The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has cleared the way for casino construction to begin in Philadelphia. In a ruling Monday, the court found "deliberate inaction" in City Council's failure to vote on zoning and land-use requests from the SugarHouse casino, set to be built in Fishtown and Northern Liberties, and issued the go-ahead itself.

The past couple of months have been busy for 2005 College alumnus Edward Anderton and his girlfriend Jocelyn Kirsch. To support their lavish lifestyle, the two committed fraud on a massive scale, taking in thousands of dollars in forged credit- card transactions, according to Philadelphia Police.

Edward Anderton, a 2005 Penn alumnus, was arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing his neighbors' identities and establishing lines of credit in his neighbors' names, Division of Public Safety officials said. Anderton, 25, and Drexel University student Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, burglarized at least two of their neighbors' apartments and created fake Georgia driver's licenses in order to open credit card accounts, the Philadelphia Daily News, reported yesterday.

A Penn Law student was accosted by two would-be robbers on Sunday near the corner of 36th and Lancaster streets, Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker said. Eugenia Birman, 22, was walking on the street at about 11:25 a.m. when she was approached by two women.

Although the University improved computer security after a Penn student allegedly caused a server crash in February 2006, a similar type of attack could still cause problems for even the largest Web servers.

Philadelphia may be best known for its cheesesteaks, but Penn researchers have given chocolate a home here as well. No, not M&Ms; and hot cocoa. Their research has uncovered a much more primitive form of chocolate - one that has earned widespread acclaim as the earliest known use of the cacao plant.

The Panhellenic Council has elected College junior Drew Tye as president for the upcoming year. Tye, who is currently the Panhellenic delegate for Sigma Delta Tau, ran against two current board members for the position. The Panhellenic president serves as the representative of the female Greek community for the University administration.

Bio prof. sheds light on Lyme disease Recent research by Penn biology professor Dustin Brisson suggests that chipmunks and two shrew species account for nearly three-quarters of carriers of ticks infected with Lyme disease. The widely held belief was that mice were the main animal carriers of the disease.

Alex Buder Shapiro is approaching graduation - but her days of playtime, recess and cafeteria food are far from over. The College senior is taking a job in human resources at Google. There, her playtime will be a game of pool with colleagues, recess will be climbing up an indoor rock wall and cafeteria food will be tapas at Cafe Pintxo.

Sometimes, it pays to try something different. Since 2002, Arabic, Chinese and American Sign Language have become more popular than ever before as students have come to recognize their value in the job market. Meanwhile, student enrollment in traditional language programs such as French and Spanish has remained steady.

A new Web site is giving students an educational and charitable way to procrastinate. By playing vocabulary games on a new, non-profit Web site called Freerice.com, students can do community service from their computer. For every correct word in the game, twenty grains of rice are donated to help end world hunger through the site's partnership with the United Nations World Food Program.

It took some practice, but 2006 Penn alumnus Pierre Gooding has the essentials of being a teacher down pat. He's learned how to take attendance, field requests to go to the bathroom, write on the chalkboard like a pro, check-up on nightly homework assignments and, most importantly, teach his students the English skills they will need for life.

Three students have been arrested or indicted in the past week. The north side of campus has seen two shootings in a month. A female student was sexually assaulted in her off-campus apartment, and suspects have flashed students in two separate incidents.

It's not often that Penn is called a "real underdog" at anything. But those are the words members of the Penn Environmental Group use to talk about the University in next semester's RecycleMania, a 10-week contest sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, designed to promote waste reduction.

At the last Undergraduate Assembly meeting of the semester, members tied up loose ends on housing, course offerings and free newspapers before winter break. Major topics from yesterday night's meeting include: n Engineering sophomore Charles Slominski and Wharton senior Azim Munivar gave an update on the returning students housing application process.

German professor Liliane Weissberg's class on Sigmund Freud is listed under the German department. It's also listed under the History and Sociology of Science department. It's in the English, Women's Studies and Comparative Literature departments, too.

Wharton junior Jason Myers was arrested Thursday for 10 burglaries committed inside Harnwell College House over Thanksgiving break. Between Nov. 21 and Nov. 26, Myers, then a Harnwell resident, allegedly stole items from 10 different dorm rooms on various floors of the college house.