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.

Alleged panty thief awaits arraignment Legal proceedings against Diexia Wang, the Wharton senior who allegedly stole female undergarments from Mayer Hall, will continue next week. Wang, 21, is scheduled to be arraigned in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on Dec.

Parents sending their kids off to Penn undoubtedly hope to receive calls about their child's progress through college. They probably hope those calls are not notifying them that their children have been abusing drugs or alcohol. According to a Wall Street Journal article published last week, an increasing number of universities are contacting parents about their underage children's alcohol and drug violations, sometimes for the first offense.

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

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Had the outcome been different, Cameron Lewis's sudden transition from liability to asset would have been reason to celebrate. But the fact that he was perhaps the top option wearing red and blue last night just served to show how muddy and confused the picture has become for the Quakers.

While classes ended last week, the men's basketball team still has plenty to learn over winter break. "I think teams . make the most strides when getting to a point where they only have to concentrate on basketball, not school," Penn coach Glen Miller said.

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J., Dec. 8 - The story for the Penn men's basketball team this season has been its youth. But for once, on Saturday night the Quakers actually looked like the more experienced team on the court. In a game that gave the feeling it would go down to the wire, Penn used a 10-0 run late in the second half to defeat Monmouth 69-61.