Penn professors' involvement in the Obama administration didn't stop at the transition team, as evidenced by the announcement of several new appointments last week. Psychiatry professor Thomas McLellan will become the deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, according to a press release from the White House.

Last week, the Graduate and Professional Students Assembly elected its new executive board, which will take effect May 1. Nursing Ph.D. student Corbett Brown, the new chairman, has been an assembly member since last September. He sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss his goals for next year.

Last fall, Penn Environmental Group piled trash on College Green. This semester, PEG continued its efforts to raise awareness with a festival in Houston Hall last Friday, called GreenFest. This semester's GreenFest was originally planned to take place on College Green but was moved into Houston Hall due to inclement weather.

With the summer riding season coming up, Division of Public Safety officials are intent on stamping out bike crime on campus. As a city with a very high student population, Philadelphia has become notorious in recent years as a bike theft hotspot. Bike lock manufacturer Kryptonite publishes a "Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft List" on its blog every year, and Philadelphia is its reigning champion.

The rollout of the Apple iTunes Music Store three-tiered pricing system last Tuesday has already drawn criticism, copycats and apparent declines in sales rankings among some of the top 100 songs. In January, Apple had announced it would soon begin selling all DRM-free songs with the introduction of the new pricing levels of $.

On April 1, Rabbi Michael Uram entered the Eastern State Penitentiary - the penitentiary on Fairmount Avenue that has housed the likes of Al Capone and Willie Sutton. He was there to dedicate the Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue, a chapel built in the 1960s and restored and renovated for use today.

According to a new study, black students who are either first- or second-generation American are overrepresented at selective colleges and universities, compared with those whose families have resided in the United States longer. This overrepresentation may stem from stereotypes - such as that immigrant blacks are smarter or work harder.

Harvard University admissions announced its plans to cut down on travel outreach last month, and now Penn plans to do the same. Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said he expects "to scale back in the fall" and find "more cost-effective ways of recruitment than planes, trains and automobiles.

When Council chairwoman Anna Verna brings down her gavel, the Philadelphia City Council hearing is in session. Council hearings allow members to ask questions of the mayoral departments regarding the budget on which they will ultimately have the final vote.

Universities across the nation are combating wastefulness and focusing on sustainability, but only one will be able to take home the title of America's Greenest Campus. The America's Greenest Campus contest is the first national competition among colleges to reduce their communities' carbon footprints.

With the summer riding season coming up, Division of Public Safety officials are intent on stamping out bike crime on campus. As a city with a very high student population, Philadelphia has become notorious in recent years as a bike theft hotspot. Bike lock manufacturer Kryptonite publishes a "Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft List" on its blog every year, and Philadelphia is its reigning champion.

For students looking to help others while working with contraceptives, vaccinations and diseases, yesterday's Public Health in Philadelphia panel set them on track for success. As part of National Public Health Week, the event hosted a panel of five distinguished members of various local public health organizations.

Wharton announced yesterday that it will cosign loans with Digital Federal Credit Union for international MBA students who lack a U.S. credit-worthy cosigner. The loans can help pay tuition as well as living expenses and can also offer low interest rates, no origination fees - a processing fee - and attentive customer service.

SEPTA has just made traveling in Philadelphia cheaper, faster and easier. In a press release, SEPTA announced that it will introduce a "One Day Independence Pass" and a "Family Independence Pass," for use on trains, trolleys and buses. According to the release, the passes will provide riders with the "independence of convenient, economical and unlimited travel on all SEPTA trains.

"Simple is sexy" seemed to be the theme of the Wharton Asia Exchange-BCBGeneration Walk-Off, a competition that pitted students against each other in the categories of modeling and fashion sense. The Walk-Off, sponsored by WAX and BCBGeneration, consisted of three rounds: professional, evening and model's choice.

For 2007 College alumna Sophia Termini, the Miss Philadelphia Pageant last week was a great way to help pay for med school, but she will never repeat it. Termini, along with College junior Samantha Greene and College seniors Cara Bumgardner and Geneva Campbell competed and won prizes in last week's pageant.

Besides merely serving as a distraction in that political science class you now realize was a mistake signing up for, perhaps that iPhone or BlackBerry will actually give you the power to drop the class on the spot. At Stanford - and more recently, Duke - that choice will soon be available to students on campus.