Early-decision applicants have earned the boost they get during the admissions process.

For the second year in a row, Penn will head to the Research Triangle to take on a top-5 Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. After losing at then-No. 1 Duke a year ago, the Quakers will find themselves 10 miles up Tobacco Road in Chapel Hill, N.C., where they will face No.

The best and worst of the fall semester.

At the start of the holiday season, Nursing freshman Kayla Guarneri wasn't dreaming about snow or eggnog. Instad, she was thinking about the looks on local children's faces when she gave them the gifts they'd been begging Santa Claus for. Guarneri is one of about 20 student volunteers who dressed up as elves or Santa Claus and delivered 125 Christmas presents - most of which were purchased by Penn students - to children at two nearby low-income Catholic schools yesterday morning.

Letters to the Editor

If the Association of American Medical Colleges gets its way, more minorities will soon be applying to medical schools. The AAMC recently launched a campaign to encourage Latino, black and Native American undergraduates to apply to medical school in greater numbers.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Congratulations are in order for Ibrahim Jaaber, who scored a career-high 32 points in Penn's loss to Seton Hall on Saturday. As notable of an accomplishment as that is, it never should have been achieved. Not even close. If you ask Penn coach Glen Miller, he will tell you, "We don't have trouble scoring points, we share the ball.

Strikes Bowling Lounge was robbed at gunpoint yesterday morning in what the owner believes may have been an inside job.

The holidays are right around the corner, and the Penn basketball team certainly looked like it started the winter vacation early in its loss to Fordham on Saturday. Perhaps the Quakers have been pulling too many all-nighters as the semester winds down, but the sharp Rams squad left no room for error and easily exploited Penn's lackadaisical play.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Five minutes into the game, Penn was making No. 2 North Carolina's defense look like Swiss cheese. The Quakers' perimeter offense, typically with four players outside the three-point line and one at the high post, used motion and sharp cuts to the basket to open up a 15-8 lead over the Tar Heels at the Smith Center.

THEFT Dec. 3 - A victim unaffiliated with the University reported that his driver's side door lock was damaged and various CDs and books were removed from the vehicle. The incident occurred before 11:30 a.m. at the University City Sheraton garage. Dec. 4 - A student reported that his wallet was stolen from Stiteler Hall at about 6:00 p.

It's been more than two years since I picked up the DP and saw a poorly-worded piece about the classic "nice guys" vs. "jerks" debate. "Geez, even I could do better," I thought.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-Penn came out against North Carolina firing, appearing more than prepared to compete against the No. 2 team looking for its tenth consecutive win. But the Quakers were unable to keep up with the explosive North Carolina squad and fell to the Tar Heels, 102-64.

The furor over last week's graduate-student-government proposal has died down slightly, but feedback continues to pour in as organizers decide what to do next. The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and Graduate Student Association Council made a joint proposal that would dissolve GSAC and create a new organization to oversee all graduate schools.

Keeping student Social Security Numbers on file and using them for recruiting increases the risk of fraud.

As Penn moves east, it cannot forget about the west.

After a week of filling in bubbles of teacher-evaluation forms, some students are finding that rating professors on a scale of one to four just doesn't cut it. The Center for Teaching and Learning - a University-run team of officials that helps professors improve their teaching - is currently working with student-government groups to enhance the feedback that instructors receive at the end of every semester.