There is no doubt that the College Houses are 11 distinct houses with different personalities. But there is no reason we should accept that some are characterized by a strong sense of community while others are condemned to be impersonal. Ever since being admitted, I've been told that students looking for strong and close living experiences should choose low rises or the Quadrangle, instead of the high rises.

Zack Crimmins isn't known for his shooting touch. Indeed, although he towers over most of his Ivy brethren - the Columbia center is one of three 7-footers in the league - he hardly dwarfs their box score accomplishments, netting just 45 points in his first 27 collegiate games.

Students pursuing dual degrees at Penn typically find it difficult to study abroad for a semester and still graduate within four years. But accomplishing this feat is now more reasonable with the rise in short-term study abroad programs - usually two to eight weeks in length - offered by Penn's four undergraduate schools.

If success has a price, Tyler Bernardini doesn't seem to be receiving his credit card bills. The expectations - stemming from an impressive freshman campaign - have built, but the sophomore guard is content to just give one response. "I'm just trying to play basketball.

Feb Club, like Hey Day and Spring Fling, is a Penn tradition that, while not clean fun, is a good, genuine way of bringing classes together. The premise is sweet and simple - build a sense of camaraderie and some old-fashioned school spirit toward Penn with friends as well as the students you've never met through a one-social-activity-per-night schedule in February.

He is the only Penn basketball player worthy of such a distinction: Harrison Gaines has Cornell's number. After dropping 19 points in each of the Quakers' two games against the Big Red in his freshman season, Gaines responded to a spot start Saturday with gusto, leaving Cornell coach Steve Donahue searching for answers.

New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof has been to all 50 states and over 100 countries - and last night, he added another destination to his list when he spoke in Huntsman's Ambani Auditorium. His lecture, which covered both journalistic and moral topics, was received by a crowd that filled the auditorium and overflowed into an auxiliary room in Huntsman where students watched via live video feed.

It was a week of endings - Izzy and Zoe's, Ruckus and Juicy Campus all said their quiet goodbyes, slipping off the college scene without too much commotion. That can't be said for the end of Michael Phelps' era as the All-American poster boy. The Olympic champ's national image took a big hit (ha! Get it?) after a British newspaper published a photo of him smoking marijuana from a bong at the University of South Carolina.

Though the accuracy of college crime data has been questioned, experts say Penn does a good job in reporting and distributing crime statistics. "There are some schools, the University of Penn being one of them," said Jonathan Kassa, executive director of Security on Campus.

Starting this fall, the Penn Bookstore will offer a line of branded apparel manufactured under conditions that exceed current university requirements for apparel licensees. Acting on the recommendation of the Worker Rights Consortium, of which Penn is a member, the Bookstore will carry clothing manufactured by Knights Apparel.

Penn would be a very different place without hazing. 2007 alumnus Martyn Griffen would not have been brutally beaten during fraternity pledging, Zeta Beta Tau and Alpha Phi Alpha would not have left campus and one student would not have been hospitalized after taking an egg to the eye during Hey Day 2006.

It's already that time again. Just two days after men's basketball was virtually eliminated from Ivy League championship contention, the first step toward the next football season took place. Penn Athletics released the 2009 football schedule around noon yesterday.

Before New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof spoke to a packed audience last night, he sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss politics, catching malaria in the Congo and the future of journalism. The Daily Pennsylvanian: What led you to journalism and The New York Times? Nicholas Kristof: In eighth grade, there was a meeting of our student newspaper, and I didn't show up.

Ilana Millner is an College junior from Washington Crossing, Pa. Her e-mail address is millner@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Since 1975, the boundaries of the Penn Police Patrol Zone haven't budged: north to south from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and east to west from 30th to 43rd streets. But rising rent prices close to campus and West Philadelphia's improving image have spurred a swelling Penn community west of the Penn Patrol Zone's 43rd Street boundary.

Joining Juicy Campus as another college-centric site to shut down unexpectedly in the past week, Ruckus, the online music service promoted as a legal alternative to music piracy, has come to an end with no explanation. The closure of the service, which Penn adopted in 2006, comes on the heels of the Recording Industry Association of America's decision last December to stop filing lawsuits against individuals for file-sharing.

Psych 166 students had a sweet start to the week as they experienced the psychology of savoring firsthand with samples from Naked Chocolate, a dessert cafe that opened at 3421 Walnut St. this fall. "Introduction to Positive Psychology" professor Angela Duckworth provided a brief background on the topic of savoring, pointing out that attentiveness is key.