Philadelphia is undertaking a citywide initiative to get greener - and officials are looking for college students' input. Fourteen city agencies have come together to form Green Plan Philadelphia, which aims to ensure that residents have access to open space in their neighborhoods.

Politicians, take note: Incumbents need not apply. PA Clean Sweep boldly proclaims this message on its Web site, and means it. No exceptions.

Splurging on a $26.50 cab ride to catch a plane for Thanksgiving is now a thing of the past. At least, that's the Undergraduate Assembly's plan. On the heels of its successful shuttle bus program last year - pioneered by Wharton senior Brett Thalmann, now the UA chairman - the UA is rolling out a revamped program for the holiday breaks.

Wharton's No. 1 again. But the publication that named it as such isn't too happy with Penn's business school. Last week, national magazine Business Week ranked Wharton as the top business school for undergraduates. Getting enough information to rank Wharton, however, was a bit of a struggle for the magazine.

When University President Amy Gutmann throws a party, she draws a crowd. Gutmann's house at 3812 Walnut St. was open to students last night for a Halloween party with a theme inspired by the Broadway musical "Wicked." A pavilion was set up in her backyard, and after walking through the house to reach it, students could get their picture taken with Gutmann.

The new year will bring a new version of Windows, and Penn officials promise any students with the new software continued compatibility with campus technology. Microsoft is expected to release Windows Vista, the newest Windows operating system, in January.

If you run into trouble on Election Day, Penn's school of government wants to know about it. The Fels Institute of Government is once again helping to sponsor the national voter hotline, which got about 208,000 calls during the 2004 presidential race. Anyone can call the hotline to leave a voicemail reporting a problem encountered while trying to vote.

Nili Gold's class on Hebrew literature always appealed to a niche audience. The students - typically 12 to 15 each semester - had to have determination to enroll in a course taught entirely in Hebrew. But the class fulfilled a distributional requirement, which Gold said made it easier for them to justify taking such a specialized class.

Professors will try almost anything to get you to sign up for their classes.

Millions of hurried passengers depend on taxi drivers, but relatively rarely to they talk to their drivers about history, politics and justice. Last night, however, members of the Penn community had the chance to do just that with Biju Matthew and Ronald Blount at a dinner and discussion at the Greenfield Intercultural Center.

As a high-school senior in Texas, Justin Allen knew he wanted to study art in college, but family finances left him without a lot of options. Expensive art schools were out of the question, and remaining in-state seemed very likely. But then Allen found one school that was affordable for anyone - The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City.

Student leaders have spoken: Green is good. In a unanimous decision, the Undergraduate Assembly voted Sunday night to support environmentally sound practices at Penn. The UA proposal calls for a University-wide policy supporting environmentally sound practices, such as campus-wide recycling, energy conservation and buying from vendors who are committed to the environment.

Homicides for the year in Philadelphia are now projected to surpass 400 after a brief downturn in crime in September, according to city police.

The "art of networking" has some very big fans at Penn- - namely Barbara Hewitt and her team of career counselors at the University's Career Services office. "I found my job through networking," Hewitt said. "I'm a believer." In a small room packed with about 30 students yesterday, Hewitt, an associate director at Career Services, expounded upon the merits of social and professional networking as paths to employment in a seminar she called "Networking 101.

Zeta Beta Tau initiated 12 sophomores and juniors on Saturday, putting the fraternity one step closer to an official return to campus. But the process of recolonizing has come with a major challenge for ZBT - re-establishing itself as a legitimate fraternity, separate from the underground group that many students associate with the name ZBT.

Penn's Center for Bioethics announced Friday that it will team up with Sermo - a Cambridge-based company that provides online resources for doctors - to give doctors more up-to-date ethical guidelines for their practices. "The partnership with [Center Director Arthur Kaplan] . is one of many steps Sermo is taking to . handle information that can substantially affect the public health," Sermo chief executive Daniel Palestrant said in a statement.

It's 2 a.m., and Suresh Nagaraj is huddled next to a space heater to keep warm. His only companions are a few other students, a security guard and his laptop. He drinks hot chocolate to stay awake, but he nods off occasionally during the loneliest parts of the night.