I have changed a lot

Today I met my one of my friends from the first semester whose first comment was: “You have changed a lot.” I had realized that a long time back.
Over spring break, I went camping, but the rest of the time, I preferred to take a break and stay away from everyone. It was weird because I was enjoying not having a crowd around me. When one of my friends got back, I just wanted him to leave my apartment. I learned that I have immense patience to tolerate people well.
I met my friend online after a long time. She made me realize that I've come a long way. There used to be a time when I was not allowed to step outside of my house very often. Now, here I am, planning out things for myself and doing what I think is right. It didn't happen overnight so I didn't even feel the change.
Over the past week, when I was going through problems, my elder sister was very supportive. I learned that the way family members can care for us, no one else can.

Sona Thapa

Some better understood, others still not understood

In the last 10 days I have learned many things that I like about myself, as well as many things that I don't understand about myself.
Going on an amazing seven-day cruise will allow you to find out just how fun a person you really are. Laying out on beaches in Honduras, walking around Mexico aimlessly, and dancing on the cruise ship at night spells nothing other than paradise for me. I have had the opportunity to experience the true joy of being ultimately happy with the friends I have made throughout my life. Some of the friends I have made I may never see again, while others will be there with me until the end.
I have also unfortunately learned about the depression that hits you when you come back to reality and deal with the hassles of everyday life. After one of the happiest weeks of my life, I have no motivation to do anything that involves being productive.
I like to focus on the fact that the memories you make in college will last you a lifetime, so live it up and enjoy it while you can. I love my friends and I love cruises!

Meredith Moore

I understand my sister better now

In the last 10 days I learned how to appreciate my sister and our relationship. My sister Amy is 20 years old and goes to Texas Tech University. She is taller than me and has much darker hair. We do not look like sisters. She likes rap music and eats junk food. I like healthy food and calm music. She met me in Los Angeles, Calif., over spring break and we had our first vacation alone together. I was very apprehensive about our trip because we are so different. When we were younger we fought about everything because we did not understand each other. Over the course of the trip we really got to know each other better and ended up laughing instead of fighting.

Melissa Brown

(Instructor's note: This post was part of a class assignment to describe something each student earned about himself or herself -- or others -- during spring break. Similar posts will follow, and have preceded, this one. - Jim Frisinger)

The college student whine

How do you satisfy a college student?

After my experience in the past 10 days I would say it is nearly impossible.

I stayed in Texas this spring break, traveling to Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. In both cities, my friends and I stayed in nice hotels considering it was for a college spring break.

Each hotel we stayed in offered complimentary breakfasts, including fresh-cooked food made to order. Yet each morning one of my friends would complain about eating breakfast at the hotel (if we woke up earlier enough, of course). Why complain? IT’S FREE!

Both hotel rooms were paid for by my friend’s father as a birthday present. Yet again, every day someone in the group would complain about sleeping conditions, needing to wait to use a bathroom, etc. Why complain? IT’S FREE!

This continued throughout the vacation in various forms – complaints about free beer because it was warm (PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE!); complaints about having to sit in the back seat (WE’RE DRIVING A BMW IT CAN’T BE TOO BAD!); and worst of all, complaints about which restaurant we went to when I offered to pay for all of my friends’ meals. Why complain? IT WAS FREE!

Randy Horne

Rough edges with a trip roommate

Over spring break I was fortunate enough to get to go to a ski resort with a few friends, none of whom were my roommates. We all knew each other pretty well, but when it came to being around someone all night and day, problems arose.
At first, the excitement of being there overtook any negative emotions, but as time progressed, so did our tempers. Although many college students hang out with their friends all the time, they are not around them every minute of every day. The two biggest concerns or arguments on the trip were money issues and sleeping arrangements, none of which were made easier when alcohol was involved. My advice: It might be a good idea to take a trip with someone during which you will be with them all the time before you decide on a roommate. You may hang out with someone 12 hours out of the day, but you might not really get a hold of who they are until you spend every minute of every day with them.

Richard Wasser

Reading and reading -- in Cancun

Last week, I ventured to the very popular destination for many raucous college students, Cancun, Mexico. We were at the southern tip and away from the hectic MTV scene, and therefore able to have a more relaxing spring break. I won’t lie and say there was not a little debauchery, but we were able to relax just a bit more. I woke up one morning, before the rest of my friends, and took a James Patterson book I was reading for pleasure out to the beach. I spent the entire day, from sun up to sun down, reading (and having a few margaritas; iIt is Mexico after all). At the end of the day, as I was nursing a badly sunburned face and shoulders, I realized that I had spent the entire day reading.
Did that make me a bookworm?
There is usually a bit of a negative or “nerdy” connotation in liking to read. My friends would come and go from the beach always asking the status on my book and I always wondered, how can you not be reading?! I was here devouring this book and they were, well, not. I had traveled to Cancun, Mexico, to read.
I have no new profound knowledge of myself, other than I like to read, and not necessarily what teachers tell me to read.

