When the Penn women's squash team showed up at Princeton last season, it was full of optimism after just gaining the No. 1 spot in the country. Already, the Quakers had an eye on the possibility of winning their first national title since 2000. But the Tigers soundly dashed those dreams, as the Red and Blue finished fourth in the country, unable to recover from the 7-2 loss.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering junior from Houston, TX. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

The oldest branch of student government just got a little newer. The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, in charge of undergraduate academics, elected its new six-member Steering Committee this past Sunday. The board will be led by College and Wharton junior Zach Fuchs, who will be taking over for outgoing chair and College senior Elizabeth Slavitt.

Harvard scored Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling for a Commencement speaker, and Princeton roped in Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert for its 2008 Senior Class Day. With graduation less than a semester away, students are wondering: Who will command Franklin Field at Commencement? The name of Penn's Commencement speaker - along with the other honorary degree recipients - will be released in mid-February, according to University Secretary Leslie Kruhly.

After what the men's squash team endured last Friday, tonight's match should be a breeze. The Quakers (5-4) saw their five-match winning streak snapped last Friday to No. 1 Trinity. Tonight at Ringe, in a match that was originally postponed due to inclement weather, the Red and Blue's opponent is the considerably less fearsome Franklin and Marshall.

Penn boys, get ready - this female Quaker is flaunting both her brains and her beauty. Rachel Brooks, a master's student in the Fels School of Government and the 2007 Miss Pennsylvania, competed in the Miss America pageant last Saturday night. Though Brooks did not make it to the top 10, she said the competition was "an awesome experience.

Whether it's CBS's latest poll, Anderson Cooper's post-debate special on Race and Politics or last week's blog post on ABC's "Political Radar" Web site, it seems that everyone is talking about the role of race in this unprecedented election. Everyone, that is, except for the candidates.

The preliminary hearing scheduled for today for Joseph Cho, the former Penn Law student facing charges of attempted murder, has been postponed. Cho is accused of firing 15 shots into the door of his downstairs neighbors on Jan. 31, 2007. Judge Frank Bailey issued a continuance yesterday, as Cho's attorney Peter Bowers was unable to attend the preliminary hearing.

Marty, Doc Brown and the DeLorean may not be involved, but the history of the Penn wrestling team's season has been rewritten. Last week, the NCAA Wrestling Committee announced that results for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational - in which the Quakers participated, and placed 14th, on Nov.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. As coach Steve Donahue has brought his Cornell squad from worst to first in the Ivy League over eight seasons, he has still not been able to escape his bad luck. Chris Vandenberg. A.J. Castro. Steve Cobb.

Penn grads to work on Franklin Field The Athletic Department has selected the Crawford architectural firm to design the Franklin Field Pavilion, with construction slated to begin this summer. The project will turn the northern concourse of the stadium into a state-of-the-art weight training center.

Former neurosurgery professor Tracy McIntosh's resentencing hearing has been pushed back from today to Feb. 13 due to scheduling conflicts. "The court was unavailable," said Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Richard DeSipio. Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe, who has been handling the case since September, "was promoted to supervisory judge," he said.

The Quakers were reeling from injuries by the time they played their first game this year, and the sprains, tweaks and bruises have not been spread out evenly on the team. The guard corps has been decimated, while coach Pat Knapp estimated that only one of seven post players has missed any time.

In the wake of the announcement that former Bush strategist Karl Rove will be the Social Planning and Events Committee spring speaker, students have shown unified interest in a divisive figure. Mr. Rove has been famous - or infamous, depending on a person's point of view - for injecting partisan politics, often to drive a wedge between his opponents.

Freshman students have long complained about having to purchase unnecessarily large mandatory meal plans. So when 107 freshmen agreed to donate their leftover meals -- all 5,151 of them - to charity, it seemed like a great way to help out the community. After all, if these students have to pay for meals they aren't going to use, at least they should have some say in how those meals are spent, right? Not according to Dining Services.

With one of the two leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination a woman and the other an African American, this year's primaries represent a number of firsts for American politics. After Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the other contests thus far, New York Sen.

It's hardly the calm before the storm. Florida has become a pivota-l -- and competitive - race in pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination. As Floridians vote today, they are effectively determining who goes to the playoffs on Feb. 5, when 22 states hold their primaries.