It's not quite rotten, but something is definitely amiss about the state of the high rises. Between the 400 clogged-toilet complaints filed this semester and the long waits for broken elevators, students in the high rises are understandably frustrated and upset with Facilities Services right now.

Two separate violent incidents involving weapons were reported last week near Penn. On Friday night, a 50-year-old man reported that a security guard denied him access to a building at 43rd and Walnut streets, Detective Swann of the Philadelphia Police said.

Sometimes, you don't need to travel far to learn first-hand about the world. That's what the roughly 50 students of Cathedral of Praise Community Church's after-school program learned two weeks ago when members of the International Student Council visited.

Last week, 40 students came to the Undergraduate Assembly to voice their concerns about the proposed building of a casino in Chinatown. In response, the UA debated whether to request a study on the possible effects that a proposed casino could have on Penn students - who live almost 30 blocks away.

December can't come soon enough for the women's basketball team. And no, it's not because of Christmas. After going 0-5 in November, a change in the calendar might be just what the doctor ordered. The Quakers start their December schedule tonight at Lafayette (1-5).

Penn is channeling outrage about violence against women into action. Thanks to a $270,000 grant from the Department of Justice Office on Violence AgaProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 st Women, Penn will institute recent Rutgers graduate Jessica Mertz as a Violence Prevention Educator. Mertz will promote education about violence against women by coordinating cooperation between v

President-elect Barack Obama met with the nation's governors in Philadelphia yesterday to discuss state issues affected by the financial crisis. Obama called on the National Governors Association to assemble at Independence Hall, in a move Pennsylvania Gov.

In a remarkably close election, the Penn Democrats has elected College sophomore Jordan Levine as its next president.

Jan. 20, 2009, will be a historic day. George W. Bush (Yale, Harvard MBA) will no longer be the president of this nation, ending a reign that I will generously term disgraceful. After eight years of incompetent decision-making and leadership, Obama and Co.

The University Board of Trustees nominated 1981 Law school alumnus David Cohen to replace James Riepe as chairman of the board beginning in Nov. 2009. Riepe, senior advisor and retired vice chairman of investment firm the T. Rowe Price Group, has been chairman of the board since 1999.

Provost Ron Daniels and I have something in common: We'll both depart dear old Penn next semester. But we're also very different in that sense - I'll take off in May after donning a cap and gown, but he's heading to Johns Hopkins at the beginning of March to assume his new position as the university's president.

Randy Wittman probably expected to see his kid at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. The former Indiana All-American and current coach of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves got his wish on Sunday - only his son was wearing Cornell red, not Hoosiers' cream and crimson.

Lawyers for former Economics professor Rafael Robb filed an appeal of his 5 to 10 year sentence for killing his wife, Ellen, two years ago. Frank DeSimone, Robb's attorney, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he filed a motion for reconsideration because he felt Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paul Tressler did not understand the motive of a letter Robb sent to his 14-year old daughter, Olivia.

Developers' plans to build an 11-story extended-stay hotel at 40th and Pine Streets received unanimous approval from the architectural committee of the Philadelphia Historical Commission last week. The committee's decision has no legal bearing on the hotel's construction, but its recommendation will be factored into the decision of the full historical commission.

Offensive coordinator Bill Schmitz will not return for a third season with the Penn football team. The Athletic Department announced in a statement this afternoon that Schmitz's contract will not be renewed for 2009. "We appreciate his efforts during the last two years, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors," head coach Al Bagnoli said in the statement.

By ANDREW SCURRIA Senior Staff Writer scurria@dailypennsylvanian.com Andreas Schreiber played last night for the first time this year after spending weeks recovering from a shoulder injury he sustained in preseason practice. Coach Glen Miller had kept the injury, and Schreiber's status, murky.