Yet again another confirmation that Penn likes its students to be good and sauced: Penn Athletics has designated the concrete spot between the Lott Tennis Courts and 33rd Street as “THE area” for pre-football game tailgates.

Grills and charcoal will be provided, first-come-first-serve, by the Athletic Department. Bring your own meat, fixin’s, beer, gin buckets, igloo coolers, fratstars, and country music. SO STATE SCHOOL!

After the jump, see the email from Penn Athletics marketing director J. A. Craigs.

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*Trumpet sounds* UTB continues our celebration of winter break with the return of our intermittent book club!  Today’s selection is College Girl by Patricia Weitz.

As bona fide college students, we simply can’t ignore a novel that heralds itself as “a sharply observed portrait of campus life and all the many pressures–economic, academic, social–that are funneled into its culture.” A college-centric novel promises to be either really juicy or really lame, Tom Wolfe’s I am Charlotte Simmons being the gold standard for lameness. Wolfe’s book (which, ooooh, was partially based on research completed at Penn’s very own St. A’s) fell flat because each page couldn’t help but reveal how scandalized Wolfe was by “kids these days,” with their sex and drugs and loose morals (all of which provided the author with an excuse to seriously overuse the word “insouciant”). While the main character of Weitz’s book is, regrettably, a tad reminiscent of Charlotte Simmons, College Girl proves itself to be unsentimental, thought-provoking, and really compelling. Read the rest of this entry »

We are saddened to report that today’s issue of Street (the joke issue!) is the last one of the semester. But luckily it’s a good one! Contrary to what some people with poor reading comprehension skills think, Street is not a joke every week — it is funny, yes, but our interviews, reviews, and features are all REAL. Except for this week. Ahem. So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, feast your eyes on Street U., our state school alter ego.

Inside, you’ll find the eagerly anticipated Cultural Elite ’08, a list of seniors whose reputations precede them…a fashion guide to get you through the big game…an interview with our hero Dave Matthews…a guide to Street U. for prospective students…a class registration tip sheet…and much more!

Tonight’s “writers’ meeting” will be held at Smoke’s — meet at the Street office (4015 Walnut) at 6:30 and we’ll head there together. And don’t worry, we’ll still be blogging off and on through finals.