For 13 Penn students, the opportunity to help a developing nation improve its water supply was the opportunity of a lifetime, one so attractive they even gave up their winter vacations to do it. The students, members of a campus student organization called Engineers Without Borders, have worked since the start of the year to help the residents in the town of Kobe, Cameroon to design and build a sustainable water distribution system.

A recent uptick in Pennsylvania's abortion rate defies a nationwide trend of fewer abortions, drawing a range of explanations from local organizations and on-campus groups. The number of abortions performed in the United States in 2005 - the latest year for which data is available - was the lowest since 1976 at 1.

The oldest branch of student government just got a little newer. The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, in charge of undergraduate academics, elected its new six-member Steering Committee this past Sunday. The board will be led by College and Wharton junior Zach Fuchs, who will be taking over for outgoing chair and College senior Elizabeth Slavitt.

Harvard scored Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling for a Commencement speaker, and Princeton roped in Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert for its 2008 Senior Class Day. With graduation less than a semester away, students are wondering: Who will command Franklin Field at Commencement? The name of Penn's Commencement speaker - along with the other honorary degree recipients - will be released in mid-February, according to University Secretary Leslie Kruhly.

The campaign for the United States presidency is reaching a feverish pitch. And as the group of Democratic and Republican candidates diminishes, the level of swift-boating and misleading statements will only continue to rise, according to Brooks Jackson, director of the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit whistle-blowing organization FactCheck.org, which is run through Penn's Annenberg Public Policy Center.

They went for the beads. They left for their lives. Amidst a hotly disputed election and the deadly violence that followed in its wake, five Wharton MBA students and a professor spent two weeks in Kenya this winter break. The group is working through the Global Consulting Practicum, a Wharton course in which students consult for international firms.

It's hardly the calm before the storm. Florida has become a pivota-l -- and competitive - race in pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination. As Floridians vote today, they are effectively determining who goes to the playoffs on Feb. 5, when 22 states hold their primaries.

With one of the two leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination a woman and the other an African American, this year's primaries represent a number of firsts for American politics. After Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the other contests thus far, New York Sen.

The Undergraduate Assembly held its first meeting of the spring semester last Sunday night in Houston Hall, updating members on a number of ongoing issues and proposals and introducing new business. As is traditionally the case, the UA hopes to bring to fruition this semester many of the projects and proposals initiated during the fall.

In the wake of the announcement that former Bush strategist Karl Rove will be the Social Planning and Events Committee spring speaker, students have shown unified interest in a divisive figure. Mr. Rove has been famous - or infamous, depending on a person's point of view - for injecting partisan politics, often to drive a wedge between his opponents.

Former neurosurgery professor Tracy McIntosh's resentencing hearing has been pushed back from today to Feb. 13 due to scheduling conflicts. "The court was unavailable," said Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Richard DeSipio. Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe, who has been handling the case since September, "was promoted to supervisory judge," he said.

The preliminary hearing scheduled for today for Joseph Cho, the former Penn Law student facing charges of attempted murder, has been postponed. Cho is accused of firing 15 shots into the door of his downstairs neighbors on Jan. 31, 2007. Judge Frank Bailey issued a continuance yesterday, as Cho's attorney Peter Bowers was unable to attend the preliminary hearing.

Penn boys, get ready - this female Quaker is flaunting both her brains and her beauty. Rachel Brooks, a master's student in the Fels School of Government and the 2007 Miss Pennsylvania, competed in the Miss America pageant last Saturday night. Though Brooks did not make it to the top 10, she said the competition was "an awesome experience.

In the latest stage of an ongoing investigation into the study abroad industry, several colleges, including Harvard, Columbia and Brown Universities, have been subpoenaed for information. After striking big last year with his investigations into the student loan industry, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo turned his sights on study abroad.

Almost two weeks into the spring semester, the Penn InTouch shopping season is nearing its end and students are quickly turning their eyes and ears to a new order of business: the summer. Love it or hate it, the season of the internship search is here, the time when many students feel the burn of Penn pre-professionalism.

Former Penn Law student Joseph Cho, accused of trying to kill his neighbors last January, has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for today. Cho faces charges of attempted murder and related offenses stemming from a Jan.

Spruce and Walnut streets were alive with cheering and dancing on Thursday night as sorority recruitment came to a close with Bid Night. Wynn Commons was filled with groups of sorority sisters ready to welcome the new recruits, who awaited them in the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall.