A newly elected Democratic majority in Congress could spell changes for college affordability, experts say.

The midterm elections may be over, but that didn't stop members of two political groups from battling for the hearts and minds of Penn students. The Penn Libertarian Association and the International Socialist Organization faced off in a debate hosted by the Penn Forum and Fox Leadership at Huntsman Hall last night.

A car caught on fire outside the Penn Bookstore yesterday at around 12:20 p.m. The damage to the car was extensive, resulting in the charring of the front end. No one was injured. Penn's Division of Public Safety reported that it is still unclear why the car, a dark gray Oldsmobile, ignited.

A string of child-abuse cases have come to light in Philadelphia over the past few weeks, and Carol Spigner has a chance do something about the problem. Spigner, a professor at Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice, was appointed co-chair of Mayor John Street's recently announced Child Welfare Advisory Panel for Philadelphia.

This afternoon, students can put their names down to potentially save lives. The National Marrow Donor Program will hold the second of two on-campus drives from 1 to 4 p.m. in Biomedical Research Building I. The program is an effort to get community members to volunteer their information for the national registry, which links donors to cancer patients in need of bone marrow transplants.

Undecided major? Too many career options to choose from and not enough time to decide? Sometimes, a little help from an alumnus is all you need. At least, that's the premise of the Alumni Mentoring Program at the School of Arts and Sciences. As the program's first semester draws to a close, officials say they are pleased with how it's going so far - but hope even more students decide to participate.

Penn is losing a tenth of its city funding for programs run with two West Philadelphia elementary schools.

Sweet-potato casserole. Cream-of-mushroom soup. Asian-sesame pasta. The missing ingredient from these culinary masterpieces available at Penn? Meat. And that food group's absence from many Penn dining-hall dishes has earned the University a spot on a recent list released by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Fashionable Philadelphia restaurant Deux Cheminees is shutting its doors, to the disappointment of epicures all over. But the retiring owner, Fritz Blank, hasn't decided on a closing date yet. The reason? He's trying to unload thousands of books that now occupy his restaurant onto Van Pelt Library.

In just a few months, a new school will debut on campus, but it won't be part of the University. The Jean Madeline Salon and Aveda Institute will be opening in late February at the Hub apartment complex, located at 40th and Chestnut streets. The institute - which trains individuals for professional service in hair, nails, skin and body - will occupy the first floor of the building and will include a store for Aveda beauty products.

Simple assault and harassment convictions may have two Penn students on nine months probation, but the repercussions likely won't end after that. The two Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members convicted last Monday also face the possibility of having to list their crimes on job applications.

Entrepreneurs aren't made-they're born, Overall Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Richard Caruso told an audience of Penn and Drexel University students in Huntsman Hall yesterday. At an event hosted by the Undergraduate Entrepreneurial Group, Caruso said the Declaration of Independence laid the foundation for entrepreneurship in America by emphasizing the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Sixty-five percent of the 100 billion e-mails sent every day are spam, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Hari Balakrishnan. "This is an arms race of us raising the fence and spammers jumping over it," he said. Balakrishnan, however, believes he can prevent spam, and he shared his idea - using digital stamps to authenticate e-mails- with 30 faculty members and students yesterday at Levine Hall.

The pharmaceutical industry generates billions each year, and people in developing nations can be priced out of the market. But one Penn student group wants to change that by tackling high drug prices where medicines originate - with scientific researchers, including those at Penn.

For stressed-out holiday shoppers, Terry Lundgren has a few suggestions about where to go: Macy's and Bloomingdale's. Lundgren, the CEO of Federated Department Stores Inc. - which owns the Macy's and Bloomingdale's department store chains - spoke last night in Huntsman Hall to an audience of about 150 people, discussing Federated's recent acquisition of May Department Stores as well as Macy's nationwide re-branding campaign.

The InterFraternity Council officially welcomed Zeta Beta Tau as a recolonized fraternity last night. The IFC voted to allow ZBT to rejoin the umbrella organization for fraternities as a colony with provisional membership. ZBT initiated 12 members at the end of October.

Next semester, some students at Southern California's Pepperdine University might be taking classes next to their moms.