The School of Arts and Sciences budget cuts are revising Fox Leadership's summer plans but not deterring students from helping to renew New Orleans. Due to an announced 10-percent cut affecting all SAS programs and departments, the second-annual Fox Leadership in New Orleans summer internship program has been cancelled for 2009.

Positive news has been few and far between when it comes to finances these days. Therefore, it's heartening to hear that Penn administrators have worked hard to keep the necessary tuition and board increases as low as possible. This year, Penn tuition will rise 3.

Winless at home in the Ivy League, Penn needed a victory in the worst possible way. And finally, for the first time since Jan. 6, the Quakers sent their fans home happy, but likely still without much confidence in this struggling team. In front of a crowd of only 3,142 on Fan Appreciation Day at the Palestra, Penn outlasted Brown, 64-54, in a battle that was memorable for its pure ugliness more than anything else.

Unlike in the rest of the world, journalism is thriving at Penn. To add to options already available through the English department, the Annenberg School for Communication and various writing hubs on campus, the College Dean's Advisory Board is working to develop and propose a new journalism minor.

First with her career-high 10 rebounds Friday and then with her first career double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds to clinch the victory Saturday, Caitlin Slover had a weekend to remember. The Penn women's basketball team lost to Yale, 61-51, Friday in New Haven, Conn.

Green is the new blue on Capitol Hill. On Friday afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden, six members of President Barack Obama's cabinet, Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter were just some of the political figures gathered in Irvine Auditorium for the first meeting of the Middle Class Task Force.

Last Sunday, Brian Tierney made national headlines when he filed Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. - owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com - for bankruptcy. Just five days later, Tierney - CEO and founder of PMH and 1979 Penn alumnus - visited Leadership Hall for the Fox Leadership Program's "Leadership Lunch" series.

For this year's graduation speaker, the College of Arts and Sciences is bringing anything but "Ordinary People." R&B; musician John Legend, who graduated from Penn in 1999 with a degree in English with an emphasis in African American literature, will return for the 10th anniversary of his own graduation to address the College's Class of 2009.

"Player development" might have been bumped down a few spots on softball coach Leslie King's to-do list after this weekend. Rookie Jamie Boccanfuso accounted for four of the Quakers' seven runs batted in as Penn softball went 1-2 in its opening weekend at the George Mason Tournament in Fairfax, Va.

Large riot-like crowds of teenagers disrupted the western end of Penn's campus Saturday night, bringing Penn and Philadelphia Police to 40th Street to gain control of the situation. No injuries were reported, according to Division of Public Safety spokeswoman Stef Cella.

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

The University's most-powerful decision-makers gathered at the Inn at Penn last week to discuss new issues affecting the University. The 55-member Board of Trustees, led by chairman James Riepe and responsible for overall oversight of the school, met Thursday and Friday for its winter meeting, one of three annual conferences.

Tom Grandieri was determined to begin the 2009 season on a high note both individually and for his team. This weekend, the junior outfielder and pitcher succeeded in both respects. Saturday, the Quakers hosted Georgetown in a doubleheader at Meiklejohn Stadium.

It was no secret that Yale was going to look to the paint all night long. But few could predict how thoroughly the Bulldogs would dominate. Yale's Ross Morin had his way down low, scoring 20 points and eight rebounds in a game that seemed to only take place on the foul line.

Penn's endowment dropped 19.4 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, falling from $6.2 billion to $5 billion from July to December 2008, according to Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli. This is a slightly lower decrease than the 22.5 percent decline that colleges and universities across the United States and Canada experienced in the first five months of FY 2009, according to a recent survey by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Commonfund Institute.

The Quakers are all but out of the title race. Tonight's opponent is a long shot, too, meaning there is no spoiler role to play. It seems that the stakes of Penn's matchup with Yale are mostly restricted to the intangibles of pride and reputation. But that's no small potatoes for a program that's gotten used to topping the conference year after year, coach Glen Miller said.

In response to Governor Ed Rendell's Tuition Relief Act, Republican state Senator Jeffrey Piccola proposed an alternative plan, which cuts state funds to Penn by $15.5 million. Unlike Rendell's plan, which advocates putting legal video poker machines in bars around the state, Piccola's Affordability, Accountability, and Choice in Higher Education Act would make money by reducing funding for several dozen museums and universities around the state.