College students don't read - at least not outside of class. At least that's what several recent studies and many students have led us to believe. Some professors beg to differ. Over the past 20 years, the percentage of 17-year-olds who do not read for pleasure has doubled from 18 to 36 percent, according to a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts report.

Jocelyn Kirsch - a former Drexel University student and the ex-girlfriend and identity-theft scam partner of 2005 Penn alumnus Edward Anderton - was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison. A federal judge also ordered Kirsch to pay $100,000 in restitution and to be supervised by a probation officer for five years after she is released from prison.

Police are still looking for the gunman of a Friday night shooting at 40th and Ludlow streets that killed one man and seriously injured another. The shootings took place at 10:52 p.m. on Friday, according to Officer Jill Russell, a Philadelphia Police spokeswoman.

In honor of the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty last Friday, Wharton '05 alumnus Gabriel Mandujano examined the poverty issue just blocks away from central campus. In honor of the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty last Friday, 2005 Wharton alumnus Gabriel Mandujano examined the poverty issue just blocks away from central campus.

Health officials have started preparing for the upcoming flu season - but they're not making any predictions about its severity. Predictions for upcoming seasons are difficult to make, as many factors change from one year to the next. Besides ordering vaccinations, making sure students have all the resources for immunization and being vigilant, little else can be done in anticipation of the season.

A number of new stores and restaurants around University City are preparing for their grand openings, some as soon as the end of the month. Naked Chocolate Cafe opens later this month near 34th and Walnut streets, with Capogiro Gelato Artisans, Jimmy John's sandwich shop, CVS pharmacy and Chipotle Mexican Grill scheduled to open soon after.

Two shootings occurred Friday night at 40th and Ludlow streets, killing one man and seriously injuring another. Terrence Davis, 18, was shot once in the back and was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 2:10 a.m. Saturday, according to Officer Jill Russell, a Philadelphia Police spokeswoman.

Six Penn faculty members - the most from any institution nationwide - have been inducted into the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The group, a non-governmental organization that advises the nation on health- and science-related matters, announced its 65 newest members earlier this week.

Last year during Philadelphia's mayoral race, the city's crime rate was a major talking point for Michael Nutter and perhaps contributed to his landslide victory. But while crime is a prominent issue in Philadelphia politics, it has been largely ignored on the presidential campaign trail this fall.

During the final presidential debate on Wednesday night, fewer than a dozen students crowded around a living room TV, tuned in to Fox News and cheered on their candidate: Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee. On a largely liberal campus, the College Republicans are ready to share their message with whomever is willing to listen.

A vacant West Philadelphia lot is being prepared for the relocation of the city's only secure youth detention facility - but the elementary school across the street is so unhappy about the move that it also intends to relocate, according to the school's chief administrative officer.

After a healthy helping of hearing John McCain boast about "Joe the plumber" in Wednesday's presidential debate, journalist Katha Pollitt helped to ease the tension of the political race while discussing her views at Houston Hall last night. Tackling issues such as abortion, poverty, human rights and foreign policy in her writing, Pollitt considers herself a feminist columnist.

From financial crises to city-flattening natural disasters, the United States is a nation at risk. It is the management of that risk that is important, argues Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who spoke at Penn yesterday about these issues at the federal level.

With more people registered as Democrats than as Republicans in both Philadelphia and the state, Pennsylvania is looking a lot less like a swing state. But experts say more registered Democrats won't necessarily result in a victory for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

YouTube-addicts beware - more distractions are on their way. The video-streaming Web site is in the process of loading several full-length episodes of TV shows such as Star Trek, Beverly Hills 90210 and MacGyver onto the site. This is a test run of YouTube's new "theater format," which features higher video quality and longer selections than the usual YouTube clips, and the player dims the rest of the applications open on screen.

Fraternity houses are not known for being spotless - especially when some of the inhabitants shed all over the carpet. But that's a price the brothers of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house are willing to pay for the company of Brando and Callie. Brando, a yellow Labrador Retriever, and his sister Callie, a Chocolate Lab, can often be found at house parties and late night get-togethers stealing all the ladies and lapping up the attention.

You know her as president, but now Amy Gutmann is taking on the role of professor, too. School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rebecca Bushnell announced last week that Penn President Amy Gutmann has been named the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor in Political Science.