On the main page of its Web site, La Famiglia boldly refers to itself as "Philadelphia's Best Italian Restaurant" and its "most distinctive dining experience." What the family-owned restaurant might appear to lack in subtlety, it compensates for with its welcoming atmosphere and a menu bursting with variety and flavor.

All doctors are heroes in their own rights, but most do not put their lives in danger to save others and share their plight with the world. Jerry Erlich is not like most doctors. Erlich spoke last night about his experiences working with Doctors Without Borders in Darfur in 2004 to a crowd of about 40 students in Huntsman Hall.

Penn hopes eastward expansion will connect the University to Center City, but students are already going out of their way to experience life beyond College Green. The city is full of opportunities, ranging from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the man who plays guitar on 13th and Market streets every Saturday, and students are finding creative methods to take advantage of them.

Milton Street says that Philadelphia has major problems, and that it should be up to a former hot-dog vendor and duck-boat tour operator to fix the city. Last Thursday, the older brother of Mayor John Street announced he was entering this year's mayoral race as a Democrat, despite an upcoming federal tax-fraud and corruption trial that is scheduled to start May 14, the day before the Democratic primary.

The announcement that the two convicted sex offenders who had been working for the University would no longer be employed at Penn coincides with a University discussion about changing Penn's hiring and admissions policies that Provost Ron Daniels said is "well underway.

The sixth sense, it turns out, may not just be the product of M. Night Shyamalan's imagination. For the past 28 years, the Princeton University Engineering Anomalies Research lab has been researching how machines may be affected by human presence and emotion.

When Marie Antoinette allegedly said "let them eat cake" as a response to peasants rioting for bread, newly appointed PIK professor Adrian Raine thinks the French queen might have been on to something. Part of the interdisciplinary Penn Integrates Knowledge program, Raine and fellow PIK professor Philippe Bourgois focus their research on violence prevention - work that could be contributed to long-term efforts to reduce crime.

Were you disqualified from a student election last year for early campaigning on Facebook.com? Well, the race is on once again: The Nominations and Elections Committee has officially gone Facebook-friendly. The NEC, the branch of student government that handles elections, passed four amendments last week adjusting election procedures, and two will have a major impact on the election processes for the Undergraduate Assembly and Class Boards.

Despite what most schools would have you believe, black Americans are under-represented at top-tier universities, and that number, dissatisfying to some, has raised issues concerning black identity in academia.

Richard Smith knows the value of a good pair of gloves. In an attempt to avoid the cold, Smith stands near the entrance to the subway at 40th and Market streets, trying to absorb some of the heat coming from underground.

Students are taking time out of their busy midterm schedules to spread awareness about human rights-related issues. About 20 different human rights groups are gathering for the second-annual Human Rights Week, a student-run set of events aimed at fostering discussion and proactive initiatives about relevant issues.

The two convicted sex offenders discovered by Penn officials last month to be working for the University are no longer employed at Penn, University officials said Friday. University spokeswoman Lori Doyle confirmed that the two employees are no longer affiliated with the University but refused to provide further details about the reasons for their departure.

For three area universities, a joint effort is what it might take to stop youth violence in the area. Representatives from Penn, Drexel University and Temple University have joined forces, along with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and various community-based organizations, to make up the Philadelphia Collaborative for Violence Prevention Center - a collaborative project with an aim to make violence among 10 to 14 year olds a thing of the past.

President Bush's plan to increase the amount of financial-aid grants seemed to be a step forward in improving the availability of federal funding for students. But education groups say the plan may actually end up doing more harm than good by cutting other programs in the process.

From attending crush parties to throwing charity events, participating in Greek life can certainly take up a chunk of time. But that's not stopping many participants from maintaining high grade-point averages - some even higher than non-Greek members. More than half of the Greek organizations on campus maintain GPAs higher than the undergraduate average, said Scott Reikofski, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

Not all of a professor's students go on to earn the title Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, but one of David Silverman's did. Twenty years after graduating from Penn with a Ph.D. in Egyptology, noted archaeologist Zahi Hawass is showing his gratitude to his former professor by insisting that Silverman take an important role in "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," now showing at the Franklin Institute.

Pennsylvania's biotechnology industry may soon receive a revitalizing shot in the arm this year. And, University officials hope, that will mean something extra for Penn as well. Beginning next month, the legislature will consider lowering taxes for the industry, giving firms more room for experimentation and changing funding levels for research, said Dennis Flynn, president of Pennsylvania Bio, a trade group representing the biosciences industry.