Elizabeth Berger

Schiavo raises awareness of eating disorders

A new detail in the Terri Schiavo case that has come to my attention is the cause of her brain damage. The New York Times stated in past articles that the cause was both a heart attack and a potassium deficiency. The Associated Press hints toward an eating disorder. An eating disorder can cause a heart attack and a potassium deficiency, which leads me to believe that all three could be correct.

Throughout the recent heavy media coverage, I have heard very little about the actual cause other than a lack of oxygen for an extended period of time. Her eating disorder may not be relevant to whether or not you think she should be fed now, but if it is true, is the family ashamed of it?
I think that something good can come of the entire ordeal if the dangers of eating disorders are associated with the situation. This blog has featured discussion about eating disorders many times. I think the coverage of theTerri Schiavo case is a good way to alert others to the real consequences of having an eating disorder.

Corrine Young

The high price of relaxation

After returning from Cancun, Mexico, with nothing but an empty bank account, I have a new profound appreciation for the concept of the dollar. This is the first big trip I have gone on without the company of my family - with that came only half the payment for my trip. After paying for the other half of my airfare, hotel and ground transportation, I soon realized that EVERYTHING I enjoy on vacation costs money. What happened to just camping out on the beach all day under the sun? Between food, bus rides and night activities my once-full wallet was becoming much thinner. After the third day of my hard-earned money floating out of my hands, that $3 Pepsi didn’t seem as important as it did when I was with my family. As soon as I returned to the United States, I couldn’t stop complaining about how expensive everything was in Mexico. My mom soon brought it to my attention that everything seems a bit more expensive when it’s your money.

Note to self: Stop complaining about the price and enjoy what you are paying for. After all, it is a vacation.

Allison Glass

Surviving six to a room

Heading to spring break in Panama City Beach, Fla., I was afraid I would not have the patience to live with six other people in a one-bedroom condo. I was able to survive two, 14- hour car rides and seven nights of parties without one incident occurring. You would think with sharing one bathroom with six people, two being girls, that problems would have arisen. We had nothing but a great experience and dreaded coming home. Thankfully I proved myself wrong.

Chris Laverde

Here's to a nurse named Horace

Over the past week of my life I have come to understand the importance of nurses in my life. America’s nurses have arguably the hardest job I can think of. During my stay at Harris Medical Hospital in downtown Fort Worth, I discovered that nurses play a significant role in helping people overcome unbearable hospital stays, unpalatable hospital food, but more importantly — intolerable illness.

During my five days at Harris, I had a nurse by my side every time I bled, vomited, passed out, cried, slept, and most importantly, made the long journey to the toilet, IV in arm. One of my favorite nurses was a nurse named Horace. Horace was a middle-aged black man with an Afro who had a penchant for brightly colored hospital scrubs. The first day he wore neon scrubs with horses all over them. Not to be outdone, the next day he surprised me with bright pink scrubs featuring schools of fish. Horace took care of me from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. every day and I am grateful for his time, dedication, patience and bright clothes, which always made me smile.

I am grateful to these people who are often overshadowed by the higher-educated and higher-paid counterparts in their field. It’s the nurses, I realize, that do the brunt of the work, and take the best care of the patients. I am forever grateful to Horace, the maker of his hospital scrubs and nurses in general.

Margot Zanner

Spring break draws unsettling attention

Hundreds of thousands of college students traveled to Panama City Beach, Fla., for spring break last week. It was time for a week of fun in the sun. Girls were walking around in bikinis not worrying about anything but getting a tan. All of a sudden three guys come at you with video cameras. What do you do? They do not have the right to videotape you without your permission. Minutes later there could be footage of you on the Internet. This is a violation of your privacy. You can do several things at this point. You can walk away and not pay attention to the camera, or you can contact security and have their cameras confiscated. You can also ask them to stop. I don't know about you but I do not want pictures of me floating around the Internet. I chose the latter of the three and went on my way.

Dana Cherry

Poor college student's salvation

College students are notorious for never having any money on hand and they are always searching for ways to buy things that are in their nonexistent budgets. Cheap. I think that there is one word to solve the problem of the “poor” college student. EBay. Why did someone not think of this sooner? It is absolutely genius and necessary for those of us who cry when we have to spend more than $4 on anything. Plus there is no better way to make some cash for beer purchases than getting rid of some of that old stuff you have just lying around. Maybe the company should spend more on targeting college students and not on Broadway commercials.

