When high-school senior Melissa Parratto chose to apply to Penn early decision, she was nervous about the more than $48,000 per year for tuition and fees. "I applied because Penn is an amazing education, and I had my heart set on it," said Parratto, who attends Dover High School in New Hampshire and was accepted to the College in December.

Sigma Alpha Mu put all its chips on the table for Alzheimer's research yesterday. The fraternity, with the help of the Chi Omega and Sigma Kappa sororities, staged a large fundraising poker tournament in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge. Students played to support Alzheimer's research for The Judy Fund, named after the grandmother of SAM brother Brian Gelfand.

According to Jonah Berger, the popularity of a child's name depends on his or her parents' environment. Berger, a Wharton marketing professor since 2007, studies "how products, ideas and behaviors catch on and die out," he said. His main focus is the social aspect of decision making, with regards to popularity.

Philadelphia Newspapers Incorporated, which owns The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News, Philly.com and Philadelphia Media Holdings - which prints The Daily Pennsylvanian - filed for bankruptcy yesterday. The move is an attempt to restructure the company's $390 million in debt load.

The December home invasion and sexual assault at 44th and Spruce streets sparked debate about security west of Penn's campus. But as Penn expands east toward Center City, the Division of Public Safety is planning for the new security challenges it will face on the other side of campus.

A growing number of students are turning to social entrepreneurship, and groups are looking to fill that demand. The Wharton Dean's Undergraduate Advisory Board has made significant progress toward a secondary concentration in social entrepreneurship, but the Undergraduate Assembly and Student Committee on Undergraduate Education are looking to expand developments to the College curriculum.

It might be hard to understand when someone who pulls an all-nighter and someone who got a full night's sleep get the same grade on an exam - but a new study by Penn's School of Medicine may explain the phenomenon. The study found the mechanism that shows how cellular changes in the sleeping brain are related to the formation of memories.

In raising $300,000 to build solar panels for a West African hospital, Kathryn Hall did more than solicit funds. She won national awards, appeared on television and 25 million bags of Doritos and even got Hollywood stars to join her cause. A 2008 College graduate and current student in the School of Medicine, Hall created Power Up Gambia after volunteering at the Sulayman Junkung General Hospital in The Gambia in summer 2006.

The second of the three students hospitalized last week with meningococcal infection was released yesterday, according to a Student Health Service update. One of the two students hospitalized over the weekend with flu-like symptoms was also released.That leaves only two students in the hopsital of the original five that were brought in - one infection case and one who had with flu-like symptoms.

In 1960, when Mary Nixon moved onto Pine Street at age six, she never imagined that the mansion across the street would turn into a 10-story hotel. And yesterday, Nixon testified in front of the Zoning Board of Adjustment to say just that. She was one of 12 witnesses at yesterday's hearing for the opponents of the proposed hotel on 40th and Pine streets.

Denis Kinane will become dean of the School of Dental Medicine beginning July 1, Penn President Amy Gutmann and interim Provost Vincent Price announced yesterday. "I'm very excited," Kinane said. "Penn's got a fantastic reputation, and I'm really looking forward to contributing.

The murder of Philadelphia Police officer John Pawlowski last Friday night has been felt heavily by University Police Department staff, many of whom are former Philadelphia Police officers. And in response to Pawlowski's death, the most recent in a string of police fatalities this year, the Division of Public Safety is making sure its officers are equipped to deal with the potentially violent aspects of their job.

Interested in immersing yourself in the upbeat rhythms of African melodies and drumbeats, while a mysterious man on stilts towers over you? Tomorrow, various African song and dance ensembles will perform at the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology to commemorate the 20th annual Celebration of African Cultures from 11 a.

Four sophomores in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business will be spending their spring break in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Wharton and College sophomores Kristin Hall, Taishi Kushiro, Aleksandar Rasevski and Natalie Tejero were chosen by the Grassroots Business Fund to evaluate the poverty levels of clients of Sero Lease and Finance Limited, or SELFINA, and to help them increase their standard of living.

College career services throughout the country are feeling the reverberations from the economic crisis that began last fall, leaving students with more confusion and less opportunity. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a recent National Association of Colleges and Employer survey of about 50 colleges and universities found that more than half of the schools reported an increase in traffic to their career services centers while only 20 percent reported a decrease.

Philadelphia Police is trying to determine whether a man arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting three students at Lock Haven University may also be responsible for the armed home invasion and sexual assault that occurred at Penn on Dec. 19. Dominique Wilson, 23, was arrested in Lock Haven, Pa.

Garrett Reisman has not only been to space - he may be the first astronaut to bring the familiar red and blue Penn pennant with him. Reisman spoke to a full crowd in Levine Hall's Wu and Chen Auditorium last night. His speech was part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science's "Technology, Business and Government" series, which brings distinguished speakers to Penn to discuss the interrelationships between the three sectors.