Chair and professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology Brian Strom has been appointed vice dean for institutional affairs in the School of Medicine and senior adviser to the provost for global health initiatives, according to a press release from the Office of the Provost.

Part four in a four-part series Quantifying QualityThis week, the 'DP' looks at the history and impact of the 'U.S. News' rankingsMonday: Penn's rise through the rankingsTuesday: An analysis of ranking criteriaYesterday: The history of the rankingsToday: 'U.

After graduating his starting quarterback Brad Maurer and All-Patriot League tailback Jonathan Hurt, Lafayette head coach Frank Tavani wasn't sure who would step up to lead the team's offense. But Shaun Adair might have changed that when he returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown in the Leopards' blowout win over Marist to start the season.

Nursing senior Eric Bowles not only finished the race, but his record - 10 hours, 6 minutes - earned him first place in the 18 to 24 age group in the Louisville qualifying round.

Since the Ivy League was formed in 1954, Cornell hasn't won an outright title. And after last year's 3-4 Ivy record, it wouldn't seem that the Big Red were on the right track. But with almost every single statistical leader returning, optimism is running high in Ithaca, even if few others take notice.

Penn students generally don't agree on much, but one thing they seem united in is their distaste for Penn's online technology. And for good reason. Penn Course Review is poorly configured and needlessly time consuming. As for PennPortal, it may have been cutting edge when it was introduced in the mid-1990s, but now your average computer-science major could draw up a far superior, more intuitive design.

Unlike the last two seasons, both the secondary and the defensive line return a good number of starters. With a balance of experience across each, the defense looks to be stronger than in the past few years..

Yale is not used to being in this position, at least not its current roster. A surprise co-champion last year, the Bulldogs find themselves as this year's favorite. In the preseason media poll Yale took a resounding 14 of 16 first-place votes, the first time the team has been picked to win since 2000.

Last season, the Princeton football team shared the rights to its first Ivy League title since 1995. They beat the co-champs, Yale, in New Haven. Now they have 14 returning starters and snuck into the preseason Coaches Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) at No.

Gas leaks, transformer malfunctions, electrical fires, oh my! While not exactly a trip through Oz, students living off-campus have recently had to deal with a different type of problem - a recent deluge of fires and power outages. After incidents on the 3900 block of Delancey Street and at 41st and Walnut streets, among others, gas, electrical and Division of Public Safety officials say they have solved the immediate problems surrounding those incidents.

At first glance, Penn freshmen offensive linemen Joe D'Orazio and Joe McKendry have little in common beyond a first name. They look as different as two offensive linemen could be expected to look. Standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing 275 pounds, the red-haired McKendry dwarfs his fellow linemates.

It has been over a week and electrical fires continue to crop up around campus. Residents have been displaced, put in harm's way, and forced to guess when their power will go out next. The first fire at 41st and Walnut streets last Monday could have been forgiven as a malfunction - that is, if PECO hadn't taken 30 minutes to arrive on the scene.

Officially, Penn is a school where student and faculty loyalties lie with the Red and Blue. But for University administrators, going green is increasingly becoming an appealing alternative.

Theft Sept. 5 - Three student laptops were taken an unsecured room in the New Chemistry building, located at 231 S. 34th St., at about 1:45 p.m. Sept. 5 - A male student reported that his secured vehicle had been broken into and his GPS system taken from Garage 40 at about 2:45 p.

The Penn field hockey team has already made history in its 2007 campaign. Too bad it's negative history. This year's 0-4 loss start, including a 3-1 loss to Harvard in its only Ivy League game, is tied for the worst start for the Quakers since they opened with five losses in 2001.

With on-campus recruiting right around the corner, Nursing students may have an easier time than other seniors in the job hunt. There is currently a national shortage of about 150,000 nurses in the country, and, by 2015, that figure is expected to reach about 700,000 as today's nurses reach retirement age.