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.

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.

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.

Like any NFL coach worth his weight in clipboards, James Urban knew his stuff. The playbook was scripture, the game tape exquisite cinema and a quarterback's audible part of the poetic second language he'd picked up over the years. A true pupil of the pigskin, Urban had done all he could to prepare for this moment.

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

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.

Oh, to be a senior - finished with course requirements; empowered by the ability to stride past bouncers, legal ID in hand; sitting pretty with the cool confidence of a full-time job offer. Alas, this year's seniors are considerably worse off than their predecessors, at least on the job-hunting front.

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.

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.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston, Texas. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

If you're anything like me, you read Forbes for one reason and one reason only: the lists. And as anyone who knows anything will tell you, the best list ever compiled by the magazine is "World's Most Expensive Yachts." When at a loss for conversation with my more nautical peers, I have often saved face by holding forth on the relative merits of the Alysia ($116.

Before practice on Tuesday, Sophomore Tobi Olopade took a knee to lace up his soccer cleats. Just last spring, he was tying up his track spikes, which are now collecting dust. The Chicago native elected to leave the confines of Franklin Field for the plush Bermuda grass of Rhodes Field.

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.

Unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. SoccerBuzz.com National Elite Team Player of the Week. Two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week. The leader of four varsity championship teams - in three different sports - in high school. Needless to say, women's soccer senior Natalie Capuano hasn't had problems with impressing people, whether they're coaches, teammates or opponents.

With the start of a new academic year comes an annual tradition - the release of the U.S. News and World Report college rankings. And with that inevitably comes an angry response from higher-ed officials disgruntled with the rankings system. One particular component that seems to provoke outrage is the peer-assessment section, which comprises roughly 25 percent of the rankings.

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.

When Penn freshman Christian Barreiro turned down a youth team position with Celtic FC of the Scottish Premier League, he forfeited the chance to experience the "Old Firm," a bitter and l