The recent economic downturn has not only affected people trying to enter the sphere of higher education as students. Graduate students hoping to get jobs as professors are also experiencing difficulties because of the recession. Hiring freezes, funding shortages and a decrease in the number of retiring professors are among the reasons many graduate students are concerned about finding employment.

Although the softball team's season-opening tournament at George Mason may not have serious postseason implications, the team's performance this weekend may be a critical indicator of its potential for the upcoming season. The untested Quakers will face competition from three nonconference opponents - Akron, George Mason and local rival Saint Joseph's.

'It doesn't matter if you win or lose - it's how you play the game." If you played Little League or soccer growing up, you probably heard that all the time. The idea that "everyone was a winner" didn't seem silly. If the losing team of the league didn't get some kind of prize for trying, those poor kids might be sad.

Penn's Office of Affirmative Action has been without a director since December 2007. "As is the case in any search, we want to find the right person," said Joann Mitchell, vice president for institutional affairs, to whom the OAA reports. But the vacancy has been met with a degree of skepticism among Penn's minority community.

The Division of Public Safety today confirmed that DNA recovered from Dominique Wilson, 23, of S. 51st Street, positively links him to both the sexual assaults at 44th and Spruce streets and 9th and Clinton streets. Wilson was arrested in Lock Haven, Pa., last week on 36 criminal counts, 12 of which relate to an incident during which he allegedly held three students with a knife against their will and sexually assaulted two of them.

The Penn women's basketball team only has six wins, two of which were against Yale and Brown two weeks ago at the Palestra. So when the Quakers (6-17, 3-6 Ivy) go on the road to face the Bulldogs (10-14, 3-7) and Bears (3-21, 1-9) tonight and tomorrow, respectively, they will have a little extra confidence with those past triumphs fresh in their minds.

Penn men's basketball finally got a home Ivy win tonight against Brown, but it wasn't easy. The Bears led much of the game before falling, 64-54. The Quakers got off to an ugly start in the first half, missing what few open looks they could get. Brown jumped out to an 11-2 lead before Kevin Egee hit his second bucket of seven minutes into the game.

Architect Michael Van Valkenburgh unveiled the model for Penn Park yesterday before the University's trustees. Penn Park, a $40 million, 24-acre project, will integrate athletic fields in a park-like setting to serve as the athletic hub of campus. It is part of the Penn Connects initiative, the University's urban development plan.

Shots were fired early this morning outside Philly Diner, located at 3901 Walnut St. No injuries were reported and Penn Police made three arrests, according to Sgt. Ray Evers of the Philadelphia Police. The Division of Public Safety's PennComm Center received a call at about 4:15 a.m.

"Eating greasy food without bread is what gives people herpes." "A woman will get a female cold by sitting on anything cold." "Men are so horny they would try to fuck a fly while its buzzing around." These are only a few of the lessons that shaped the way Andrea Dezso, an assistant professor at Parsons the New School for Design, ate certain foods, acted around men and behaved every day of her life in Transylvania, Hungary.

This Sunday, the Undergraduate Assembly will vote on budget requests from the six student government branches and organizers of New Student Orientation. On Feb. 15, the UA's Budget Committee released a list of preliminary suggestions. Undergraduate Assembly Treasurer and Wharton Senior Ben Coulter emphasized that the UA has not yet endorsed any of the proposals.

The Penn women's lacrosse team trounced California, 10-2, but may have suffered a long-term casualty in the process. Sophomore attack Bridget Waclawik had to be helped off the field near the end of the first half with an injury that appeared serious. "We don't know exactly, it didn't look good," coach Karen Brower said.

Mar. 1, 3:45 p.m. The College announced today that R&B; singer and songwriter John Legend will speak at the school's 2009 graduation ceremony. A '99 College alumnus, Legend has won six Grammy awards, including Best New Artist in 2005. During his time at Penn, Legend - known by his given name, John Stephens -ÿwas an English major and sang with jazz and pop a cappella group Counterparts.

The Penn women's tennis team has had five different lineups in as many matches this season. On a team that has been plagued by sickness and injury, the Quakers are hoping for a common stroke and consistency that has been sorely lacking in the young season.

Ensuring fairness in teaching To the Editor: I am appalled at Penn's permissive attitudes toward political activists who wrongly use their authority in the classroom to politically indoctrinate students. Although the concept of academic freedom allows professors to teach subjects of their own choosing in their own way, professors specifically sign a contractual code of ethics with the University, and are required to adhere to professional standards which specifically prohibit taking sides on controversial issues.

Graduate studios in the School of Design sometimes travel across the world to work on real-life, client-based projects. Past groups have worked on projects in the Netherlands, Venezuela and India. Students in Michael Larice's graduate Urban Design Studio, called The Public Realm, returned from a trip to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to create a plan to redesign the city's Central Business District.

How many times have you been accosted by a panhandler, who you think is homeless, outside of Wawa? The attitude among students is overwhelmingly "not in our backyard." So I recently asked a random sample of Penn students what their first reaction would be if a student group planned to operate a homeless shelter on campus.