Step aside, New York City: One writer says Sante Fe could become Philadelphia's true metropolitan competition. In a presentation yesterday afternoon before several dozen people in College Hall, author and Washington Post contributing writer Joel Garreau argued that the rise of the computer will change America's cities just as much as the invention of the railroad or the automobile.

It's hard to miss the blow-up Santa Claus hanging from a window of the Sigma Chi fraternity house on Locust Walk. Surrounding houses boast multicolored lights, red-and-green flowers, seasonal ornaments and even presents underneath the tree. These customs, Penn fraternity brothers say, have been going on for years and are still going strong.

The message of last night's Relay for Life kickoff was simple: "Cancer doesn't wait, so why should you?" This year's annual Relay for Life information session occurred last night in Huntsman Hall. The organization, which raises cancer awareness, is managed by Colleges Against Cancer and is endorsed by the American Cancer Society.

Patrick Harker's colleagues and fellow Wharton professors can sing only praises as they begin to bid farewell to their dean. And while most agree that replacing Harker - who will leave Wharton to serve as University of Delaware's president in July - will not be easy, some point to Wharton Deputy Dean David Schmittlein as a likely successor.

University President Amy Gutmann made the list of about 30 leading contenders for Harvard University's next president, according to an article published yesterday in The Harvard Crimson.

College sophomore Chris Yeager gazed at his screen in disbelief. He raged. He cursed. He almost clawed the walls. His Internet had gone out. But Yeager is only one of hundreds of students whose worlds fall apart when the Internet stops working, and cyberpsychologists have even invented a name for their affliction: Internet Addiction Disorder.

In a heated debate last night, experts disagreed about whether affirmative active is the solution to the problem of racial inequality, or the problem itself. The Hall of Flags in Houston Hall was packed with people eager to listen to two authors who have both written extensively on the effects of affirmative action.

College senior Bryce LeFort and Wharton senior Stephen Lande face preliminary hearings this morning on charges of aggravated assault. LeFort and Lande are being charged for their alleged involvement in an incident that left College senior Andrew Scharf missing a chunk of an ear on the night of Oct.

Jonathan Saidel's surprise withdrawal from the mayoral race may be one potential candidate's gain. Saidel's decision not to run means that U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and union head John Dougherty are now left as the only two major white candidates in the May Democratic ballot race.

Early applications to Penn dropped slightly this year, admissions officials announced yesterday.

The School of Arts and Sciences Webmail server broke down last night at about 11:45 p.m. It had also crashed earlier yesterday morning. Penn officials had said they would replace the service by November but have failed to decide which of the two companies in the running- Microsoft or Google - will be used.

College junior Kathryn Lee left 30th Street Station just before dawn during Thanksgiving break. With the road only lit by street lamps, Lee said she and another female friend remained anxious during the walk back to school. "We were scared to walk back from the train station, so we debated about getting a cab," Lee said.

Nicknamed "Willing and Able" in his senior-class yearbook for the Penn School of Design, Julian Abele - pronounced "able" - was an overachiever. When he graduated from the School in 1902, Abele was president of the Penn Architectural Society, the recipient of numerous architectural awards and was poised to join one of Philadelphia's top architectural firms.

Marissa Rhodes spends her days surrounded by books. But, unlike the students who will retreat to Van Pelt Library during the next few weeks of studying before finals, it's Rhodes' job to think about what everyone else is reading. As the Penn Bookstore's trade floor manager, Rhodes oversees all the non-textbook titles in stock - a collection that runs the gamut from the classic works of Jane Austen to celebrity chef Rachael Ray's popular series of recipe books.

For college students, beer, pizza and bowling are a winning combination. At least that's what College Pizza owner George Ballouz is banking on. The pizzeria will move from its current location - which it was forced to leave due to a planned construction project on the 3900 block of Walnut Street - into the mezzanine of Strikes Bowling Lounge over winter break.

As a criminal-malpractice lawyer, Penn alumna Joan Saltzman has seen everything that might go wrong in an operation. Presenting her book, Mr. Right and My Left Kidney, at the Penn Bookstore last night, Saltzman described overcoming her doubts about donating a kidney to her husband.

According to Christopher Graveline, former Cpl. Charles Graner is a "truly an evil man." Graveline - a former military lawyer - presented a photo of Graner "grinning over a dead corpse," illustrating the Abu Ghraib prison atrocities to a crowd of over 50 people yesterday afternoon in the Nursing Education Building.