Emily Schultheis

When I look back at the timid 18-year-old who showed up on campus four years ago, I realized that my time at Penn has been full of change.

With just days to go before next Tuesday’s primary, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) are tied for the Democratic Senate nomination.

The primary allows voters to choose their party’s nominee for a number of state and federal positions. This year, it includes the contested Democratic Senate race between incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter and U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who represents Pennsylvania’s 7th District.

Experts say Specter, formerly a Democrat — and formerly a former Republican ­— made the switch because he faced a tough primary against his opponent, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.).

Despite the huge amount of media and legislative drama surrounding health care reform, most Penn students know little about the specifics of the bill that the president signed this week.

Student leaders say that outside specific groups supporting the candidated, the election is much less pervasive on campus than the 2008 primary, when students widely volunteered for Obama or Clinton and attended political events around the city.

A breakdown of who gets counted in the U.S. Census and how to ensure you are counted correctly in the 2010 Census.

The 2008 election may be over, but the members of Penn’s Students for Sestak group have found a new kind of change they can believe in.

Penn for Specter says the senator’s switch from the Republican to Democratic party last April is a mark of courage, not cowardice.

Confusion over where students are counted in the census has lead to miscounts in the past, but Penn students and staff are doing their part to make Penn’s count as seamless as possible.