The University Board of Trustees nominated 1981 Law school alumnus David Cohen to replace James Riepe as chairman of the board beginning in Nov. 2009. Riepe, senior advisor and retired vice chairman of investment firm the T. Rowe Price Group, has been chairman of the board since 1999.

Provost Ron Daniels and I have something in common: We'll both depart dear old Penn next semester. But we're also very different in that sense - I'll take off in May after donning a cap and gown, but he's heading to Johns Hopkins at the beginning of March to assume his new position as the university's president.

Randy Wittman probably expected to see his kid at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. The former Indiana All-American and current coach of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves got his wish on Sunday - only his son was wearing Cornell red, not Hoosiers' cream and crimson.

Lawyers for former Economics professor Rafael Robb filed an appeal of his 5 to 10 year sentence for killing his wife, Ellen, two years ago. Frank DeSimone, Robb's attorney, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he filed a motion for reconsideration because he felt Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Paul Tressler did not understand the motive of a letter Robb sent to his 14-year old daughter, Olivia.

Developers' plans to build an 11-story extended-stay hotel at 40th and Pine Streets received unanimous approval from the architectural committee of the Philadelphia Historical Commission last week. The committee's decision has no legal bearing on the hotel's construction, but its recommendation will be factored into the decision of the full historical commission.

Offensive coordinator Bill Schmitz will not return for a third season with the Penn football team. The Athletic Department announced in a statement this afternoon that Schmitz's contract will not be renewed for 2009. "We appreciate his efforts during the last two years, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors," head coach Al Bagnoli said in the statement.

By ANDREW SCURRIA Senior Staff Writer scurria@dailypennsylvanian.com Andreas Schreiber played last night for the first time this year after spending weeks recovering from a shoulder injury he sustained in preseason practice. Coach Glen Miller had kept the injury, and Schreiber's status, murky.

Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Rowland Heights, Calif. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Youth civic engagement in Philadelphia isn't just limited to voting on Election Day. Almost one year after it began, the Philadelphia Youth Commission - a group of city residents between the ages of 12 and 23 - has helped young people get more involved in politics and made plans to work with City Council on key issues.

There was an eerie feeling last night at the Palestra, even before the game tipped off. Scanning the arena from press row, I saw completely empty sections in the second tier of the historic gym. Penn's cheerleaders moved their seats from the baseline to the front rows of the student section to fill the rows of sparsely-filled bleachers behind the basket.

Nov. 27 - A man unaffiliated with the University, 63, reported that someone stole his CD player from his secured vehicle on the 4300 block of Chestnut Street at 10:30 p.m.

Jay Wright is starting to like this Palestra joint. "I always take the guys for a tour," said the Villanova coach. "They said, 'Coach we did this last year.' I said, 'We're gonna do it anyway because I like it.'" You might, too, after six straight triumphs over the custodians of College B

Alex Jacobson is a College junior from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jacobson@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Though the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India last week were thousands of miles away, for some students, they hit close to home. And for some, the Thanksgiving break meant they were in Mumbai on Wednesday when a group of terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident hotels, the popular Café Leopold and a highly c

ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 29 - Down just three points at the half, Penn had reason to be optimistic about the second frame of its Saturday night game at Albany. That was until Great Danes guard Anthony Raffa introduced himself to the Quakers. Nice to meet you, Zack Rosen.

For most Penn students, getting up for a 9 a.m. class is tough. But some students who work in the high rises start their day even earlier, sometimes waking up for a shift that starts at 3 a.m. In Rodin, Harrison and Harnwell college houses, students who work at the information centers sometimes take shifts starting at 2 a.

This is a response to both the article from Oct. 20, "Philly residents protest Penn's animal testing," and the Oct. 23 staff editorial, "Humane Science." It was disappointing to see that The Daily Pennsylvanian neglected to speak with anyone from the University of Pennsylvania's research community when printing allegations by the protest group Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) that the University is a perpetrator of animal "abuse.