Pennsylvania has given $3.5 million to an organization that includes Penn for nanotechnology research. The grant is part of $11.1 million given to various institutions across the state for research in nanotechnology, the creation and study of devices between 1 and 100 nanometers in size.

The United States boasts the world's largest economy, its strongest army and perhaps the most diverse population in the world. But when it comes to its citizens graduating from college, America can't claim any similar superlative. The United States has slipped behind other nations in the numbers of students who finish their degrees, according to a report released by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a California-based think tank.

Facebook.com is feeling some growing pains. The site will soon be open to anyone with an e-mail address, and college students have mixed feelings.

Here's a new spin on university rankings: Apparently, the best schools are the ones with champion ultimate-frisbee teams.

It started when former Penn student and current Harvard University junior Dhruv Singh wanted a classmate's opinion on his Penn econ homework. Frustrated because he couldn't find an online group where he could complain and solicit his classmates for help, Singh decided to do something about it: He created his own.

WILMINGTON, Del. - State prosecutors worked to recreate the scene of the crime for jurors yesterday in opening their first-degree murder case against Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya.

Tabard and Owls not secret enough for you? Check out an ancient enclave of the famous Freemasons at the Grand Masonic Lodge Temple in Philadelphia. Located across the street from City Hall at 1 North Broad St., the temple is one of three of its size in the world, said Andrew Zellers-Frederick, executive director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania

Penn may have slipped to 7th in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, but the University's perfect "gay point average" places it at the top of an altogether different list.

After six years of failed tries and much debate, Philadelphia has a smoking ban. Mayor John Street signed a bill yesterday that will prohibit smoking in almost all public places in the city. The ban goes into effect immediately and provides exemptions to a few sets of establishments.

Pennsylvania got a failing mark for the affordability of its colleges earlier this month, according to an annual "report card" by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonpartisan think tank based in San Jose, Calif.

Penn has been ranked second in the nation among 25 "Best Neighbor" urban schools recognized for their contributions to their local communities. Created by New England Board of Higher Education president Evan Dobelle, the rankings take into account the length of involvement with the community, the amount of money invested, faculty and students in community service, K-12 school partnerships and resources donated by alumni, among other categories.

Tired of plain-old gas-fueled buses, some are advocating that SEPTA consider a new source of fuel - farm waste.

Penn has been ranked the 9th best university in the nation for black students by Black Enterprise magazine. This ranking puts the University is among the top-rated non-historically black schools. The number one school on the list was Florida A&M; University.

As Wharton students step into class tomorrow, they will be mirroring the school's very first students, who sat down to class 125 years ago on Sept. 15, 1881. But today's students are a little different "Today's Wharton student is more academically talented, more worldly and definitely more sophisticated and poised," said Management professor Eric Siegel, who graduated from the MBA program himself in 1980.

By Francesca Heintz The Daily Pennsylvanian Jurors in the first-degree murder trial of Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya had not been selected as of noon yesterday, but the trial is still scheduled to begin today, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said in the late afternoon.

In a few months, all that will remain of the old Hillel building, a dilapidated brick structure in the center of campus, are photographs, a plaque on the wall of Steinhardt Hall and the memories of alumni and former staff - bad and good.

Featuring anacondas, leeches, screams of both pain and euphoria and a great deal of vomit, the movie Jackass: Number Two lived up to the raucous reputation of the series - and then some. The Social Planning and Events Committee Film Society held a sneak preview of the second installment of Jackass: The Movie yesterday at Annenberg's Zellerbach Theatre.