The undergraduate student hospitalized earlier this month with meningococcal meningitis was released from the hospital this weekend, according to University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman. There are no further cases of meningococcal infection, she added. Student Health Service posted an update on its Web site about the student's release on Saturday.

The Archeology Museum was infiltrated by superheroes of all shapes and sizes yesterday, becoming an educational playground for children and parents to learn about ancient and modern-day heroes. The event - "Wow! Superhero Day"- was held at the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology in conjunction with Van Pelt Library's Year of the Comic Book and Penn's Year of Evolution celebration to commemorate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.

Alternative rock band Guster will open for Akon at this year's Spring Fling concert on April 17 in Franklin Field, the Social Planning and Events Committee announced today. "They have a similar vibe even though they're very different genres in music," said SPEC Concerts co-director and College junior Preston Hershorn, who anticipates that the line-up will bring a diverse crowd.

On March 13, three Penn students associated with the Student Labor Action Project returned early from spring break to attend their much-anticipated meeting with Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and an executive from HEI, a hotel-management corporation with ties to the University.

Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice turns 100 this year - and there's no better time to celebrate the centennial than "Social Work Awareness Month." March, also designated "Women's History Month," marks the beginning of a contest for female SP2 graduates to win a three-day trip in August to television personality Joan Lunden's getaway in Naples, Maine.

A new study by Penn's School of Medicine developed a test to detect Alzheimer's disease in patients in its early stages, before the disease's symptoms start to manifest. Led by Leslie Shaw, the co-director of the Penn Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Biomarker Core, the study was published online in the journal Annals of Neurology this month.

This Wednesday, the Graduate and Professional School Assembly will vote to pass a proposal that aims to establish a "campus climate survey" that polls student perceptions about campus education and student life. While GAPSA has polled students in the past, the group aims to involve the administration in the process to ensure its repetition and longevity.

"If the wars of the 20th century were fought over oil, the wars of the 21st century will be fought over water," said University of Miami School of Communications professor Sanjeev Chatterjee in discussing his motivations for creating One Water, a documentary about the world's water crisis.

Tiredness, rewards, status: it's all in the head, three research studies say. Michael Halassa, a doctoral student in the School of Medicine's neuroscience department, and Philip Haydon, Halassa's former mentor and a professor at Tufts University, collaborated to study astrocyte cells in the brain and their impact on animal sleep behavior.

On March 11, a state House committee approved House Bill 300, which, if passed in the Senate, will ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in Pennsylvania. The bill addresses discrimination in public spheres such as employment, housing, credit and public accommodations.

The city's vital services will remain intact but not without tough cuts and revenue increases, Mayor Michael Nutter announced yesterday when he presented his five-year budget plan to the City Council. The city faces a $1.4-billion budget deficit owing largely to the global economic crisis manifested in falling business and real-estate tax revenues and losses in the city's pension fund.

History professor and Penn Civic Scholars Program faculty director Walter Licht has lived in West Philadelphia since 1977, when he began teaching at Penn. For Licht, living in the area offered city living with the perks of low prices and more space. "I am an urban person," said Licht, who grew up in Brooklyn.

In September 2008, Classical Studies professor Campbell Grey went on paternity leave to welcome a new child into his family. The move was not unusual for a Penn professor, as the University has moved towards policies that acknowledge the ability of both mothers and fathers to take charge of early parenting.

As admissions officers sift through applications this spring, some schools' choices may be more limited than they were last year. Many private colleges - especially top liberal arts schools - saw declines in application numbers this year, which admissions experts attribute to both the economic downturn and a natural fluctuation in the admissions cycle.

Philly Diner and the University recently agreed to shorten the restaurant's hours of operation in response to a shooting that occurred outside the diner last month. The diner - located in a University-owned building at 3901 Walnut St. - will close at 2 a.

A fire in the Chestnut Hall apartment building, located at 3900 Chestnut St., caused an evacuation early this morning. The fire was reported at about 5:10 a.m., according to Division of Public Safety spokeswoman Stef Cella. Penn and Philadelphia Police officers and the Philadelphia Fire Department arrived on the scene shortly afterward, and the Fire Department extinguished the fire.

New coffee shop Lovers and Madmen seeks to mirror its philosophy in its name: to provide a venue that caters to passionate people. Manager Megan Powers said she chose the coffee shop's name to "convey the same passion and intensity" from the scene in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.