Diversity and financial aid were major topics at yesterday's University Council meeting. In a well-attended gathering in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge, Penn President Amy Gutmann, Provost Ron Daniels and faculty and student leaders discussed the progress of Penn's no-loan financial aid programs and campus minority representation.

The Social Planning and Events Committee will 'do the right thing' by bringing filmmaker Spike Lee as its first annual Keynote Speaker for SPEC's Film Society. The event, titled "The World Through My Lens: A Conversation on Film Making With Spike Lee," features Lee, as well as a moderated discussion session with the audience.

Not many women would turn down an offer of $10,000. But some women might if it means selling their eggs. Ivy League women are being targeted by various agencies to sell their eggs for anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. "College students are in the right age group to become donors, tend to have more flexible schedules than older, working women and are reasonably intelligent and motivated," said Dawn Hunt, president of Fertility Alternatives, an agency that has intermittently advertised in The Daily Pennsylvanian for about seven-to-eight years.

The love child of Blackboard and Facebook has a name - the Open Learning Commons. The new platform prototype, launched by the College of Liberal and Professional Studies, allows interested people within and outside the Penn community to participate in classroom activities from the Web.

Maya Angelou, prominent author, poet and activist, said she doesn't "trust people who do not laugh." To Angelou's expressed satisfaction, Irvine Auditorium was filled with laughter last night when she delivered the Woman's Week keynote address to a sold-out crowd.

Last night, the Penn Democrats endorsed Seth Williams for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming Philadelphia District Attorney election. The endorsement followed speeches by representatives of four of the five candidates and a short discussion among Penn Dems members.

Feb. 18, 4:35 p.m. A Wharton graduate student has been diagnosed with measles, according to a University-wide e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon. The student is resting at home under the care of physicians. The University is in the process of contacting those who may have had close contact with the infected student and may need preventative medication.

Feb. 18, 1:56 p.m. Preventative antibiotics for meningococcal infection are no longer necessary, the University said in a statement released this afternoon. Three Penn students were hospitalized last week with meningococcal infections, and two others were hospitalized for flu-like symptoms.

For most MBA aspirants, getting the perfect GMAT score is a major part of securing a seat in a good business school. However, the Education Testing Service has developed a GRE-GMAT comparison tool that allows a student to apply to business school with a GRE score.

Seated in leather chairs on top of a rich, Persian rug, Penn's greatest economic and political minds casually discussed some not-so-casual issues last night in the Zellerbach Theatre. As part of the Inaugural David and Lyn Silfen University Forum, last night's event - "After the Fall: A World Transformed?" - focused on the financial crisis.

Casino-Free Philadelphia is showing city residents it holds one more truth to be self-evident - casinos do not belong in Philadelphia. The organization will hold a town hall meeting in Center City tonight as part of its new campaign, entitled "Declaration of Independence from Casinos.

Johnathan Perry, '03 Wharton alumnus, died last Thursday in the Continental Flight 3407 crash near Buffalo, N.Y. Perry, 27, died with his girlfriend, Nicole Korczykowski, '01 College and Wharton alumna, while en route to visit her family in Buffalo, according to the Associated Press.

Barnard College Dear Members of the Barnard Community: Barnard College's Health Services wanted to make you aware of the recent announcement regarding meningococcal meningitis infection at the University of Pennsylvania. We first wish to stress that the risk to Barnard students is minimal and limited to a small number of individuals who had direct contact with University of Pennsylvania students between 2/2 and 2/13/2009.

Although the U.S. economy is facing its most severe downturn since the recession of the 1980's, Greek life is as strong as ever on Penn's campus. The number of sorority pledges increased 19 percent this year, according to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, and both fraternity and sorority members and Greek leaders say they don't think finances will be an obstacle for most Greek-involved students.

One of the major complaints about the required freshman meal plan is that there is nothing to do with the inevitable unused meals at the end of the semester. Over the past few years, a handful of students have tried to get those leftovers to people who need them, like Philadelphia's homeless population.

Robbery Feb. 5 - Norwood Chaney, 19, of the 3900 block of Ludlow Street, and Lenny Walker, 19, of the 5500 block of Pine Street, were arrested at about 5 p.m. for allegedly striking a man in the face after an argument and fleeing with his jacket. All individuals involved are unaffiliated with the University.

Yesterday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) discussed solutions to the grim employment prospects facing soon-to-be Penn graduates in an address to nearly 100 students and faculty members. Specter is one of only three moderate Republicans who voted in favor of the final economic stimulus package, which passed last week with a vote of 60 to 38.