Penn's early decision acceptance rate increased this year to 32 percent, up from last year's all-time low of 28 percent. The higher acceptance rate is a result of the fact that fewer students applied early, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said. This year, Penn received 3,666 early decision applications, compared to last year's 3,912.

When President Barack Obama declared in his inaugural speech two days ago that "America is a friend of each nation ... and we are ready to lead once more," many hoped that a new era had dawned in U.S. foreign policy. With this in mind, Penn students and faculty members gathered yesterday in Houston Hall for an open discussion about the international challenges facing the Obama administration.

Hillel is up and running again after flooding on Saturday from a sprinkler break caused the building to close for about 24 hours. "We worked diligently that day and night to make sure the building was accessible to everyone the next day," said Hillel Operations Director Bob Williams.

Move over James Bond-- Penn Engineers are the new heroes. On Jan. 4, a four-member team consisting of a professor, a hydro-geologist and two undergraduate engineers chosen by Penn's Engineers Without Borders program travelled to Cameroon, a country in West Central Africa, to bring sanitary water to the village of Gundom.

Staying up late to finish that term paper may cause more than just a need for coffee the next morning. According to a study released by Carnegie Mellon University, people who sleep fewer than seven hours per night are almost three times more susceptible to the common cold than people who get adequate rest.

Even though Martin Luther King, Jr. Day has passed, the University continues to celebrate his life and work. The annual MLK Interfaith Program and Award Ceremony, which will take place this evening at 6 p.m. in Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall, is part of Penn's two-week-long "Commemorative Symposium on Social Change" designed to honor King.

Sometimes the best way to appreciate something is to miss it altogether. On Tuesday morning, the more than a million people on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall screamed a clear message: Barack Obama had been sworn in as President of the United States. The message punctured the barricades around the Mall, saying to those who didn't even know the presidential oath had been administered, "you've missed it, history happened without you.

For the second year in a row, the heat is on to lower the global temperature - or at least, to lower the amount of trash Penn produces. RecycleMania is a national competition between colleges and universities to produce the greatest reduction in the waste.

Parents' office buildings may not be an ideal place to spend the night, but for some students attending the inauguration, they were the way to go. Although hotels in Washington, D.C. and the city's surrounding suburbs were completely booked for yesterday's inauguration, students who traveled to the inauguration managed to find other, less-costly places to stay.

The Office of Study Abroad may have closed the door on studying abroad in Israel this semester, but the window of opportunity might not be closed for good. College sophomore Elliott Thomasson, a modern Middle Eastern studies major who plans to study in Israel next year, is confident that the current situation in Israel will not inhibit his study abroad plans.

On a day when the world's attention was focused on Washington, D.C., members of the Penn community who were unable to make the 124-mile trip could still get into the spirit on Penn's campus. The University's official Presidential Inauguration Celebration Program began at 10 a.

Economic turbulence has encouraged many Americans to be more cautious, and universities are no exception. In 2001, the University developed PennConnects, a plan for campus development and eastward expansion. But after the economic downfall of the past year, the University plans to proceed more cautiously.

Recycle mania isn't just taking over on campus - it's taking Philadelphia by storm too. Over the last three years, the city has been working to improve its recycling rates, which have been the second-lowest among those of American cities. The first initiative was changing to single-stream recycling - putting all recycling into one bin that is the

Assault Jan. 14 - Devon Bond, 19, unaffiliated with the University, of the 100 block of Carton Avenue in Marlton, N.J., was arrested at about midnight for allegedly getting into a physical altercation with a Penn Police officer after allegedly attempting to leave Allegro's Pizza, located at 3942 Spruce St., without paying for his food.

Author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou will be the keynote speaker for Women's Week, an annual collection of events celebrating women and their accomplishments organized by the Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women. This year's Women's Week will be February 9-17.