Lawyers for the family of Anne Ryan have dropped punitive damage charges from their malpractice lawsuit against the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Ryan, a College sophomore, died of meningitis last September after being misdiagnosed by Student Health and HUP physicians.

Photos by Mustafa Al-ammar, Rachel Baye, Ivona Boroje, and Alvin Loke

Penn students turned out in record numbers to vote in the Pennsylvania primary yesterday, in order to cast ballots in the pivotal contest between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Altogether, about 2,500 students, more than one-fifth of Penn's student body, voted in this year's election - a significant jump from the 2006 midterm elections, when about 1,500 students voted in the general election.

The overall growth of applications from international graduate students has steadily declined over the last three years, according to a report released April 18 by the Council of Graduate Schools. Despite overall national decrease, 62 percent of the schools surveyed - including Penn - reported an average increase of 9 percent.

While many Penn students juggle academics, extracurricular activities and a social life, there is still one thing left for many to learn to balance - a checkbook. With the importance of financial literacy - knowledge of how to manage a credit-card to how to create a budget, for example - growing each and every year, trend-setting colleges all over the nation are reaching out to their students and expanding the financial advising resources available to them.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's victory in the Pennsylvania primary election last night came as little surprise to many on campus. Still, supporters of her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, said they don't feel defeated. In fact, many said they anticipate that Obama will still win the Democratic presidential nomination and expressed plans to campaign for Obama leading up to next month's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.

Professor Dan Bogen loves children's toys - designing them, that is. Bogen, an associate professor of Bioengineering since 1982, started a program called PennToys as a project for his Bioengineering Senior Design students. For more than 14 years, students involved with PennToys have designed devices so medical researches and therapists can use them to help diagnose and treat disabled children.

Robbery April 12 - A female unaffiliated with the University reported that while walking within a building on the 3400 block of Market St., an unknown suspect forcibly removed her pocketbook and fled the scene, at about 6:30 p.m. Assault April 12 - Jason China, 26, of the 1700 block of 19th St.

"Vote today!" So shouted a student in a "Barack the Vote" shirt outside Hill College House yesterday, reminding students to vote in the highly-anticipated Pennsylvania primary. But despite the Illinois senator's strong grassroots campaign in Philadelphia and enthusiasm from young voters - 72 percent of voting Penn students chose Obama - that widespread activism wasn't enough yesterday, as New York Sen.

Nanotechnology - a field that involves manipulating matter on the atomic scale - is helping scientists reshape the technological world by making things smaller and smaller. At Penn, though, the attention being paid to nanotechnology has never been bigger. So when the state announced earlier this month it was giving a $3.

Saving someone's life may start with something as simple as a cheek swab. Wharton freshman Andrew Brodsky is living proof. Diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 16, Brodsky received a bone marrow transplant that saved his life. His donor - a close to perfect genetic match - was a male living in New York who had his cheek swabbed at a bone marrow registry drive that his fraternity organized at Northwestern University.

After six long weeks of campaigning, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has won the Pennsylvania primary. According to exit polls, undecided voters - many of them white and concerned with the economy - were crucial in Clinton's win, handing her a much-needed victory over Sen.

As many selective universities have announced plans to open satellite campuses in Middle Eastern countries, Penn remains committed to its current approach, emphasizing partnerships rather than degree programs. Though colleges such as Cornell and New York University have set up campuses abroad, Penn does not plan on opening an outpost campus.

Today the race for the Democratic nomination could end. But then again, it might not. If Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the Pennsylvania primary today, it won't be the first time the New York Democrat has bordered on defeat only to rebound against her critics and survive.

As many Penn students finalize term papers, child-rearing issues may seem far from their concerns. However, a large turnout of students from Penn Nursing, including future midwives, maternity researchers and other advocates, were all eager last night to discuss the child-birthing process, as well as social challenges and changes in maternity care.

Next week will mark an important milestone in minority student groups' continued push toward a comprehensive assessment of campus climate at Penn. Campus climate - which refers to individuals' levels of comfort at Penn in terms of their gender and gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity - has been an important issue for minority student groups for at least the past 10 years.

An area caffeine staple will close its doors next month after more than 13 years on campus. Bucks County Coffee, located between 34th and 36th streets along Sansom Street will close on May 23. The store is one of three Buck's County Coffee shops in University City, along with a store at 40th and Locust streets and a kiosk at 30th Street Station.