Music historian Irwin Chusid is an avid fan of The Shaggs, Judson Fountain and William "Shooby" Taylor. And you thought Ben Kweller was obscure. Chusid was on campus yesterday night to speak at the Kelly Writers House, an event co-sponsored by the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing.

Last night, racy jokes and lewd skits weren't just about making people laugh. Four of Penn's comedy groups - Bloomers, Simply Chaos, Without a Net and Mask & Wig - participated in the eighth annual Charitable Laughter show at the Irongate Theatre. The proceeds of this year's event will go to the Village of Arts and Humanities.

Baseball players aren't the only ones inducted into the hall of fame: Engineers are too. James West, the inventor of the electret microphone used in 90 percent of communication devices today, was the inaugural speaker for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Rachleff lecture series yesterday afternoon.

With Fairmount Park to the north, Penn has always had reason to be jealous. But now, the University is set to create a park of its own - a multi-acre piece of land set for development on campus. The University finally secured possession of 24 acres of land formerly owned by the United States Postal Service to the east of campus.

PennScience treated their editorial staff to a dinner and lecture from a celebrated ecologist, environmentalist, conservationist and Penn Biology professor Daniel Janzen. PennScience, the University's undergraduate research journal, hosted the event last evening in Skirkanich Hall in an effort to publicize some of Penn's research and to encourage undergraduates to engage in their own research.

About 50 percent of Penn students have entered their cell-phone numbers in the University's new emergency text-messaging system, a rate that is on par with or better than the sign-up rates at several other peer schools. Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that, while she hopes to have 100 percent of all cell-phone numbers in the system, she is "very pleased" with the level of enrollment in PennAlert.

With official approval for funding from the Board of Trustees, Penn is ready to bring a seventy-year-old electrical system into the 21st century. With electrical voltage in some of its buildings dating back to the 1930s and '40s, the second phase of construction on Penn's electrical infrastructure will include replacing electrical cable and making electricity distribution more reliable.

Under former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson, the Penn admissions office gained a reputation for its emphasis on early decision and its outreach to minorities. Now, it's unclear how, or if, those priorities will change with Stetson's departure.

Several Ivy League schools have recently announced that students under their insurance plans will be eligible for a low-cost HPV vaccine, but Penn officials say they currently have no plans to do the same.

Hundreds of Penn officials are busy sprucing up campus to prepare for Oct. 20's Celebration on the Green, which will officially kick off Penn's multi-billion dollar fundraising effort slated to last through 2012.

When Todd Klawinski heard from a friend that The Climate Project - a nonprofit movement led by former Vice President Al Gore to increase awareness of global warming - was seeking volunteers, he applied online without a second thought. "I felt a sense of calling," said the 34-year-old teacher and environmental enthusiast.

College sophomore Anne Ryan was "unequivocally" misdiagnosed with a viral infection when she visited the emergency room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania three days prior to her death, the Ryan family attorney said yesterday.

Audience members left yesterday's lecture by Stuart Kauffman with more questions than answers. The former Penn professor elaborated upon a variety of topics, from reductionism to Darwin to the battle between faith and reason, before a nearly packed auditorium at the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology yesterday afternoon.

Wharton alumnus Robert Haft has made a two million dollar gift to his alma mater to establish an Entrepreneur-in-Residence Endowment Fund, according to a press release. Haft, who graduated with a degree in Finance in 1974, is the founder and chairman of Main Street Lender and the founder of health-care investment company Morgan Noble.

On Tuesday night, College Dean Dennis DeTurck made a national address. "Don't panic!" he said. But DeTurck wasn't talking about the state of the nation or what to do if a house catches on fire: He was explaining to college parents across the world how to handle the stress of a child's failed Bio exam.

Christian pro-life advocate Randall Terry paid a visit to Logan Hall yesterday in an effort to recruit Penn students to help "end legalized child killing." Terry's name recently surfaced in the media as the spokesman for Terry Schaivo's family, but he is best known for founding Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion group responsible for staging hundreds of protests and sit-ins since its creation in 1987.

With Friday's Ben Kweller concert just 72 hours away, ticket sales may reveal a general student sentiment: Another Ben may be too much. With only three days left, the Social Planning and Events Committee has only sold 500 out of 1,100 total tickets for the event.