Opinion

Julie Steinberg | Preparing for Boomsday

The federal government is in trouble. No, not for the usual litany of reasons concerning diplomatic blunders abroad, lack of unilateral credibility or a skyrocketing deficit. This time, it's about Boomsday - the looming retirement of thousands of baby boomers from the government.

Editorial | Getting connected

You can buy books, pay your bills or order clothes online. So why can't you register to vote? Political groups like Rock the Vote offer easy-to-use Web sites which include printable forms, but many states - including Pennsylvania - still require residents to mail in voter registration papers.

Editorial | SHS gets a makeover

The new face of Student Health Service is just what the doctor ordered. Thanks to the new facilities at 3535 Market St., SHS can handle more patients any day. The new space more than doubles the number of patient rooms and gives clinicians, nurses, administrative staff and other employees more room to go about their respective business.

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston, Texas. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Jacob Schutz | Getting past 43rd Street

As the Class of 2012 arrives on campus, they will be thrust into a bewildering new environment with little to no operational knowledge. What food trucks to go to (Yue Kee and Magic Carpet), what classes to take (Creative Writing) and where - or more importantly where not - to go within West Philadelphia? As usual, the University has provided information on this last question to incoming freshmen through an imposing presentation of the Penn patrol zone.

Ryan Benjamin | What lies beneath

Normally I wouldn't waste my time perusing a site like Juicy Campus, because it's just a bunch of anonymous kids gossiping and venting anger. But when a fit of boredom recently brought me to the site, I discovered something I never expected. One of Penn's posts, "Ghetto Tours on Campus," caught my eye.

Your Voice | Letters

Refocusing the drinking discussion To the Editor: President Gutmann notes that she has not seen conclusive evidence confirming the claim "that the higher drinking age causes increased levels of binge drinking" ("Gutmann: Drinking-Age debate needed" 8/28/08).

Mordechai Treiger | No trays for you!

About 15 minutes before most students returned to Philadelphia, they were instructed to return their tray tables to the full upright and locked position. Better advice would have been to carry them off the plane: Trays on Penn's campus have begun to make themselves scarce.

Dani Wexler | Study abroad for all

'Donde esta la tortuga?" I would ask my friend. "La Tortuga esta en el agua," she would matter-of-factly reply. Such was the extent of my command of the Spanish language during the three-week trip I took to Spain last summer. For those of you who are similarly unfamiliar with the language, this question-answer phrase is translated as, "Where is the turtle?" "The turtle is in the water.

Opinion Art | Jennifer Lesser

Jennifer Lesser is a College junior from Minneapolis, Minn. Her e-mail address is lesser@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Editorial | Flawed, but still valuable

With the start of a new academic year comes an annual tradition - the release of the U.S. News and World Report college rankings. And with that inevitably comes an angry response from higher-ed officials disgruntled with the rankings system. One particular component that seems to provoke outrage is the peer-assessment section, which comprises roughly 25 percent of the rankings.

Stephen Krewson | We're number (sixty) one!

If you're anything like me, you read Forbes for one reason and one reason only: the lists. And as anyone who knows anything will tell you, the best list ever compiled by the magazine is "World's Most Expensive Yachts." When at a loss for conversation with my more nautical peers, I have often saved face by holding forth on the relative merits of the Alysia ($116.

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston, Texas. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Lisa Zhu | Go abroad, young man

Oh, to be a senior - finished with course requirements; empowered by the ability to stride past bouncers, legal ID in hand; sitting pretty with the cool confidence of a full-time job offer. Alas, this year's seniors are considerably worse off than their predecessors, at least on the job-hunting front.

Amy Gutmann | It's time to explore

The 19th century British statesman Benjamin Disraeli described the ideal university as "a place of light, of liberty and of learning." For Penn students who want to make their mark on the 21st century, Penn is providing the most dynamic, lovely and liberating learning environment in our proud history by allowing students to stretch their minds, develop their leadership skills and learn from great professors and peers.

David Lei | New year, new paper

I spent a few hours at the Student Activities Fair yesterday talking to new students about Penn and The Daily Pennsylvanian. It was exciting to be back in the thick of things and to look forward to the new academic year. This semester, in particular, we'll be seeing a lot of changes.

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

Alicia Puglionesi is a College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Meet your Fall 2008 columnists!

Adam Goodman | Advice nobody tells you

There are two things wide-eyed freshmen can't seem to get enough of during NSO: drinking and advice. The former will be concentrated in periodic outbursts of debauchery, but the latter will be unforgivingly relentless, largely unhelpful and almost uniformly corny.

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

Alicia Puglionesi is a College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.