Alex Jacobson is a College junior from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jacobson@dailypennsylvanian.com.

For 32 Penn students, arguing is more than just something you do with your roommate or in philosophy recitation - it's a structured competition. For those students, their affinity for arguing paid off last month at the Coast Guard Academy Mock Trial Tournament in New London, Conn.

For a moment, Marc Hembrough's 47 year-old body betrayed him. The Penn football team would receive the ball first against Dartmouth, and fired up, Hembrough ran over for some chest bumps with the squad. But padless and with his playing days 25 years behind him, Hembrough thought better of his move and turned off to his right, narrowly missing the Penn players in full gear.

Eight days ago, on a chilly night in South Philly, Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske and the Phillies won the World Series. All but the soundest sleepers heard the city's exhalation of relief and triumph. It came in waves of lusty yells and incessant honking.

Former Marketing professor Scott Ward will plead guilty this month to child pornography charges. Ward, who is already serving a prison sentence for producing and importing child pornography, was charged in August with two counts of inducing a minor to engage in sex to create photos or videos.

The price of a college education increases every year, but luckily, so do most schools' commitments to provide financial aid. At four-year public and private colleges, average tuition prices and financial-aid packages both increased for the current academic year, according to a report published by the College Board last week.

Joseph Cho, a former Penn Law student accused of trying to kill his neighbors, will go to trial on attempted murder charges. Cho was held for court on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and other related offenses at a preliminary hearing in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas yesterday, according to court records.

Discussing sexually transmitted diseases can be awkward, uncomfortable and wholly unpleasant. But one Web site is trying to make it a little easier through an eCard service. Inspot.org, a Web site developed by the Internet Sexuality Information Services, Inc.

Gov. Ed Rendell was jubilant, and Republican Sen. Arlen Specter more muted, as they discussed the outcome of Tuesday's presidential election. Before an audience of about 500 civic and business leaders, Rendell and Specter - Pennsylvania's most prominent politicians - made the differences in their views clear at a breakfast hosted by Philadelphia-based political watchdog group Committee of Seventy.

According to Mickey Rapkin, "there are a lot of untold stories, a lot of gossip you don't know about, behind college a capella." Rapkin, a senior editor at GQ Magazine and author of Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Capella Glory," spoke to a crowd of about a dozen people at the Penn Bookstore last night.

Tuesday was a good day for Democrats, but it was an even better day for student activism. Nearly 4,000 voters showed up at on-campus voting locations, and over 90 percent of registered student voters showed up to cast their ballot. Penn Leads the Vote and student political groups deserve recognition for their impressive voter registration and turnout efforts.

Jennifer Lesser is a College junior from Minneapolis, Minn. Her e-mail address is lesser@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Political Science professor Rogers Smith noted that Tuesday's "election marks a historic juncture," at a panel yesterday in Houston Hall. And while it is still too early to analyze the triumphs and problems that will accompany this election, Smith and his colleagues tried to demystify the results.

The benefits of sports spectatorship are usually cheap pleasures - triumph, camaraderie, pride and the catharsis of revenge. Rarely are fans rewarded materially for their love of the game, though Abner's Cheesesteaks would beg to differ. But for the Quakers faithful who can't wait for the next 100-point game, the Athletic Department has introduced Red & Blue Rewards, aimed at giving fans concrete incentives to attend Penn sports events.

The Ivy League gets about as many All-American transfers as it does national championships. But this offseason, the Penn basketball team found one of the former. Sort of. Sophomore Zachary Gordon, a transfer from Yeshiva University, was a first-teamer on the Jewish Sports Review All-American team for Divisions II and III.

On her first road trip as an NCAA athlete, Madison Wojciechowski found a unique way of bonding with her new volleyball coach, Kerry Carr. Carr was sitting in her usual seat at the front of the bus when a series of familiar noises erupted nearby. No time was wasted figuring out that somebody had been passing gas, but the culprit was hard to identify.

'I'm lovin' it!" Almost everyone associates this catchphrase with McDonald's, but few Penn students would agree that it applies to the franchise's branch on 40th and Walnut streets. With customer service complaints like the ones described in The Daily Pennsylvanian last week, it's no wonder many local residents have rejoiced at the firings of several staff members.