Students, faculty and staff are once again partaking in Black History Month, taking time out of their busy schedules to reflect on black heritage and achievements. Black History Month is observed across the country throughout February. With an undergraduate class made up of an average of 6-percent black students, the Penn community is participating in the celebration as it does every year.

Seductresses and torrid love affairs - these were the topics of conversation last night at the Young Friend of Penn's second-annual Valentine's Day celebration at the Penn Museum. Almost 200 people attended "Ancient Girls Gone Wild," in which museum researches regaled the audience with the drama-filled lives and sinful details of some of ancient history's most impassioned women.

When Pia Ramchandani first signed up for "Introduction to Electrical and Systems Engineering" last semester, she expected a typical lecture course. But for this Engineering freshman, the class turned out to be a bit more exciting. Students in this course, which takes two semesters to complete, learn how to program robots.

After the first five years of Philadelphia's experiment with private management of district public schools, a study released last week indicates that it may be time to go back to the drawing board. But not so fast, education officials say. According to the study, released in part by Philadelphia-based Research for Action, students in the privately managed public schools - schools controlled by Educational Management Organizations - did not score higher than students in regular Philadelphia district schools on national and state tests, despite the extra money that is spent on these students Six private institutions, both for-profit and nonprofit - including Penn - manage the 41 EMO schools in the Philadelphia District.

Instead of taking your valentine to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to impress her with your cultured intelligence, why not take her there to see the nudes? This Saturday afternoon, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will be holding a scavenger hunt - with a special Valentine's Day twist.

The City Council took the next step in protecting the health of Philadelphians yesterday by approving a bill that bans trans fats from almost all foods in restaurants across the city. The first part of the bill will take effect Sept. 1, when restaurants will no longer be permitted to fry foods using trans fats-based oils or use trans fats-based spreads.

Penn is the most financially stable it's been since 1998, according to Moody's Investors Service. Moody's, which provides bond ratings for commercial and nonprofit enterprises, upgraded the University from an Aa3 rating up to an Aa2 one at the end of last month.

"A great American city is literally fighting for survival." And Marc Morial, the former Mayor of New Orleans, is urging Penn students to help rebuild the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The 1980 College alumna asked students how they "wanted to be counted," challenging their participation in community outreach.

He calls it Campusdock, but potential users might begin to refer to it as "Greg's List." Last month, Wharton junior Greg Morillo started Campusdock.com, a site that students can use to do everything from selling books and furniture to finding job and house listings.

The preliminary hearing for the Troy Brown, the "screwdriver bandit," was postponed yesterday following the arrest of his attorney. Larry Charles, Brown's lawyer, was found naked with his 14-year-old goddaughter on Jan. 15 in the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center in Center City and charged with statutory sexual assault, Philadelphia Police Department officials said.

Joseph Cho, a second-year law student who faces charges of attempted murder, has been deemed incompetent to stand trial, according to Cho's lawyer, Peter Bowers. Cho, 31, is currently awaiting transportation to an in-patient medical facility where he will undergo further evaluation and treatment for an undetermined amount of time, Bowers said.

Though the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has finally released its reasoning behind the casino process, the anti-casino movement just keeps gathering steam. The board, in a 113-page decision released Feb. 1, explained why it chose the SugarHouse and Foxwoods casino plans, citing their location and potential benefit to the community as reasons why they were selected over three other designs.

Scribbling with Magic Markers is a fairly standard activity for preschoolers, but at the Penn Children's Center, tots are scribbling on drywall instead.

For those nervous about studying abroad, take some advice from a seasoned expert. Leonard Barkan transported a crowd of 30 gathered for a Penn Humanities Forum event yesterday evening to Italy during a reading of his book, Satyr Square. His recent travelogue, published last October, evolved from what he deemed his "love affair with culture" - a yearlong sabbatical in Italy.

From Rosie the Maid to the Terminator, general interest in robots is nothing new. Studying them, however, has been less common - until now. Come fall semester, the School of Engineering and Applied Science will begin offering a master's program in robotics - the study of building, instrumenting and programming robots.

Chemistry professor Alan MacDiarmid, one of three recipients of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, died yesterday afternoon. He was 79. MacDiarmid had been suffering from Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a disease that affects the bone marrow and blood, for the past four years.

Sometimes, being number one isn't all it's cracked up to be. Wharton Business School's MBA program was ranked best in the world for the seventh year in a row by the London-based Financial Times. But despite retaining the premiere spot, Wharton students, alumni and faculty say that they are unconcerned with the school's rank in this, or any, publication.