If there was a turning point in the women's basketball season, it was probably the turning of the calendar from 2008 to 2009. On Dec. 31, the Quakers (3-14, 0-3 Ivy) defeated St. Francis for their third win in four games. Since then, Penn has lost seven straight, including three in the Ivy League.

For over a year now, a quiet but heated dispute has been taking place literally on the periphery of campus: On one side, Penn and its partners are trying to clear the way for a hotel development at 40th and Pine streets; on the other, a committed group of neighborhood activists are saying "not in our backyard.

For Colia Clark, coins jingling in a change purse symbolized the relationship between economics and governmental policy. Clark, a representative of the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations and one of four speakers in a discussion this Saturday in the Bodek Lounge of Houston Hall, waved her coin purse in the air to illustrate a main point of the event: the interconnectedness of the global economy and American foreign policy.

Hanover, N.H., - Wow, what an exciting weekend. In my five-plus semesters here at Penn, I have gone to all but two of the men's basketball Ivy League road games as part of the Penn Band. And in no single weekend have two games been as close and intense as the two I witnessed this weekend in New England.

The seniors on the Penn women's tennis team went to Norfolk, Va., Saturday looking for a sweep. The Red and Blue had beaten Old Dominion three years in a row. Saturday, though, the tables turned. In their first match of the year, the Quakers fell to the Monarchs, 7-0.

Women's basketball coach Pat Knapp's scouting report warned that Harvard sophomore Christine Matera was a deadly shooter, but going into Friday's game against Penn she had shot only 15-for-63 from behind the arc, a 23.8 percent clip. Matera found her shooting stroke against the Quakers, as she shot 5-for-5 on three-pointers, several of them from well behind the line.

In Penn's College Houses, Resident Advisors coordinate ice-breaking games for students, but mavericks, the Radian's equivalent of RAs, get the party started for their residents. Last Friday, the Radian's inhabitants had the chance to start their night on the 11th floor club room at a Radian-sponsored "pregame."

Over 13 million e-mail addresses are part of a listserve that could change America - or at least, that's what President Barack Obama hopes. Obama announced on Jan. 17 that his grassroots campaign network will be transformed into Organizing for America, offering volunteers the opportunity to improve their communities and support policy in Washington.

Alicia Puglionesi is an College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Before being considered the next Jackie O., Michelle O. was a senior at Princeton, and like countless before and since her, she wrote a senior thesis. The university's Web site proudly states that the thesis is "quintessentially Princeton" and claims it to develop "mental discipline" and "the skills of analysis, synthesis and clear writing.

Temple University students may not have insomnia, but beginning next week they will have Insomnia Cookies.

The Philadelphia Police Department recently increased the number of targeted police districts from nine to 12, which will include heavier patrolling just north of Penn's campus. Despite the city's budget problems, the 16th, 23rd and 24th districts were added to the list of high-crime areas slated for extra focus in response to spikes in violent crimes.

Penn senior 141-pound wrestler Rick Rappo takes a very zen approach to dealing with crunch-time pressure. He seemed totally focused and undaunted in tackling his enormous task in an 18-16 home upset by the Quakers (8-5, 3-0 EIWA) over No. 21 Hofstra (7-4, 4-1 CAA) on Saturday.

By BRIAN KOTLOFF Contributing Writer bkotloff@dailypennsylvanian.com The women's swimming team got off to a mediocre start in its meet Friday at West Chester, but junior Amy Reams made sure they finished strong. With Penn holding onto a slim lead at the halfway point, Reams began the second half with an impressive win in the 100-yard freestyle.

In a press conference on Friday, the Philadelphia Police announced an increase in the reward for the arrest and prosecution of the man who sexually assaulted two Penn students in an armed home invasion on Dec. 19. The new reward is $20,000. The suspect is described as a black man in his mid- to late-20s, about 6 foot tall and of average build and with short black hair and a goatee.

The Penn gymnastics team hosted Brown and Towson at Hutchinson Gym Saturday at 1 p.m. The Quakers finished second with a score of 189.725, falling to Towson, which finished at 192.850. Penn edged out Brown's score of 187.300. Senior Jordan Brewer was the star for the Red and Blue.

Eight measly seconds. That's what prevented the men's basketball team from completing a tremendous start to their Ivy League season. After opening conference play with their biggest win of the season, a 66-60 road victory over Harvard Friday night, the Quakers held an eight-point lead and owned all the momentum with 5:24 remaining against Dartmouth Saturday.