With both skyrocketing theft on campus and economic troubles making local and national headlines, the relationship between the two has come into question. As rates of property crime have been rising across the across the nation, some experts have pointed to a link between the state of the economy and crime.

Just because the political circus has left Pennsylvania, the race for the Democratic primary isn't over - and for some students, the hard work is just beginning. Whether it's traveling across the country as the remaining nine contests are decided or staying in Philadelphia to organize volunteers, several Penn students plan to spend their summers working with a presidential campaign.

The living room of the Kelly Writers House was packed yesterday with Penn students and Philadelphia residents alike to hear a reading by the poet Jerome Rothenberg. Rothenberg, the author of over 70 books of poetry, is the last of three Kelly Writers House Fellows to visit Penn's campus this spring.

Next year, Penn should be a little bit greener with the recent announcement that Dan Garofalo will be the University's first-ever sustainability coordinator. Garofalo - currently senior facilities planner at the Office of the University Architect - will be responsible for forming Penn's strategy to minimize waste, make transportation more environmentally friendly and conserve energy throughout campus.

A new software program is on the market to try to help universities increase the diversity of their admitted classes while avoiding discrimination litigation. The program, Applications Quest, sorts students whom admissions officers have already deemed as qualified for admission into clusters of similar applicants based on a number of factors, such as hometown, major, GPA, race and legacy status.

Can't use up all your meals? You're not alone. Penn's meal plan system has long been a source of dissatisfaction among students, whose complaints range from the high price of plans to dining halls' limited hours of operation. And as the semester comes to a close, students are often left with dozens of unused meals.

College students socialize 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and one Penn student wants to create a Web site to make interacting with peers even easier. DormNoise.com - which will launch this June - is a college exclusive social-networking Web site created by Wharton freshman Jay Rodrigues.

Have you ever dreamed of breaking into the performing arts industry? Five alumni have done just that and shared their experiences with students yesterday at the Platt Student Performing Arts House 2008 Alumni Performing Arts Career Symposium. The five College alumni panelists featured included David Hilder '89, Gabriel Mann '95, Eduardo Placer '99, Lillian Ringel '07 and Jennifer Weber '00.

A Philadelphia judge found Wharton junior Felix Qu not guilty on assault charges last week. Qu, 20, had been accused of striking his girlfriend in the face after an argument during winter break. He had been charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

With the desire to learn foreign languages steadily increasing, graduate students have found a way to hone their conversation skills outside of the classroom. "Language chats" - organized by and often conducted at the Graduate Student Center - bring together students to discuss anything from politics to spring break plans in a foreign language.

The Undergraduate Assembly elected College sophomore Claire Choi as its new secretary for the 2008-2009 executive board last night. Choi won in a vote of nine to eight against College sophomore Benny Laitman. "I hope we can reach out and make more in-person efforts for publicity," said Choi, who added that she was looking forward to forming both a communications and a social committee as well as issuing UA press releases.

As Delta Sigma Theta's "Devastating Divas" stomped into the spotlight of Irvine Auditorium's stage Saturday night, they were greeted by the screams and cheers of a sold-out audience. The Devastating Divas were a part of "Stomping On the Yard," a national step show and scholarship competition that involves over a million students belonging to nine fraternal organizations called "The Divine Nine.

The American health-care system is under-equipped to serve the rapidly aging generation of baby boomers, according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine, and medical schools must step up. While some schools, like Penn, have developed programs to improve training in geriatric medicine, it's still a challenge to get students to specialize in the field.

Five years ago, Mylan Marvelous opened his store to address what he saw as a glaring lack of places to buy music and comics in West Philadelphia. Now, music has become the sole priority for The Marvelous, his store located below Smokey Joe's near 40th and Walnut streets.

With gas prices sitting at $3.51 a gallon nationwide, many people are finding it harder to get around. These same prices are making it more expensive for institutions like Penn to fund construction projects. Recent economic troubles - especially rising fuel prices - are driving up construction costs, forcing universities and developers to plan ahead and take steps aimed at saving money.

Who do Senator John McCain's advisors want him to face in November's presidential election? According to Elisabeth Bumiller, a political affairs reporter for The New York Times, the answer is Illinois Senator Barack Obama. "They feel they have a better case against Obama," said Bumiller, who has covered McCain's campaign ever since he won the New Hampshire primary in January.

As finals week approaches, teaching assistants across the university are probably gearing up for long nights spent answering last-minute questions over e-mails and extra office hours. However, they did have an opportunity to relax with free food and drinks last night at the Graduate Student Center, where the University honored 12 TAs for Excellence in Teaching.