Last season the women's basketball team only mustered 26 points in a 40 point rout by Villanova. In their home opener this year, the Quakers bounced back to nearly pull off a stunning upset. Instead, Sioban O'Connor hit a huge three-pointer with 36 seconds left to propel Villanova to a 45-43 victory.

This time next week, I'll unfortunately still be here at school. Don't get me wrong - I love being here. It's just that the next day is Thanksgiving, one of the few times during the year my family gets together anymore. But I have classes the day before Thanksgiving, thanks to the structure of our current fall semester calendar.

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

Who knows what Bruiser Flint's politics are, but on matters of college basketball he is a registered progressive, and a loud one at that. Damn the torpedoes and the status quo, he says what he thinks and treats reporters not as annoyances but as sparring partners and useful tools in getting his point across.

Despite its earlier efforts, putting syllabi online continues to be a pipe dream for the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. In a meeting last week, the Provost's Council of Undergraduate Deans announced that the Online Syllabi Initiative SCUE has been pushing for the past three years will not be feasible until at least 2010.

"Work hard, play hard," may be many students' motto, but deciding where to draw that line can be difficult. Balancing more enjoyable extracurricular activities with schoolwork can jeopardize academic performance, but some students say it's worth the consequences.

Christina Matthias and Brittany Hebden have only gotten closer as the years have gone by - literally. From growing up a block apart in Philadelphia to attending Penn Charter School together for 12 years to sharing an off-campus house with seven other people, the two Penn squash players are "almost like sisters.

Bruiser Flint got his wish. With it came pressure. "My boss told me, 'Now look, man, we got this game here, so you better win,'" the Drexel coach said. "So I said, 'OK. All right. Appreciate it.'" The Dragons pleased their head honchos with a 66-64 win over Penn in its first-ever visit to the Daskalakis Center early yesterday morning.

After a loss to Princeton spoiled her first ever Ivy League match, sophomore Megan Tryon sensed what the Penn-Princeton rivalry was all about. "It's a pride thing," she said. "I'm still really bitter about that and I definitely want to avenge that loss." In two chances to get the revenge she so desperately covets, the Quakers came up short.

Former Economics professor Rafael Robb will serve five to 10 years in prison and 10 years probation for killing his wife, Ellen, in December 2006.

Former Economics professor Rafael Robb will be sentenced today at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas for killing his wife, Ellen, in December 2006. Lawyers for Rafael Robb - who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter last November - are expected to argue that Ellen Robb's mental health at the time is a reason he should receive a relatively light sentence.

Penn professors are using their knowledge outside of the classroom - this month, some traveled as far as the Middle East to help draft solutions to major world problems. These faculty members, including Penn President Amy Gutmann, went to Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates, to meet with other members of new World Economic Forum councils.

Legal Studies and Business Ethics professor Kevin Werbach is serving on President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. Werbach, who was a technology policy advisor to Obama during the campaign, is the co-leader of the Agency Review Team for the Federal Communications Commission.

U.S. News and World Report may say Penn is tied for sixth place, but it's number two for the quality of its students' note-taking, according to GradeGuru.com. GradeGuru is a Web site that lets students from any university post old notes and study guides from classes and get paid for them.

Last time Villanova senior Lisa Karcic made a visit to the Palestra, it was a dark day for Penn women's basketball. "Two years ago she shot the lights out here," coach Pat Knapp said. Unfortunately for Knapp and the Quakers, the scene at Villanova's Pavilion last year was even drearier.

The Dragons weren't more talented, more athletic or more prepared than Penn in their 66-64 home win at the Daskalakis Athletic Center yesterday. No, the difference came down to defensive intensity - Drexel had it, and Penn didn't. "Just disappointed in our performance tonight," senior guard Kevin Egee said.

Despite rumors that Alpha Chi Omega's annual Big Man On Campus philanthropy event was going to be canceled this year, the event is expected to occur as planned tomorrow evening. The participating students have signed a pledge not to consume alcohol during the pageant and several members of Alpha Chi Omega national headquarters will be present to supervise the event, said Wharton senior and Interfraternity Council President David Ashkenazi.