For Penn's security guards, small steps of improvement may now be the best option. After a setback involving union support in September, campus groups are now focused on workers' rights, with the controversial prospect of unionization seen as a step in the distant future.

Gutmann aide gets married over weekend Leah Popowich, associate director at the Office of the University President, was married Saturday night to Penn alumnus Andrew Hohns, The New York Times reported yesterday. Popowich is the main contact between students and the president's office, on call 24 hours a day for 'DP' reporters' incessant questions.

Andrew Porter will take the helm as dean of Penn's Graduate School of Education this summer, University President Amy Gutmann announced at Friday's meeting of the Board of Trustees. Porter will come to Philadelphia from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

Philadelphia's Independence Mall is getting a face lift, with a bit of a Jewish flair. Serving as the region's central museum for Jewish history since its opening in 1976, the National Museum of American Jewish History is preparing to move into a brand-new, $100 million facility at 5th and Market streets by 2010.

After gauging widespread discontent with its 35-year-old tenure program, Yale University is finally bringing its promotion policies in line with those of its peer institutions - including Penn's. The new policy would, among other things, create a tenure-track system through which faculty will be hired under the assumption that they can receive tenure if they have the necessary qualifications.

When SEPTA announced last week that its fares would be increased, city officials were in a buzz, calling the situation a "crisis." But calm down, experts say - it might not be so bad. SEPTA announced last Thursday that the company will experience a $150 million deficit if it does not receive state aid.

Barron's Challenge won't be over until April, but the contest's leading competitor received an unexpected bonus a little early. Wharton junior Felix Wang, already in line to win $1,500 if he maintains his first-place position in the stock-picking competition, was visited yesterday by two business executives interested in his work.

With Scott Ward still facing federal child-pornography charges in Pennsylvania, legal experts say the former Wharton professor doesn't have much of a case and will likely plead guilty once again.

February is almost over, and officials still have not made a decision on a replacement for Webmail. Vice Dean of Administration and Finance Ramin Sedehi said the school remains locked in negotiations, despite the most-recently set deadline having passed at the end of January.

One of these things is not like the other: Martin Sheen, Henry Kissinger, Bob Costas, Peyton Manning. The Connaissance Committee of the Social Planning and Events Committee announced yesterday that Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning will be coming to speak at Penn next month.

The Board of Trustees, the top governing body that gives final approval to Penn's executive hiring and financial decisions, met yesterday to address pressing issues facing the University.

Microsoft says that its newest operating system, Windows Vista, is visually appealing and easy to use. Easy to use, that is, unless you're a Penn student. Information Systems and Computing officials are cautioning students and faculty not to upgrade to Vista, warning that users with the upgrade will not be able to access AirPennNet, the University's residential wireless network.

Despite efforts, which began in response to the University's threat to cancel Hey Day, some students doubt whether this recent revamping will be effective.

Officials familiar with the negotiations say that there are talks to move the 41st and Market streets liquor store to 43rd and Walnut streets, a location close in proximity to a K-8 school and a community mosque.

As temperatures rise and snow melts into puddles, University officials can breathe a sigh of relief. Last week's snowfall created a mess on campus that is now starting to fade away. It also caused several universities in the Northeast to close for the day - but Penn students and staff trudged along Locust Walk throughout the season's biggest storm thus far.

The senior class is distinguishing itself as a serious monetary powerhouse on campus. With graduation still months away, the senior class gift drive has already broken the record for fundraising with $59,302. This class also already boasts the highest number of Benjamin Franklin Society donors - students who give $250 or more.

Should there be people allowed to determine whose lives are worth living? Is it up to any person to decide when someone else should die? According to Wesley Smith, a noted anti-euthanasia activist and popular bioethics writer, the answer to both questions is "no.