It's finally that time of year again - time to celebrate the largest college party on the East Coast. Since 1973, Spring Fling has been the ultimate student event at Penn. The weekend festivities began as a final stress-reliever before students headed to exams.

Twelve graduate students were chosen to represent more than 11,000 of their peers Wednesday night when the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly elected its 2008-2009 Executive Board. The Board will be led by School of Medicine student Andrew Rennekamp.

I hope the Tibetan monks don't plan to write to The Daily Pennsylvanian anytime soon to protest Chinese rule because apparently some of our readers aren't too sympathetic to diplomatic, non-militant forms of activism. The Penn chapter of the NAACP has been idiotically criticized this week for its push for long-overdue renovations to DuBois College House.

Next week, Penn will have the opportunity to witness the "Colbert bump, " as the popular Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report, will film at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts next Monday through Thursday nights. In a telephone interview with the show's host, Stephen Colbert, the Daily Pennsylvanian had the chance to ask Colbert about his views on filming at Penn, his job and the Pennsylvania primary.

Collegiate men's lacrosse games last 60 minutes. Too bad for the Quakers, who may be lobbying for a rule change after yet another second-half collapse. Tuesday night at Princeton, Penn went into halftime within shooting distance of the Tigers, down a respectable 6-4.

Classical Studies professor Ralph Rosen has been appointed the new Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences. Rosen, who has been at Penn for the past 25 years, will be responsible for overseeing the School's doctoral programs, which enroll approximately 2,000 students.

Steven Pinker has a way with words. Named one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2004, the best-selling Harvard psychology professor spoke in Irvine Auditorium yesterday on his new book, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. His presentation was part of the 2008 Levin Family Dean's Forum, an annual celebration of the arts and sciences featuring leading intellectual figures.

If you want women to get along, just add chocolate to the mix. Yesterday, the Women's Center opened its doors to Panhellenic and Multicultural Greek women all over campus with an inaugural open house. "The purpose of [the open house] is to get the sorority houses involved and aware of the services that the Women's Center offers," said Engineering junior and Executive Vice President of the Panhellenic Council Elizabeth Rosenblatt.

Just one week after the Penn softball team swept La Salle, winning game two in walk-off fashion, it's getting a taste of its own medicine. Yesterday, the Quakers were on the losing end of a walk-off - twice - as Temple topped them 3-2 and 4-3 on the north side of Philadelphia.

If, as Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine so eloquently put it over a decade ago, chicks dig the long ball, then the Penn baseball team will be going stag this spring. The Quakers have struggled in the power department, making runs hard to come by despite several players batting well over .

Philadelphia has one last chance to get it right. Last week, the South Street Bridge Coalition proposed a set of architectural changes to the City's current design for the new South Street Bridge. Officials are preparing to rebuild the decrepit, 85-year-old structure beginning this summer.

As Penn nears the closing stages of negotiating a partnership with a nearby public high school, education experts are debating the merits of such relationships. Penn officials say they hope to gain approval for a partnership with University City High School later this month or in early May, and have the partnership functioning by the start of the 2009-2010 school year.

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

A native Philadelphian and father of six, Troy Harris always serves food with a smile. Harris has been working in kosher dining at Penn for eight years. He spent his first three with the University's previous food service provider, Bon Appetit, and the last five at Falk Dining Commons in Hillel.

Freshman Jess Lupardus has an interesting explanation for her success from the pitcher's circle. The Birmingham, Ala. native grew up with her single mother, who played volleyball at the University of Alabama. Her father died from heart failure after a triple bypass surgery when she was only a year old.

A plea deal is likely in the works for former Marketing professor Scott Ward, who is facing child-pornography charges. Ward, 65, is awaiting arraignment on two counts of transporting child pornography and one count of giving a false statement to a governmental agency.

Saxophone musicians today still try to emulate one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time - John Coltrane. Yesterday at Kelly Writers House, jazz critic and Philadelphia native Francis Davis discussed Coltrane's life and music in a review of his upcoming book, Sheets of Sound.