All the Quakers wanted to do last weekend was row, row, row their boats - intensely and consistently - down the Cooper River. But by the time the Penn light- and heavyweight crew teams departed from the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta in Camden, N.

What's housed in the orange and green rubik's cube looking building on 40th and Chesnut streets is no longer a puzzle. The building called the Hub houses the posh Jean Madeline Aveda Institute. A bit out of place, but not remotely out of style, this bold architectural modernity is the latest of Penn's efforts in rejuvenating 40th Street, a project that has since included the additions of FreshGrocer and the Bridge Cinema.

For rising College senior Gabe Crane, this summer looks like the Huck Finn-style adventure of a lifetime. Crane, along with a recent graduate from Whitman College and two other students from McGill University and Reed College, will be canoeing down the Mississippi River for roughly two months and blogging the entire journey.

When he was in kindergarten, Sean Estrada was just like all the other kids. Now there's one big difference. The recently-graduated Penn offensive lineman always wanted to play for the San Francisco 49ers, and 17 years later, the Santa Ana, Ca. b native is suiting up for his favorite team.

Watch out, Rachel Ray. If you think America on $40 a day is a challenge, consider this: The maximum food stamp benefit for one American tops out at less than $40 a week. With a little number crunching, that comes to about $5 for three square meals a day. Admittedly, the federal food stamp program is usually just meant to supplement low-income budgets.

More awards for women's lacrosse A week after the IWLCA honored goalie Sarah Waxman and defender Hilary Renna with All-America awards, womenslacrosse.com heaped more recognition on the Quakers. Karin Brower was named National Coach of the Year after leading the team to a 16-2 record and its first ever Final Four berth.

Many students and parents - especially those from low- and moderate-income families - have felt the pain of forking over hundreds of dollars each semester for textbooks that are often underused and difficult to sell back. The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance found that textbook prices are rising to unaffordable levels and in a report it released last Friday entitled "Turn the Page: Making College Textbooks More Affordable," the committee offered solutions to this problem.

amed Penn's new associate vice president for research and executive director of the University's Center for Technology Transfer. In this role, he will be responsible for reorganizing and guiding Penn's moves to turn research into business opportunities - and thus possible sources of income.

Psychiatry Department professor Helen Pettinati received the Researcher of the Year award from Caron, an organization that manages treatment of people with drug addictions, last Friday. Pettinati received the award at Caron's regional ceremony, which recognized researchers and community leaders for contributions to the treatment of addictions.

35Years Bob Barker served as host of the game show The Price Is Right. He retires today.Source: The Associated Press

Almost three weeks after Penn's own commencement exercises, University Provost Ron Daniels had the opportunity to participate in another graduation ceremony across the globe. Last Thursday Daniels delivered a keynote commencement speech at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel.

Nancy Streim, associate dean for educational practice at the Graduate School of Education, will be leaving Penn on June 30 to join Columbia University as associate vice president at its Teachers College and special adviser to the Columbia provost. Streim came to Penn in 1988 and has worked closely with the public schools in Phladelphia.

Lightning lit up the sky over Philadelphia Sunday night, but it also lit up Franklin Field in the form of the women's lacrosse National Championship game between No. 1 Northwestern and No. 3 Virginia. When the Cavaliers scored four straight second-half goals to close a 11-7 deficit to 12-11, the stadium was electric.

Is your cell phone your soul mate? Do you PDA with your PDA? Does your text messaging bill exceed your phone bill? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are exactly the kind of person Washington State was targeting when it passed a law May 11 banning people from text messaging or sending e-mails from a handheld communication device while driving.

I woke up early, got dressed, and hopped into the car with the rest of my family. We drove downtown until we reached a cemetery. Passing underneath the extended ladders of two fire trucks, we entered the area where the city buries its fallen heroes. We stood next to the graves as the procession began.

Gilly Lane used to laugh at the thought of playing professional squash. But then again, that was four years ago. That was before he had four All-Ivy and All-American selections under his belt, before he became the first Penn squash player to win the College Squash Association's Skillman award, and before he represented the U.

Villanova great Porter dies after beating Howard Porter, one of the greatest players in Villanova basketball history, died Saturday. He was 58. He was found brutally beaten in an alleyway in Minneapolis 10 days ago, and was then hospitalized until he died.