Just three-hundreths of a second. That was the difference at last year's meet between the Penn and Columbia women's swim teams in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Columbia's narrow victory, the final one of that meet, gave the Lions just enough points to beat the Quakers in a 153-147 decision.

By Matt Conrad Senior Sports Editor mlconrad@sas.upenn.edu The Big 5 is distinctly a Philadelphia entity, but its disciples range far and wide, from the NBA to college coaching staffs across the nation. Billy Lange is one such displaced Philadelphia guy whose career has brought him to the helm of the up-and-coming Navy basketball program.

Step aside, New York City: One writer says Sante Fe could become Philadelphia's true metropolitan competition. In a presentation yesterday afternoon before several dozen people in College Hall, author and Washington Post contributing writer Joel Garreau argued that the rise of the computer will change America's cities just as much as the invention of the railroad or the automobile.

There's nothing like pizza, beer and neighborhood revitalization to mobilize a community. Following a local letter-writing campaign, the Dock Street Brewing Co. pizzeria is set to inhabit the former firehouse at 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue. The building, located across the street from Cedar Park, housed the Firehouse Farmers Market until last year.

The Latino Coalition elected its new board last night, and increasing University Latino recruitment and matriculation rates are already high on its agenda. "I have a lot of friends who say, 'Oh, Penn isn't Latino enough,'" newly elected Admissions Chairman and College junior Ricardo Parrondo said.

President Gutmann must publicize her position on Harvard presidency.

When commercial timeouts end during radio broadcasts for WXPN, the producer says "cue" to tell the announcers they are back on the air. In Dallas for the NCAA tournament, the producer said "cue," but Penn senior and play-by-play Quakers announcer Brian Seltzer was silent.

Clean laundry is just an e-mail away. Housing and Conference Services will be implementing a new laundry-alert program in Sansom Place next semester. The program will send electronic notifications to students when their laundry is complete, Housing Services spokeswoman Dana Matkevich said.

Early-application rates may have dropped, but have no fear, admissions officials say - regular decision is right around the corner. The next round of applications should get a boost from the introduction of the Common Application, they say, and that could make up for the smaller early-decision pool.

These Quakers are hoping that this season does not turn into a repeat of last. Despite winning its first two games, the women's basketball team has struggled in the face of tougher competition, losing three straight games. Penn (2-3) will try to right its ship when it tips off tonight against Lafayette (2-5).

Christina Antiporda, an Architecture student, makes a 21st-century blueprint in a 19th-century Fine Arts Library. Taken from the fifth floor. F 4.0 1/25 sec 12/5/06 5:16 p.m.

Five days after allowing 14 three-pointers to Villanova, the Ivy League's sixth-ranked three-point defense is in for another tough night. When the Quakers (4-3) travel to Annapolis, Md. to face Navy (7-2) tonight, they know exactly what they'll be in for.

Too much emphasis on political correctness during the holidays is a lose-lose situation for all.

The six laws of the Penn landscape, or, why the University's name will never change and its students will always 'suck.'

The School of Arts and Sciences Webmail server broke down last night at about 11:45 p.m. It had also crashed earlier yesterday morning. Penn officials had said they would replace the service by November but have failed to decide which of the two companies in the running- Microsoft or Google - will be used.

By Ilario Huober Sports Editor ihuober@sas.upenn.edu When Ibrahim Jaaber stood up with a noticeable limp after being called for an offensive foul in the closing minutes of Penn's loss to Villanova Saturday, the Palestra faithful held its collective breath.

Early applications to Penn dropped slightly this year, admissions officials announced yesterday.