The locks are being changed Oct. 14: Which means that now is the time to register your PennKey so you won’t get locked out of Penn’s secure computing services after that day. There’s even a chance for you to win a Penn Bookstore gift certificate if you register your PennKey before midnight Oct. 9. For info about PennKey, visit www.upenn.edu/computing/pennkey on the Web.

Official sendoff: In case anyone had doubts about Penn’s commitment to beefing up African and African-American studies, the dedication of the Center for Africana Studies Sept. 24 should have laid them to rest. President Judith Rodin christened the new center, along with School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston and the center’s director, Professor of Sociology Tukufu Zuberi. Also on hand were Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell; Nancy Morgan, a representative for Mayor John Street; Urban League President Patricia Coulter and local NAACP head Jerry Mondesire. The four new faculty in the field were all introduced—Cheikh Babou in history, Leslie Callahan in religious studies, Timothy Rommen in music, and last but not least, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities Michael Eric Dyson, who delivered his own celebratory riff, lavishing praise on Rodin and calling Zuberi “the Barry White of the academy.”

Her secret ingredients: Janet Theophano (Gr’82), associate director of the College of General Studies, will be one of three local authors featured at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s “Harvest of Books” show Wednesday, Oct. 9. The show features books based on research in the society’s collections—which Theophano used as one of the sources of material for her book “Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote” (Current, Feb. 21). The event, which starts with a reception at 5:15 p.m. before the show at 5:45 p.m., is free and open to the public, and will take place at the society, 1300 Locust St.

House tune-up how-to: Old houses don’t have to cost a fortune to maintain. Upcoming PRIMER (Preservation, Restoration/Repair, Improvement, Maintenance and Educational Resources) workshops sponsored by the University City District show how you can perform certain maintenance tasks yourself, like repairing windows, and how you can keep up your home’s Victorian appearance using materials you can afford. For information about the workshops or to register, e-mail wormley@ucityphila.org or call 215-243-0555, ext. 229.

Tops in tennis: For the second year in a row, Women’s Tennis Team Co-Captain Alice Pirsu (C’03) has been invited to play in the main draw of the Riviera All-American Championships. The annual tournament, held at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., features the nation’s top college tennis players. Pirsu is ranked 14th in the national preseason polls and is the only Ivy League player invited to participate in the main draw. The tournament takes place the first two weekends of this month.