While the Penn fencing team was back home preparing for this week's Ivy League Round Robin No. 2, several younger members of the team had the opportunity to trek out west to Denver, Colo. and participate in the Junior Olympics. Sophomores Abby Emerson, Ben Wieder, Matthew Kolasa, and freshmen Andrew Bielen and Alexis Baran participated in the competition that ran from Friday to Monday.

After losing 45 percent of its offensive production, the Quakers' lineup will be completely rebuilt when the team takes the field at Villanova on Friday. Attack. Penn has the least experience and depth here and coach Brian Voelker will start a trio of sophomores in Alex Weber, Casey O'Rourke and Craig Andrzejewski.

The Hey Day working group announced that, despite talks of canceling the 91-year-old Penn tradition, Hey Day will indeed take place this year on April 20.

Spring is in the air. Punxsutawney Phil may disagree and Locust Walk may be lined with snow, but professional baseball teams have made their annual pilgrimages to Florida and Arizona, and in my mind that alerts the beginning of spring. And for Penn athletics, spring is just around the corner too.

Question: Where in West Philadelphia can one buy clothing, books, tapes, snacks, prepared food and get a haircut all in one store? Answer: At Makkah Market, located across from the mosque at 43rd and Walnut. Opened in 1996, Makkah Market has become the place to go for a diverse offering of Middle Eastern and African Halal dishes.

When their five seniors graduate at season's end, coach Pat Knapp and the Quakers will lose over seventy percent of their offensive production. But Knapp is confident that his newest recruits have the ability to one day fill their shoes. "I'm very happy," Knapp said.

Issues concerning graduate students with children are finally reaching Penn's radar, but it may be too little, too late. Additional facilities to help improve the University's day care are currently under construction at the Penn Children's Center, but graduate students with children say their needs have been overlooked throughout the entire process.

As I sat in a comfortable booth at LaScala's waiting for my order of lasagna to arrive, I felt like Garfield the cat. Alternating layers of cheese, pasta and sauce - it's a simple concept but one that tends to elude me on Penn's campus. So when I finally had a chance to eat at a downtown Italian restaurant, there was no question that I would order anything but the preferred dish of everyone's favorite feline from the funny pages.

Cuba is a country of color, Castro and cigars. The better two of these three are represented at Cuba Libre restaurant. Enter Cuba Libre on any weekend night and you will find a bustling crowd clamoring to get a table. I would recommend reservations, unless you desire to wait for a few hours before eating.

Long, dark and highlighted on each side by thin rows of orange-lit rocks, the entranceway is, without a doubt, distinctive, if not a little intimidating at first. Even more so the dining rooms, of which there are three quite large ones. From the short, brown-leather chairs and the red-and-gold tapestries to the peach lighting that glows from the base of benches and the tiny candles hid in alcove after alcove along a long blue wall, the decor is striking, to say the least.

Former Wharton professor Scott Ward pled guilty today in federal court to producing child pornography for importation into the United States. Ward, who has been held in custody since August, is scheduled for sentencing May 11. His charge carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison, according to a press release issued by the U.

They call Philadelphia the Paris of the Western Hemisphere. Oh, wait. No, they don't. The truth is, Philadelphia is not quite the haven for Francophiles - outside of the three Center City mainstays, Le Bec Fin, Lecroix at the Rittenhouse and Brasserie Perrier, the City of Brotherly Love offers little in terms of fine French cuisine.

Two male students were assaulted in separate incidents near campus this weekend. Division of Public Safety officials said a male student was robbed near the intersection of 40th and Locust streets at about 4:15 a.m. yesterday. About four or five men exited a dark sport-utility vehicle on Locust Street and attacked the student, inflicting a wound to the back of his head, DPS officials said.

In an era where women are matching men in most fields, women's-only colleges are a relic of the past.

The artistic morsels at Gayle fuse exotic tastes with a playful sense of humor. Throughout the experience, chef Daniel Stern takes great pains to make the meal memorable. Tucked away just off of South Street, Gayle offers quality homemade cuisine that will stir the Oliver Twist question within: "Please miss, may I have some more?" After arriving at the restaurant my guest and I were shown to one of the two window tables.

Just because Ibrahim Jaaber doesn't flirt with double-digit steals in a weekend, it doesn't mean that he's not making the opposing offense skittish. The Ivy League's all-time leader in thefts has made a name for himself by taking the rock away from his counterparts - particularly those within the conference.

Everything your mom ever told you about breakfast being the most important meal of the day is confirmed at Morning Glory Diner. This South Philadelphia corner eatery delightfully combines the atmosphere of a bustling neighborhood diner and a snug country-inn kitchen to create a homey and relaxed environment that is well worth the train or taxi ride from Penn's campus.