Tulane sophomore Thomas Krouse is gay, and as a temporary Penn student last fall, he let the school know about it when he publicly complained that he didn't want to leave the liberal northeast for his southern home. Fast-forward to today, though, and Krouse says he could not have been more wrong.

One candidate for freshman class president can't name his counterpart in the Class of 2007, though he knows he's "a pretty sweet dude.

College junior Jose Palau spent his summer in India and Ecuador helping impoverished people get online. While many of his classmates dealt in mutual funds and money markets, he worked with one of India's major banks to help set up Internet kiosks in the south of that country.

The jury that will decide the fate of Irina Malinovskaya saw two versions of her ex-boyfriend, Robert Bondar, yesterday.

NEW ORLEANS - A crazy quilt jungle of high-fashion headwear, the French Quarter boutique Fleur de Paris is already an overwhelming place to walk into. But 2006 College alumna Miji Park got more than she bargained for last weekend when, just seconds after she strolled in the door, owner Joe Perrino burst out from behind a hat rack and told her to get out.

The Undergraduate Assembly passed a proposal Sunday night to support unionization efforts by workers on campus. The proposal, spearheaded by UA member and College sophomore Hayling Price, seeks to promote dialogue between the University and Penn security guards, who are technically employed by an outside company, about wages, training and benefits.

Some West Philadelphia residents remember the buzzing Baltimore Avenue commercial corridor of the 1950s and '60s. Now, changes to the area provide a glimpse of that bygone prosperity. New businesses, including a potential pizzeria and brewery in the firehouse at 50th Street and Baltimore, a wine and spirits store and a Vietnamese restaurant, are part of the movement.

Princeton University is following the leader. Administrators there said yesterday that the school will eliminate early admission beginning in 2008.

The human-rights crisis in Darfur is showing no signs of letting up, and Jewish leaders both on campus and off say they are embracing the issue in an effort to prevent another Holocaust. Sunday, a group of about 25 Penn students from Hillel and campus group Students Taking Action Now: Darfur traveled to New York City to spread the word about genocide in Sudan.

Squeezing in to a closed class is about to get easier - but at a price. A Wharton and Engineering senior has created a program called "Class Buster" that will enable Penn students to know the exact second space opens up in a full class. The site - located at hometown.

Students excited about wireless Internet access in their dorm rooms are receiving disappointing advice from hallmates and the technology experts at Penn: Don't throw out those Ethernet cords yet. University officials pledged $700,000 to provide wireless Internet access in all college houses by the time students moved in this year.

The rock-and-roll lifestyle of Pale Nimbus - a band of Penn graduates and students - is too wild for print. "We'd rather not have [our stories] published," said Pale Nimbus guitarist Bobby Frisch. With the juicy parts left to the imagination, the band is all about the music.

Miji Park and her Idea Corp co-workers have been providing free consulting to 20 distinctive New Orleans small businesses since this summer. They've been helping the stores find ways to cope with the declining number of tourists by expanding their customer base and online operations.

Philadelphia is now smoke-free, but don't expect the state to take a similar step anytime soon. In the wake of Philadelphia's smoking ban - which was signed into law by Mayor John Street on Thursday - heads are now turning toward a possible statewide measure currently being considered by Pennsylvania's House of Representatives.

NEW ORLEANS - Linda Nunnery couldn't be happier. She lost her home and her job to Katrina, but that's all just a memory now that Habitat for Humanity has provided her with a pristine new house in New Orleans' Upper Ninth Ward.

What if you thought you had no bottom? That you were related to an apple? That you were drinking from a cow's teat? Now what if all your friends could see you? In what has become an annual tradition, the hypnotist called on Penn students to let go of their inhibitions and make fools of themselves in front of 900 of their peers.

A potentially deadly bacterium is spreading throughout the country, and spinach is the culprit. The recent discovery of E. coli in bagged spinach has prompted restaurants and supermarkets around campus to pull the vegetable from their stores. Warning signs have been put up in Houston Market and spinach - cooked or raw - has been removed from all campus dining locations, according to employees at 1920 Commons.