Alicia Puglionesi is a College sophomore from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Travelers everywhere this Thanksgiving can anticipate fare hikes, heavy traffic, long lines and lots of red tape as a precursor to turkey and mashed potatoes.

A huge part of the allure of college basketball is the opportunity for players to display their talent on a national stage and go up against the best in the country. That's what guard Dominick Mejia intended to do when he went to NC State in 2002, and he finally did last year when he lit up Duke for 25 points in a near-upset.

Misplaced loyalty To the Editor: Adam Cohen's column ("The future is bright for a Democratic America," DP, 11/16/06) is laced with the same brand of ignorance and partisan rhetoric that permeates contemporary politics in America. First, he lists recent ethics scandals - interestingly omitting Democratic ones.

Asian applicants are incredibly successful at gaining spots at top colleges - so why complain?

Democrats looking to add another seat to their Election Day victory should brace themselves for disappointment - Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is sticking with the GOP.

For the second time in five days University officials have released a security warning to students, this time involving one crime adjacent to campus and three just east of campus. The second security warning, released earlier today, comes after a series of four incidents which may be connected.

It was one of the first things I learned in my time at the DP: Be careful of criticizing athletes in the newspaper. They're amateur athletes, and, in the Ivy League, they're non-scholarship athletes, doing what they do for the love of the game. But this past weekend, an athlete at Penn made a pair of mental mistakes so bad in such a clutch situation that the guideline has to go out the window.

The Ivy League player of the week and the Atlantic 10 and Big 5 player of the week will face off against each other when Penn (2-0) takes on La Salle (2-0) in its third game and first Big Five contest of the season.

Chaka Fattah has officially put himself on next year's mayoral ballot, and he'll likely have more company there soon.

When asked about the snowflake lanterns that line the tops of trees on Locust Walk, College sophomore Jordan Cohen's face lights up.

Admissions policies are stacked against Asian applicants.

At yesterday's NWCA All-Star Classic, fans witnessed a tale of two Matts. The invitational, which hosts nationally top-ranked wrestlers in each weight class annually, featured two Quakers for the first time. Matt Valenti, last year's NCAA national champion and top-ranked wrestler in the country at 133 pounds, faced Oklahoma State's No.

Two members of the suspended Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity were convicted of harassment and simple assault yesterday.

Ivy League universities are about to get a whole lot larger. Physically, for one. Penn will acquire the postal lands, a 42-acre swath of land directly east of campus, next year; construction will span the next few decades.

College senior Aaron Weissman won't be on the Undergraduate Assembly any more.

When the Penn swimming teams take on La Salle tonight, the women's team (3-2, 1-2 Ivy) will expect a win while the men's team (2-3, 0-3) will look forward to a close meet.