The United Minorities Council elected College and Wharton junior Lisa Zhu, who is also a DP columnist, as its new chair at the Greenfield Intercultural Center yesterday evening. The DP met with Zhu after the election to talk about her plans for the council.

The appointment of Eric Furda as dean of admissions last week came faster than Penn President Amy Gutmann had predicted, and also marked a deviation from industry standards. From the search committee's first meeting in October to the announcement of Furda as the new dean last week, Penn's formal search process took just over three months, a pace experts say is fast but not unheard of.

Hola! Estoy contenta! Despite Penn deeming me "proficient" in Spanish, that's about as far as I get before I accidentally refer to myself as a girl. After three years of taking Spanish in High School, Penn's online placement exam put me in Spanish 120 - one class above intro level.

No matter how often Glen Miller says he hates them, when you're 5-12, sometimes you just have to accept moral victories. Despite losing by 16 to Temple last night, the Quakers' coach saw his team play with a certain fire that they haven't had perhaps since the North Carolina game.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell announced his support for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign yesterday in a news conference at City Hall. Clinton, a Democrat from New York, made a last-minute trip to Philadelphia to speak at the event. Rendell was also joined by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who had already announced his endorsement of Clinton.

Out of the long list of problems Penn has experienced on the court this season, defending the three-point shot hardly stands out. But three minutes into last night's game at Temple, the Owls had already jumped out to a 12-point lead thanks to five open looks from long range, four of which went in.

Don't pass judgement To the Editor: I was appalled to read in your paper last week that, with a reckless disregard for journalistic ethics, common decency and any standard of good sense, you decided to release the name and address of Felix Qu, a Penn student currently awaiting trial for assault ("Student arrested for assault still enrolled at Penn").

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

Penn's admissions office is changing how prospective students can apply to the University. For the 2008-2009 admissions cycle, Penn is eliminating its own application and adding the Universal College Application as an option for students. Applicants will be able to use either the UCA or the Common Application, the latter of which the University first accepted last year.

White Dog or Whole Foods? Local or organic? As students begin to rack their brains to find alternative food options, Penn Dining has responded, making a slow but concerted effort toward sustainable dining. Dining Services general manager John Cipollini attributed the recent student and staff interest in food quality to the diatribe against our eating culture found in The Omnivore's Dilemma, the Penn Reading Project book for the class of 2011.

The Hub, the colorful apartment and retail building on the corner of 40th and Chestnut streets, will soon be expanding across the street. Teres Holdings, LLC, the developer behind The Hub, is currently planning the construction of Hub II, which will be built on the other side of 40th Street, at 4001 Chestnut St.

Penn prides itself on having limited religious underpinnings and for good reason: secular education has been one of the largest contributors to America's successful history. Nevertheless, this position has come at the cost of neglecting the importance of religion in students' lives.

A determined second-half effort proved too little too late for the Quakers, who got off to a familiar nightmare start last night against Temple and fell, 80-64, at the Liacouras Center. Penn (5-12, 0-4 Big 5) lost its third contest in a row - all city-series matchups - to go winless in the Big 5 for the first time since the 2000-2001 season.

The Recording Industry Association of America sent another wave of pre-litigation letters to colleges earlier this month, though Penn did not receive any letters in this round. The RIAA sent 407 pre-litigation settlement letters to students at 18 universities nationwide, continuing its strategy of primarily targeting college students.

For Soniya, age 11, interacting with the police is all about cheerleading and homework. At the Police Athletic League's after-school program, Soniya practices her cheerleading and does her homework with around 60 other kids who participate. The Tucker PAL Center, where Soniya spends her afternoons, is located in the Alexander Wilson School on 46th Street and Woodland and is one of the 27 branches of the Philadelphia Police Athletic League.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering junior from Houston, TX. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.