Even with the rising costs of flights and related fees this summer, students traveling great distances to Penn found themselves mostly unaffected. According to industry experts, a troubled economy and high oil prices have helped drive ticket and fee prices up.

Philadelphia could see heavy rains and strong winds this weekend as a result of Tropical Storm Hanna.

As the textbook industry adapts to the digital age, it is harnessing technology in a search for solutions to perennial frustrations over high costs. Most stakeholders agree that the future of textbooks is electronic, but their motives and methods are different.

Two former employees of the University filed discrimination lawsuits against Penn over the summer. In one case, Lucretia Nelson, a former employee at the University's Medical Center, is charging the Medical Center with harassment based on national origin and retaliation.

Rep. Bob Brady is starting things off here in northeastern Philly at the Ironworkers Union. Lots of union members in the audience, and the kind of working class voters Biden needs to appeal to on behalf of Obama.

Federal authorities yesterday accused Children's Hospital of Philadelphia electrician William Gould of placing a hangman's noose in the work area of a black colleague. Gould, 62, left the noose where his colleague would find it on Aug. 11, according to a press release from the U.

View Larger Map Getting lost in the whir of resources available at Penn can be easy, and help is available - if students know where to find it. Cultural community groups make an extra effort at the beginning of the year to publicize their resources to new students.

It might seem like political deja vu. After the critical Democractic primary battle between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Pennsylvania is gearing up for its role as a general-election battleground state. Both Obama and his Republican challenger, Sen.

By JESSICA RIEGEL Staff Writer jriegel@dailypennsylvanian.com As textbook publishers navigate a contentious market, they are attacked on many fronts. Rhetorically, they are confronted by angry student activists; financially, by a booming used book market; and now legislatively, by attempts to curb practices said to inflate book prices and make college less affordable.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Both political parties know they need Pennsylvania to win the presidential election, and both parties think they can get it. All eyes were on the state - which is considered one of the most important battleground states and has given its electoral votes to the Democratic Party since 1992 - at the Democratic and Republican conventions, and Pennsylvania's politicians were given prominent speaking roles.

This year, in addition to a new dean, eight of the 22 admissions officers in Penn's Undergraduate Admissions department are recent hires.

Yesterday, Student Health Services performed 100 more exams than they do on a typical day as Penn athletes flooded in to get their physicals. And, thanks to its new building, they could handle the influx.

Locals call the traffic triangles along Baltimore Avenue "barren" and "boring." But two 13-foot-tall ironwork planters spilling over with wisteria blossoms may grace those triangles in a few years, if University City residents soon voice strong support for their installation.

Some rooms in Rodin College House are missing smoke detectors. Several students have reported that where the smoke detectors in their rooms should be, there are only exposed cords dangling from the ceiling. Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said the smoke detectors are only one component of three layers of fire protection, including a sprinkler system and a fully addressable fire alarm system.

The Obama campaign wants easy voter registration to be just a click away. With this goal in mind, the campaign has launched a voter-registration Web site in an effort to make registration straightforward, actor Kal Penn and Facebook co-creator Chris Hughes said in a conference call organized by the Obama campaign last night.

NSO: an entire week devoted to introducing new students to the campus and what is has to offer academically and socially. For most, it's a whirlwind of informational sessions, ice breakers, parties and awkward situations. Once students have passed their early years at Penn though, their NSO experience changes dramatically.

In a textbook industry strained by persistent debates over rising prices, many students' cure for high costs may also be a cause. The used book market is booming, but publishers say it is draining their profits and driving up prices. Cash-strapped students, who spend about $900 on books each year, want lower bills while publishers want to maintain profit in a changing marketplace - a tug-of-war that represents one of many challenges in an industry that is frust