A downtown performing arts venue is getting a public image boost from members of the Penn community. Students and professors are teaming up with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts this semester in an attempt to create a more vibrant and welcoming public space downtown.

Though 22 states will vote in Democratic primaries and caucuses today, at the end of the night, the Democratic nomination could still be anyone's game. After former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards withdrew his candidacy last week, the Democratic field narrowed to New York Sen.

The Glasgow concert hall was packed. The sets were lavish, the costumes ornate and the singing unparalleled (though an Italian opera sung in Scottish-accented English was certainly an experience). The price for a center balcony seat for a regular adult? 58 pounds.

College Dean Dennis DeTurck often challenges math department colleagues to tell him when exactly he would need to know that 5/7 plus 3/5 equals 46/35. "The answer is never, except in a specifically mathematical context," DeTurck said. That's why he wants Americans to rethink how and when they teach fractions.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new supermodel wife have received a great deal of media attention in the past few months. However, yesterday in Huntsman Hall, it was Pierre Vimont, French ambassador to the U.S., who found himself in the spotlight.

He was featured in a documentary at the international Sundance Film Festival last month in Utah. Soon, his peers at Penn may be seeing him in theaters nationwide, even at next year's Academy Awards. College freshman Yoni Gruskin might be a rising movie star - but not for his acting skills.

The Grand Old Party might be able to celebrate a new nominee by tonight. Twenty-one states will vote today for the Republican presidential nomination and pressure could not be greater with over half of all delegates at stake. The Republican race has whittled down to four remaining candidates: John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

One is a licensed surgeon wearing scrubs and a black wig. One is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds and has calves the size of tree trunks. One was described as the "biggest, fattest, nastiest pig" that Philadelphia sports radio personality Al Morganti has ever seen.

The annual Saint Joseph's-Villanova matchup is always the most emotional Big 5 game, and for the past two years it provided the most convincing argument that the Wildcats were the city's best team. The Holy War was no less consequential this year, and the result was a clear reflection of the Big 5's new balance of power.

During junior year, everyone wants to know where you're studying abroad. But for around 75 percent of Penn's junior class each year, the answer is "nowhere." Whether for obligations on campus or to stay on-track with coursework, a majority of students have legitimate reasons for remaining in Philadelphia all four years.

The nation as a whole is getting older, but the process doesn't have to be painful. Penn researchers are investigating cures for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases to improve the quality of life for both patients and their caretakers. "Penn has traditionally had strengths in neuroscience and the strengths are not just in one department," said John Trojanowski, co-director of Penn's Institute on Aging and guest editor of a Neurosignals issue featuring Penn research on diseases like dementia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Some universities are suffering from an embarrassment of riches. Last week, Senators Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) requested financial aid data from 136 universities with large endowments. The senators want to investigate whether colleges are doing all they can to make higher education affordable.

It was Friday, and it was time to feel good. Last week, outfitted with cushions and clementines, the Penn Women's Center kicked off Feel Good Fridays, a weekly program featuring free public workshops, with a seminar on nutrition led by local health counselor Jillian Bird.

More than anything, this weekend's opening Ivy League games were a chance for the Quakers to rebound from a rough first half of the season. And rebound they did. In the two games this weekend, Penn beat Harvard and Dartmouth on the glass by a combined 88-63.

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering junior from Houston, TX. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Cars and Philadelphia streets are a match made in hell. The circulation situation is a heart attack waiting to happen. Rush hour traffic glides through city streets as easily as cheesesteaks and scrapple slide down clogged arteries. With SEPTA buses and taxi cabs jostling for room, motorists navigate circuitous routes down potholed streets.

As the number of general thefts in the Penn patrol zone continues to rise, the number of violent crimes has decreased in comparison to this time last year. Crime totals in the area this January remained steady compared to the same month last year, with 60 crimes reported in both 2007 and 2008.