The Office of Study Abroad may have closed the door on studying abroad in Israel this semester, but the window of opportunity might not be closed for good. College sophomore Elliott Thomasson, a modern Middle Eastern studies major who plans to study in Israel next year, is confident that the current situation in Israel will not inhibit his study abroad plans.

Like many Penn seniors, Alex Grendi spent his winter break looking for a job. But instead of on-campus interviews, he did his networking on the soccer field. The Columbus Crew selected Grendi 45th overall in last Thursday's Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

Parents' office buildings may not be an ideal place to spend the night, but for some students attending the inauguration, they were the way to go. Although hotels in Washington, D.C. and the city's surrounding suburbs were completely booked for yesterday's inauguration, students who traveled to the inauguration managed to find other, less-costly places to stay.

For the second year in a row, the heat is on to lower the global temperature - or at least, to lower the amount of trash Penn produces. RecycleMania is a national competition between colleges and universities to produce the greatest reduction in the waste.

Across the board, from robberies to sexual assault, Penn experienced a significant drop in most categories of crime last year. For this, we must recognize the role played by the Division of Public Safety for bringing about these declines. Throughout the past several years but specifically in 2008, DPS's work has turned the campus from a security theater to a safe environment for students and the faculty and staff living in the University City neighborhood.

Janice Dow is an College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Talented but inconsistent guard Remy Cofield has left the basketball team permanently and will transfer at year's end to a college closer to his home in Newton, Mass., according to a two-paragraph athletic department statement released yesterday. "Remy has been dealing with some ongoing family situations and has reached a point where he feels it is in his best interests to spend more of his time focusing on them," coach Glen Miller said in the release.

At the end of a long journey - both figuratively, through a long campaign season and literally, from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station this weekend - Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States yesterday in Washington, D.C. Obama's inauguration was a historic moment for the U.

It was home sweet home for the men's squash team on Saturday. Playing at Ringe Courts for the first time in six weeks, Penn downed Amherst, 9-0, in the morning and handled Williams, 6-3, just hours later. The No. 7 Quakers (5-2, 1-2 Ivy) had an auspicious start to the semester and to their stretch of four non-conference contests.

President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, began their inaugural journey at 30th Street Station on Saturday morning. But unlike his other stops along the way, Obama did not hold a public event in the city. In his prepared remarks, Obama addressed the small gathering of ticketed supporters in a private room within the station, telling them it was fitting to begin his journey in Philadelphia because "it was here, in this city, that the American journey began.

Comedians may be more effective than politicians in addressing the tensions surrounding the current conflict in the Middle East. Noel Elgrably, Elham Jazab and Mike Batayeh, a group of Middle Eastern comedians who call themselves the Sultans of Satire, held a panel discussion Friday on the role of comedy in alleviating Islamophobia. The events were cosponsored by the Penn Middle East Center and the Levantine Cultural Center.

On a day when the world's attention was focused on Washington, D.C., members of the Penn community who were unable to make the 124-mile trip could still catch the inauguration action on Penn's campus. The University's official Presidential Inauguration Celebration Program began at 10 a.

After a tense day of trading wins with Yale, the Penn women's swimming team needed to place first and second in the 400-yard freestyle relay - the day's last event - to tie the meet. Unfortunately, the women finished first and third, and as a result, the Bulldogs beat the Quakers, 152-148, in the Penn-Yale-Dartmouth tri-meet in Hanover, N.

After five years and hundreds of frivolous lawsuits, the Recording Industry Association of America's "war" on illegal downloading has moved out of its legal phase. This could not have happened soon enough. The random pursuit of a handful of those who regularly file share was an exercise in futility that highlighted the group's dismaying refusal to adapt to a changing technological landscape.

Like most of his Penn teammates, sophomore guard Harrison Gaines looked lethargic in the first half against winless NJIT. From the outset, the Highlanders were determined to slow the pace of the game and deny the ball to Penn's first option, Tyler Bernardini.

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