Aaron Stein

Sayre High School's new health center won't be your normal high-school nurse's office Officials broke ground late last month on a new $1.2 million health center at Sayre, located at 58th and Walnut streets, saying the new building will be a boon for both Sayre students and the West Philadelphia community.

A relaxed atmosphere, class evaluations, maybe some donuts: These are the traits that characterize the last days of class at Penn. But the bar may have been raised yesterday, when Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of The Tipping Point and Blink, and rising musical star Kenna appeared on campus to lecture at Sociology professor David Grazian's "Sociology of Media and Pop Culture" class.

Looks like it's out with the old - and out with the Nu. After a few incidents at a Sigma Nu-sponsored party this weekend at Club 27 downtown, the IFC announced on Monday that it would be suspending the fraternity's charter indefinitely and that they would lose their house at 38th and Walnut streets at the end of the semester.

In most cases, "school" tends not to rank among students' most popular spring break destinations. But for a group of 30 Philadelphia high schoolers, visiting a Penn Anatomy Lab, performing neurological exams and listening to Psychiatry professor Benoit Dube show a Justin Timberlake video-spoof about "Bringing Paxil Back" is a long way from "school.

Tyler Morris shrugs his shoulders at Philadelphia's degree of bike-friendliness. "It's average," said Morris, a College junior and a daily bike rider. "They make an effort to accomodate bikers." But if Alex Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, has his way, bicycling in Philadelphia will never again be just an "average" experience.

Geoffrey See's creation of the EduHealth program opened two doors. One was for himself, and the other is for hundreds of West Philadelphia students both now and in the future. After arriving on campus this fall, the Wharton and College freshman has engaged in research relating to urban health education, ultimately developing a project known as EduHealth.

A resident of Southwest Philadelphia, Cheryl Thomas has been working at the Starbucks Coffee in 1920 Commons for two years. Ethel Gurley is a janitor with Penn Facilities and has been working at Penn for over five years. She says she "loves it." In all probability, neither would have been on campus 10 years ago, had the University and the Health System not made a concerted effort to hire more minorities and women from the surrounding community.

The City of Philadelphia decided this month to reduce the police presence at the MOVE house - originally installed to prevent the area from becoming a hotbed for violence.

The commercials recently developed by the University were not shown during Penn's NCAA Tournament game last Thursday because CBS decided not to broadcast any university advertisements during this year's tournament, Vice President of University Communications Lori Doyle said Friday.

With the Philadelphia School District facing budget cuts of $67 million, it's possible that funding for Penn's partnerships with West Philadelphia may take a hit once again. City officials announced last week that the school district will have to cut $67 million in programs next year unless the city and state governments contribute a significant amount of increased revenue.