When seventh-year English Ph.D. candidate Anna Foy enrolled at Penn, she planned to be here for at least seven years before finishing her dissertation. Now, about a year from completing her dissertation on 18th-century poetry, she finds herself facing pressure from the University to hurry up or pay up.

Hillary Clinton isn't the only one who wants to make sure everyone is insured. SASgov, the School of Arts and Sciences branch of graduate student government, hosted an essay competition in which participants wrote a 125-word essay to answer the question, "Why do I need dental insurance?" The winners won $250, allowing them to purchase insurance.

Although shoppers have generally accepted that eating organic foods will be more costly, a recent and rapid rise in prices may force some consumers to alter their eating habits. Food prices have been rising for several months now, and at first, organic prices stayed steady.

A greener future is blowing in the wind. The University recently made a commitment to increase its expenditure on wind energy for the next two years, making it the biggest patron of wind power among universities in the United States. Renewable wind energy will account for nearly half of Penn's power because of the University's purchase of an additional 80,000-megawatt hours per year from Community Energy Inc.

On Wednesday, minority student groups reached a significant milestone in their push for a comprehensive campus climate assessment with the release of much-anticipated 2006 survey data. The results, however, weren't entirely satisfying to student leaders. Associate Provost Andrew Binns presented the data at the last University Council meeting of this academic year.

Out of the $15 billion worth of property stolen nationwide in 2006, only about 31 percent - property worth about $4.6 billion - was recovered by police forces across the country, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Everything is difficult to recover," said Penn Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush.

Actor Kalpen Modi-more fondly known as Kal Penn - conquered Hollywood after his hit movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. But, with students raving about his Asian American Studies class as the semester ends, it seems Modi has conquered something perhaps more significant than teenage humor: the field of academia.

Most graduate students in Penn's nine Ph.D.-granting schools will pay lower tuition next year thanks to University-wide reforms that standardize fees in order to enhance academic flexibility and increase financial efficiency. The new tuition is $24,000 per year for students in their first through fifth years and $3,000 per year for the sixth year and beyond.

"Harambe" - Swahili for "come together as one" - is the theme of a new organization working to implement technology and business proposals to further develop the economies of 10 sub-Saharan African countries. The Harambe Endeavor - an alliance of 60 students studying at colleges and universities across the country, including Penn, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University - will create partnerships with students and future leaders in Africa.

With both skyrocketing theft on campus and economic troubles making local and national headlines, the relationship between the two has come into question. As rates of property crime have been rising across the across the nation, some experts have pointed to a link between the state of the economy and crime.

Just because the political circus has left Pennsylvania, the race for the Democratic primary isn't over - and for some students, the hard work is just beginning. Whether it's traveling across the country as the remaining nine contests are decided or staying in Philadelphia to organize volunteers, several Penn students plan to spend their summers working with a presidential campaign.

The living room of the Kelly Writers House was packed yesterday with Penn students and Philadelphia residents alike to hear a reading by the poet Jerome Rothenberg. Rothenberg, the author of over 70 books of poetry, is the last of three Kelly Writers House Fellows to visit Penn's campus this spring.

Next year, Penn should be a little bit greener with the recent announcement that Dan Garofalo will be the University's first-ever sustainability coordinator. Garofalo - currently senior facilities planner at the Office of the University Architect - will be responsible for forming Penn's strategy to minimize waste, make transportation more environmentally friendly and conserve energy throughout campus.

A new software program is on the market to try to help universities increase the diversity of their admitted classes while avoiding discrimination litigation. The program, Applications Quest, sorts students whom admissions officers have already deemed as qualified for admission into clusters of similar applicants based on a number of factors, such as hometown, major, GPA, race and legacy status.

Can't use up all your meals? You're not alone. Penn's meal plan system has long been a source of dissatisfaction among students, whose complaints range from the high price of plans to dining halls' limited hours of operation. And as the semester comes to a close, students are often left with dozens of unused meals.

College students socialize 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and one Penn student wants to create a Web site to make interacting with peers even easier. DormNoise.com - which will launch this June - is a college exclusive social-networking Web site created by Wharton freshman Jay Rodrigues.

Have you ever dreamed of breaking into the performing arts industry? Five alumni have done just that and shared their experiences with students yesterday at the Platt Student Performing Arts House 2008 Alumni Performing Arts Career Symposium. The five College alumni panelists featured included David Hilder '89, Gabriel Mann '95, Eduardo Placer '99, Lillian Ringel '07 and Jennifer Weber '00.