When the Penn women's tennis team hits the court at noon Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Williamsburg, Va., onlookers have every reason to doubt the Quakers. This is a team, the skeptics might say, that is bereft of senior leadership in the lineup and outmatched in the singles lineup.

Transferring to Penn from a school on the sunny, easygoing west coast wasn't easy, but the rewards made it worthwhile.

Thursdays at the Penn Relays include many high-school and long-distance events, and this year's wasn't without notable finishes and records. The high-school field events were particularly impressive, with Kimberly Williams of Vere Tech in Jamaica setting a Relays record in the triple jump.

Tim Kaijala won two Heptagonal championships last season, in the 1,000-meter and as part of Penn's winning 4x800m relay team. This year, he finally took home the title in his bread-and-butter event, the 800m, besting the field with a 1:49.76 and leading the Quakers to a fourth-place finish at the Ivy Heps in Princeton, N.

As they head off into the great unknown, this year's seniors will always have a home here.

Rodin to receive two honorary degrees Former University President Judith Rodin is slated to receive two honorary degrees over the next few weeks: One at Dartmouth College and one at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. In addition to taking home an honorary degree from USP, she will address the school's 186th graduating class on May 23 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

Not 13 minutes into the biggest game of their lives, against No. 5 seed Maryland on Sunday, rock-solid Penn goalkeeper Sarah Waxman and the rest of the No. 4 Quakers were shell-shocked. "It hit me pretty hard," Waxman, a junior, said of the Terps' four quick goals.

Philadelphia's political elite have largely written off Penn students' influence on the upcoming city elections - and they may be right, at least if past elections are any indication. An analysis of voter turnout in the 27th Ward, the section of the city that includes students who live on campus, shows that Penn students turn out in exceedingly low numbers for elections similar to the one next week.

The mother of a female student was robbed of her purse by three juveniles last Friday near the intersection of 36th Street and Locust Walk, Division of Public Safety officials said. The mother, her husband and the student were sitting on a bench on Locust Walk at about 8:55 p.

It was never supposed to be like this. Me, I mean. I was never supposed to be like this.

Former U.S. Cabinet member James Baker will deliver the keynote address at the University's 251st Commencement ceremony on Monday.

Montgomery County Judge Paul Tressler ruled on Monday to delay the trial from May 7 to November due to case-related evidence that is currently undergoing forensic analysis.

The Quakers defeated the Terriers 11-5 behind a hat trick by junior attacker Rachel Manson and solid all-around defensive play in front of a near-capacity crowd at Rhodes Field.

"Nutter Butters" sure had a good reason to get their groove on Tuesday night - even if their dance moves were a little awkward. Before a screaming crowd of around 300 of them at the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel in Center City, former Councilman Michael Nutter declared victory in a contentious five-way Democratic primary that virtually guarantees him a spot as Philadelphia's next mayor.

When Rosita Worl was born, she was sent to live with her grandparents in Alaska in order to learn about her Native American heritage. But when she was six, this "good life" ended. "I was literally kidnapped," said Worl, the grandmother of College senior Rico Worl and a professor at the University of Alaska Southeast.

As a freshman living in Hill, I remember waking up at about 8 a.m. one Friday morning in April to a sound that I cannot really describe. It was noise, and a lot of it. I looked out my window onto Walnut Street, and it was like I was in another country (probably Jamaica), with food carts, souvenir stands, people dressed up in all sorts of outfits and track uniforms and a general atmosphere that was a bit alien to Penn.

About the other mayoral candidates.