Five years and nearly 35,000 lawsuits later, the Recording Industry Association of America is stopping its legal war against individuals for file-sharing activities. The announcement comes as a relief for many students who worried about facing fines; however, the University has not yet determined how it will affect its policies, if at all.

In response to intensified conflict in the Gaza Strip, the University announced last week that it will no longer permit students to study abroad in Israel and the West Bank through Penn programs this semester. Ten Penn students planned to study in Israel or Palestine this semester.

Feeling stressed over finals? Try yoga. The Penn Women's Center touted this method at a Free-Yoga-Free-Yogurt event this past Saturday. During the event, nutrition counselor, massage therapist and yoga instructor Jillian Bird took students' minds off life's daily stresses by teaching basic yoga moves.

Inauguration tickets are on every political junkie's holiday wish list this year. But falling short of that, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life is getting a lucky group of students as close as possible. At midnight on Jan. 20, a bus full of Penn students will leave campus bound for Washington, D.

For four days in 1978, Penn students held a sit-in at College Hall. At first they were protesting University plans to cut sports programs, but soon the focus turned to anger about climbing tuition and residence fees. As the protest continued, a few participants began to think even bigger, setting their sights on a student organization to unite and empower campus minority groups.

As posted on CarePages, a HUP Web site where patients' families can post messages and updates. First, on behalf of myself, Beverly, Emily, and Colin, we want to thank everyone here today and the hundreds of our friends, Ryan's friends, and our family who have focused their thoughts and prayers towards Ryan and our family over the last week.

For many freshmen, today isn't just the beginning of a new semester - it's the start of their introduction to the Greek system on campus. Penn's fraternities and sororities are putting on their best show for prospective members, offering free food and a good time spread out over a wide variety of events.

Students made the lives of underprivileged Philadelphia residents a little bit warmer this past Sunday night at the Hillel Soup Kitchen. Over 80 guests showed up at Hillel's Warm Winter Evening this weekend to take part in a charity dinner and raffle put on by the Hillel Soup Kitchen and the University City Hospitality Coalition.

Engineering sophomore Ryan Smith passed away early Thursday morning following injuries suffered in a fall from the Quadrangle on Saturday. Matt Waller, spokesman for the office of the Vice Provost for University Life, said Smith passed away about 3 a.m. at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn's latest effort to reach out to high-achieving students in need of economic assistance is already showing signs of success. This year, 26 students will receive full, four-year scholarships to Penn because of the University's new partnership with QuestBridge - a program that links low-income students with grants at top colleges.

Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paul Tressler denied former Economics professor Rafael Robb's appeal of his five- to 10-year prison sentence for killing his wife, Ellen, according to The Times Herald of Norristown. Frank DeSimone, Robb's attorney, filed a motion for reconsideration of Robb's sentence on Dec. 1.

Free use of laundry machines in College Houses lets students save money when they wash their clothes. And with new online alerts that track the status of washers and dryers, students will be able to conserve their time as well. The new service, called Laundry Alert, lets residents check the status of laundry machines in their building.

The financial fraud of New York financier Bernie Madoff did not affect Penn's endowment, University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said - but that doesn't mean the University wasn't affected in other ways. Last month, the Picower Foundation of Florida - which funded two Penn research projects - announced that it would cease all grantmaking because the foundation had lost its entire endowment with Madoff.

Penn students this weekend harnessed a new power in the fight against AIDS in Africa: soccer. This past Saturday, 24 teams of three players gathered in Hutchinson Gymnasium for the first-annual "Lose the Shoes 3v3" soccer tournament. The event was organized by Penn AIDS Awareness to raise funding for the non-profit organization Grassroot Soccer, which trains professional soccer players to educate African youths and motivate them to fight HIV/AIDS.

Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.

SAS will implement a school-wide freeze on hiring, staff position reclassifications and salary adjustments, as well as various budget reductions, Dean Rebecca Bushnell announced in an e-mail to School of Arts and Sciences faculty and staff yesterday. Bushnell's office also plans to work closely with departments and programs to identify the most effective cost-cutting measures and to allocate remaining finances only to matters of the highest priority for the 2010 fiscal year.

The United Minorities Council, the umbrella for 20 minority groups on campus, elected Wharton and College junior Ezegozie Eze as its chair Wednesday night. Eze, who transferred from Princeton University this semester, won the three-way race for the helm of the organization, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.