When Mathematics professor Erik van Erp began teaching in America, he was struck by a focus on grades that didn't exist in his native Holland. Astronomy professor Ravi Sheth was thrown off by students using teachers' first names - a norm not found in India, where he grew up.

While preliminary plans for a Philadelphia bicycle-sharing program are in the works, a more local plan is developing in Penn's own backyard. Engineering seniors David Gorski, Baris Seven and Gabriel Kaplan have put together a proposal for a program called PennBikeShare for their senior design project.

The Princeton Review's Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition aims to dish out the real deal with information from actual students - but schools have some say over which students fill out the surveys used to compile the book. This year, the Admissions Office asked members of the Kite and Key Society, a volunteer group of undergraduates who serve as ambassadors to the Penn community through tour guiding, overnight hosting and other outreach programs, to fill out the questionnaire.

With the presidential election fast approaching, College freshman Atlee Melillo thought it would be the perfect occasion for some wedding cake. Adorned with two grooms on one side and two brides on the other, Melillo said she hopes the white cake she passed out yesterday in Houston Hall will serve as an educational - and delicious - reminder that gay marriage is still very much an election issue, she said.

With the arrival of Philadelphia Runner, fans of locally owned businesses have a new place to turn to for their running needs. The store, located on Walnut Street between 36th and 37th streets, celebrated its grand opening last week. Philadelphia Runner's opening was the latest in a series of local businesses that have come to University City in the last several years, following student staples like The Last Word Bookshop, Pizza Rustica and Metropolitan Bakery.

A Delaware Superior Court judge has granted a change-of-venue request from lawyers for Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya should she be tried a fourth time. Malinovskaya, accused of killing her ex-boyfriend's then-girlfriend in December 2004, has been tried three times for murder, each time resulting in a hung jury.

Whartonites no longer have to make their way to Van Pelt to print for eight cents per page. Last December, Wharton computing labs lowered their price from 10 cents per page for black-and-white printing to meet the level charged at libraries and other locations on campus.

Penn students are usually pretty vocal about letting the administration know exactly what they want. Cheaper printing! A longer add/drop period! Better high rise elevators! But a proposal to install an energy-producing wind turbine in the "wind tunnel" on Locust Walk? Now, that's a different story.

Student life and safety were the main topics on the agenda at Sunday night's Undergraduate Assembly meeting as the body tackled housing, printing, a student union and security improvements around campus. - The Housing Committee announced it will soon put out a survey for students on academic support at the University.

On the day of the Pennsylvania primary, choosing a candidate will be the hardest part. But in some other states, registering to vote can be an even bigger challenge. As the youth vote becomes increasingly pivotal this election year, young voters are facing additional requirements before they are allowed to cast a ballot at their respective voting precincts.

College junior Meredith Jones, 21, was arrested early Friday morning at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after she allegedly assaulted a female hospital employee during treatment, Division of Public Safety officials said. The incident took place at about 2:30 a.

Relationship Status: It's Complicated. While Facebooking classmates during lectures, few students stop to consider the implications their involvement in social networking sites have on their daily lives. Facebookology: The Effects of Social Networking on Relationships, a Women's Week panel discussion, sought to explore the issue last night.

The last time Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) was in Houston Hall, he was a work-study student running the arcade next to Houston market. Yesterday, he returned to Penn's student union to give a speech honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. sponsored by the School of Nursing and the Office of Diversity and Cultural Affairs.

This year's Philly Auto Show took place from Saturday, Feb. 2 through Sunday Feb. 10 at the Convention Center. A wide variety of cars were displayed, ranging from tuners to concept cars. Several high-end brands were represented, including Jaguar, Maserati, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, and Aston Martin. One dollar of every ticket sold will be donated to the Auto Dealers CARing For Kids Foundation benefitting The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. One thing is for certain, car fans, young and old, will be coming back next year.

When Penn officials broke ground on Skirkanich Hall in October 2003, they claimed they were making a strong statement about the architectural vision for Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. And now, with the planning phase underway for the Singh Center for Nanotechnology - which will be built at 32nd and Walnut streets as part of the Penn Connects eastward expansion project - that vision is being realized.

A bill passed by the U.S. Congress eight years ago is slowly beginning to change the face of urban development in West Philadelphia. The Hub, an apartment and retail building located at 40th and Chestnut streets, was the first project in Pennsylvania to take advantage of the New Markets Tax Credit program, created as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000.

Could College Hall become the next campaign soapbox? Several university presidents have chosen to endorse a candidate in the 2008 presidential election, but Penn President Amy Gutmann says she will not be one of them. As nonprofit organizations, universities are legally prohibited from engaging in campaign-related activities, Political Science professor and Fels Institute director Don Kettl said.