Stanford has joined the ranks of many selective universities across the United States, including Penn, by announcing an increase in the levels of undergraduate financial aid. Under the university's new plan, students whose parents earn less than $100,000 a year will no longer be required to pay tuition.

The Quakers got robbed by their next door neighbors. For the majority of its season opener against No. 18 Drexel, the Penn men's lacrosse team maintained a two-goal lead. The Quakers were even up 8-5 midway through the fourth quarter before the Dragons turned it around to beat Penn 9-8 at Franklin Field.

Running late to class? Beginning next fall, Harnwell College House residents will no longer be able to blame the elevators. Renovations to the Harnwell elevators begin May 22 and will include installation of new elevator controls "with the latest microprocessor technology," new motors and new doors, Department of Design and Construction senior project manager David Dunn wrote in an e-mail.

Last Monday, Penn reached its single largest day of commingled recycling collection during the RecycleMania competition with 3,480 pounds of recycled material - or 1.74 tons. RecycleMania, a 10-week contest sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, designed to promote waste reduction, began on Jan.

Last week the University announced that Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates will design Penn Park, the 24-acre park and athletic facility that will run along 31st Street between Walnut and South streets. The park is being partially built on the 14 acres of the postal lands the University purchased last year.

BOSTON - After two straight blowout victories, it finally looked like the Quakers were beginning to find their groove. Then, they went to Boston. Thanks to a first-half offensive outburst, Harvard stopped Penn 89-79 Saturday night. Coming in, the Quakers were still very much a factor in the Ivy League race.

When I first thought of transferring to Penn from Villanova, one of the reasons was Villanova's insane inferiority complex. Villanovans were obsessed with Georgetown and Boston College: the suburban Catholic schools they didn't get into. We acted out our jealousy by intensely mocking the kids from St.

When College freshman Clare Foran answers her geology professor's questions, it's not by raising her hand. She keys in the answer on a 'clicker' she brings to class. The electronic response pad, which all students in the class are required to purchase, transmits student answers to a computer which collates all the responses and displays them on a screen.

Columbia lost its aura of invincibility last night at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association championship in New York as it barely edged out a win over the Quakers at Fencing's first postseason meet. Only two bouts stood between Penn and the six-weapon team championship last night.

For the second time this year, Facebook has changed its policy after users voiced concerns over privacy issues. Most recently, the social-networking Web site made it easier for users to permanently delete their accounts this month. The change came after The New York Times published an article saying it was impossible to completely remove accounts from Facebook, followed by widespread user complaints.

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

Drawing over 1,200 members of the Penn community, SPEC's Evening with Karl Rove was, by all accounts, a success. Unfortunately, the evening was tarnished by a couple of students more interested in venting their anger than participating in civil discussion.

About once a month or so, I like to go into the Financial Aid office to ask a question or two - and to remind them that I am still desperately poor. So just in case they happen to have a couple thousand dollars that they're looking to give out, I'm their guy.

At Penn Medicine, officials are thinking green, and they're not just referring to nauseated patients. The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is on schedule to open early this summer and will have certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Last week's meeting of the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee, which discussed plans for an 11-story extended-stay hotel at 40th and Pine streets, seems to have created only a greater divide between developers and the community on an already divisive issue. Nearby residents expressed strong disapproval of the hotel at the meeting, while developers heaped praises on the design.

At Penn, students are constantly reminded to think globally. One Penn alum took this advice literally, and he is now surrounded by 192 countries on a daily basis. Wharton MBA alum Hugh Dugan is not a perpetual globe-trotter - he is a United States delegate to the United Nations and member of the United States Diplomatic Corps.

For most of us, Penn's a place for making new friends and pursuing intellectual challenges. But for some students, the college years are also the ideal time for getting plastic surgery. The benefits are obvious. In transitioning from a familiar hometown to a campus populated mostly by strangers and to the even more alien "real world," there is little chance of meeting someone who would recognize that you had work done.