After years of behind-the-scenes measures, noticeable transportation-security efforts at Amtrak stations will now be implemented. Last week, Amtrak announced that new security procedures, including random bag checks, will be deployed at stations across the country to "minimize the risk of terrorist threats," according to a press release.

Clothing and toys are not the only imports coming from China these days: one in four doctors in the United States is Chinese. As China increasingly becomes a powerful force in the economy, it is also becoming a major force in health care, with India rapidly catching up, according to Dr.

It was a sweet night for sophomores yesterday, as they celebrated their biggest event of the year, Sophomore Skimmer. A total of 600 to 800 students showed up for a Candyland-themed evening of food, music and mingling, Wharton sophomore and class president Arthur Gardner Smith said.

Penn and Drexel University will be waiting when University City High School closes its doors in 2010 for two years of renovations. The universities want to divide the school - one of the 70 lowest-performing schools in the city- and replace it with two co-existing themed high schools.

If you don't have time to tune into CNN, depending on your Blackberries for the latest election headlines might be better than you think. According to CBS correspondent and 1995 Penn alumna Nancy Cordes, the role of often-overlooked online reporters has never been more important.

A program that began in 2000 to rehabilitate area homes has stopped expanding, but 400 properties near campus have been restored as a result of its efforts . The Neighborhood Preservation and Development Fund was created by the University and its partners to buy dilapidated homes in University City and rent them at cheaper rates to graduate students and West Philadelphia residents.

President Bush's budget for the 2009 fiscal year shows an increased push from the government to encourage foreign-language study for national-security purposes. But it seems unlikely that the increased funding will persuade students learning those languages to pursue careers in the government.

On Sunday, the Undergraduate Assembly urged the University to examine whether the presence of on-campus blood collectors who are bound by an FDA policy banning certain blood donors violates Penn's non-discrimination policy. Despite a national blood shortage, millions are prohibited from donating by the Federal Drug Administration's lifetime ban on men who have had sex with men (MSM) since 1977.

In August 2005, the winds and waters of Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and Penn students have been helping to rebuild the area ever since. Yesterday, the Fox Leadership Program hosted a "celebration and call to Service," congratulating student groups from Penn for previous and upcoming community service trips to the area in the past two and a half years.

It will likely take years, not months, for many colleges to fully upgrade their computer systems to Vista, and Penn is no exception. In a recent informal online survey, Gary Roberts, Alfred University's director of information-technology services, found that, of 33 colleges he polled, 28 had not yet completely upgraded to Vista, Microsoft's year-old Windows operating system.

With the Democratic presidential nomination still up for grabs, the issue of superdelegates is on the forefront of media attention, grabbing headlines and yes, even one of Jon Stewart's jokes at the Oscars last Sunday. Despite this attention, many Penn students - and Democratic voters across the country, it seems - are still unclear as to what superdelegates are.

Some student-loan lenders are cutting back or have stopped offering federal loans to students, but members of the U.S. Congress have recently stepped in to try to help. Major reasons the student-loan industry is suffering include market pressure on lenders and cuts in subsidies from Congress.

Penn students and Philadelphia residents might soon be bidding SEPTA tokens farewell. With plans in the works for a new "smart-card" fare-collection system, SEPTA passengers will only need to wave a card to ride the subway. SEPTA plans to use contactless bank cards that will make the use of public transportation just a "common retail purchase," SEPTA spokesman Gary Fairfax wrote in an e-mail.

Brown and Stanford universities' announcements of free tuition, room and board for undergraduates below a certain income level sound impressive - but Penn's program is already very similar. In the past week, both Stanford and Brown announced expanded financial-aid policies that increase the amount of grant aid given to qualified students.

Cora Daniels, the author of Ghetto Nation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and the Home of the Shameless, which calls 'ghetto-ness' a "mind set which embraces the worst," came to the Penn Bookstore yesterday to promote and discuss her book.

If you think stress has to be a normal part of your Penn life, think again. Last night, several student organizations on campus hosted leaders from various groups for the campus' first Mental Health Camp. The initiative was started to provide students with practical mental-health techniques and strategies they can apply in their everyday lives.

"I've never tried this before" is the last thing you want a doctor to say to you. However, there is a first time for everything, and medical procedures are no exception. Fortunately, Penn's School of Medicine uses advanced technology to enable students to practice procedures on mannequins that can simulate complex surgical procedures.