Most people rely on nurses to draw blood, give shots and take temperatures at the doctor's office. But for how much longer? In his fiscal year 2008 budget, released last month, President George W. Bush called for a $44 million decrease in funding for Nursing Workforce Development Programs, which provide financial support for nursing schools nationwide- including Penn's.

Admissions officers nationwide have officially entered the blogosphere -but don't expect to read posts from Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson anytime soon . Schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago have all recently started blogs aimed at assisting prospective students in the admissions process.

The University has recently undertaken a critical examination of current background disclosure requirements for new hires and graduate-student applicants, but other institutions have demonstrated a rising interest in keeping their eye on the criminal background of student applicants, as well.

City Council passed a measure yesterday that will place a casino referendum question on the May 15 primary ballot. The referendum will ask voters to decide to change the city charter to ban casinos from within 1,500 feet of all homes, schools and places of worship.

Zachariah Ventress, a teaching assistant for Marketing 101, sits in the back of the lecture hall on Mondays, privy to a view of students' laptop screens. "Most are checking their e-mail, instant messaging and [browsing] on Facebook," he said. As a result, Ventress says he and other TAs have requested that laptops not be used during recitations.

In a city covered with over 2,700 murals, Penn's walls remain strikingly blank. So earlier this year, City Planning professor Amy Hillier proposed painting a mural to honor W.E.B. DuBois by beautifying the west wall of the Kappa Sigma fraternity house. She received ambiguous responses from University officials, who are still deciding whether to paint what would be the first mural on campus.

Few people would guess that a Harvard professor and renowned physician would have much of a sense-of-humor - that is, until they meet Paul Farmer. From lightly asking permission from SAS Dean Rebecca Bushnell and College Dean Dennis DeTurck to telling anecdotes to remarking on a patient recovering from malnutrition having to do sit-ups after gaining back a lot of weight, Farmer infused his informative lecture with humour before a packed Irvine Auditorium yesterday afternoon.

Amid multiple eruptions of applause, criminal lawyer Alan Dershowitz kept hundreds of audience members on the edge of their seats last evening during his lecture, "Global Terrorism: The New World War." Dershowitz, also a Harvard law professor, spoke last night in the Zellerbach Theater for the fourth-annual Israel Awareness event.

The University's decision to bring James Baker to speak at this year's Commencement may be raising concerns among pro-Israel and Jewish students, but experts say that Baker's political and personal viewpoints should not have kept the University from inviting him.

For elderly West Philadelphia residents, two may not necessarily be better than one. In April, Living Independently For Elders, an all-inclusive health care program owned and operated by the School of Nursing, will move from their current two centers to a single new center that's double the size.

Total crime in the Penn patrol zone was 4 percent higher in February as compared with that month last year, Division of Public Safety officials said. Fifty-seven crimes occurred in February 2007, up from 54 in 2006. The year-to-date crime total for 2007 stands at 116; in January and February of 2006, 112 crimes were committed.

If all goes as planned, today's City Council hearing may be the next step in community leaders' fight to stop the construction of Philadelphia's casinos. Councilman Frank DiCicco, whose district encompasses the locations of two casinos that are scheduled to open next year, has sponsored a bill that would place a referendum on the May 15 primary ballot asking voters to ban casinos within 1,500 feet of any home, school or house of worship.

When a university's energy efficiency is directly related to tuition increases, it's time to start paying attention to the environment. At Penn, this was one of a multitude of factors that led to the Penn Sustainability Plan, a study spearheaded by Architecture Professor Bill Braham in which every building on campus will eventually be evaluated for energy efficiency and consumption.

Once a scarcely noticed minority, more women are plowing through engineering programs - and their moves are turning heads nationwide. The number of females majoring in sciences and engineering is going up, according to statistics released last week by the National Science Foundation, a federal agency that promotes the study of science.

Commencement speakers rarely win unanimous praise, but, this year, University officials worked extra hard to please the majority of the senior class. Penn announced earlier this week that former Secretary of State and co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group James Baker will address this year's senior class at graduation on May 14.

The prospect of green energy may just be dust in the wind. Swarthmore College announced last month that it will purchase 35 percent of its energy from wind power, joining the ranks of Penn as one of the largest purchasers of wind energy in Pennsylvania. Swarthmore's move also signifies a growing trend of universities looking to boost their wind energy programs in an attempt to cut emissions from fossil fuels.

Students punching teachers in the face, setting lockers on fire, trespassing - turmoil has reached a boiling point at West Philadelphia High School. West Philadelphia High, which had been experiencing major discipline problems over the past month, saw former Principal Clifton James fired by the Philadelphia School District last week, but the move has only prompted more violence on several of the school's teachers and students.