This Tuesday I woke up in D.C. at the crack of dawn to watch Barack Obama say the words, "I will execute the office of president of the United States faithfully." Or was it faithfully execute? Whatever it was, I was there to see it happen - well, sort of. My brother, cousin and I were fortunate enough to score some "blue" tickets to the inauguration - three of over 250,000 total tickets, of the millions who wanted them.

Every month, David Salas-De La Cruz spends $900 to leave his nine-month-old son in a day care three days a week. For families with two working parents, the cost of day care is usually manageable. But for graduate students like Salas-De La Cruz, a Ph.D. student in the Engineering school, affordable childcare can be much more difficult to come by.

Daniel Schwartz is a College junior from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Aspiring actors on campus will have a chance to show off their Hollywood skills this weekend. Tomorrow there will be a general open casting call for extras in the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Last Airbender. Shyamalan, a Philadelphia native, has directed a number of box-office hits, including The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and The Happening.

"Though each of us has our own unique perspective on the issue as it unfolds.there is a time to pay homage," said College sophomore Roxana Moussavian, an organizer of a vigil for victims of the violence in the Middle East. Sponsors included the MSA, PRISM, Hillel, Penn for Palestine and the Penn Israel Coalition.

No eight-hour bus rides, no boxed dinners, no hotel rooms. After a season of away meets, the Quakers will finally swim in Sheerr Pool. Tomorrow at noon, Penn will host its only home meet of the season, welcoming Rider and Navy. "It's awesome to have spectators because they'll definitely keep the mental focus, and I'm excited to race," freshman freestyler Cameron Hood said.

Hey, Beige Block - which sorority will have the hottest pledge class this year? Which frats should you avoid at all costs? No, it's not Gossip Girl, but gossip Web sites can offer freshmen going through the rush process a wealth of information. Although Greek leaders say students should make their own decisions about the organizations, sites like JuicyCampus and threads on College Confidential offer takes on everything from what to wear to what type of people fill each house.

Wharton sophomore Steve Cymerman has more than just an academic incentive to earn good grades - he's getting paid for his A's, too. Cymerman is one of about 13,000 users of GradeFund, a Web site launched two months ago through which students can ask family, friends, corporations and even strangers to "sponsor" their grades at school.

In the plans for eastward expansion, the University is not limiting itself to the postal lands. In fact, recent developments have planted Penn even farther east - 7,245 miles, to be exact. The University recently announced key partnerships with two universities in China: Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

It is almost too easy to say that as Tyler Bernardini goes, so go the Quakers. When a team's best scorer struggles, as Bernardini did in many of Penn's losses before last night, it is natural to think that if he just finds his stroke again the victories will magically appear.

Penn's early decision acceptance rate increased this year to 32 percent, up from last year's all-time low of 28 percent. The higher acceptance rate is a result of the fact that fewer students applied early, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said. This year, Penn received 3,666 early decision applications, compared to last year's 3,912.

Sometimes the best way to appreciate something is to miss it altogether. On Tuesday morning, the more than a million people on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall screamed a clear message: Barack Obama had been sworn in as President of the United States. The message punctured the barricades around the Mall, saying to those who didn't even know the presidential oath had been administered, "you've missed it, history happened without you.

According to the Nebraska Corn Board, there are more than 3,500 different uses for the almost omnipresent vegetable. Ethanol, high-fructose corn syrup and starch are just some of the more prominent maize manifestations. The Penn wrestling team (6-4, 3-0 EIWA) hopes to add "redemption" to that list when it battles the No.

Mark Froot has battled back pain since he was 14 years old. So after aggravating his back earlier this week, the junior anticipated a struggle entering last night's match against Franklin & Marshall. "You kind of know when you're about to go through a peak or a valley," he said.

In Penn's penultimate tuneup for conference play, two different teams showed up for the Red and Blue. The first team was the one Penn fans have grown all too familiar with this season. You know it well. It's the squad on which no player in particular wants to run anything resembling a play on offense.