Cheers and jeers

Cheers

- To alumnus George Weiss for demonstrating his commitment to education through action with his $14 million donation to Penn's financial aid programn To the University administration and the Admissions Office for the 21 percent jump in early decision applications

- To the Undergraduate Assembly for providing much needed student transport to and from the airport during the holidays

- To Philadelphia for giving the city world-wide attention by bringing the Live 8 concert here this summer

- To the University for keeping Spring Fling in its rightful place: the Quadrangle

- To the city of Philadelphia and the Schuylkill River Development Corporation for their efforts to transform the Schuylkill waterfront into an attractive destination. Under your leadership, the future of the waterfront is bright

- To the University for its warm, generous reception of Tulane students displaced by Hurricane Katrina

- To the elected officials and voters of Philadelphia for trying to clean up city hall by passing a much-needed ethics reform bill by a five-to-one margin

- To the University for plans to expand wireless Internet to all of the College Houses

- To new University Provost Ron Daniels for a smooth transition into the administration as well his genuine efforts to reach out to the student body

- To the Social Planning and Events Committee for bringing Howie Day to campus. SPEC should be aiming to please the majority of Penn students, and the large crowd at the event showed they accomplished that

Jeers

- To the University administration for failing to conduct necessary investigations of the Big Man on Campus event at World Cafe Live and the actions of the Office of Student Conduct in the recent nude-photo controversyn To Facilities and Real Estate Services for the constantly delayed opening of Moravian Cafes. The new eateries will undoubtedly be popular once they open, but the changing timetable has been frustrating

- To both the city of Philadelphia and the Transit Workers Union for the crippling SEPTA strike earlier this semester. Both parties put their own interests ahead of the riders', damaging the long-term health of all parties

- To the University for renaming Hamilton to Rodin College House. Building student loyalty to their College House would be much easier if the name did not change so often

- To the Information Technology Department for the outage-plagued School of Arts and Sciences Webmail service

- To the Office of Student Conduct, the University's disciplinary arm, for prosecuting a student for posting photos of a nude couple, then dropping the charges after heavy media exposure

- To the Penn Course Review for being down when students need the service the most

- To the University for funding part of a major $9.5 million renovation of the Inn at Penn only seven years after its construction

- To Penn's security provider, AlliedBarton, for igniting controversy by transferring security guards who petitioned President Amy Gutmann for her support with unionization efforts

- To the city for not supporting the health of its citizens by enacting a smoking ban in restaurants and bars

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