Alex Jacobson is a College junior from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jacobson@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Tomorrow marks the early-decision deadline for high-school seniors applying to Penn, and for some applicants, the decision may come down to which campus felt 'right.' And when it comes to the people prospective students meet - like their Kite and Key tour guides - race and ethnicity may or may not be a deciding factor in what makes them feel like they belong at a certain school.

Tomorrow evening, the Penn women's soccer team will step onto Rhodes Field for the final time this season. For the team's seven seniors, it will be the last time ever. Handkerchief please. Indeed, when the Quakers (8-4-3, 2-1-2 Ivy) take on Brown (5-6-4, 1-3-1) at 5 p.

College senior Kaarina Romero loves watching television, but rarely turns on a TV. Still, she hasn't missed an episode of Grey's Anatomy this season. Confused? Instead, Romero catches Grey's, Top Model, Heroes and the multitude of other shows she is "obsessed with" on the Internet or on DVR, a digital video recorder.

In addition to the traditional gossip, JuicyCampus' forums now include lines of free-verse poetry and portions of Wikipedia articles. One year after the official launch of JuicyCampus.com, college students are still talking about - and criticizing - the controversial anonymous gossip Web site.

Frat party tonight? Better bring your ID. This year, fraternities are making a point of throwing significantly more registered parties than usual. Since 2006, the number of registered events during the month of September has more than doubled, according to interim director of the Alcohol and Other Drug Programs Ini

Just when the Quakers seemed to be hitting their offensive stride, their hopes of an Ivy crown went - like their quarterback - tumbling to the turf. The Red and Blue suffered a 34-27 loss to Brown at Franklin Field, after junior quarterback Kyle Olson - making his first start and playing effectively through most of the first half - sustained an injury to his left knee late in the second quarter.

While most students feel they need to go abroad to get a global experience at Penn, the University is bringing some of that international expertise to West Philadelphia. The Distinguished International Scholars Program, started by the Provost's Office in 2006, allows faculty to nominate experts in their field for a short-term visit to campus, typically two weeks.

Alumni visiting for homecoming this weekend may find the retail areas on 39th and 40th streets unrecognizable. As recently as the mid 1990s, the southwest corner of the 40th and Walnut streets intersection was occupied by a surface parking lot and a Burger King.

Everybody knows that Tuesday is Election Day. But it's a mistake to think that it happens only once every four years. In fact, you vote nearly every day. And unlike ACORN, you're not just trying to destroy the fabric of American democracy. There are striking parallels between what Americans do in the voting booth and what they do in the shopping aisle.

Twenty years ago, the Penn field hockey team won the Ivy League and defeated Penn State in an overtime thriller in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. On senior day this Sunday at Franklin Field, the Quakers will remember that squad with a pregame ceremony before hosting Brown at 1 p.

The fans who packed the student section at Rhodes Field on Saturday expected to see a showdown between two of the Ivy League's best defenses. Instead, they witnessed a 4-0 rout, as the Penn men's soccer team beat Brown for the first time in five years. Omid Shokoufandeh scored two goals, Andrew Ferry had one and assisted on another and Drew Healy recorded his ninth blank slate of the season, one shy of the program record.

Are you ready for some football? Saturday's nationally televised matchup between the two remaining unbeaten teams in Ivy League play, Brown and Penn, has all of the storylines you could ever want for a homecoming game at Franklin Field. VERSUS television network calls it the Ivy League game of the week.

Leading the way To the Editor: Lest any readers jump to the false conclusion from Chakravarthy's story about the HathiTrust (October 24, 2008) that Penn Libraries are not actively engaged in transforming our collections into digital resources, I offer an elaboration for the record.

Living in a swing state, you might be used to seeing a lot of Sarah Palin. But what about seeing her at a frat party? Or seeing four of her at a frat party? With Halloween falling the weekend before the presidential election this year, girls across campus are pulling out their favorite suits and dressing up as the Alaskan governor and Republican vice-presidential nominee.

Raiam "Brazil" Santos leaned on a Franklin Field bleacher. He's happy. But excuse him, just on this one point. "The punter last year graduated. They were set on Kyle Olson, even though I was kicking better than him," he said. "They said, 'No, you're too raw.

As usual, when Columbia visits Yale tomorrow, it will be an Ivy matchup of one of the hottest teams in the league against one of the nottest teams in the league. Only this year, they're playing out of position. The Lions (1-5, 1-2 Ivy) are coming off their first win in 14 games.