Removing Profile Pic from Featured Discussions Window; Double

is there any way to remove the profile pic from the featured discussion window on the main page of my site?  it seems really misplaced. here's an example:

FD Screen shot 2011-06-21 at 8.08.37 AM.png

also, when i create a link to an external page, i get the page appearing in a frame within a frame. any explanation for why there are two frames? is there a way to get it down to only one? here's a pic:

2F Screen shot 2011-06-21 at 8.10.17 AM.png

Thanks,

Patrick