Once again, politics is coming before the health of Philadelphia citizens. After City Council finally came together - despite years of infighting - to ban smoking in restaurants, Mayor John Street is threatening to once again ruin everything. The mayor must veto or sign the bill by 10 a.

Hispanic Magazine has rated the University fifth in the nation for Hispanic students. The magazine measured selectivity, graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratios, Hispanic enrollment, cultural programs and organizations, the percentage of Hispanic faculty and the percentage of students receiving financial aid.

Almost a cliche - even during its immediate aftermath - the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center was, according to eyewitnesses and witnesses of the television, "like a film." In their struggle to articulate the unimaginable that they saw, individuals would repeatedly compare that horror of burning and collapsing buildings to the disaster films that have become Hollywood currency in recent decades.

Stronger community service efforts, improved curricula at local schools and a diverse student body may sound like Christmas in September for many West Philadelphia residents. But such may be the benefit of letting teenagers study what they love, Penn officials say, adding that the ripple effects of a new internationally themed high school in the area could reach beyond the schoolhouse walls and into the surrounding community.

One hundred University employees are about to become eligible to get a pillbox they won't have to worry about misplacing. Employees with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol will receive access to a Med-eMonitor System that will alert them when it is time to take medications and tell them how to follow their health care plans.

With a win against Ivy rival Princeton last season 38-12, the Penn sprint football team was able to close out the season on a high note.

There are 10,422 undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania. 51 percent of those undergraduates are female and 49 percent are male. Based on those numbers, one would expect that the ratio of male-to-female athletes would be nearly 1:1 as well. There are 10,422 undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania. 51 percent of those undergraduates are female and 49 percent are male. Based on those numbers, one would expect that the ratio of male-to-female athletes would be nearly 1:1 as well.

Finals week usually brings stress, headaches and sleep deprivation, but for Laura Salcido, it was a time to celebrate.

While earning praise from many in higher education as well as newspapers' editorial pages, Harvard University's plan to eliminate its early-action program has left the students who will be actually be affected less than unanimous in their endorsement. The new policy - which Harvard has said is intended to allow lower-income students to compare financial aid packages without being at a disadvantage to students who apply early - will go into effect for the Class of 2012 with a single application deadline on Jan.

No, College Hall was not on fire. The crowd of firefighters and Penn Public Safety officials on College Green yesterday were assembled to perform several demonstrations as part of Campus Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness Month.

The Philadelphia basketball conference, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last season, isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Penn, La Salle, Temple, Saint Joseph's and Villanova have all agreed to continue participating in the round-robin format for men and women's basketball through the 2009-10 season.

After a long night of filling out job applications, Engineering senior Jonathan Lehr sat down at 1 a.m. yesterday morning to play some good, old-fashioned video games with his three roommates. "Who's player one? 'Cause I just [expletive] you up," Lehr yelled at his roommates as all of them played the first-person-shooter game Perfect Dark.

Featuring anacondas, leeches, screams of both pain and euphoria and a great deal of vomit, the movie Jackass: Number Two lived up to the raucous reputation of the series - and then some. The Social Planning and Events Committee Film Society held a sneak preview of the second installment of Jackass: The Movie yesterday at Annenberg's Zellerbach Theatre.

In a few months, all that will remain of the old Hillel building, a dilapidated brick structure in the center of campus, are photographs, a plaque on the wall of Steinhardt Hall and the memories of alumni and former staff - bad and good.

Several weeks ago, it looked as if Penn's season-opening football contest against Lafayette could face a slight problem - the lack of a suitable stadium. Lafayette had undertaken an extensive, two-part renovation of Fisher Field - with a $23 million price tag - that would make even the highest-profile coaches smile.

Although the Penn volleyball team lost all three games at the Comfort Suites Invitational last weekend, it didn't come away empty-handed. After returning from Charlotte, N.C., the Quakers now have a better idea of what they need to do to succeed.

Insurance and design woes continue to dominate news of Ground Zero and the fate of a permanent memorial.