As the 2008 election approaches, young Americans appear to be more liberal than they are conservative, and lean more to the left than the population as a whole. Fifty-four percent of Americans age 17 to 29 say they intend to vote for a Democrat for president in 2008, according to a June New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll.

Books and bikes? While it may seem like an unlikely combination, two activists in a '70s style mini-bus are taking their cause national. The multi-colored bus that houses Books on Wheels was on Penn's campus last Sunday at Saint Mary's Episcopal Church for a community event called Bike Church.

Next time you make a search for the musician "Dylan" on iTunes, don't be surprised to find some Dylan Thomas alongside Bob Dylan. And if English professor Al Filreis gets his wish, what you'll be listening to is a poetry podcast straight from the Kelly Writers House's Pennsound Project.

I was petrified of my boss this summer. Before I started work in May, I would spend nights lying awake worrying about what it would be like to work for her. I had never had to answer to someone like her, and I had no idea what to expect. No, she's not a workaholic i-banker in New York.

Penn's biomedical research is about to get a booster shot, in the form of a multi-million dollar, 10-story research facility. University officials plan to construct a $370 million biomedical tower that will focus on providing resources for research into human diseases next to the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine on Civic Center Boulevard.

550Pounds that a recently found giant squid weighed. The squid, which washed up on an Australian beach, weighed less than a 1,100 pound squid found in February. Source: The Associated Press

Men's golf coach at a Division I school, President and CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry, husband and father of two young boys: Rob Powelson was used to doing it all. But now he's shaving away one of his commitments, resigning as Penn's men's golf coach to make more time for the others - especially the latter one.

On its billboard and subway ads, SEPTA upbeat slogan promised that it was "Serious About Change."

Faculty hires and departures are often made with little notice from the University community. But, last week, one of Penn's most notable scholars has announced his appointment at another university. Religious Studies professor Michael Eric Dyson's departure from Penn for Georgetown seems sudden, given his short five-year term here.

Robbery July 3 - A 43-year-old man, unaffiliated with the University, reported that several suspects on bikes allegedly attempted to take items from him while he was walking on the 4200 block of Locust Street at about 10 p.m. July 7 - A 40-year-old male Penn employee reported that two people allegedly assaulted him and took items from him on the 4200 block of Locust Street at about 5:10 p.

Ibrahim Jaaber still refuses to pick on people his own size. At 170 pounds, he's lighter than every opponent he'll see in his five NBA Summer League games.

The scales were about even for former men's tennis coach Mark Riley. While he had the opportunity to coach at his alma mater, Divison III Kalamazoo, he also could stay with an emerging powerhouse; Riley had just led Penn to two consecutive Ivy League titles.

Penn's Division of Public Safety released an alert last night. According to DPS, groups of juveniles have been allegedly harassing, assaulting and robbing people in University City. DPS reports that the juveniles, all male, have been seen in groups of three to eight.

SEPTA implemented a fare increase on Monday "in an effort to begin to partially address the expected shortfall in the proposed budget," according to the SEPTA Web site. The $2 base fare for use of intra-city transportation like the Market-Frankford El, Broad Street subway, subway-suface trolleys and buses won't be affected by the increase, nor will token prices, which will remain at $1.

Ibrahim Jaaber might be raising eyebrows for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League, but Harvard grad Brian Cusworth is having a much quieter week. The Crimson big man, who used his last semester of eligibility in fall 2006, has submitted solid, if unspectacular numbers for the Golden State squad, which also includes former Bradley center Patrick O'Bryant.

Two distinguished professors of African-American culture will be leaving Penn this fall for positions at other peer institutions. Elijah Anderson, a Sociology professor for over 32 years at the University and a noted specialist on urban inequality will join the sociology department at Yale University, while Religious Studies professor Michael Eric Dyson will become a university professor - the highest position a faculty member can hold- - at Georgetown University.