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.

Todd Roth has experienced a great deal of success as Penn's top pitcher. As a freshman, the ace was Big 5 Pitcher of the Year, first team All-Ivy and a freshman All-American. Still, all that success does not stop the junior captain from feeling nervous for tomorrow's season opener against Georgetown at La Salle's Hank DeVincent Field.

Daniel Schwartz is a College junior from Decatur, Ga. His email address is dschwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com

The last time the No. 1 and No. 2 women's squash players met, the seasonal showdown between No. 4 Trinity and No. 3 Penn at a very familiar venue - Ringe Courts. Though the Quakers won the match, 5-4, it was not without suffering some heartbreakers, including when Trinity's Nour Baghat handed Penn's Kristin Lange her first loss of the season.

Penn men's lacrosse coach Brian Voelker is pretty familiar with the concept of "sleeping with the enemy." In fact, many of his own players are guilty of that offense. And with a city rival, no less. "I'm sure our guys know [Villanova's] guys," Voelker said.

The global economic crisis has left Philadelphia's City budget with a $1 billion deficit and President Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will not step in to help. The stimulus plan will affect Philadelphia by cutting taxes, creating jobs and improving infrastructure, but according to city officials, direct fiscal assistance is not in the package.

As the Quakers prepare to take on Brown tomorrow night, freshman point guard Zack Rosen finds himself in a familiar position. As a high school senior at St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.), Rosen's varsity team didn't participate in the New Jersey state tournament.

The recent economic downturn has not only affected people trying to enter the sphere of higher education as students. Graduate students hoping to get jobs as professors are also experiencing difficulties because of the recession. Hiring freezes, funding shortages and a decrease in the number of retiring professors are among the reasons many graduate students are concerned about finding employment.

Although the softball team's season-opening tournament at George Mason may not have serious postseason implications, the team's performance this weekend may be a critical indicator of its potential for the upcoming season. The untested Quakers will face competition from three nonconference opponents - Akron, George Mason and local rival Saint Joseph's.

'It doesn't matter if you win or lose - it's how you play the game." If you played Little League or soccer growing up, you probably heard that all the time. The idea that "everyone was a winner" didn't seem silly. If the losing team of the league didn't get some kind of prize for trying, those poor kids might be sad.

Penn's Office of Affirmative Action has been without a director since December 2007. "As is the case in any search, we want to find the right person," said Joann Mitchell, vice president for institutional affairs, to whom the OAA reports. But the vacancy has been met with a degree of skepticism among Penn's minority community.

The Division of Public Safety today confirmed that DNA recovered from Dominique Wilson, 23, of S. 51st Street, positively links him to both the sexual assaults at 44th and Spruce streets and 9th and Clinton streets. Wilson was arrested in Lock Haven, Pa., last week on 36 criminal counts, 12 of which relate to an incident during which he allegedly held three students with a knife against their will and sexually assaulted two of them.