Though senior guard Brian Grandieri won't be around past the 2008-09 season, the Penn basketball team might have found the right guy to fill his shoes. Rob Belcore, a 6-foot-5 guard from Loyola Academy in Chicago, has become the second high school senior known to commit to Penn, joining 6-1 point guard Zack Rosen of St.

Thomas Robertson's resume spans positions at several business schools stretching from Los Angeles to London. But Robertson, no stranger to Penn after he taught Marketing here 13 years ago, is settling in to a new office in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall.

Gary DeVercelly just wanted to join Phi Kappa Tau. And for that desire, he paid the ultimate price. The 18-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., died in late March after a pledging ritual at the Rider University fraternity. DeVercelly, authorities said, had a blood alcohol content of 0.

Jennifer Jagger is out to make giving birth a little bit easier - or, at least, the preparation for it. Jagger, a Nursing graduate student, co-edited the newly launched Philadelphia Guide to a Healthy Birth. Published by Choices in Childbirth - a non-profit consumer advocacy group that educates the public about women's rights and options in childbirth - the Guide lists 155 female-friendly practitioners, all of whom have been referred by mothers and midwives.

Thanks to the recent opening of the Jean Madeline Aveda Institute, students can get pampered on a budget.

A report released last month by the panel charged with investigating the Virginia Tech shootings sheds light on a blatant shortcoming on the part of the Virginia Tech's counseling services, which may provide guidelines for other universities to follow in the future.

Even though Penn dominated almost all of the 200 minutes it played to win its fourth consecutive Penn Soccer Classic title, it came away disappointed. Playing Hartwick on Friday night under the lights in its home opener, the Quakers came away with an impressive 2-1 victory.

There will always be that one student who just doesn't understand question five. Fifty minutes later, the frustration in the classroom is palpable, recitation is over, and the teaching assistant has yet to explain the answer thoroughly. It's a problem that is troubling - and all too familiar - to the undergraduate population: A lack of communication between TAs and students.

Anthony Melillo looked like he had a screw loose. On fourth-and-long and the ball on the one-yard line, Penn was clinging to a 7-3 lead over Lafayette, and Melillo, the trusty veteran punter, was going to have to finesse his way out of a tough situation. But after taking the snap almost underneath the goalposts, he half-faked a punt, danced around the end zone for a few seconds and ducked out of bounds, even though he would have been in no danger of having his kick blocked.

Prosecutors continue efforts to send former Penn professor Tracy McIntosh to prison, but McIntosh's lawyers now argue that a previous backroom deal proposed by the case's former prosecutor should keep him from serving time.

As a Penngineer, I've been prejudged as a socially awkward Asian who's good at math but inept at the English language. This stereotype is almost true: I'm actually not very good at math. Self-mockery aside, I find that the typecasting of engineers as poor speakers and writers manifests a common tendency to create a divide between the arts and sciences.

When College sophomore Anne Ryan died from meningitis last Sunday, she left behind a legacy as a model of two kinds. First, as a girl whose striking beauty didn't stop at the surface, and second, as a scholar whose passions for learning and life made her an ideal student, her friends at Penn say.

Pope Benedict XVI may come to Philadelphia next April, according to a report from the Catholic News Service. A Vatican spokesman had said earlier this year that the pope was planning a trip to the United Nations and New York City in 2008, likely in April.

First-year offensive coordinator Bill Schmitz probably had other thoughts about how the debut of his offense would unfold Saturday. Instead, the loss of its main playmaker proved the kiss of death for his unit, and the Quakers paid the price in the loss column.

Something about that cheesesteak seem off lately? Don't blame Geno's just yet. The city's celebrated trans-fat ban which prohibits eateries from frying foods in trans fat and from serving trans-fat-based spreads (like margarine) went into effect on September 1.

Harvard starts classes today. Correction, my friend tells, me; they start "shopping." I have always been jealous of other Ivies' shopping periods. The whole concept sounds so free and fun. Students can register for as many classes as they want and then pick the ones they like best.