Three mistrials and you're out. At least, that's what should happen. Two weeks ago, the third jury to consider murder charges against Penn student Irina Malinovskaya decided it could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a third mistrial. Delaware's Attorney General Office is still deciding whether or not to take the rare step of trying Malinovskaya for a fourth time.

The 2-4 Quakers didn't have much going for them. They had lost at home to a Howard team allowing 82.3 points per game and their only win came over a Citadel team with only three non-freshmen on the roster. But a couple of second-half spurts helped Penn come away from Thanksgiving break with a respectable 85-100 loss to No. 23 Virginia on Friday night and a 71-67 win over Navy in the third-place game of the Philly Classic on Saturday.

Politics met music last night in the Arts Cafe of the Kelly Writers House. Four award-winning political journalists, along with musical guests The Spinning Leaves, visited Penn for a public recording of "LIVE at the Writers House," the center's monthly radio program.

Last December, Economics professor Rafael Robb "lost it" during a fight with his wife, Ellen, about whether their daughter would return from an upcoming vacation in time to attend school. That day, Dec. 22, 2006, Ellen Robb was found bludgeoned to death in the couple's Upper Merion home - a crime for which Rafael Robb admitted guilt yesterday.

The Ph.D. program in the Annenberg School for Communication was named the top program in the country in the Third Annual Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, a measurement conducted by Academic Analytics, earlier this month. Academic Analytics, a company that sells research on faculty productivity, rated the Ph.

The ties between the Virginia and Penn basketball programs seem endless. One connection includes a then-sophomore forward who made a lot out of his 12.4 minutes per game under Fran Dunphy. That would be Ryan Pettinella - now Virginia's powerful 6-foot-9 starting center.

On Monday, Nov. 19, the College Republicans hosted Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) for a presidential town hall. Visiting the school with him were Governor Jon Huntsman of Utah and John Lehman of the 9/11 Commission. We were elated by the student response to this event - we had to turn away over 100 people from Zellerbach Theatre, which had reached its capacity at 980.

Penn's Graduate School of Education announced a new program earlier this month that will prepare teachers for public secondary-school education in Mandarin Chinese language and culture. The 10-month program is designed for students with an undergraduate background in Chinese languages, culture, history and literature who are seeking a Master's degree in education and faculty recommendation for certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in secondary education.

Division of Public Safety officials said yesterday they have no major security changes planned for the area around 38th and Chestnut streets, the site of two shootings in the last month. In an interview yesterday, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said DPS had already made a temporary increase in security in the area after the shooting of a Philadelphia Police officer at Koko Bongo Oct.

Sunday night there was another fatal shooting just off Penn's campus. This shooting was at that fine Penn institution, Club Wizzards, conveniently located next to Koko Bongo and only a block from Penn's Jerry Lee Center of Criminology. Koko Bongo and Wizzards (the extra Z is for Zest!): Your one-stop shop for all your murder and mayhem research needs.

After stressing about the way his team has played the past week, maybe coach Pat Knapp can finally relax. "It's a big difference a week makes," Knapp said. The women's basketball team beat what sophomore guard Sarah Bucar called "a quality team" in Loyola-Maryland, 70-57 Sunday at the Palestra.

Loretta Sweet Jemmott, director of the Center for Health Disparities Research at the School of Nursing, received The Baxter International Foundation's 2007 Episteme Award earlier this month. Jemmott earned the award for researching and developing strategies to reduce HIV risk-associated sexual behaviors among African-American, South-African and Latino youth and adults.

Penn was heading in a downward spiral. The Quakers had just gone 0-3, putting up 65 points against a Howard team that surrendered 110.5 points per game in its first two. But with the pressure on, freshman point guard Harrison Gaines responded like a grizzled veteran.

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

Coming into the season, the Penn women's basketball team had defeated Big 5 rival Saint Joseph's only once in 32 games. That pattern continued last night as the Hawks cruised to a 63-46 victory over the Quakers (1-3).

Economics professor Rafael Robb pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Montgomery County court this morning. Robb, 57, admitted to having killed his wife, Ellen, in the couple's Upper Merion home on Dec. 22, 2006. Rafael Robb said in court that he killed Ellen Robb with a chin-up bar after the couple had an argument about whether their daughter, Olivia, would return from an upcoming vacation before the end of Christmas break.