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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The fire that gutted a house located at 210 S. 41st St. on Jan. 27 was deliberately set, Philadelphia Fire Department Executive Chief Daniel Williams said yesterday.

Looking for a way to build momentum heading into the postseason? Try winning the biggest meet of the season, blowing out a conference rival and breaking a historic school record - in one weekend. The No. 20 Penn wrestling team may have waited until the last meet of the season to finally notch a win against a ranked opponent.

Professor Dan Ben-Amos says he lives a "common" life. But common by whose standards? He's conducted field studies of folklore in Africa and has served in the Israeli army as a bodyguard for David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister. And, recently, a book he edited won the 2006 National Jewish Book Award Sephardic Culture Category - a nationally-acclaimed award administered by The Jewish Book Council that recognizes achievements in Jewish literature.

With its terra-cotta towers and poetry-laced windows, Fisher Fine Arts Library has always stood out from the rest of College Green. In the past, its Victorian architecture was considered a monstrosity - as recently as the 1960s, some University officials were calling for the building's demolition.

At 8:30 yesterday morning, Wharton junior Arthur Hayes woke up to the piercing sound of a rolling pin banging on a cooking pan. A booming British accent followed. "Wakey-wakey! Rise and shine - get up!" No, Hayes, a member of Psi Upsilon, wasn't dreaming.

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.

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.

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.