Simeon McMillan | Everyday Facebook rules

A few tips to avoid public embarrassment in that all-important arena of collegiate social life

Simeon McMillan | Making class a social affair

"Imagine a world where you could manage your entire life from Facebook - it's not that far off!" While you were home recuperating from the intellectual hazing that was Finals Week, an academic juggernaut other than Penn was "Making History". Blackboard, a premier course management website, announced the release of the Blackboard Sync - its first ever Facebook application.

Simeon McMillan | Don't cry for me, Penn

Whoever said the ending is always anticlimactic couldn't have been more right. With only two weeks until graduation, I look at myself and realize how little has changed over the past four years. In many ways, I'm leaving Penn the same way I entered: broke, single and with a mild case of insomnia.

Simeon McMillan | Inaccurate rankings

Surveying your very own tour guides is about as unbiased as holding a Russian election. Sure it's democratic, but we all know how it's going to turn out. The Admissions office should have known better than to send the annual Princeton Review questionnaire to its student ambassadors from the Kite and Key Society.

Simeon McMillan | Playing the activism card

I hope the Tibetan monks don't plan to write to The Daily Pennsylvanian anytime soon to protest Chinese rule because apparently some of our readers aren't too sympathetic to diplomatic, non-militant forms of activism. The Penn chapter of the NAACP has been idiotically criticized this week for its push for long-overdue renovations to DuBois College House.

Simeon McMillan | Praying for an open mind

If like many a Penn student, your weekend ritual begins with communion from a shot glass and ends on your knees at the porcelain alter of your toilet, I've got news for you - you just might need Jesus. But even if he isn't your "homeboy", as per the gospel of Urban Outfitters, there's nothing wrong with engaging someone in a polite dialogue on religious issues.

Simeon McMillan | Taking a bite out of theft

When it comes to the perception of crime, Penn students need to get their priorities straight. It never ceases to amaze me how comfortable Penn students are leaving their possessions in the company of strangers. The same students who'll practice walking in circles to throw imaginary muggers off their scent will leave their $2,000 laptops unattended to wait in line for an ice-mocha-latte-frappuccino.

Point | FDA policy proves unnecessary

A lot has changed at Penn since 1977. This May the LGBT Center will celebrate it's 25th anniversary at Penn. The University has made tremendous strides in recognizing and understanding its diverse array of students. But thanks to an outdated FDA policy, any man who has ever had sex with another man (MSM) is banned for life from donating blood on campus - or anywhere else.

Simeon McMillan | A fictional shortage

Last week, while you were indulging yourself for hours on JuicyCampus.com, the School of Engineering and Applied Science was wrapping up E-Week, its annual salute to problem sets, merciless grading curves and masochism in its purest form. Around the country, some used the week as an opportunity to draw attention to a familiar question - does the U.

Simeon McMillan | Meaningless gossip

It used to be you'd find Penn students glued to Facebook, YouTube and bad Chinese soap operas on their computers. Now procrastinators have one more thing to add to their Ivy League idleness. JuicyCampus.com, an online gossip Web site, guarantees its users complete anonymity to spread any rumor about any student on any campus.

Simeon McMillan | For love or money

'How willing are you to marry an average-looking person that you liked, if they had money?" This simple question rekindled a debate on Internet message boards over a topic older than John McCain, Ben Franklin and even Valentine's Day itself - are relationships based on the quest for love or money? Last December, The Wall Street Journal ran a column discussing the results of a nationwide survey in which they posed this exact same question to 1,134 Americans.

Simeon McMillan | Moving math to the next level

I'm all about learning the fundamentals, the basic rules of the game. Fundamentals dictate why we must learn to walk before we run, babble before we talk and are pretty much the only good thing that could be said about the spectacle that is the WNBA. Unfortunately for the educational purists, the fundamentals of how we teach math in America are desperately in need of change.

Simeon McMillan | Increasing access at home

Last week, the Daily Pennsylvanian ran an editorial advocating the expansion of need-blind admissions to international students. In other words, it argued that Penn shouldn't factor a foreign student's ability to pay in the admissions process. I'm in favor of diversity, but I beg to differ.

Simeon McMillan | The cohort conundrum

I've come to realize that one of the few things administrators and student leaders perennially agree upon is that we clearly don't have enough chances to bond outside the classroom. This desire to increase Wharton camaraderie must have been the motivation behind the creation of the undergraduate cohort system.

Guest Columnist | The revolution will not be televised

The saying goes, "If a tree falls down in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" A timelier question would be, "If an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 rally in Jena, Louisiana, in protest of a case of unequal justice ignored by the mainstream media, does it matter?" I'm no philosophy major, but the answer is a resounding yes.

Simeon McMillan | Saying 'No' to school stereotypes

Students should try courses outside their home schools to get the most out of their college experience