Priyanka Dev

After 33 years away from Penn's campus, 1975 Law School alumnus Jeffrey Cooper will return on July 1 to take over as the new Vice President for Government and Community Affairs. Currently the chief counsel for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the executive deputy general counsel to Gov.

Actor Kalpen Modi-more fondly known as Kal Penn - conquered Hollywood after his hit movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. But, with students raving about his Asian American Studies class as the semester ends, it seems Modi has conquered something perhaps more significant than teenage humor: the field of academia.

While many Penn students juggle academics, extracurricular activities and a social life, there is still one thing left for many to learn to balance - a checkbook. With the importance of financial literacy - knowledge of how to manage a credit-card to how to create a budget, for example - growing each and every year, trend-setting colleges all over the nation are reaching out to their students and expanding the financial advising resources available to them.

Art History professor Michael Leja and Annenberg visiting scholar Don Mitchell were recently awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation. This year, more than 2,600 applicants applied for the fellowship, which provides grant money to scholars, artists and writers conducting research in over 75 diverse fields of study.

Many students across the country may scramble to get funding for the next academic year, but for now Penn administrators say students should not be worried. In response to the national credit crisis, banks and private lenders across the country have been cutting or eliminating student loan programs, creating a shortage of available funds.

With only weeks left until the end of the academic year, JPMorgan Chase, the investment firm that acquired Bear Stearns last month, has started rescinding offers made last fall for summer internships and full-time positions. But the investment firm is not leaving students completely empty-handed.

The University was awarded its highest credit rating ever by credit rating agency Standard and Poor's last month. S&P; upgraded Penn's credit rating from an AA to AA+, the second highest rating possible, in its annual evaluation. "It reflects favorably on our financial and institutional reputation," Vice President of Finance and Treasury Stephen Golding said.

Pamela Anderson, Playboy and Maxim, look out. Diamond, a Harvard-based magazine featuring semi-clothed or naked students, may be the new erotica magazine of choice on Penn's campus next year. The magazine - which has garnered national media attention - is set to release May 12 and has already stirred up controversy among students at Harvard and Penn.

The typical "American-dream" family - complete with pet, SUV and soccer-mom - has in recent decades given way to an increasing number of divorced and single-parent families. As a result, colleges like Penn may have to rethink traditional formulas in financial aid and admissions.

Tuition and fees are set to increase by 4.5 percent next year - the smallest annual increase Penn has seen in the last seven years - bringing the price of an undergraduate academic year to $37,526. According to a March 18 press release, University trustees met last week to determine the tuition increase for the coming academic year.