Karma was a key word yesterday during Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya's trial, but not in the cosmic sense. Instead, prosecutors called to the stand experts in animal DNA testing that provided testimony about hairs found in Malinovskaya's rental car.

According to one Penn professor, the American government - not extremist groups like al-Qaeda - is to blame for the war on terror. Professor Ian Lustick asks whether the U.S.'s current conflict is necessary in his new book, Trapped in the War on Terror, which was presented to an audience of about 30 at the Penn Bookstore yesterday.

Philadelphia soccer fans aren't likely to see Major League Soccer at Franklin Field - or any other local area venue - anytime soon. Rowan University and the Milestone Group - a New York-based development group - jointly proposed to build a soccer stadium on Rowan's West Campus in Harrison Township, N.

There has never been a better time for current or past Penn students to puff our chests out when we say, "I go to Penn" or "I went to Penn." In only a dozen years, Penn has transformed itself from an Ivy doormat that admitted more than half of its applicants into a powerhouse that has reached as high as No.

A suspicious package outside the Quadrangle prompted police to evacuate the Upper Quad and Stouffer College House last night. The Philadelphia bomb squad determined with an X-ray that the package was safe, however, and no one was injured. At about 7 p.m.

When Bob Schoenberg started working at Penn's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center in 1982, a student in Gregory College House had just been beaten up in a violent incident of homophobia. Yesterday afternoon, as the LGBT Center officially opened a state-of-the-art "Cyber Center" in the Carriage House on Spruce Street, Schoenberg, now the director of the organization, said Penn had made great progress over the past 25 years.

The last time the Villanova football team was on Franklin Field, the Wildcats had just sacked Quakers' quarterback Pat McDermott inside the 5 at the buzzer to put the finishing touches on a 28-24 comeback victory.

University of Florida freshman Jason Attermann arrived on campus in Gainesville, Fla. several days before classes began in August. He didn't want the extra time to settle in, participate in a community service program or even get a head start on course readings.

Allowing your medical records to be turned over to the feds, HIPAA and the Patriot Act are partners in deception

Some federal officials want the power to monitor Internet activity on college campuses. But although Penn - and most American universities - apparently won't have to go along, they are not entirely out of the line of fire. Last year, the federal agency that regulates communication extended a law so that it could keep tabs on Internet activity, including that on college campuses.

Penn faculty revived a protest technique time-honored on college campuses last night: They staged a teach-in. For the second of three evenings, Penn Faculty & Staff Against the War on Iraq sought to make their case about the current conflict by turning the Huntsman Hall basement into an antiwar event after normal business hours ended.

The Upper Quadrangle was evacuated Thursday night because of a bomb scare, though there turned out to be no threat. At about 7 p.m., SEPTA police investigated a suspicious package on Woodland Walk outside of the 37th Street trolley station.

Nonwhite students may still be in the minority at American colleges, but the rate at which they're enrolling far surpasses their white counterparts. Statisticians at the U.S. Department of Education predict that while nationwide college enrollment will continue to grow, among minorities, there's going to be a boom.

AMBLER, Pa. - There were plenty of perplexing things about the women's soccer game at Temple yesterday. How did Penn manage to get off 21 shots? How could Temple muster only three? But most bewildering of all - how did the Owls walk away with the win? Temple managed to take down a clearly superior Penn squad 2-0 at Ambler Field in a game that the Quakers (4-1-1) would like to forget.

Florence Cohen will not be taking her late husband's spot in city government. Cohen, 88, said that she will not run as an independent for City Council, after ward leaders did not select her as the official Democratic at-large candidate for the Nov. 7 special election.

Election officials will record more than just your vote this week. Votes in the upcoming student government elections will be tallied by race and gender, among other criteria. This is part of a program thought up by the Nominations and Elections Committee - which runs student elections - and the Undergraduate Assembly designed to give minority groups more representation in student government.

When I read and think about some of the primary elections that have come and gone this year, I am immediately reminded of everything that's right and everything that's wrong with American politics today.