For Wharton freshman Alex Hill, the trek to class every morning takes about an hour - by SEPTA. Hill, who lives in Oxford Circle in Northeast Philadelphia, is one of about 175 Penn freshmen who currently live at home in or around Philadelphia and commute to campus every day, according to director of business services Barbara Lea-Kruger.

As the University marches toward a sustainable future, Penn continues to make LEED certification a major initiative in its newly constructed buildings. But while institutions continue to strive for this goal, they are realizing that in order to build green, they must shell out some green in the process.

Life in a new city can be a challenging experience for any young college graduate. It's even more difficult when that city is on a different continent and doesn't even have so much as a street sign for guidance. Such was the experience for Jareau Wade, a 2007 Engineering alumnus who returned to Penn last week having spent much of the last year working a dream job that has tested the skills he learned as a Quaker - teaching much of what he learned at Penn to students at a startup school in Ghana.

Twenty percent of college students - a total of 1.7 million individuals - lack health insurance and racked up $120 to 235 million in uncompensated medical bills, according to a recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Of those who are insured, there was a great disparity in the quality of their coverage, the report found.

Over 20 years ago, a doctor convinced his friends and family to sponsor him while he ran around a track to raise money for cancer research. From that day was born Relay For Life, whose tradition was carried on this weekend by 1,800 participants at Penn's fifth annual Relay, held at the Palestra due to poor weather conditions.

A pair of awards given by the Army Research Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research will give the Engineering School nearly $30 million in grant money over the next 10 years for robotics research, officials at the school said. The grants, which total $22 million and $7.

The agenda was heavy but the mood was light at the Undergraduate Assembly's second-to-last meeting of the year this past Sunday night. Four new pieces of legislation were passed, including two budget requests for the pre-orientation programs PennGREEN and PennArts.

A male Penn employee received a terroristic threat from an unidentified female Thursday at about 3 p.m., according to Det. James Horm of the Philadelphia Police. The incident took place at 31st and Chestnut streets, according to the Division of Public Safety's crime log.

April 1 may have passed, but that hardly means admissions officers are packing their bags and jetting off to Acapulco. While interim Dean of Admissions Eric Kaplan wrote in an e-mail that "April is one of the most rewarding months" in his field, the work has hardly stopped.

High-school senior Erica Yeon of Central High School of Philadelphia was thrilled with both her acceptance letter from Penn and the financial-aid package it offered. "Financial aid is something I definitely need to go to Penn," said Yeon, who plans on joining Penn's new class of 2012.

It's been more than three months since this year's first presidential primary - but despite the long, still-contested race for the Democratic nomination, Penn students and political groups are still interested and motivated. Most pundits predicted a quick primary season, expecting the nominations for both parties to be wrapped up after 22 states voted on Super Tuesday.

Twelve Nursing students made Penn more vocal on the national scene at the 56th annual National Student Nurse's Association convention at Grapevine, Texas earlier this month. Nursing freshman G.J. Melendez-Torres became the first Penn student to be elected to the NSNA national board.

How does coconut-braised chicken and a trio of Nutella-filled marshmallows sound for dinner at 1920 Commons? That was on the menu last Friday evening when 30 family members, curious Penn undergrads and law students trying to score points with their professors gathered to witness Penn Law professors duke it out in the third-annual Iron Chef competition.

Can you taste the 56 different flavors in the water you drink? Last month, the Associated Press reported that traces of pharmaceuticals were found in the nation's water supply. In the article, investigators in Philadelphia were said to have found 56 different pharmaceuticals or byproducts in the city's water supply.

Thirty minutes prior to last Friday's runway show on campus, models, designers and directors were running around, finishing up hairstyles and checking clothes. But just past seven, once the DJ started the music and the audience - dressed up for the occasion - had been seated, the spotlight came on and the models strutted along the runway under white tents set up in Wynn Commons.

Pamela Anderson, Playboy and Maxim, look out. Diamond, a Harvard-based magazine featuring semi-clothed or naked students, may be the new erotica magazine of choice on Penn's campus next year. The magazine - which has garnered national media attention - is set to release May 12 and has already stirred up controversy among students at Harvard and Penn.

Forget Clinton, Obama and McCain. Ralph Nader says he's the only candidate who has the experience, change and straight-talk to be the next president of the United States. On Saturday at the National Constitution Center, Nader, an independent presidential candidate, spoke against corporate greed and the current "two-party dictatorship" running the government, referring to the Republican and Democratic parties.