In the November 13 Associated Press college basketball poll, Harvard received a single top-25 vote. And Harvard remains the only Ivy team to receive a vote this year. Incongruent with their national nod, the Crimson was picked to finish seventh in the preseason Ivy League basketball poll.

A new Web site is about to give the University bookstore a run for its money - or so it hopes. Betterthanthebookstore.com - created by two Penn undergraduates in the fall - is providing students with a forum where they can buy and sell used textbooks at relatively inexpensive prices.

A roasted pig's head decorated with pineapples and ripe strawberries rested in the center of the room. Girls in grass skirts and bikini tops distributed leis. "We like to get leied," one tropical-looking girl, Wharton freshman Paula Aranda, said as she placed a flower necklace around one guy's neck.

Erin Power was hardly the only one ecstatic when the University accepted her early decision in December. So was David Power - her father and basketball coach at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. And head coach Pat Knapp and the rest of the women's basketball program might have cracked some smiles, even in the midst of another rough season.

It wasn't your typical Locust Walk flyerer. No, it was a giant Penn Transit Services shuttle, dancing around and handing out T-shirts to passersby yesterday afternoon. Following the human shuttle was a Transit employee carrying a boom-box, which blasted songs by Iggy Pop and Journey. This spectacle signified the unveiling of Penn Transit's new mascot and campaign to raise on-campus awareness about the company's free bus and shuttle services.

Theft Dec. 22 - A projector and electrical equipment, valued at about $800, were removed from an unlocked room at David Rittenhouse Laboratory at about 10 a.m. Dec. 28 - A complainant unaffiliated with the University reported that 150 bricks were removed from outside of a construction site in the 3900 block of Delancey Street.

While most students flock home for the holidays over winter break, 33 Wharton MBA students chose a different locale - India The group of students visited companies across the country as a part of a class trip, stopping at, among others, Cafe Coffee Day, India's ubiquitous coffee chain, and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Grading policies that leave students in the dark until they see their final grades do more harm than good.

20,000Minimum number of additional troops President Bush is considering to send to Iraq.Source: Los Angeles Times

For the next week, Penn guys will have the chance to stuff their faces with wings, ice cream and barbecued burgers - and maybe join a fraternity as well. Many frats across campus are relying on food to lure in prospective brothers throughout the next two weeks of rush, which began last night.

Basketball and horse racing couldn't be more different, but Penn junior guard Michael Kach and Philadelphia native Barbaro have a striking similarity.

Political and activist groups on campus should not be afraid to make waves.

If all goes as expected for the Penn basketball team, its roster will swell to 17 or 18 players next year. Currently a 15-man squad, the Quakers will lose four seniors, but bring in six freshmen - and the possibility of a David Whitehurst return has not been completely ruled out by head coach Glen Miller.

The man allegedly responsible for a series of robberies at point-of-screwdriver has been charged with a total of eight counts of robbery, according to Penn Division of Public Safety officials. Troy Brown, 34, of West Philadelphia was initially charged on Dec.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering sophomore from Houston, TX. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

For most Penn students, a $30 meal at Brasserie Perrier is a bargain. But the same price for a meal at local eatery Nan? It just doesn't quite have the same appeal. Starting this Thursday, 21 West Philadelphia restaurants are offering multi-course menus for $30 or less during the third-annual University City Dining Days.

If I get a chance to watch the New Orleans Saints host a playoff game at the Superdome next week, I might finally realize what those much smarter than yours truly have known for decades. Sports provide an escape. When life is kicking our butt, we take an afternoon and watch professionals kick each others' for three hours.