When you grow up in a medical professional's home, you kind of get used to the fact that every pen and notepad is emblazoned with the name of a drug company or one of its high-priced prescription drugs. In my house, Pfizer always provided more pens than Bic.

When the women's lacrosse team traveled to Baltimore last year to take on Johns Hopkins, the then-No. 14 Quakers upset the No. 12 Blue Jays 12-4, giving Penn its first-ever win over its Maryland rival. But this year, the tables have turned. The No. 8 Quakers (7-1) are now the higher-ranked team and look to avoid a revenge upset by the No.

In contrast to the other Ivy League schools, Penn's overall acceptance rate increased to 16.4 percent for the class of 2012. Penn is the only Ivy League school thus far that has not reported a record-low acceptance rate. This admissions cycle, Penn admitted a total of 3,769 of 22,922 applications.

As fuel costs rise, the benefits of solar energy are often touted - but solar power is easier to implement in some places than others. The construction of a solar community in Northeast Philadelphia displays the benefits of obtaining energy from the sun. But it also highlights the difficulties in applying such technology on a large-scale, such as at institutions like Penn.

For many students in the College, Barbara Woodford has a voice and a face you know, but a name you probably don't. To many, Woodford is simply the middle point between you and a meeting with your academic advisor, but she may be the most important person at the College office in Logan Hall, ensuring things run smoothly and giving visitors their first impression of Penn's staff.

Perhaps women's golf coach Francis Vaughn is a fan of the recent Adidas advertising campaign, "Impossible is Nothing." After another disappointing finish in his team's second tournament of the spring season, Vaughn still believes that the Quakers have a chance to compete at the Ivy League Championships in April.

SEPTA General Manager Joseph Casey announced last week that the agency will attempt to improve quality for riders without raising fares with a $1.08 billion operating budget for the 2009 fiscal year. The transportation organization said it wants to improve on several issues, including "service, cleanliness, convenience, courtesy and communications," according to a SEPTA press release.

College sophomore Phillip Benedetti was awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship last week, with College and Wharton sophomore Stefan Sabo receiving an honorable mention. They were among 321 sophomores and juniors who were recognized for success in math and sciences, chosen from among 1,035 nominees for the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

Despite an April Fools' Day prank about a speech by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on campus, the importance of young voters to the Democratic presidential candidates is no joke. With the Pennsylvania primary set for April 22, the campaigns of Obama and New York Sen.

There is a growing gap between the life expectancies of richer and poorer Americans, recent government data shows. Although Americans as a whole are living longer lives, the life expectancy gap is growing between the rich and the poor, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

April Fools' Day came early, thanks to a campus-wide prank planned by three students. But contrary to the information contained in eggs and flyers Wharton freshmen Nick Greif and Marko Horvat and College freshman Logan Steinhardt scattered around campus, Illinois Sen.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. A few inches shorter than most of the other players on the ice, but just a little bit sprier, No. 4 seemed to hold the hockey team together. The Utah Edge defenseman was putting on a bit of a show for the sparse crowd that formed at West Chester's Ice Line rink complex, but something about her was a little unusual.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering junior from Houston, TX. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

To the untrained eye, the line between Class Boards and the Undergraduate Assembly is pretty blurry. The two groups do serve very different functions: While the UA lobbies administrators, the Class Boards focus on promoting school spirit. But many students often confuse the two organizations, especially during elections.

It's not often that the men's and women's track teams compete against each other. It's even rarer that they tie in a relay. And it's almost unheard of that the men's track team would simply brush off the result and eat pie next to its opponents. Penn's first-ever Pride Games, however, were not a place for arguing between groups divided by gender, race or, most importantly, sexual identity.

'Isn't she beeeeauutiful?" whispered the suited woman standing next to me. "There's just nothing like being in the presence of someone with that much charisma." We were caught in the middle of the pushing and crowding in Houston's Hall of Flags last Monday, flush from our meeting with Hillary Clinton herself.

Looking for a post-midterm stress reliever? Mental Health Awareness Week has plenty of offerings. Active Minds, Penn's mental health advocacy group, hopes to bring mental health issues to the forefront of students' minds by hosting everything from workshops and lectures to more hands-on activities, like chalking the walk and holding rounds of Quizzo at Cavanaugh's.