Commencement speakers rarely win unanimous praise, but, this year, University officials worked extra hard to please the majority of the senior class. Penn announced earlier this week that former Secretary of State and co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group James Baker will address this year's senior class at graduation on May 14.

The prospect of green energy may just be dust in the wind. Swarthmore College announced last month that it will purchase 35 percent of its energy from wind power, joining the ranks of Penn as one of the largest purchasers of wind energy in Pennsylvania. Swarthmore's move also signifies a growing trend of universities looking to boost their wind energy programs in an attempt to cut emissions from fossil fuels.

Bruiser Flint has been waiting six years to get an ACC team to Drexel's Daskalakis Athletic Center, hoping that its hostile environment would unravel the major-conference opponent. But when North Carolina State finally showed up, it was Flint's team that lost its mettle.

A spring break spent in Latin America is enough to make one Spanish-speaking student come to grips with just how American he is.

Despite sanctions against groups that support terrorism, foreign universities with strong links are sliding by.

Students punching teachers in the face, setting lockers on fire, trespassing - turmoil has reached a boiling point at West Philadelphia High School. West Philadelphia High, which had been experiencing major discipline problems over the past month, saw former Principal Clifton James fired by the Philadelphia School District last week, but the move has only prompted more violence on several of the school's teachers and students.

James Baker's place in the public eye makes him a good pick for graduation.

Theft Mar. 8 - A male complainant, 35 and unaffiliated with the University, reported that, upon returning to his parked vehicle at Penn Tower Parking, located at 399 S. 34th St., at about noon, the driver's side door had been pried open and the GPS system, value undetermined, had been removed.

Alicia Puglionesi is an College junior from Haverton, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

The worst losses are the games that slip away. It seems more like your opponent did not really win, they just did enough not to lose. Fortunately in sports, a new season brings second chances and an opportunity at redemption for the ones that got away.

A message board for law students has recently been gathering attention from a variety of sources for its creators' decision to keep sexist, racist and homophobic messages posted on the Web site. And Penn Law student Anthony Ciolli, one of the directors of that Web site, AutoAdmit.

Some students are singing his praises, some have no idea who he is and others are "appalled" by the University's decision to bring in James Baker to speak at graduation. Yesterday's announcement of Baker as this year's commencement speaker has raised controversy among Jewish and pro-Israel campus groups about whether Bakeris an appropriate choice for graduation.

Penn's December 2003 basketball game against St. John's may be remembered for a thrilling double overtime and former player Friedrich Ebede being punched in the face. However, it should be marked as the beginning of the Class of 2007 era, when Mark Zoller started his first career game.

A male complainant unaffiliated with the University was robbed at gunpoint near 41st and Chestnut streets Friday, Philadelphia and Penn Police officials said. The complainant, 28, reported that, as he waited for his car to dry at the High Tech Car Wash at 4131 Chestnut St.

How does Penn baseball plan on ending its recent slump? Easy. Look no further than coach John Cole's desk. "We're bringing it into the dugout tomorrow," Cole said, pointing at a bona fide Easy Button from the Staples commercial. After migrating to Florida for its first eight games, Penn returns north, looking for an win in its home opener against Temple this afternoon at Meiklejohn Stadium.

Wharton professor Kenneth Shropshire was just a teenaged boy selling hot dogs in a park in California when he first saw Sugar Ray Robinson. Though at the time he wasn't familiar with Robinson's achievements, almost 38 years later, Shropshire has come to believe that Robinson is one of the greatest boxers of all time, and he recently wrote a book describing the life of this extraordinary athlete.

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 13 - When Penn's chartered plane landed here yesterday, it was probably the first time in the Bluegrass State for most of the passengers. "I don't know about Kentucky, I really don't," Ibrahim Jaaber admitted after the selection show Sunday.