Anthony Campisi

And here I thought the last piece I'd write for this newspaper would be about meningitis - it's sort of scary how quickly I can spell "meningococcal" at this point. But when I was asked to write a goodbye column, my mind immediately went to the first time I stepped foot inside the office that would basically become my home for the next four years.

Elizabeth Grant, like many other Penn students, went to several Greek parties the first weekend in February. And like other students who had connections to the Greek system, Grant, a College sophomore, went to get a prophylactic dose of Ciprofloxacin on Feb.

The bacteria isolated from the campus' fourth reported case of meningitis is "genetically similar" to the bacteria that infected three students last month. All four cases are part of the same outbreak, a City health official said. Despite this, Student Health Service director Evelyn Wiener said the fourth case, reported during spring break, is distinct from the first three and that there is no common source linking the two groups of incidents.

At first glance, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about. The empty white house on the northwest corner of 40th and Pine streets may seem disappointing in a neighborhood of 19th century Italianate mansions. But Penn's plans to build a 10-story hotel on the site have been met with stiff community opposition that threatens Penn's relationship with its western neighbors.

Two students were swept up in Penn's effort last month to halt the spread of meningococcal infection that sent shock waves through campus. Between Feb. 12 and 13, three students were hospitalized with meningococcal infection, a bacterial infection within the bloodstream.

Opponents of the proposed Campus Inn extended-stay hotel project at 40th and Pine streets will have to wait a little longer to make their case. Their appeal of a Historical Commission decision allowing the project to move forward was scheduled to be heard yesterday before the Department of Licenses & Inspections Review Board.

Penn announced yesterday that preventive antibiotics were no longer needed for meningococcal infection, signaling a shift in the University's response to the outbreak. Three Penn students were hospitalized last week with meningococcal infection, and two others were hospitalized for flu-like symptoms.

A fraternity and sorority event was interrupted last weekend, when students at a meeting of Greek chapter presidents in the Philadelphia suburbs received citations for charges relating to underage drinking and other alcohol-related offenses. The meeting was held at the Fellowship Farm camp in New Hanover, a small township in Montgomery County about an hour outside of the city.

Police are still looking for the man who sexually assaulted two Penn students in an armed home invasion Dec. 19. Philadelphia Police say that the incident, which occurred in an apartment on the 4400 block of Spruce Street, is similar to two others that occurred in Center City in October and believe the same person is responsible for all three attacks.

At his funeral last month, Engineering sophomore Ryan Smith's father spoke of "the different Ryans" that Smith's family and friends knew. He was a passionate computer enthusiast, a trombone-player in the Strath Haven High School band, a diving coach at the Rose Valley Pool pool, a member of his high school swim team and a neighbor in a small town where "everyone so much enjoyed talking and spending time with [him] because of the enjoyable, funny, brilliant and happy guy he was.