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.

A Philadelphia judge found Wharton junior Felix Qu not guilty on assault charges last week. Qu, 20, had been accused of striking his girlfriend in the face after an argument during winter break. He had been charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

With the desire to learn foreign languages steadily increasing, graduate students have found a way to hone their conversation skills outside of the classroom. "Language chats" - organized by and often conducted at the Graduate Student Center - bring together students to discuss anything from politics to spring break plans in a foreign language.

The Undergraduate Assembly elected College sophomore Claire Choi as its new secretary for the 2008-2009 executive board last night. Choi won in a vote of nine to eight against College sophomore Benny Laitman. "I hope we can reach out and make more in-person efforts for publicity," said Choi, who added that she was looking forward to forming both a communications and a social committee as well as issuing UA press releases.

As Delta Sigma Theta's "Devastating Divas" stomped into the spotlight of Irvine Auditorium's stage Saturday night, they were greeted by the screams and cheers of a sold-out audience. The Devastating Divas were a part of "Stomping On the Yard," a national step show and scholarship competition that involves over a million students belonging to nine fraternal organizations called "The Divine Nine.

The American health-care system is under-equipped to serve the rapidly aging generation of baby boomers, according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine, and medical schools must step up. While some schools, like Penn, have developed programs to improve training in geriatric medicine, it's still a challenge to get students to specialize in the field.

Five years ago, Mylan Marvelous opened his store to address what he saw as a glaring lack of places to buy music and comics in West Philadelphia. Now, music has become the sole priority for The Marvelous, his store located below Smokey Joe's near 40th and Walnut streets.

With gas prices sitting at $3.51 a gallon nationwide, many people are finding it harder to get around. These same prices are making it more expensive for institutions like Penn to fund construction projects. Recent economic troubles - especially rising fuel prices - are driving up construction costs, forcing universities and developers to plan ahead and take steps aimed at saving money.

Who do Senator John McCain's advisors want him to face in November's presidential election? According to Elisabeth Bumiller, a political affairs reporter for The New York Times, the answer is Illinois Senator Barack Obama. "They feel they have a better case against Obama," said Bumiller, who has covered McCain's campaign ever since he won the New Hampshire primary in January.

As finals week approaches, teaching assistants across the university are probably gearing up for long nights spent answering last-minute questions over e-mails and extra office hours. However, they did have an opportunity to relax with free food and drinks last night at the Graduate Student Center, where the University honored 12 TAs for Excellence in Teaching.

Thanks to a new program by Housing and Conference Services, throwing out unwanted items at the end of the school year has never felt better. In an effort to promote environmental and social responsibility, HCS will be collecting students' old clothes and appliances and donating them to charity during the move-out period.

Former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson, whose 29-year tenure at Penn ended with an abrupt resignation last semester, is starting his own college consulting company, to the surprise of the admissions community. The company - called Stetson College Advisory - will work with "colleges and universities in evaluating their admissions programs, advising selected high-school students regarding the college search process and conducting searches for secondary schools," according to the description posted on the Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions's Web site, which lists Stetson as a faculty member.

Giant puppets and a herd of elementary-school students may not seem like the most obvious path for social activism, but a local nonprofit organization is giving it a try anyway. The Spiral Q Puppet Theater, which uses puppets, street theater, parades, and pageants to promote community unity and social activism, will be putting on the first of its three spring parades today.

Despite last week's court ruling blocking the enforcement of new gun-control measures in Philadelphia, some faculty, students and city residents are still calling for what they call "common-sense" firearm laws. The proposed measures, signed into law by Mayor Nutter earlier this month, would limit individuals to one firearm purchase per month, require that owners report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours, ban the possession of automatic weapons and prohibit persons with an order of protection against them and persons deemed dangerous from possessing firearms.

Speed, strength and endurance are on full display this weekend during the finals of the 114th annual Penn Relays. Penn Relays, America's premiere track and field event of the early outdoor season, invited qualifying teams from 950 high schools and 250 colleges worldwide this year, along with professionals from some of the world's top track clubs.

Penn boasts a high percentage of international students in the Ivy League, but that hasn't quenched domestic students' thirst for exposure to the rest of the world. Interest in languages like Arabic and East Asian dialects has increased over the past several years, largely because of the way the international landscape is changing, said College Dean Dennis DeTurck.

If you're stressed or upset, you're not alone. That's the message of the Me Too Campaign, launched by Duke junior Deepika Ravi this past March as an effort to remind students that their peers are dealing with many of the same problems. In addition to handing out 370 T-shirts with the phrase "Me Too" written on them, campaign leaders hung banners and flyers around campus, held a barbecue to raise awareness and created a Me Too blog for students to post their stories, feelings and experiences.