An everyday nuisance for Penn students turned fatal last month at Ohio State University. On Oct. 20, OSU freshman Andrew Polakowski of Erie, Pa., was killed when he tried to pile into an overcrowded elevator in a dorm on campus. The packed elevator - which had exceeded its maximum weight limit - began to move with the doors still open, and Polakowski was crushed between the elevator and the floor.

The stucco wall on the west side of the Kappa Sigma fraternity house is, to be blunt, ugly.

When Wharton junior Samir Sheth isn't in Finance meetings, he's performing before thousands of passionate fans in India.

How it's done Today a parking lot; tomorrow a nanotechnology research building that could cost upwards of $80 million. That, in a nutshell, is the present and future of a space near 33rd and Walnut streets. The lot, which sits next to the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, is slated to hold the new facility as part of Penn's eastward expansion.

Late-night Facebook perusing may soon be more than a procrastination device - it might be a legitimate homework assignment.

Forget standardized test scores and alumni giving rates: In a recent survey by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the only number that mattered to Penn's ranking was 8.8.

Former Penn professor Tracy McIntosh may appeal a judge's decision that he be resentenced for his sexual-assault conviction.

Incidents of racist and homophobic behavior "are not hard to find on Penn Athletic teams," according to an Undergraduate Assembly proposal passed Sunday night.

Abbie Feinberg (white shirt) and other members of the Amorphous Jugglers practice their fire- juggling techniques on College Green near Van Pelt Library on Saturday.

University President Amy Gutmann put her money where her mouth is last night.

Philadelphia officials must think the city is too classy for the average Porta-Potty.

Lots of free condoms and bars may be more important than low acceptance rates and high SAT scores when it comes to being a top school - at least when CollegeHumor.com is doing the ranking.

On a cold December morning last year, The New York Times Washington Bureau chief, Philip Taubman, was personally asked by the president not to publish a story revealing the existence of a secret domestic eavesdropping program.

HUP first in Phila. to adopt imaging system The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has become the city's first hospital to use a new type of imaging technology that can provide detailed, 3-D images of patients' hearts. Because the computing tomography technology is faster, it can take a more accurate picture of the heart - which is constantly in motion.

Wharton students will have the chance this fall to show off their business skills at the largest global-development organization in the world - the United Nations. But the students will be the ones doing the grading. As part of Management 353 - also known as the Wharton Field Challenge, a course started by professor Keith Weigelt - the U.

Students will now be informed by Penn InTouch if the course in which they are attempting to enroll requires a permit. This is a minor change that will address a long-standing complaint, according to University Registrar Ron Sanders. Previously, no notification was given and students' requests were occasionally deleted at the end of Advance Registration because they had not known to provide the required permit.

Meals in Philadelphia are getting pricey - and not just at Le Bec-Fin or Deux Cheminees. Experts say that, even at the city's modestly priced establishments, the cost of a meal is going up. Some restaurant owners say they're paying higher costs for the basics of running a business, costs that get passed on to the consumer.