Avery Lawrence is a College senior from Charlottesville, Va. His e-mail address is lawrence@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Penn boasts a high percentage of international students in the Ivy League, but that hasn't quenched domestic students' thirst for exposure to the rest of the world. Interest in languages like Arabic and East Asian dialects has increased over the past several years, largely because of the way the international landscape is changing, said College Dean Dennis DeTurck.

Speed, strength and endurance are on full display this weekend during the finals of the 114th annual Penn Relays. Penn Relays, America's premiere track and field event of the early outdoor season, invited qualifying teams from 950 high schools and 250 colleges worldwide this year, along with professionals from some of the world's top track clubs.

Tomorrow's race is named after Charles Francis Adams, Secretary of the Navy during the Herbert Hoover administration. But it's Harvard -- not Navy - that has dominated the Adams Cup, taking home the trophy each of the last seven years. Those two schools will join Penn for the latest installment of the battle that began in 1928.

Despite last week's court ruling blocking the enforcement of new gun-control measures in Philadelphia, some faculty, students and city residents are still calling for what they call "common-sense" firearm laws. The proposed measures, signed into law by Mayor Nutter earlier this month, would limit individuals to one firearm purchase per month, require that owners report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours, ban the possession of automatic weapons and prohibit persons with an order of protection against them and persons deemed dangerous from possessing firearms.

After the final pitch on Sunday, Penn softball seniors Christina Khosravi and Annie Kinsey will take off their Red and Blue for the last time. The duo has set the bar high for future middle infields at Penn. They've missed just one game combined in their collegiate careers.

Giant puppets and a herd of elementary-school students may not seem like the most obvious path for social activism, but a local nonprofit organization is giving it a try anyway. The Spiral Q Puppet Theater, which uses puppets, street theater, parades, and pageants to promote community unity and social activism, will be putting on the first of its three spring parades today.

Familiar Philly face to join Miller's bench Glen Miller has found himself a new right-hand man. Philadelphia native and Saint Joseph's alum John Gallagher will join the Penn basketball program as an assistant coach, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

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

Now that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania primary by a 10-point margin, the race shifts to the remaining states - with, it seems, no clear end in sight. Clinton's win was a crucial victory that, for the time being, keeps her candidacy alive and validates her argument to superdelegates that she can win in swing states.

Legislation recently introduced in Congress would require private universities to recognize teaching and research assistants as a union if they elect to form one. That's big news for Graduate Employees Together - University of Pennsylvania, the graduate student group that wants to be recognized as a union by Penn.

As the sunny month of May approaches, Penn students begin to dread the darker side of spring: finals and move-out. This year, as in years past, the official move-out deadline falls at 12 p.m. on the day after the last scheduled final. And this year, as in years past, students will scramble to study as they pack with one hand and type papers with the other.

Christina Khosravi is no stranger to walk-off wins. She did, after all, cap an extra-inning affair with a game-ending knock on April 2 against La Salle. Yesterday, however, Khosravi's mere presence earned Penn a last-inning win. With freshman Alisha Prystowsky on second and no outs in a 3-3 game, Drexel pitcher Ellen Boundy opted to intentionally walk the Quakers' slugging shortstop.

Adrian Thomas doesn't have a particular affinity for stealing bases. In fact, there are six Penn players who have swiped more bags than the team's newly anointed leadoff man. But the left fielder knows how to make his presence felt on the bases. Thomas' savvy baserunning helped the Quakers to a 6-2 victory against Lehigh (20-26, 4-12 Patriot) yesterday to salvage a split in the doubleheader.

The Hey Day T-shirt design was announced last night on the Web site of Penn's junior class. The shirt, which was designed by Engineering junior Chloe LeGendre, will feature a picture of a Monopoly board with the words "Hey Day 2008 Class of 2009: Our Turn to Play.

Sipping water out of that Nalgene bottle might not be so good for you. Numerous studies, including one at the University of Cincinnati earlier this year, show that traces of the toxic substance bisphenol-A, commonly called BPA, are released from Nalgene bottles' "unbreakable" plastic.

Some Penn students take classes in Fisher-Bennett Hall or David Rittenhouse Labs. Others head to Philadelphia public schools or community centers to participate in Academically Based Community Service Courses that teach "problem-solving learning." At yesterday's fifth-annual ABCS Summit, students, faculty and administrators gathered in Logan Hall to discuss the future of ABCS courses at Penn and possibilities for integrating them further into the curriculum.