Daniel Schwartz is a College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Drawing over 1,200 members of the Penn community, SPEC's Evening with Karl Rove was, by all accounts, a success. Unfortunately, the evening was tarnished by a couple of students more interested in venting their anger than participating in civil discussion.

About once a month or so, I like to go into the Financial Aid office to ask a question or two - and to remind them that I am still desperately poor. So just in case they happen to have a couple thousand dollars that they're looking to give out, I'm their guy.

At Penn Medicine, officials are thinking green, and they're not just referring to nauseated patients. The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is on schedule to open early this summer and will have certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Last week's meeting of the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee, which discussed plans for an 11-story extended-stay hotel at 40th and Pine streets, seems to have created only a greater divide between developers and the community on an already divisive issue. Nearby residents expressed strong disapproval of the hotel at the meeting, while developers heaped praises on the design.

At Penn, students are constantly reminded to think globally. One Penn alum took this advice literally, and he is now surrounded by 192 countries on a daily basis. Wharton MBA alum Hugh Dugan is not a perpetual globe-trotter - he is a United States delegate to the United Nations and member of the United States Diplomatic Corps.

For most of us, Penn's a place for making new friends and pursuing intellectual challenges. But for some students, the college years are also the ideal time for getting plastic surgery. The benefits are obvious. In transitioning from a familiar hometown to a campus populated mostly by strangers and to the even more alien "real world," there is little chance of meeting someone who would recognize that you had work done.

As the women's lacrosse season starts up, the Quakers will have one thing on their minds. But before they can return to the Final Four and vie for the national title, they'll have to take some baby steps. It starts this Sunday, when the team will venture a few blocks north to take on Drexel in its season-opener.

When I opened the center spread of last month's Punch Bowl's diversity issue, my world collapsed. For years I thought Asian Americans belonged at parties. The craziest shindigs I'd ever been to were hosted by Asian Americans. But even more horrifying was the realization that Asians did not belong at Crown Fried Chicken.

The Quakers won't have to wait long to get a shot at impressing the NCAA tournament committee. They can do that tomorrow in their season opener at home against Drexel. While the ACC and Ivy League -- conferences traditionally strong in lacrosse - comprise the majority of the top-10 national rankings, other schools not known for their athletic programs fill the spots from 10 to 20.

In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave almost 300 million hours of volunteer service worth more than $5.6 billion. Last week, Penn was among six colleges and universities nationwide to receive presidential recognition for its contributions. The University was one of three recipients of the 2007 Presidential Award for General Community Service in the second annual President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, along with Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Last night, about 15 protesters gathered outside of a Hillel-Steinhardt conference room that was hosting a dinner and discussion with the two former Israeli soldiers who have put on a controversial exhibition of photographs about the Israeli occupation. Mostly members of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, the protesters sang Jewish songs and refused to join the discussion going on inside, citing philosophical differences with the exhibit, called Breaking the Silence.

Instead of studying for exams and going out to parties, some Princeton freshmen could be spending their first year after high school overseas helping others. Earlier this week, Princeton University announced that it is working on a program to send about 100 students, or 10 percent of its entering class, abroad for a gap-year program before the students come to campus.

The 10th annual WILith Fair hosted by the Women in Leadership Series went off without a hitch last night. WILith Fair - a celebration of female leaders on campus - featured good food, quality entertainment and a long list of honorees, guests and students being recognized for their distinguished leadership and outstanding achievement.

What comes to mind when you think of blinking traffic lights? For B.J. Ellis , executive director of The N Crowd, a Philadelphia comedy troupe, they are a "clear attack of the epileptic liberation front". It takes about five seconds before the audience will find themselves laughing out loud.

How's this for a wacky end to a regular season? After a 1 p.m. home match against Lehigh on Sunday, the No. 25 Penn Wrestling team will turn around and prepare for a 6 p.m. tilt against Princeton - in New Jersey. "It is what it is," coach Zeke Jones said.

When Penn hosted Harvard earlier this season, Brian Grandieri rescued his team from defeat by scoring a clutch four points in the final minutes. But the lasting memory from Penn's 73-69 victory was not Grandieri's heroics. Instead, it was the first half tussle between Penn's Justin Reilly and Harvard's Evan Harris that led to Reilly's exit with a gash in his head.