Heading into the second weekend of a two-part competition such as the Ivy League Round Robin in fencing, all you want is a shot at the championship. Both the Penn men's and women's teams have this opportunity. Problem is, their competition, Columbia (20-1, 5-0 Ivy), does too.

One of these things is not like the other: Martin Sheen, Henry Kissinger, Bob Costas, Peyton Manning. The Connaissance Committee of the Social Planning and Events Committee announced yesterday that Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning will be coming to speak at Penn next month.

To say the odds were against Dartmouth in its last meeting with Penn might be the understatement of the season. With Leon Pattman out of commission due to illness, the Big Green were forced to face a top-ranked league opponent without their leading scorer in front of the relentless crowd at the Palestra.

The Board of Trustees, the top governing body that gives final approval to Penn's executive hiring and financial decisions, met yesterday to address pressing issues facing the University.

Daniel Schwartz is a College freshman from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwarm@sas.upenn.edu.

Microsoft says that its newest operating system, Windows Vista, is visually appealing and easy to use. Easy to use, that is, unless you're a Penn student. Information Systems and Computing officials are cautioning students and faculty not to upgrade to Vista, warning that users with the upgrade will not be able to access AirPennNet, the University's residential wireless network.

Caveat emptor, prospective students, when it comes to looking at the latest college guidebooks and rankings.

Criminology isn't 'CSI' To the Editor: Your headline on the proposed major in Criminology ("Miles Davis, fingerprinting await," DP, 2/21/07) said that Penn is likely to teach fingerprinting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your report misquotes me as saying "Criminology is not just forensic science.

On paper, Villanova should be overmatched. But when a team is playing its first game of the season - as is the Quakers' men's lacrosse squad - no one knows what to expect. Yes, Penn has been ranked 13th by Inside Lacrosse, and yes, it did make the NCAA tournament last year.

With Scott Ward still facing federal child-pornography charges in Pennsylvania, legal experts say the former Wharton professor doesn't have much of a case and will likely plead guilty once again.

Barron's Challenge won't be over until April, but the contest's leading competitor received an unexpected bonus a little early. Wharton junior Felix Wang, already in line to win $1,500 if he maintains his first-place position in the stock-picking competition, was visited yesterday by two business executives interested in his work.

"You dance with the girl you bring to the dance." Men's track coach Charlie Powell approaches the signature meet for his team just like any other. "We are going to treat this as business as usual. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel or anything like that," he said.

When SEPTA announced last week that its fares would be increased, city officials were in a buzz, calling the situation a "crisis." But calm down, experts say - it might not be so bad. SEPTA announced last Thursday that the company will experience a $150 million deficit if it does not receive state aid.

After gauging widespread discontent with its 35-year-old tenure program, Yale University is finally bringing its promotion policies in line with those of its peer institutions - including Penn's. The new policy would, among other things, create a tenure-track system through which faculty will be hired under the assumption that they can receive tenure if they have the necessary qualifications.

The Drexel women's lacrosse team won't be walking far to its first game this year, but it will be uphill all the way. On Saturday, No. 18 Penn will begin its quest for a NCAA Tournament berth when it takes on Drexel at Franklin Field - just a few short blocks away from the heart of Drexel's campus.

With the Ivy Classic this weekend, the Penn gymnastics team faces its biggest test of the season. In arguably its most important meet, the Quakers will face off against Yale, Brown and Cornell. The buzz in the air was evident at practice and with all the Ivies scoring at a similar level, the pressure is on.

980,000Philadelphians registered to vote in the upcoming mayoral election; 75 percent are registered Democrats. Source: Philadelphia City Paper