Wharton students celebrated the end of classes in style yesterday with the school's third annual Winter Whartonland. The Wharton Council and Wharton's cohort mentors marked the last Thursday of classes with hot chocolate, Insomnia Cookies, holiday candy and Wharton-branded gifts at the event in Huntsman Hall.

As classes wrapped up before Thanksgiving, alert students still caught one final lesson: Unplug your appliances, even if they're not turned on. The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi learned that better than anyone. Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush blamed last week's fire in the fraternity on a circuit overload caused by a large number of refrigerators and microwaves.

The closest most Penn students have ever come to hunting is probably watching Looney Tunes' Elmer Fudd try to catch that "wascally wabbit." But this past Monday, when most were still recovering from their post-Thanksgiving celebrations - or beginning to study for finals - high school students throughout Pennsylvania got the day off in honor of the first day of deer-hunting season.

With six losses in its first six games- and with only six more to go before the Ivy League opener against Princeton - the women's basketball team has been to hell and back. But despite their demoralizing start, the Quakers are confident that they will make the necessary improvements before heading into league play.

For all but one member of the men's squash team, Thursday night's win over No. 12 Navy was your typical 9-0 rout. But for freshman Thomas Mattsson, this victory meant a lot more. That's because sitting at the No. 1 spot for the Midshipmen (16-2) is his brother, Nils.

Family and friends of Ryan Smith, the Engineering sophomore who fell from the Quadrangle Saturday morning, have told University officials they do not believe the fall was a suicide attempt. University spokeswoman Lori Doyle confirmed the identity of Smith, a Digital Media Design major, Monday afternoon.

It was deja vu all over again for the Penn women's basketball team, as yet again the difference between a win and a loss was a single timeout. In a season filled with close, heartbreaking losses, the Quakers finally prevailed, 61-58, to push their record to 1-6.

As of this week, a cab ride to Center City will cost a little bit less. The 50-cent gas surcharge taxis began charging in June was recently nixed in response to dropping gas prices. The Philadelphia Parking Authority's board voted to drop the extra charge - which raised the base fare from $2.

The Spring Fling subcommittee of the Social Planning and Events Committee decided on the theme "Some Flings Never Get Old" for Fling 2009. Fling committee member and College freshman Garrett Albanesius came up with the theme, but he could not be reached for comment.

Emily Goodwin extends her arm straight back at a high angle, the ball bounces in front of her, she bends her knees and accelerates her racquet head through the rising ball. While this stroke is routine on a squash court, it's especially sweet for the Penn senior and co-captain.

Thanksgiving was weird. Many of us were home, content amidst our families and a constant supply of food and celebration. But the weekend was also marked by tragedy. Last Thursday, we first heard about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Then on Black Friday, a temporary employee was trampled to death at a Wal-Mart in Long Island.

The season may be young, but the men's squash team is already facing the sport's heavy-hitters. The Quakers travel to Brown (0-1, 0-1 Ivy) on Sunday, but are more concerned with Saturday's match against Yale. The Bulldogs are the first member of squash's elite quadrumvirate --- Trinity, Harvard and Princeton will come later - that Penn will play this season.

The Student Activities Council announced yesterday that it plans to give annual budgets to political groups for non-partisan and non-candidate-related purposes starting in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The move will give regular SAC funding to political groups for the first time, explained College junior and SAC chairwoman Natalie Vernon.

The United Minorities Council, the umbrella for 20 minority groups on campus, elected Wharton and College junior Ezegozie Eze as its chair Wednesday night. Eze, who transferred from Princeton University this semester, won the three-way race for the helm of the organization, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

SAS will implement a school-wide freeze on hiring, staff position reclassifications and salary adjustments, as well as various budget reductions, Dean Rebecca Bushnell announced in an e-mail to School of Arts and Sciences faculty and staff yesterday. Bushnell's office also plans to work closely with departments and programs to identify the most effective cost-cutting measures and to allocate remaining finances only to matters of the highest priority for the 2010 fiscal year.

You might have seen students studying you as you passed by on Locust Walk last month, but don't worry - it wasn't because you were having a bad hair day. Students in professor Paul Rozin's Psychology 001 class conducted a "racial association" study which found that, despite Penn's diverse student body, people on campus tend to spend time with others of the same ethnicity.

Since last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by almost 40 percent, while President Amy Gutmann's salary went up by that percentage. Gutmann's $1.1 million compensation trailed even higher figures paid to academic executives like Columbia's Lee Bollinger ($1.