You can't check out these new professors on Penn Course Review, but you might want to look into their classes. The new faculty members - most of whom previously taught at other universities - have come to Penn to share their expertise in fields ranging from political science to the modern Middle East to Romance languages.

With the first week of the semester under their belts, administrators and students are starting to buckle down to discuss the fate of Hey Day. But nobody's sure exactly what they want to say. Discussions are set to begin within the next two weeks. The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life is planning to work with both the junior class board and other members of the Class of 2008 to make the annual tradition "safe and fun," according to Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, head of VPUL.

A Philadelphia smoking ban - long discussed and passed by City Council this summer - may have again hit a snag. Mayor John Street has recently voiced concern about the bill and says he is considering vetoing the legislation by Thursday's deadline. His main complaint is that the ban does not extend to outdoor cafes, though some attribute his failure to sign this and previous legislation on the issue to personal differences between himself and former Councilman Michael Nutter, a proponent of smoking-ban legislation who is currently running for mayor.

Just six months after her office brought the national media spotlight to Penn's campus - more specifically, to its dorm room windows - Office of Student Conduct Director Michele Goldfarb quietly resigned her post this summer.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Bail for former Wharton professor emeritus Scott Ward was set at $2 million yesterday, as prosecutors sought a tougher ruling and the defense called evidence into question.

Former Duke University anthropologist John Jackson has arrived at Penn to kick off Penn Integrates Knowledge, the University's initiative to recruit faculty members who will have appointments in multiple departments. Jackson will be teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in both the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Arts and Sciences, where he will share his research on issues of race, religion, class and the impact of the media in contemporary America.

The number of burglaries and sex offenses during New Student Orientation rose this year, while police reported a precipitous drop in the number of thefts. Overall, crime during NSO was down from the same period last year, but officials from Penn's Division of Public Safety say the drop is insignificant.

Students crowd the economics aisle of the bookstore on the first day of classes.

You may soon hear "Hallelujah" all over campus: Rufus Wainwright is coming to Penn.

Sometimes, child sex charges are not enough to fire a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. University policy allows for the firing of professors implicated in serious crimes, but Penn officials say charges previously brought against ex-Wharton professor Scott Ward Ward were not significant enough to dismiss him.

Spending a month working in a Tanzanian hospital seems like an unlikely summer vacation for most students. College junior Rebecca Davis begs to differ. A nearly 20-hour trek to Tanzania, via Amsterdam, led Davis to a tiny village outside the city of Arusha, where she spent a month working in a local hospital.

While Benjamin Netanyahu says technology is not necessarily the key to economic growth, modern gadgetry certainly helped keep the former Israeli prime minister safe when he visited Penn yesterday.

An unusually high number of Advanced Placement exams were reported missing this summer after high school students took the exams in May. Tom Ewing, a spokesman for the Educational Testing Service, which scores the exams, said that roughly 1,500 exams or portions of exams remain missing and unscored.

Charlie Allen, who manages the CVS at 43rd and Locust streets, has begun to stock an item not usually carried by drug stores - ping-pong balls. Allen said that his decision to carry the balls, essential for the popular drinking game Beirut, is a result of the store's recent increase in business from Penn students, stemming from a shuffle in drug stores around campus.

At Colgate University, there's a summer reading list that suggests five books before freshman year. At George Washington University, days of orientation are devoted to the subject of separation anxiety. But only parents need apply. These programs are examples of a growing array of university-run programs that help parents say goodbye to their new college freshmen.

Zeta Beta Tau will attempt to re-enter campus this semester, but the fraternity will look different than when it left two years ago, national ZBT officials say. "We're very intent as an organization on getting a quality group of guys," said Matt Tobe, director of expansion for the ZBT national organization.