Jerome Chen

The number of minority graduate students is up - but the social and academic support for those students isn't keeping pace. Minorities, women and international students made up most of the two-percent growth in graduate students this past year, according to a recent report issued by the Council of Graduate Schools.

One Psychology class has students peering deep into their minds. No, it's not divination. It's Psychology assistant professor Amishi Jha's study about how the brain perceives reality. It's not your average science class, though. Instead of reading about psychological studies in textbooks, students design experiments on their own and head to the functional magnetic resonance imaging lab to conduct them.

Penn's newest journalists are working right in the classroom - and they are writing in French. Students in French lecturer Lisa Britton's French 140 often assume the role of journalists who travel the French-speaking world and report back to their fellow students.

The shuttle to Center City is back, but only for night owls. Recent safety concerns have prompted the University to create a new trial shuttle service that will provide door-service transportation as east as Broad Street. Despite the University's decision to shelve the Octobus shuttle service last week, officials believe that a late-night shuttle service to Center City is an important component of a comprehensive safety plan.

It's the end of the line for the Octobus. The University believes that ridership on last month's Octobus trial was too low to merit a permanent service, despite optimism from the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. The 13-seat evening-shuttle service, which ran every 30 to 45 minutes between campus and Center City, attracted up to 80 riders an evening.

The Graduate and Professional Students Assembly has been working with the University over the past two years to create more on-campus housing for graduate students, but there may not be a point. With a nominal stipend and a more established group of friends, many graduate students say living on campus is simply not worth the convenience of being closer to classes.

Apple's Mac OS X Leopard operating system is the newest toy for early technology adopters, but users will have to do some extra tinkering in order to use it on Penn's wireless network. While Leopard, officially released on Oct. 26, lacks the "must-have" cachet of some Apple products like the iPhone, certain tech-savvy students have been quick to upgrade.

Two heads are better than one. The UA and GAPSA have worked together on several projects this semester, a stark change for two organizations that previously attacked student problems with separate agendas. UA chairman Jason Karsh and GAPSA chairman Dan Grabell have been the main force behind the newfound collaboration.

Even with their recent initiatives to improve student life for students in all 12 graduate schools, GAPSA officials admit that it is a challenge to appeal to and affect such a large group.

A new bus shuttle service is bringing Center City a little closer to Penn - and many graduate students a little closer to home. With promised funding from the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, Penn Transit began operating a trial shuttle Monday evening.