Keely Hayes

Texas: We don't want to be No. 1 in this

After meeting many new people from out-of-state, it seems to me that Texas’ laws and restrictions on alcohol are much more intense than other states. Yes, the legal drinking age across the United States is 21, but it seems Texas goes to extremes to enforce these strict regulations. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission was established in 1935 and has been patrolling every building, restaurant and party ever since. But still our state has the biggest problem with under-age drinking. Last year, Texas led the nation in alcohol-related deaths among young people. According to a survey in Texas Standing Tall, almost 10 percent of Texas teenagers have gone to school drunk. I think the main way to stop this problem from increasing is to educate teenagers while they are young. Warn students about the effects of alcohol and the dangers it may cause before it is too late.
Allison Glass

My beautiful blog

Most of our blogs have been about serious subjects -- war, politics, money. I would like to write about a little lighter subject -- school. We are all bogged down with the stresses of homework, our GPA and those nasty little midterms, but we rarely sit down to think about how much fun (and how funny) college actually is. Freshman year, I stumbled across Aaron Karo’s book, “Ruminations on College Life,” which had me teary-eyed from laughing so hard. He took those funny little things that can only happen in college and only college students can appreciate and wrote them down. Here's one excerpt: “This is something I have always wondered about: Why does Microsoft Word have all those fonts that are nothing but gibberish? You know, you’ll be playing around with the fonts, trying to make a fancy cover page instead of actually writing your paper, and you’ll get that Wingdings font that isn’t letters, just weird symbols. What is the point of that?” Next time you pick up your 20-pound, $300 “Principles of Organic Chemistry” text, I suggest you put it down and pick up Aaron Karo’s, “Ruminations on College Life,” and have a good laugh instead. Who needs organic chemistry in the real world anyway?

Elizabeth Berger

The biggest threat to pregnant women

I was watching an "Oprah" show on the Scott Peterson trial when I heard some disturbing news. They said that murder is the leading cause of death for pregnant women. And sadly, 33 percent of them are killed by their husband or the baby's father. I had never heard that before and it is completely shocking to me. One psychiatrist said the killer just feels like he wants to be the primary component in the relationship and that a pregnancy can change that. I feel like they are talking about a middle child or something feeling left out … not someone who helped create the baby!

Kirby Shiffler

Do student newspapers abet eating disorder problem?

The media have made it quite clear that we are a society controlled by dieting and weight. We all know that eating disorders are a large problem on college campuses nationwide. However, are student publications increasing awareness of the issues or contributing to the problem? The TCU Daily Skiff has been overrun as of late with features on eating disorders. The March 3 issue featured a story concerning a former TCU student and her battle with anorexia. A letter to the editor the day before commented on eating disorders on our campus. An editorial the week prior described the personal story of a student battling bulimia. According to The Eating Alliance for Eating Disorders, 91 percent of college women surveyed had attempted to control their weight through dieting. It said 21 percent reported they dieted “often” or "always.” These are serious issues facing college students, specifically females. Clearly student newspapers are aware of the problem, but are they making it worse by advertising them rather than offering help and counseling to battle this disease?

Caitlyn Tomasik

You think gas is expensive, check this out ...

There has been a lot of venting going around lately about the price of gas. As I wrote this the end of last month, we were paying an average of $1.70 per gallon. [It's now risen further] It's painful for me to watch the tank fill up as my wallet empties out. But I recently realized a worse crime than the price of gas. I bought a one-liter bottle of Fiji water today from the TCU bookstore for $2.70. When you're thirsty, you're thirsty. But when I did the math I realized bottled water was about $10 per gallon. What! That is unbelievable. I don’t know why I have been so upset about gas prices when the whole time I have been spending five times more for the most abundant resource on the planet. I seriously need to rethink my choice of bottled water and find a more productive use for my money.

Denise Daly

Using illegal Adderall to get good grades

Are the benefits worth the costs to students using Adderall to increase studying abilities? First of all, Adderall is a drug that is used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). So why are so many of my classmates who are not diagnosed with either of these disorders illegally consuming this drug at an alarming rate?
I have spoken to several of my friends who use the drug as a study aid, and they say that the drug makes studying fun and keeps you interested for many hours regardless of how boring the topic you are studying is. They say that without the drug, they would not be making near as good of grades as they are now making. After doing some research, I have discovered that the Food and Drug Administration claims that Adderall could cause sudden unexplained death if people that take it have heart problems or diabetes.

