The commercials recently developed by the University were not shown during Penn's NCAA Tournament game last Thursday because CBS decided not to broadcast any university advertisements during this year's tournament, Vice President of University Communications Lori Doyle said Friday.

Get it while it's hot: Starting today, 665 copies of The New York Times will be available for free around campus. The distribution is part of an Undergraduate Assembly initiative to bring the newspaper to University students, free of charge. The Times approached the UA in January to see if it was interested in implementing the Pilot Readership Program, said College junior Jason Karsh, the UA's vice chairman of external affairs.

More and more, universities are putting materials from their courses online for public access.

Most gay students would probably agree that coming out is hard. But at Penn, LGBT officials hope to make it a bit easier. This evening, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center will kick off Qspace, an online chat room open twice a week to the entire Penn community.

The University hit some nerves earlier this week after it announced its decision to bring in James Baker to speak at Commencement. And it wasn't the first time such an episode occurred. In 1980, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was slated to speak at Commencement.

When Jodie Foster was selected as last year's Commencement speaker, University officials had little to worry about her views on the Middle East, the United States and politics in general. But with a long career of divisive politics, James Baker is a different story.

A new University program will bring 41 young female professionals from abroad to campus for a legal and business fellowship program, Penn officials announced yesterday. The Legal and Business Fellowship Program will run from March 18 through April 13, offering participants an executive education at either Penn Law or Wharton.

For many of Penn's food carts, it's no trans fats, no problem. In light of City Council's recent legislation banning trans fats citywide, restaurants have been scrambling to replace offending cooking oils and spreads before the bill goes into effect Sept.

As a slow, synchronized clap transformed into a raucous chorus of hoots and hollers in the moments before tip-off, Cavanaugh's morphed from a sports bar into section 115 of the Palestra.

With the Philadelphia School District facing budget cuts of $67 million, it's possible that funding for Penn's partnerships with West Philadelphia may take a hit once again. City officials announced last week that the school district will have to cut $67 million in programs next year unless the city and state governments contribute a significant amount of increased revenue.

A 46-year old female attempted to commit suicide in the SEPTA station at 40th and Market streets this morning, Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker said. One witness reported that the woman jumped in front of the Eastbound Market-Frankford train at about 11:00 a.

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.