A shake-up in the admissions office and a projected lower yield rate likely contributed to Penn's slightly higher acceptance rate this year, admissions experts say. Penn's acceptance rate increased to 16.4 percent this year, up from 16 percent last year. In contrast, the other Ivies - excluding Cornell University, which has yet to release its information - have all reported record low admissions rates.

What's the difference between Mike Nifong and Lynne Abraham? One is a disgraced former prosecutor involved in the Duke Lacrosse case who was disbarred and sent to jail after an independent investigation. The other is a prosecutor whose actions must be probed by an independent investigation to determine if she, too, should be subject to significant sanctions.

With his greyish white hair cropped neatly, navy blue suit and persuasive mannerism, Michael Wilson looked and sounded like a man of power in the business world. In fact, Wilson was just that, until he left the private sector to become the 22nd Canadian Ambassador to the United States.

Tom Grandieri is nothing if not considerate. He saved his first collegiate homer for yesterday afternoon, on a day when his older brother - former Penn basketball captain Brian Grandieri - didn't have a single class to interfere with his spectator duties.

The Philosophy, Politics and Economics department is in the process of devising new courses for the major, although there will not be any significant changes in the core of the curriculum. Cristina Bicchieri, director of the PPE department, said PPE faculty are working with several participating departments to expand the number of PPE course offerings, but she added that "nothing is written in stone" and said the exact details will not be available for a few more months.

It's possible that, irrespective of my actual political beliefs, I've been subconsciously rooting for Senator Clinton these past two months. Like many Penn students, I was more than a little jealous of college campuses in states with primaries and caucuses falling on or before February 5, Super Tuesday.

Last fall, high-school senior Christine Li, of George Walton High School in Marietta, Ga., applied early action to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When she was deferred and later rejected, she turned her attention to Penn. And after Shams Ahmed, a senior at Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill, N.

Don't be surprised to find a sealed envelope with a velvet bag and a gold-plated medallion under the door - it might just be an invitation to join the Kairos Society. Founded at Penn, the Kairos Society is a worldwide invitation-only entrepreneurial society.

Atop the narrow staircase leading to College Hall's Philomathean Art Gallery lies an intimate photography exhibit documenting the spring break trips of 300 Penn students. However, instead of the predictable beaches and bars, the captured images display moments from various Penn groups' community service trips.

After hearing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama speak to area volunteers last night, students involved in his campaign say they are, to use a popular Obama slogan, "fired up, ready to go." The event, held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, had several thousand Philadelphia volunteers for the campaign in attendance.

Congress may have awarded a record of nearly $2.25 billion in earmarked funds to academic institutions this fiscal year, but Penn will only see about $160,000 from the controversial grants. However, the University said it is not concerned by that small sum.

Yesterday, School of Arts and Sciences administration and officials in the Asian American Studies program met to discuss revisions to the proposed budget for the 2008-2009 academic year. The previously proposed ASAM budget would have been lower than those of past years, prompting an outcry by students and faculty alike that resulted in yesterday's talks.

At the AFL-CIO convention in Center City yesterday, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made his case to the working class, largely through responses to parts of Hillary Clinton's speech there the previous day. Obama addressed Clinton's economic proposals - and her jokes - while still maintaining his characteristic campaign theme of change.

If like many a Penn student, your weekend ritual begins with communion from a shot glass and ends on your knees at the porcelain alter of your toilet, I've got news for you - you just might need Jesus. But even if he isn't your "homeboy", as per the gospel of Urban Outfitters, there's nothing wrong with engaging someone in a polite dialogue on religious issues.

In the fifth inning of yesterday's nightcap against Saint Joseph's, Penn's seemingly-safe 6-1 lead appeared to be slipping away. Paul Cusick walked two in the top of the frame and allowed the Hawks to pull within three runs before he stranded the bases loaded.

As many students observed in New Orleans this spring break, professor John DiIulio encourages students to learn outside of the classroom. DiIulio, one of Penn's foremost political scientists and director of the Fox Leadership Program, spoke yesterday alongside Graduate School of Education professor John Puckett to students in Houston's Hall of Flags as part of Education Week - an annual series of events organized by the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education.

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