It's hardly a surprise that college diplomas generate higher salaries than their high school counterparts. But it turns out that they also generate more voters, non-smokers and community-service volunteers, a study says. According to a College Board's report entitled "Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society," college graduates are more likely to be healthy, to volunteer, to vote - and even to be more tolerant of different opinions.

If you're looking for a major that expresses your artistic side, you might want to try Engineering before heading into the art studio. Computer Graphics at the University of Pennsylvania - a subset of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences' Computer Science department - is the umbrella for all programs in computer graphics at Penn, from high school to Ph.

It seemed everyone who gathered at Columbia University yesterday had an opinion. Here's what some people have to say about the remarks by both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Columbia University President Lee Bollinger: On Bollinger's introduction: n "Bollinger's introduction . laid out the case quite well.

Outside financial experts agree: Penn's Office of Investments is certainly on the right track. The University's endowment returned 20.2 percent growth on its investments this past fiscal year, bringing the grand total to $6.6 billion. This positive growth reflects strategies that Penn's prime competitors, Harvard and Yale universities, have been using for years: an emphasis on international equities and a slow increase in alternative investments.

Its victims need morphine, Percocet, Percodan - anything to relieve the pain in the blood vessels as they squeeze through the joints. The silent attacker is sickle-cell disease, and last night at Logan Hall, Penn's Zeta Phi Beta sorority sponsored an event featuring two sickle-cell experts who discussed what sickle-cell disease is and how community members can help sickle-cell patients.

While watching the CW tonight, you might recognize the balding guy wearing a green Science and Technology Wing T-shirt from your Computer Science class last year. And that's because 2006 Engineering alumnus Will Frank is a contestant on the hit reality show Beauty and the Geek.

They drove you to soccer practice; they guided you through the college application process. When it came time for dorm shopping, they made checklists. And now that classes are in full swing, they expect daily e-mails. Some people call them "helicopter parents," and, somewhat improbably, they might just be the next big thing in college fundraising.

NEW YORK - Columbia University was a hotbed of conflict yesterday as free-speech pundits, politicos, national media, New Yorkers and Columbia students gathered to voice their divergent views on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the Morningside Heights, N.Y., campus.

Accused murderer Irina Malinovskaya allegedly falsified an e-mail from her ex-lover Robert Bondar, according to evidence presented for the first time yesterday. The document - for which she has been charged with attempted tampering with physical evidence - is the first major change in a case that has ended twice with hung juries.

With the number of homicides in Philadelphia inching past 300, police and community officials are now calling on black males in the city to curb violent crime. Last week, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson and civic leaders called for 10,000 men to sign up Oct.

A man was robbed at gunpoint this Saturday after entering a cab on the 4000 block of Walnut Street, according to the Philadelphia Police Department and Division of Public Safety officials. The victim, a 19-year-old male unaffiliated with the University, reported that he entered a cab at about 2:30 a.

The Undergraduate Assembly meeting on Sunday night focused more on general student-body interests and less on internal affairs for the first time this year. Issues included improving the add/drop period and New Student Orientation, distributing free national newspapers to students and better management of campus security.

Former Economics graduate student and convicted sex offender Kurt Mitman has been granted parole and may be allowed to resume classes at Penn, state and University officials said yesterday.

From the happy pinks and greens of Lilly Pulitzer to the earth-toned evening dresses of Nicole Miller and the furs and sunglasses of Zinman, the runway at last evening's 14th annual Philadelphia Phasion Phest portrayed many unique areas of fashion. The Phasion Phest, held this year at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel in Center City, displayed upscale fall trends for both men and women from various retailers and salons.

West Philadelphia resident Latisha Turnage needed help. At 26, she had no job, no house, no education and no prospects. Her mother Tracy told her to go to a small office building at 61st Street and Osage Avenue, the local home of National Student Partnerships .

The topic of Friday afternoon's seminar was ovarian cancer, but at the heart was an interest in improving women's knowledge of their health. The seminar was the first in a series hosted by the Women's Resource Center, which for the last year has offered health services and programs designed specifically for women at Pennsylvania Hospital, part of the University Health System.

A specialized focus on diversified investments and international markets has helped the University's endowment swell to $6.6 billion, a figure that was announced at last Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting.