Discussions about Philadelphia politics are usually conducted in English, but Harris Sokoloff began one with a "ni-hao." Sokoloff, director of Penn's Project on Civic Engagement, was greeting the members of a bilingual citizens' forum last weekend in Chinatown - part of a citywide initiative called Great Expectations, which aims to increase dialogue about local issues as the mayoral election approaches this fall.

By Andrew Scurria Senior Sports Editor scurria@sas.upenn.edu According to one local source, an in-season basketball tournament to be played over Thanksgiving weekend should be coming to the Palestra in the near future. The Philadelphia Daily News reported on Friday that such an exempt tournament - so-called because the events include several games but only count as one towards each team's limit of 29 - is in the works and would consist of four games.

Despite her uncle's advice not to write about other books, Rita Barnard found that the best way to talk about South Africa's period of apartheid was through examining the literature that described the phenomenon. Last evening, the Penn English professor introduced her new book, Apartheid and Beyond: South African Writers and the Politics of Place, to a small - but devoted - crowd at the Penn Bookstore.

Penn Student reactions were mixed the week of President Bill Clinton's inauguration on Jan. 21. "This is the first presidential election in which I participated, and I felt like a part of something which will be historically significant," said then-College junior Josh Penn.

After nearly upsetting No. 3 seed Rutgers in last year's NCAA tournament, the Dartmouth women entered this season with some major question marks.

Four-hundred-six is the number on the minds of most Philadelphians, but only the number two concerns Penn Division of Public Safety officials. Philadelphia saw 406 homicides in 2006, an increase of 27 from last year and the city's highest murder rate since 1997.

Engineering junior Mari Oishi was shot in the left thigh last January as she walked near the intersection of 38th and Walnut streets - the stray bullet came from a robbery that was occurring down the block. Partly as a result, President Amy Gutmann pledged an additional $5 million to the Division of Public Safety to create Operation Safe, through which the security presence, technology and lighting were all increased on campus.

Harvard basketball coach Frank Sullivan should be fired. Despite what the Harvard Athletics Web site calls "its most successful era in history," Harvard has achieved little over the past 15 years. They have not won an Ivy title, they have not made the NCAA tournament, and have never garnered a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.

Peterson rescinds his commitment to Tigers Jeff Peterson, a 6-foot point guard out of Hyattsville, Md., has withdrawn his commitment to play basketball at Princeton next year and reopened his recruitment, according to the highly regarded recruiting Web site scout.

Napoleon Dynamite became a celebrity after his debut in Park City, Utah. The same was true for blockbuster hits Clerks, Saw and The Blair Witch Project - after they were featured at Park City's Sundance Film Festival. And Marketing professor Nelson Gayton hopes the festival can do the same for the Wharton Media and Entertainment Initiative, a group of Wharton professors dedicated to turning Penn - and Wharton, in particular - into a prominent research institution in media and entertainment.

Penn student Melissa Lamb's online satire is one answer to the negative publicity surrounding the University.

Anti-hazing policies should be enforced for all campus groups, not just Greek organizations.

By Josh Hirsch Senior Staff Writer jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu When Penn beat La Salle 93-92 last week, it was not just the team's first one-point win in more than five years. It was also Penn's highest aggregate scoring win in almost 20 years, and it was the second-highest aggregate score since 1990 (with the highest being the Quakers' 89-99 loss to Villanova last month).

Several years from now, Jen Oyler may save lives in many different ways. In the meantime, she is content helping her teammates defeat the opposition in as many different ways. Oyler, the daughter of two lawyers, prefers another profession. The Saint Joseph's sophomore is eyeing a career in medicine, and so far she is well on her way.

In its 371-year history, Harvard University has been led by scientists, clergy, lawyers and literary scholars - but never by a woman. And as the Harvard search to replace ex-president Lawrence Summers closes in on a short list of candidates, one name is notably missing: Amy Gutmann.

In the push for better elevators, Peter Kuperman's campaign isn't enough.

40Estimated number of dry-cleaning plants in the U.S. that use eco-friendly technology. Source: Newsweek