Eric Furda won't be making any decisions about the class of 2012, but is already planning how the class of 2013 will interact with Penn. On Monday, Furda, who was appointed Penn's next dean of admissions in January, began his transitional role as a special assistant to the president.

Last week, I went to my commencement. Or at least I'm pretending I did. It was everything I wanted in a great graduation speech. A famous, influential speaker. Inspiring rhetoric. I left with a sense that no matter what I set my mind to, I would be able to change the world.

A place that most students haven't heard of will soon become the site of the greenest building owned by Penn. The Horticulture Center at the Morris Arboretum, a project that could cost up to $11 million to be completed, is currently being designed by a team of architectural firms from around the country.

Although Penn raised more money than ever before last year, a recent report reflects that its fundraising has fallen slightly behind compared to its peers. According to an annual report published by the Council for Aid to Education in late February, Penn ranked seventh out of over 1,023 universities in total charitable fundraising for 2007.

The decimated women's softball team was only able to keep it together for so long. Already at only 14 players, the roster was further whittled down to 11 thanks to illness and exams before yesterday's doubleheader at Delaware. In fact, the situation was so dire that King rang up Penn soccer midfielder Natalie Capuano - who last played softball in high school - to temporarily join the team.

Beneath Penn's Upper Quad greens, through an extensive, underground network of hidden tunnels, stands Ware College House Dean Nathan Smith. These low-ceiling, secret passageways, which Smith describes as "bizarre," are just one of Smith's discoveries from his time spent living in the Quad.

For far too long college students have avoided the political process, neglecting their right to vote. This theme is old and tired, but true. In 2004, only a bit more than 40 percent of 18-to-24-year olds voted in the presidential election. Nevertheless, as statistics start to roll in from yesterday's primaries in Texas and Ohio, the national media will remind us once more this election season that young Americans are finally voting.

Universities around the country have long struggled with how to best meet the needs of minority groups. Case in point: the controversy over single-sex exercise facilities. While some religious groups have requested such spaces, Harvard's policy of shutting off an entire gym for female-only exercise is both unnecessary and unreasonable.

Alicia Puglionesi is a College junior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Security has been increased around the Law School over the past several days in response to a student who has exhibited signs of unstable behavior.

With spring break fast approaching, students are already starting to think about their courses for next fall. At least a dozen institutions across the country are mandating that one of those courses be an internship at some point in the college career. While some departments at Penn build work experience into curriculum requirements - such as the work component of the Urban Studies major and clinical rotations for nursing students - Dean of the College Dennis DeTurck said the College has no plans to impose a general mandate.

Today's primaries in Ohio and Texas could very well determine the fate of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign - and the importance of Pennsylvania's April 22 primary.

Four thousand dollars per minute, or a total of $1.72 million over the course of seven hours- that's how much money the Undergraduate Assembly allocated to various student-government groups at its annual budget meeting this past Sunday evening. An increase of 6 percent from last year's budget, the $1.

Hospital patients who experience cardiac arrests are more likely to die during nights and weekends compared with the daytime, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This report raises questions about the differences between the care received in emergency rooms during regular working hours and the graveyard shifts.

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

A woman was robbed on the 4000 block of Locust Street at about 9:40 p.m. on Thursday, according to Lt. John Walker of the Philadelphia Police.