Ever since they began practicing in January, the young Quakers have been anxiously awaiting their first taste of collegiate softball. They were supposed to begin their season on Saturday, but forecasted inclement delayed their opener further. On Sunday, the Red and Blue finally took the field against Lafayette, but even then they had to wait 11 innings to find out the result of their first game.

The writers and editors of The Daily Pennsylvanian must often strike a difficult balance between getting the scoop on a breaking news story and taking the time to get the facts right. On Tuesday, IvyGate, the "Ivy League blog," received a tip - seemingly sent from SPEC - claiming that Limp Bizkit was chosen to headline this year's Spring Fling Concert.

President Bush's budget for the 2009 fiscal year shows an increased push from the government to encourage foreign-language study for national-security purposes. But it seems unlikely that the increased funding will persuade students learning those languages to pursue careers in the government.

On Sunday, the Undergraduate Assembly urged the University to examine whether the presence of on-campus blood collectors who are bound by an FDA policy banning certain blood donors violates Penn's non-discrimination policy. Despite a national blood shortage, millions are prohibited from donating by the Federal Drug Administration's lifetime ban on men who have had sex with men (MSM) since 1977.

Penn swim coach Mike Schnur wants his women to swim "as if their hair is on fire." While Harvard and Princeton are expected to finish first and second at the Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships, running today through Saturday, the rest of the slots are all very much up for grabs.

Fire has a dual nature for Christina Khosravi. Internally, it has driven her to three seasons of near-perfect softball. The seasoned veteran and senior captain was crowned 2006 Ivy League Player of the Year and has not missed one varsity game. Outside, however, fire has proven to be much more serious than a game.

This time last year, basketball was the furthest thing from Porter Braswell's mind. He was too busy exploring the Serengeti and throwing spears with Masai warriors. Braswell, a freshman guard at Yale, spent just over two weeks of his senior year at The Lawrenceville School on a trip to Tanzania.

In August 2005, the winds and waters of Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and Penn students have been helping to rebuild the area ever since. Yesterday, the Fox Leadership Program hosted a "celebration and call to Service," congratulating student groups from Penn for previous and upcoming community service trips to the area in the past two and a half years.

It will likely take years, not months, for many colleges to fully upgrade their computer systems to Vista, and Penn is no exception. In a recent informal online survey, Gary Roberts, Alfred University's director of information-technology services, found that, of 33 colleges he polled, 28 had not yet completely upgraded to Vista, Microsoft's year-old Windows operating system.

With the Democratic presidential nomination still up for grabs, the issue of superdelegates is on the forefront of media attention, grabbing headlines and yes, even one of Jon Stewart's jokes at the Oscars last Sunday. Despite this attention, many Penn students - and Democratic voters across the country, it seems - are still unclear as to what superdelegates are.

On Friday night, Bob Adams watched his daughter net 13 points for Penn in a 62-47 loss to Dartmouth at the Palestra. On Saturday, he was on hand in a slightly more active role as the Siena Saints men's team downed Boise St. 93-70 in Boise, Idaho. Such is the life of an NCAA referee and basketball dad.

It was a sweet night for sophomores yesterday, as they celebrated their biggest event of the year, Sophomore Skimmer. A total of 600 to 800 students showed up for a Candyland-themed evening of food, music and mingling, Wharton sophomore and class president Arthur Gardner Smith said.

A program that began in 2000 to rehabilitate area homes has stopped expanding, but 400 properties near campus have been restored as a result of its efforts . The Neighborhood Preservation and Development Fund was created by the University and its partners to buy dilapidated homes in University City and rent them at cheaper rates to graduate students and West Philadelphia residents.

If you don't have time to tune into CNN, depending on your Blackberries for the latest election headlines might be better than you think. According to CBS correspondent and 1995 Penn alumna Nancy Cordes, the role of often-overlooked online reporters has never been more important.

For such a little team, there sure are great expectations. Despite the Penn softball team entering the 2008 season with only fourteen players, fifth-year coach Leslie King says this year's is the "most talented group that we've had here in my time at Penn.

Penn and Drexel University will be waiting when University City High School closes its doors in 2010 for two years of renovations. The universities want to divide the school - one of the 70 lowest-performing schools in the city- and replace it with two co-existing themed high schools.

Jennifer Lesser is a College sophomore from Minneapolis, MN. Her e-mail address is lesser@dailypennsylvanian.com.