As advanced registration comes to an end this weekend, students are busy skimming the course booklet for classes that satisfy both their requirements and their curiosity. For students in Penn's more pre-professional schools - Nursing, Engineering and Wharton - getting a liberal-arts education while following a more structured curriculum can present a challenge.

Look for 1,100 backpacks to be spread across College Green today. These backpacks represent the 1,100 college students who commit suicide each year. The event, Send Silence Packing, is part of the 5th National Active Minds conference, which is being held on campus today and tomorrow.

It could soon take just the swipe of a card to ride the subway. SEPTA took the first steps toward revamping its fare-collection system by requesting proposals for an electronic "smart card" payment system last week. The new system, which officials say could be completed within two years, will allow SEPTA passengers to wave a pre-loaded "smart card" to ride the subway.

The name Harry Potter often sparks nostalgia among students. Many recall waiting by the mailboxes on their 11th birthday anxiously awaiting an acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but on Sunday the disappointed masses have an opportunity to live out their childhood fantasies.

The trauma unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is not for the faint of heart. Engineering sophomore Kathryn Downes learned that the hard way last weekend. While participating in the Penn Women's Biomedical Society program that gives students the opportunity to shadow HUP trauma doctors, she was asked to cut a victim's suture - the wire used to sew up a patient's wounds.

Students wanting to try their hand at firearm simulation training or learning how to defend themselves are in luck. Today the Division of Public Safety will hold an open house from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. as a way for Penn students to meet Penn Police and learn more about what the Division of Public Safety does.

With the effects of climate change, the most sought-after resource in the future might not be oil, but water. Best-selling author and Anthropology professor at University of California, Santa Barbara Brian Fagan spoke last night at the Penn Museum, urging an audience to heed the warnings of past struggles with climate change and the dangers of drought.

In the year that I've covered this election, Pennsylvania remained a constant force in the presidential race. Each candidate - John McCain, Hillary Clinton and President-elect Barack Obama - aspired to be the resurgent underdog in Pennsylvania in the image of Rocky Balboa.

The Division of Public Safety has begun providing the public with more information about sex crimes that occur in the Penn patrol zone. The changes were made after The Daily Pennsylvanian raised concerns that the University was withholding information it was required to disclose under federal law.

Classic movies will never look the same after seeing Strictly Funk's cinema-inspired show this weekend. The dance company is performing "Lights, Camera, Funk!" at the Iron Gate Theatre at 9 p.m. on Friday . There will be two encore performances on Saturday at 5:30 and 8:30 p.

In an election that made history on many levels, Barack Obama's presidency will mark the first time the president, vice president and both their spouses have worked in higher education. Vice President Joe Biden is an adjunct law professor at Widener University, Jill Biden teaches at a Delaware community college and Michelle Obama worked in the administration and hospital system at the University of Chicago.

While colleagues aren't yet waving farewell to Provost Ron Daniels, who was elected president of Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday, they acknowledge that his eventual successor has large shoes to fill. In just three years at Penn, Daniels has shown himself to be extremely active in the community and has made several subtle imprints on student life and academic curricula at Penn.

It was the United States that elected a president last week, but the entire world was engaged in the experience. And just like Penn students, young people around the globe tuned in to the ups and downs of the campaign process. For some international students at Penn, witnessing the American election system in action has highlighted political differences in their home countries.

That juicy burger or seductive dessert will come with an unexpected add-on in 2010: a calorie count. Philadelphia City Council passed a bill last week requiring chain restaurants to provide nutritional information on their menu boards. Chains with more than 15 locations, including national giants like McDonald's and Starbucks, as well as regional chains such as Saladworks, are now required to provide calorie counts, grams of saturated and trans fats, as well as carbohydrate and sodium information for their menu items.

When it comes to getting a job in the current economy, many students around the country are giving up on themselves and their dreams too quickly. CBS president Nancy Tellem said students should think twice before selling themselves out to the highest bidder.

Read a free copy of The New York Times every day? Download music from Ruckus? You've got Provost Ron Daniels to thank for that. Daniels, who was named Johns Hopkins University's next president yesterday, was embraced by student leaders for the enthusiasm he brought to projects devoted to improving student life.

Provost Ron Daniels will leave Penn to become the next president of Johns Hopkins University, officials announced yesterday. Daniels, who came to Penn just three and a half years ago after serving as the dean of the University of Toronto Law School, will assume his new post in early March.