With soaring interest in two main programs and a new batch of winners for one of them, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs is having the best week ever. WEP, a hub of entrepreneurial resources affiliated with Wharton but available to all Penn students, supports a range of programs and projects that encourage students to transform thei

Thanksgiving: is there any holiday more quintessentially American? Every year on the last Thursday of November, families sit down to turkey, pumpkin pie and presumably to give thanks. While specifics vary by family and region -- marshmallows on the sweet potatoes? Football or parade? - the overwhelming majority of Americans seem to follow a set pattern of reuniting with family and overeating.

If you stepped through College Green a few weeks back, you probably noticed the obnoxiously tall pile of trash outside of Van Pelt (with accompanying bulldozer) and the sea of discarded plastic water bottles staked across the lawn in the same manner that other groups have memorialized 9/11 or Iraq War casualties.

Offensive coordinator Bill Schmitz will not return for a third season with the Penn football team. The Athletic Department announced in a statement this afternoon that Schmitz's contract will not be renewed for 2009. "We appreciate his efforts during the last two years, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors," head coach Al Bagnoli said in the statement.

Changing the signs in University City To the Editor: On Nov. 14, an editorial in The Daily Pennsylvanian mentioned that the Center City District is undertaking a trial run of new signage at SEPTA stations and recommended that University City District consider installing the same signage in this region of the City.

By JIN PYUO LEE Contributing Writer gamail@dailypennsylvanian.com This past summer, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote that education is the biggest issue facing the country today. And yesterday afternoon, Penn president Amy Gutmann echoed this view in a conversation with the students in Education, Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 lture and Society, a Graduate

The Penn women's basketball team has at least been consistent in one aspect of its play this season: its inconsistency. Looking for their first win of the season on Friday at Mount Saint Mary's, the Quakers held a 30-26 lead after outplaying the Mountaineers in the first half.

By LEIGH SILVER Staff Writer lsilver@dailypennsylvanian.com Diving is in Jeff Cragg's blood. "I've been doing flips off the diving board before I could swim," the freshman said, laughing. "My dad would throw me off." Cragg has been competing since he was five, but his diving roots trace back to before his birth.

ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 29 - When Penn's Zack Rosen and Jack Eggleston hoisted up a combined eight shots in the final five minutes of Saturday's 73-63 loss at Albany, it wasn't a case of them being selfish or padding their stats. They looked around and saw nobody willing or able to step up.

There was no hiding the blood that stained the uniforms of Villanova players Reggie Redding and Dante Cunningham in last weekend's Philly Classic championship game against Rhode Island. The red spread so quickly that both were forced to change clothes in the second half.

"How do you maintain creativity when you're bailing out everyone?" So asked Penn alumnus and Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. yesterday in light of the financial crisis. Huntsman led a town-hall style meeting with students from the Huntsman Program - which was named after his father - in Vance Hall during a visit to Penn.

A wedding, much like Thanksgiving, gives us one of those rare opportunities for everyone, friends and family alike, to come together and enjoy each other's company. As no small bonus, a wedding allows us to celebrate the time-honored traditions of union and love.

Even though many students are qualified to enroll in postsecondary schools, they may decide not to earn a college degree. In a recent study conducted by the Institute for Higher Education Policy and supported by The Education Resource Institute, students and guidance counselors cited the high price of college tuition and insufficient financial-aid opportunities as the main reasons many students choose not to enroll in college.

Albany was the almost team - the team that, as a No. 16 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, found itself up by 12 with 12 minutes to play against No. 1 Connecticut. The Great Danes would lose their lead within six minutes and eventually fall, 72-59. They became, at least for a few days, a national story and the poster child for overcoming long odds.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The men's basketball team trailed Albany by just three points at the half but couldn't keep up its strong play, ultimately losing, 73-63. For the second time in as many games, the Quakers were overmatched by their opponent's backcourt. The Great Danes' duo of Anthony Raffa and Tim Ambrose combined for 41 points on 15-for-25 shooting from the field.

By HANNAH GERSTENBLATT Sports Editor-elect hannahgb@dailypennsylvanian.com It seemed as if the women's basketball team's moment had finally come. There was a little over a minute to play against Saint Joseph's, and the Quakers were down by only three, with a chance to shake off their Big 5 demons of seasons past.

A fire at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house early yesterday morning was caused by an electrical overload, according to the Division of Public Safety. The fraternity house, located at 4040 Walnut St., was evacuated at about 3:30 a.m. when brothers reported seeing smoke billowing from a second-floor bedroom.