About once a week, I hear the same complaint about our dear University: no one has ever heard of it. We form facebook groups proclaiming our inclusion in the Ivy League, we buy shirts that not-so-subtly differentiate us from Penn State, and we bitch and moan every time Princeton gets a media mention and we don't.

Just as Penn students are graded on multiple exams, papers and participation, universities are also judged on a variety of factors. U.S. News & World Report puts out an annual ranking of the nation's universities and colleges in an effort to guide readers through the process of choosing which schools to consider.

When it comes to political donations, America's professors are schooling other industries. Penn, too, is taking the lead - and it's mostly Democrats who are benefiting. According to data released last month by the Center for Responsive Politics, the education industry has grown to be a major player in campaign finance.

Alicia Puglionesi is a College junior from Haverton, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

After over a year of allegedly stealing and swiping from colleges across the country, Curtis Perry White was finally brought down by West Philadelphia. White was apprehended by Philadelphia Police in his West Philadelphia apartment last Wednesday night after a year on the lam following burglaries at at least five colleges since February 2006.

A popular message board that once catered to Van Pelt bibliophiles is now offering an outlet to students bored, well, anywhere. The site, formerly Boredatvanpelt.com, was relaunched last Saturday night as Boredatpenn.net by creator Jonathon Pappas. The site now features specific forums, called "spaces," including ones for Nursing students or Penn juniors.

293Homicides committed in Philadelphia through Saturday, 23 more than through the same period last year. Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

The execution of a penalty corner in field hockey is a bit like that of a field goal on the gridiron. In lieu of snap, kick and hold, there is pass, stop and shoot. The team that plays the percentages will give its best offensive threat that shot, and Margaretha Ehret is as close to a short-corner specialist as Penn can get.

In its eagerness to push through a flawed design, Philadelphia's Streets department is burning bridges with its residents. With the planned reconstruction of the South Street Bridge, Philadelphia had the rare opportunity to develop a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly link between Penn's campus and Center City.

As the University community mourns the death of College sophomore Anne Ryan, questions and concerns about meningococcal meningitis, the disease that claimed the 19-year-old's life, are circulating around campus.

Amid the confusing legal battle currently being fought between convenience stores and state beer distributors, at least one thing is clear. Legislators must step in and bring Pennsylvania's archaic liquor laws into the 21st century. At the heart of the court case is whether Sheetz, a central Pennsylvania convenience store, should be allowed to sell alcohol.

As I happily returned to Penn last week, I was not-so-happily faced with the realization that "going out" requires a little more caution than I'm used to back in suburbia. All of us girls returning to Penn must now remember to congregate in groups when walking home at night.

The Sayre Health Center, based out of Sayre High School at 58th and Walnut streets, had its official grand opening Friday. The health center, which was created out of a partnership with Penn, will act as a community health facility offering both clinical and preventative care for both Sayre students and residents of the area.

As a defensive end getting offers from numerous BCS conferences, Josh Neubert got caught up in the hype. But when the Philadelphia-area native got to Boston College, he knew he didn't make the correct decision on what college to attend.

0-3. No team ever wants to start off a season with that record next to its name. But that's where the Penn men's soccer team is right now after heading out west and losing 0-1 to No. 7 Cal (2-1-0) on Friday and 0-2 to Stanford (1-1-1) yesterday. While the Quakers are describing the road trip as the dreaded "learning experience," they are not losing sight of the fact that they played closely two very good teams less than a week after being blown out 2-6 at Seton Hall.

Only one bench player, freshman forward Kristin Kaiser, managed to crack the lineup in Friday's 1-0 loss to Michigan State, while the Spartans kept their team fresh with six bench players entering as substitutes. Penn's lack of depth coming off the bench, a problem that came into focus during a rough preseason, became glaring this weekend.

An electrical fire broke out at the corner of 41st and Walnut streets Friday afternoon, the second time in a week that a fire has occurred near that intersection.