Elizabeth Song | Reconnecting Philly

Looking for a new laptop? Forget those fancy gizmos at Computer Connection. Just north of Market Street, I spotted a hole-in-the-wall electronics store called the Super Computer Center, hosting a sidewalk sale at Depression-era rates. Old-school computers for $100.

Elizabeth Song | No chaperone? No service

Cigarettes, foie gras, and college kids. Some city restaurants are banning all three - after certain hours, that is. Even on Penn's campus, too many food and entertainment venues prohibit the underage college crowd from strolling in and nursing a Coke once the clock tolls for bedtime.

Elizabeth Song | Could you spare a smile?

It's not an uncommon scenario. You're waiting in line for the $2.50 egg white sandwich at Bui's Food Truck, and an unshaven man in scruffed-up Timberlands, reeking of stale cigarettes, asks you for change. Sister, can you spare a dime? Will you help a brother out? God bless.

Elizabeth Song | A smarter GRE exam

Just when you thought it was safe to relax, a whole slew of standardized tests is lurking around the corner. For the grad school crowd, the Educational Testing Service comes back to infect you with a nasty bout of SAT redux: MCAT, LSAT and GMAT. And don't forget the queen them all, the Graduate Record Exam.

Elizabeth Song | Trimming the fat

This Sunday night, the fate of over $1.7 million will be unveiled by the UA Budget Committee. Every spring, this mammoth sum is doled out to each of Penn's six student government branches, which carve up the money until it finally trickles down to you - the constituent.

Elizabeth Song | Fighting back

Thhhwack! That's the sound of bare skin against foam padding as I smack the daylights out of an oncoming assailant. Don't worry. Hidden behind the pads is none other than my smiling instructor, Michelle Ray. This simple exercise is part of my first lesson in physical self-defense.

Elizabeth Song | Stuck in traffic

Cars and Philadelphia streets are a match made in hell. The circulation situation is a heart attack waiting to happen. Rush hour traffic glides through city streets as easily as cheesesteaks and scrapple slide down clogged arteries. With SEPTA buses and taxi cabs jostling for room, motorists navigate circuitous routes down potholed streets.

Elizabeth Song | College House haven

To stay on campus or move off? That is the question of the moment. Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the hand holding and formalities that surround on-campus living or end them by joining the off-campus exodus. Before I begin, let me disclose a little bit about myself.

Elizabeth Song | Buried in a sea of paper

They're taking over campus. You've probably spotted them around. Stuffed in back pockets or tacked to bulletin boards. Full sheet or quarter page. Glossy or matte. Whether you love making flyers or love tearing them to shreds, you can't deny we're buried in them.

Elizabeth Song | Putting on the Ritz

Welcome to University City, land of the $4 Starbucks latte and home of the $48 American Apparel sweatshirt. The 300 acres of land that Penn owns in University City rise above the desolate, crime-ridden lands of West Philadelphia like the Emerald City over Oz.

Elizabeth Song | Saving humanity through human research

Saving the world and getting paid for it may only be a pinprick, x-ray or survey away. Whether you're strapped for cash this holiday season or simply looking to get on Santa's good list, go out and volunteer for a Penn research study. At first glance, the transformation from student to experimental subject may seem daunting.

Elizabeth Song | How West Philly was won

Before Judith Rodin ascended to the Penn presidency and busted the West Philadelphia crime cartels, there was the 45th Street mosque and its war on drugs. In the early 1990s, West Philly was at the center of a murderous imbroglio of gang wars and gun violence.

Elizabeth Song | Ending a vicious cycle

Hell hath no fury like a cyclist doored. Last week, that cyclist was me. And that door was attached to the body of a black Chevy pick-up, which collided with my right knee. For campus cyclists, the sound of a car door popping open is a lot like the sound of a cocked gun.

Elizabeth Song | I'm singin' in the streets

It's New York, 1967. You turn onto 128th and Lexington Avenue and right on the corner is Dizzy Gillespie and his coterie of jazz musicians playing up a storm. Their audience is a mix of housewives in aprons, old couples sitting on front porches and children dancing in the street.

Elizabeth Song | How not to fight racism

Imagine if an internal bleep censor screened out all the inappropriate words you heard everyday. You know, the ones that are shown as *@#&! in Sunday morning comic strips. That's the idea New York City Council members put into play last February when they passed a symbolic ban on the n-word.

Guest Columnist | Stuck outside in a sweltering city

If you can't beat the heat, you might as well embrace it. That was my philosophy for signing up for Bikram yoga in the middle of Philadelphia's recent summer heat wave.

Guest Columnist | A different sort of July 4th

In Philadelphia's graveyards, history comes alive. Take a stroll through the cobble-stoned heart of Old City, and you'll find some of America's earliest burial grounds. Christ Church Burial Ground is one of these. On the corner of 5th and Arch streets, the church's property holds the graves of seven signers of the Declaration of Independence, including that of Benjamin Franklin.

Guest Columnist | Building a diet on $5 a day

Watch out, Rachel Ray. If you think America on $40 a day is a challenge, consider this: The maximum food stamp benefit for one American tops out at less than $40 a week. With a little number crunching, that comes to about $5 for three square meals a day. Admittedly, the federal food stamp program is usually just meant to supplement low-income budgets.

Elizabeth Song | Don't censor Santa Claus

Too much emphasis on political correctness during the holidays is a lose-lose situation for all.

Elizabeth Song | A new threat to women's rights

President Bush's nominee to head his family-planning and teen-pregnancy programs is a staunch abortion foe.