By utilizing professional writing and editing services, students are just furthering their need to develop basic writing skills.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Junior Keith Vereb played an hour and a half of soccer on Saturday, but he really only needed three minutes. They came at the opening of Penn's must-win match at Yale, when the Quakers came out firing and earned a free kick from upwards of 30 yards out.

Hundreds of Penn basketball fans gather at World Cafe Live last night after word went out around 9:15 p.m. that the venue would be hosting this year's Line. The tradition will culminate next Saturday with a collective trip to the Penn-Princeton football game.

The big play eluded the Quakers in the second half; and so did the win. "There were plays to be made, [plays] that were there," Walker said.

Last weekend, the Penn women's rowing team proved it could compete against the best in the world. The Quakers placed 10th out of 57 teams at the collegiate eight event at the Head of the Charles in Boston, Mass., the largest head race in the world. The team also finished 17th out of 45 in the championship eights competition.

There's a call in every election to extract the money from politics. Soft money contributions have been curbed, but it's hard to stop a billionaire from donating his personal fortune to a cause.

Junior Jason Pinsky fought hard in his semifinal tennis match. Behind the supportive crowd that shouted "Go Pinsky!" after almost every point, he came up with numerous scrappy shots. In the end, however, the home crowd left disappointed as a strong start to the third set by Virginia Tech's Arvid Puranen proved to be too much for Pinsky, Penn's top-seeded player, to overcome.

Philadelphia's three Tower Records stores will soon shut down due to lack of revenue, but students say they won't notice the absence of the once-landmark stores. Tower Records stores across the country, about 100 locations listed on the chain's Web site, are closing due to bankruptcy, a probable byproduct, experts say, of increased online music sales.

If hydrogen power is the way of the future, then Iceland is ahead of its time, according to Hjalti Pall Ingolfsson. Ingolfsson, project leader of Icelandic New Energy Ltd., spoke in Houston Hall yesterday on the future of hydrogen power and said Iceland is leading the way in using renewable energy sources, such as hydrogen and geothermal power, due to governmental support and natural resources.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. Penn football coach Al Bagnoli seems to have the luxury of quite the selection when it comes to choosing who will be under center for the Quakers. Bagnoli employed a combination of both starting sophomore Robert Irvin and junior backup Bryan Walker in the game against Yale on Saturday, much like he has throughout this season.

Penn professor Richard Gelles was once hired by Philadelphia's Department of Health Services, but now he says he'll testify against city officials to help clean the department up. Gelles, dean of Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice, will likely be heavily involved with the fallout of a DHS scandal regarding neglect of children as government officials investigate the department in the coming months.

Imagine your girlfriend, your roommate, your class president, that kid sitting next to you in biology class. Imagine that only four years after you leave Penn, one of those students will be on the floor of Congress, teaming up with Nancy Pelosi and arguing against Dennis Hastert.

Lots of Penn students dream of big futures, but members of the Penn Nanotech Society are dreaming on a much, much smaller scale. Yesterday, the group joined with the Penn Nano/Bio Interface Center to host "Nano Day," a series of presentations designed to dispel myths and increase awareness of tiny technology.

The man some have credited with ending the Vietnam War is coming to Penn. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger - a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - will speak at Irvine Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

Avery Lawrence is a College junior from Charlottesville, Va. His e-mail address is lawrence@dailypennsylvanian.com.

For most people, the word "lobbying" brings up images of scandal, big business and high-priced gifts.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Neither the cold Connecticut breeze nor Yale could stop the red-hot Penn field hockey team. The Quakers continued their recent success with another offensive onslaught. Penn was able to get off 23 shots, 12 of which on goal, en route to a 3-2 victory.