So this is how it ends for the Red and Blue, no strangers to heartbreak by any stretch, but filled with a season-long optimism that makes Saturday's loss - and ostensible elimination from title contention - that much harder to swallow. Kicking blunders, gut-wrenching turnovers, potentially blown calls - the Quakers have been there before in recent years, sure.

Biochemistry and Economics majors don't usually have the opportunity to put their creativity to work. But on Saturday, the Penn Art Club provided these students and many more with all of the supplies needed to transform Harrison College House into an exhibit of Rembrandts and Renuars.

Hackneyed as it may sound, with great power comes great responsibility. And teachers have great power. There's a video circulating the web, which shows an elementary-school teacher exerting blatant pressure on her students to support Barack Obama. Teacher Diatha Harris insinuated to the daughter of an American solider that the child's advocacy of McCain would extend her own father's time in Iraq.

The name Harry Potter often sparks nostalgia among students. Many recall waiting by the mailboxes on their 11th birthday anxiously awaiting an acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but on Sunday the disappointed masses have an opportunity to live out their childhood fantasies.

For freshman point guard Zack Rosen, sometimes it pays to look old beyond his years. And it has nothing to do with getting into Smokes'. "He's well ahead of his age and his class, as far as his execution on the floor," Penn coach Glen Miller said. In truth, leadership - not a good jumpshot or a soft touch at the foul line - may be Rosen's quickest way to extended playing time.

The Palestra - the hallowed "Cathedral of College Basketball" - has played host to more NCAA tournament games than any other arena. Yet no Ivy League school has haunted Division I basketball's own holy ground, the NCAA Final Four, since the Quakers' Dream Team of 1979, the second-round David to North Carolina's No.

While the current economic crisis has left many people scrambling, one group of Penn students is finding a way to reap the benefits. The first Penn team to compete in the College Fed Challenge made it to the semifinals last weekend. If they advance, they will have the opportunity to win up to $15,000 in prize money for themselves and the Economics department.

After a disappointing home loss to Princeton to open their final Ivy League season, volleyball senior co-captains Kathryn Turner and Steph Gwin decided to take a more active leadership approach. Becoming more vocal and demanding in practice didn't produce immediate results, as the team went on to drop two of its next three matches.

As advanced registration comes to an end this weekend, students are busy skimming the course booklet for classes that satisfy both their requirements and their curiosity. For students in Penn's more pre-professional schools - Nursing, Engineering and Wharton - getting a liberal-arts education while following a more structured curriculum can present a challenge.

As the Penn men's basketball team ran onto the court for its first-round play-in game of the 1979 NCAA Tournament, the Quakers noticed something a bit strange. Banners of each tournament team competing in Raleigh, N.C., were displayed throughout Reynolds Coliseum, save the banner for Penn.

Penn volleyball had its seven-game win streak snapped by Yale in a five-set thriller at the Palestra Friday night. The loss ended the Quakers' hopes to claim a share of the Ivy League title. Yale junior outside hitter Cat Dailey got the Bulldogs started with a kill on the first play of the match, and freshman middle blocker Taylor Cramm followed that up with a block of Penn kills leader Julia Swanson.

Look for 1,100 backpacks to be spread across College Green today. These backpacks represent the 1,100 college students who commit suicide each year. The event, Send Silence Packing, is part of the 5th National Active Minds conference, which is being held on campus today and tomorrow.

It could soon take just the swipe of a card to ride the subway. SEPTA took the first steps toward revamping its fare-collection system by requesting proposals for an electronic "smart card" payment system last week. The new system, which officials say could be completed within two years, will allow SEPTA passengers to wave a pre-loaded "smart card" to ride the subway.

With three Big 5 squads making it to the NCAA Tournament, last season was a banner year for the informal Philly conference. Temple and Saint Joseph's both fell in the first round, to Michigan State and Oklahoma State, respectively. But No. 12-seeded Villanova upset Clemson in the first round and won another over No.

It wasn't the blowout that it has been the past two years, but a Tyler Hansbrough-less North Carolina team beat the Quakers in their season-opener, 86-71, last night in Chapel Hill, N.C. Penn sophomore Tyler Bernardini picked up where he left off last year, leading all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting.

In her latest book Between Keys, '83 College alumna Suze DiPietro spiced up her rock and roll past with an unusual twist of blood-sucking intrigue. At the Penn Bookstore last night, DiPietro described her personal inspiration for the novel and her transition from Penn grad to rock and roll band member to vampire murder mystery novelist.

In their three seasons suiting up for the Red and Blue, Carrie Biemer and the three other seniors on the Penn basketball team have gone undefeated. In season openers, that is. "We have a good record going into first games," the senior forward said. "We'll come out with a lot of energy, and we'll see if we can go 4-0.