberg was honored wiht the 2006 Philadelphia Award on June 18, recognizing her steadfast dedication to the arts and education. The Philadelphia Award was established in 1921 by Edward Bok, who was a longtime editor of The Ladies Home Journal.

The Penn School of Design's Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence received a $2.2 million grant in June from the Rockefeller Foundation to aid in the reconstruction of New Orleans. The projects will be centered primarily in areas of the region that were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

One daily routine for many college women recently became much more expensive. Many drug companies are no longer offering universities discounts on birth control because of government legislation.