The number of minority graduate students is up - but the social and academic support for those students isn't keeping pace. Minorities, women and international students made up most of the two-percent growth in graduate students this past year, according to a recent report issued by the Council of Graduate Schools.

When College freshman Ben Epstein is asked what he would like to do after graduation, he says he wants to write. But on a campus where career paths like business and pre-med take center stage, such interests are often dismissed as dead-end hobbies. "People say 'that's nice, but impractical,'" Epstein said.

College freshman Michael Tomback ran outside as soon as he saw it. He spun in circles. He took photos. It was finally snowing. For Tomback and many other freshmen from warm climates, last week's snowfall was not only the first of the season - but the first of their lives.

The Penn men's basketball team didn't know which Elon squad would show up on Thursday, but it certainly wasn't the one that lost to Division II Tusculum. The Phoenix, which nearly beat Virginia Tech this season, hung tough for the majority of the game, but in the end Tyler Bernardini's 23 points (12 in the final five minutes) and tight defense on the final possession put Penn over the top, 67-64.

The University announced a new financial aid policy Dec. 17, launching an initiative that will eliminate loans from all undergraduate financial aid packages within two years. Beginning in September 2008, undergraduate students with family incomes under $100,000 will receive loan-free packages, according to a University press release.

When it comes to athletic achievements at Penn, few can top Mark DeRosa. In just two years at starting quarterback he became the fourth-leading passer in Quakers history. And when this Wharton student and Sigma Chi fraternity member hit the baseball diamond in the spring season, he attracted attention from Major League scouts with his superior hitting and fielding skills.

CHEERS • To the city of Philadelphia, for rejecting pay-to-play party politics by electing policy wonk and reformer Michael Nutter. • To Huntsman senior Joyce Meng and Penn alum Stephen Danley for winning the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. • To athletic director Steve Bilsky, for ensuring that the eastward expansion plan improves Penn's athletic facilities through additional construction and building upgrades.

The "Making History" campaign is living up to its name, Penn administrators say. With $1.69 billion in the bank, the five-year fundraising effort is already at over 48 percent of its $3.5 billion goal after being launched publicly this past October.

Slavery. Not somewhere else. Right here. Earlier this semester I went to a presentation of the Not For Sale Campaign, a movement launched in February with the aim of abolishing worldwide slavery within our lifetime. Going in, I felt that while this was probably a worthy cause, it was more a global issue than a national one.

Following their first winning streak of the season two weeks ago, there were encouraging signs that the Quakers were turning a corner, especially on offense. Yet after two straight losses by a combined 55 points, the Red and Blue (3-5) will look to use a 15-day break as an opportunity to rework their game yet again.

Blood-thirsty yells shatter the solitude of Clark Park on a Saturday afternoon. At about 1:30 p.m., a motley group of kids brandishing plastic foam swords assemble on the northwestern corner of the park. When the game starts, they charge toward the other team, screaming at the top of their lungs.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- With freshman point guard Harrison Gaines on the bench against Miami and Florida Gulf Coast with a hamstring injury, something has become clear: The Penn basketball team needs Gaines back in the starting lineup. Sure, there are many other things that need to be fixed from Penn's two losses by a combined 56 points, but there seems to be an answer to the Quakers' floor general problems.

Heading into last night's game against the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Penn was getting desperate for a win or at least a good showing after losing its last two games by a combined 56 points. The Red and Blue couldn't have asked for a more favorable matchup.

Months down the line, the student loan industry fiasco is far from forgotten. It is so memorable that Conde Nast Portfolio magazine named it the number-two business scandal of 2007. Last spring, Penn -- along with many other colleges and universities - came under scrutiny when New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo revealed that universities had been receiving kickbacks when their students borrowed money from certain loan programs.

Philadelphians may have another team to cheer for within the next two years. Major League Soccer is enlarging its field from 14 to 16 teams and Philadelphia is MLS' top choice to join Seattle in hosting the expansion teams, which would begin playing in 2009.

While this has not been a good year for crime in Philadelphia, better days may be coming soon. The election of Penn graduate Michael Nutter as our next Mayor, and Nutter's appointment of former Washington, DC police chief Charles Ramsey as the next police commissioner holds the promise of a far more systematic effort to fight crime than our city has ever seen.

It wasn't a 30-point loss to Florida Gulf Coast, but the Penn men's basketball team took another step backward with a discouraging 88-62 loss at Miami on Wednesday night. Miami took a 38-28 lead into the locker room at halftime but went on an 11-0 run to open the second half.