Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Got some free time this weekend?  Wanna see some up and coming independent films in unique venues, like a bowling alley or outside in a park? The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival is coming to Northern Liberties for the long weekend of June 26-29!

Featuring some local talent and even members of DEVO, this film festival is sure to be a nice break after the first week of classes.

To find out about the films, show times and ticket prices, click here.  Enjoy the festival.  

High gas prices and other factors are contributing to more online course registrations this summer, acccording to an article on Philly.Metro.US.

Online classes are currently the fastest growing component in all of higher educaiton, with a steady increase in registration for them in the past five years. However, the numbers have increases greatly recently.

Temple alone has experienced a 122% increase in online registrations.

Universities also believe that the spike in enrollment is connected to the current job market. Students who would normally work in the summer are being met with a lack of job openings due to the sour economy.

“It’s the same degree that would be earned in a traditional classroom,” said Ken Hartman, academic director of Drexel University Online. “The quality of education is the same.”

Photo courtesy of EMediaWire.

Max Brindle, a student-athlete, passed away on June 18, 2008 in a bicycle accident, according to the Drexel Athletics Department.

He just completed his first season at Drexel as a member of the men’s lacrosse team and enrolled as a business student.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized, but will be posted on DrexelDragons.com. There are numerous on-campus resources available to assist students, such as the counseling center in Creese Student Center and other spiritual and religious centers.

Photo courtesy of DrexelDragons.com.

SEPTA plans to lease eight used railcars from NJ Transit to ease Regional Rail overcrowding, according to an article on Philly.com.

The railcars will be used for $10,000-a-month until new Silverliner V cars begin arriving in 2009. SEPTA currently has 348 cars of their own.

SEPTA ridership is up 14 percent this year because of gas prices, causing rush-hour trains to be packed with standing passengers.

The lease of the cars will be for two years, with an option to extend the lease for another year. The cars they ordered from Rotem USA Corp., the Silverliner V’s, are months behind schedule because of steel shortages adn bankruptcy. SEPTA has ordered 120 cars, but the order for all of them isn’t expected to be fulfilled until October 2010.

Photo courtesy of SeptaStories.wordpress.com.