As Hicham Laalej's singles match against Harvard slipped away, so too did the Quakers' hopes of a perfect home record and a winning season in the Ivy League. After taking the first set from Crimson senior Chris Clayton, Penn's junior was in control, leading 4-2 in the second set.

When I first heard about Ward Churchill's dismissal from the University of Colorado, it was hard to suppress my glee. Churchill is considered a propagandist for extremely liberal viewpoints. In 2006, a committee of the professor's peers found him guilty of serious academic misconduct.

In defense of Brandeis To the Editor: As a proud graduate of Brandeis University, it was disheartening to read Ashley Takas' piece on 3/25/09 ("Selling cultural cred to the highest bidder"). Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz has said repeatedly that select art works would only be sold if necessary.

With the summer riding season coming up, Division of Public Safety officials are intent on stamping out bike crime on campus. As a city with a very high student population, Philadelphia has become notorious in recent years as a bike theft hotspot. Bike lock manufacturer Kryptonite publishes a "Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft List" on its blog every year, and Philadelphia is its reigning champion.

For students looking to help others while working with contraceptives, vaccinations and diseases, yesterday's Public Health in Philadelphia panel set them on track for success. As part of National Public Health Week, the event hosted a panel of five distinguished members of various local public health organizations.

Wharton announced yesterday that it will cosign loans with Digital Federal Credit Union for international MBA students who lack a U.S. credit-worthy cosigner. The loans can help pay tuition as well as living expenses and can also offer low interest rates, no origination fees - a processing fee - and attentive customer service.

With the score knotted at 6-6 in overtime, Penn women's lacrosse freshman Erin Brennan gained possession of the ball off a Dartmouth turnover, sprinted down the field and passed to senior Becca Edwards. Edwards came up alone against Dartmouth's goalie, with one little head fake pushed the ball in the net for the go-ahead goal.

SEPTA has just made traveling in Philadelphia cheaper, faster and easier. In a press release, SEPTA announced that it will introduce a "One Day Independence Pass" and a "Family Independence Pass," for use on trains, trolleys and buses. According to the release, the passes will provide riders with the "independence of convenient, economical and unlimited travel on all SEPTA trains.

"Simple is sexy" seemed to be the theme of the Wharton Asia Exchange-BCBGeneration Walk-Off, a competition that pitted students against each other in the categories of modeling and fashion sense. The Walk-Off, sponsored by WAX and BCBGeneration, consisted of three rounds: professional, evening and model's choice.

For the Penn women's tennis team, the time is now or never. With only four matches left in the season, the Quakers are vying for a second win since their sole victory this season, a 7-0 sweep over George Washington University Feb. 20. They are also craving

For 2007 College alumna Sophia Termini, the Miss Philadelphia Pageant last week was a great way to help pay for med school, but she will never repeat it. Termini, along with College junior Samantha Greene and College seniors Cara Bumgardner and Geneva Campbell competed and won prizes in last week's pageant.

Besides merely serving as a distraction in that political science class you now realize was a mistake signing up for, perhaps that iPhone or BlackBerry will actually give you the power to drop the class on the spot. At Stanford - and more recently, Duke - that choice will soon be available to students on campus.

After two quiet losses Wednesday in which Penn scored just three runs in two games against Temple, the team is no doubt looking for the bats to show up. This weekend's doubleheaders against Cornell (27-7, 6-2 Ivy) could be just the opportunity the Quakers (9-20-1, 4-4) need to erase any lingering bad memories of the Temple games.

The 10-0 Penn women's lacrosse team wasn't always at the top of the Ivy League. In fact, in coach Karin Brower's 10 years with the program, the Quakers have only beaten Ivy League rival Dartmouth twice - in each of the last two seasons. So tomorrow at noon on Franklin Field, Brower will hope that her third time is still the charm.

It does not take an economics major to understand how bad things are right now. If you need an indicator for the health of the economy, talk to any senior about their plans for next year, and you will see everything from desperation to exasperation. For those of us who grew up during the boom years of the post-Cold War era and have never seen a rainy day, the harsh reality of this economic downturn (and its direct effect on us) has come as a great shock.

The Quakers will have plenty to think about on their lengthy bus trip up to Ithaca, N.Y. this weekend. As they trudge northward on the way to a pair of doubleheaders against Cornell, they will no doubt be wondering how they can lift themselves from the rut they are in - the one that has seen them fall to 0-8 in the Ivy League.

The rollout of the Apple iTunes Music Store three-tiered pricing system last Tuesday has already drawn criticism, copycats and apparent declines in sales rankings among some of the top 100 songs. In January, Apple had announced it would soon begin selling all DRM-free songs with the introduction of the new pricing levels of $.