Cuddle parties. Until accidentally picking up an old New York Times this past summer, I had never even imagined that such a thing could exist. But there it was, wedged under a photo of happily intertwined people lying on pillows and holding hands: an invitation to a cuddle party taking place right in the heart of inhospitable Manhattan.

VILLANOVA, Pa. - How did four Villanova defenders record their first career interceptions on Saturday? Easy - they were in the zone.

Outside financial experts agree: Penn's Office of Investments is certainly on the right track. The University's endowment returned 20.2 percent growth on its investments this past fiscal year, bringing the grand total to $6.6 billion. This positive growth reflects strategies that Penn's prime competitors, Harvard and Yale universities, have been using for years: an emphasis on international equities and a slow increase in alternative investments.

It's a new year and students and laundry-service provider Mac-Gray are off to a fresh start. The new machines, which were first implemented in Mayer Hall last year for a trial run, will be installed in the rest of the College Houses by the end of the month.

Its victims need morphine, Percocet, Percodan - anything to relieve the pain in the blood vessels as they squeeze through the joints. The silent attacker is sickle-cell disease, and last night at Logan Hall, Penn's Zeta Phi Beta sorority sponsored an event featuring two sickle-cell experts who discussed what sickle-cell disease is and how community members can help sickle-cell patients.

$6.6 billion. Wharton alum Donald Trump's fortune? Nope. Try the size of Penn's skyrocketing endowment. At last Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting, Penn officials announced a 20.2 percent return - as compared last year's 12.5 percent return - on its endowment investments for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

I'm scared of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Under his presidency, Iran has grown to be a bigger threat to the United States than Iraq ever was. He has called the Holocaust a "myth," said Israel should be "wiped off the map," and continues to develop nuclear capabilities despite United Nations Security Council sanctions.

West Philadelphia resident Latisha Turnage needed help. At 26, she had no job, no house, no education and no prospects. Her mother Tracy told her to go to a small office building at 61st Street and Osage Avenue, the local home of National Student Partnerships .

The topic of Friday afternoon's seminar was ovarian cancer, but at the heart was an interest in improving women's knowledge of their health. The seminar was the first in a series hosted by the Women's Resource Center, which for the last year has offered health services and programs designed specifically for women at Pennsylvania Hospital, part of the University Health System.

A specialized focus on diversified investments and international markets has helped the University's endowment swell to $6.6 billion, a figure that was announced at last Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting.

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

West Philadelphia High School's rap sheet last spring included threats to teachers, assaults on at least 18 faculty members and fires set in the hallways. So it may not be a surprise that, once again, West Philadelphia High has landed on the annual list of Pennsylvania's "persistently dangerous" schools, joining 11 other Philadelphia schools and giving pause for concern among Penn officials.

By the end of the night, the Penn quarterback combination of Robert Irvin and Bryan Walker had thrown a total of seven interceptions to hand Villanova a 34-14 win, their seventh in a row in this series.

Columbia University's decision to host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on its campus today before his visit to the United Nations has provoked heated discussion among students and political pundits alike. One Facebook group called for students to welcome Ahmadinejad to America so as to better understand his views; presidential candidate Sen.

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Quakers had a chance to become the queens of the city this weekend. It turns out they are squarely in the middle of the pack in Philadelphia's soccer hierarchy. After defeating La Salle at Rhodes Field 3-1 Friday, Penn was blanked on the road by Villanova 4-0 yesterday.

The creativity behind the posters, chalking and flyers of this semester's freshmen student-government campaigns is certainly turning heads across campus.

WILMINGTON, Del. - Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya was outside the apartment where Irina Zlotnikov was bludgeoned to death but did not enter the building, Malinovskaya admitted in a taped police interrogation shown in court Friday. In an interview with Det.