In light of the crunch in the credit markets, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that will increase the maximum amount that a college student can borrow from the government for educational purposes. "It's been [a priority] for a while now," Tony Pals, spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said.

Dear Senators McCain, Obama and Clinton, I'm a registered Pennsylvania voter who's been listening to you since the 2008 Presidential election season started shortly after the Berlin Wall came down. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd take a minute to listen to me.

It's been a long time since the Pennsylvania primary has had such an influential role in determining the presidential nominee for either major party - 32 years, in fact. Usually, Pennsylvanians vote so late in the primary season that both parties have a clear frontrunner for the nomination.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - On Saturday in College Park, Md., the men's lacrosse team did everything right. Players won faceoffs, defended physically and got off plenty of shots. The one thing they could not do was score. Against the No. 7 Terrapins, Penn's offensive futility continued, resulting in a scoreless streak of over 51 minutes and another lopsided loss, this time by a 9-4 margin.

Junior Michael Blodgett will always remember the 2008 men's golf Ivy Championship at Galloway National Golf Course in New Jersey. Blodgett dominated on the renowned course, winning Penn's first-ever Ivy League individual championship by three strokes. He also tied Brown's Larry Haertel for a new course record of 67.

Penn's class on mural painting in Philadelphia is mixing more than just paint. The fine arts class, called "Big Picture: Mural Arts in Philadelphia," aims to mix the practical and the theoretical by teaching students about mural painting and how to "use art as a vehicle for social change," said Fine Arts professor Donald Gensler, the co-professor of the course.

With a whimper, the Penn men's tennis season was brought to a close as the Quakers dropped their final two matches this past weekend. The Quakers were upset by Cornell 4-3 in Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday and came home to Levy Tennis Pavilion only to be felled again by Columbia 5-2 yesterday.

For the past seven weeks, Penn for Hillary and Penn for Obama have competed for the votes of students across Penn's campus. But with Penn overwhelmingly Obama-friendly -- 73 percent of students said they supported Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in a recent DP/CBS News poll - Penn for Hillary has pivoted its resources into the suburbs and the inner-city, where undecided voters abound.

On one of the nicest days this semester, College Green was filled with guitar players, tie-dyed T-shirts and a solar-powered grill - all to celebrate the environment. Friday was Penn Environmental Group's fourth Green Fest, a twice-yearly celebration of sustainability and green alternatives for Penn students.

PRINCETON, N.J. - Sophomore pitcher Robbie Seymour entered the weekend giving up over a run every inning, but Penn coach John Cole was still trying to turn him into a starter. Cole reaped the benefits of his persistence yesterday, and the Quakers stuck around in the Ivy League title race a bit longer as a result.

Between farmers' markets, sword fights, local sports leagues and flea markets, Clark Park is constantly abuzz with activity. This summer, a local theater company will provide even more action for students staying on campus with its third-annual free show in the park.

Two wrongs don't make a right. It's important to remember that while the Recording Industry Association of America has every right to go after individuals for copyright infringement, it can't break the rules while doing so. The RIAA usually identifies IP addresses where illegal downloading is taking place and asks universities to forward pre-litigation letters to the students with those addresses.

Yankee stadium was packed yesterday afternoon - but not with the usual baseball fans. Almost 60,000 people from all over the country gathered to attend a mass led by Pope Benedict XVI during his first trip to the United States as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Daniel Schwartz is a College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.

The Provost, Council of Undergraduate Deans and the Office of College Houses and Academic Services announced last week that Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5 Billion-Year History of the Human Body will be the reading for the 2008-2009 Penn Reading Project.

We've long been told to drink eight glasses of water a day - but that may not be necessary. Penn researchers Stanley Goldfarb and Dan Negoianu reviewed research on water intake and concluded that there is no reliable scientific data to support the idea that drinking those eight glasses makes a person healthier.

The governor and mayor of Philadelphia aren't the only political leaders endorsing a candidate for the upcoming presidential primary. Last week, student government leaders at several Philadelphia universities, including Penn, Temple and Villanova Universities and Haverford College, jointly authored a letter endorsing Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for president.