When one considers the rate of sudden death in pediatric patients treated with Adderall products based on the approximately 30 million prescriptions written between 1999 and 2003 (the period of time in which these deaths occurred), it does not appear that the number of deaths reported is greater than the number of sudden deaths that would be expected to occur in this population without treatment. For this reason, the FDA has not decided to take any further regulatory action at this time. However, because it appeared that patients with underlying heart defects might be at increased risk for sudden death, the labeling for Adderall XR was changed in August 2004 to include a warning that these patients might be at particular risk, and that these patients should ordinarily not be treated with Adderall products.

So if students are healthy as a horse, should it be a big deal if they take Adderall illegally if it truly helps them with their studies?

Cody Kilpatrick

Tuition rate a bad move

TCU tuition at a set rate is a bad move for the private university. Students are charged for full-time tuition regardless of the amount of hours they are taking. Nationally the trend for private institutions is to go with the base rate. TCU is not financially struggling by any means. The school is in the top 10 among private schools for its endowment. I feel that the policy is a bad move for the university. Hopefully, TCU will learn in the future that the rate change is bad and many potential students will be discouraged from attending the university.

Matt Winter

http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/18/pf/college/tuition_increases/

Do you know Fratty McFrat?

A popular Web site has hit college campuses nationwide. This Web site, known as fratty.net, was started by a young man at Texas A&M named Matthew Price, who is a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity there. The Web site lists everything from how to act “fratty” to how to dress “fratty.” They are common examples of how fraternity influence, or “fratiness,” is spreading to college campuses across the country.

It was in the 1980s when the fraternities and sororities of this country’s higher learning institutions were at their peak, and were even being emulated by popular TV shows such as “Saved By the Bell — The College Years” and popular films of the time. And now we are seeing a return on the investment that our older cousins and brothers and sisters made into pastel polo shirts, Natural Light beer, aviator sunglasses, Ralph Lauren, croakies, Sperry topsiders, and seersucker fabric.

Ladies and gentlemen, frats are back. Never before has wearing a reptile on your shirt been so cool.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself. It pays to discover — the frat.

Margot Zanner

Royally flushed

In the past few years, poker has dramatically increased in popularity, especially Texas Hold’em. A few years ago poker was rarely on television, unless it was the main event. Turn on your TV today and find poker programs on seven days a week, on several different channels. With Las Vegas advertising its “What happens here, stays here” motto and the World Poker Tour on nightly, it has created a ridiculous amount of publicity.

At least for a while, almost all of my friends played poker, with a home game going on every other night of the week. Most likely, poker will fade out in a few years, but if not, we may run into a new generation where kids are sitting at their computers instead of being outside, maintaining a healthy life.

“World Poker Tour has turned poker into a sporting event that draws the young and old, men and women and people of all nationalities into the game – it has reshaped the face of poker and has raised the competitive bar to a new level.”

Richard Wasser

Horse slaughter is cruel and unusual

The butchering of horses for exported meat should be outlawed. While it is a lucrative business for Dallas-Fort Worth companies, the conditions are poor and the animals suffer more than cows or other livestock.

The argument is made that it is better to do it in the United States and regulate it than to export the industry to countries where the process would be more brutal. I think it should be outlawed completely here. If other countries have a cultural need for horse meat, they should also have the benefit of the slaughterhouse business. Having never owned a horse, I can only assume what I have heard is true: horses are good athletes, pets and companions, just as dogs.

I would go as far as to equate a horse slaughterhouse to a puppy slaughterhouse - something that doesn’t have a place in the society in which I would like to live.

Corrine Young

Runaway malpractice insurance rates chase doctors away

Medical malpractice liability reform is an issue that needs to be brought to the forefront of domestic policy.

The insurance rates for medical malpractice are skyrocketing. This increase in premiums is causing many doctors to either relocate or, even worse, quit their practices all together. In some areas of the country this has left local communities with inadequate health care.

According to the National Associations of Mutual Insurance Companies, "If this trend continues, more and more doctors will be unable to practice, and as a result, more patients will have difficulty finding proper care."

Randy Horne

Late-night studiers are left homeless

College students are notorious for all of their late-night rendezvous. I have foundthough that most of these all-nighters do not take place during wild weekend parties, but on weeknights when numerous tests loom overhead. Everyone knows that most students, myself included, will stay up late the night before a big exam or at least one night the week of the test to cram in last minute formulas and vocabulary words. Because of this, I would think our library would offer hours compatible to the schedule of such nocturnal students. Sadly, though, the latest our TCU library stays open is 1 a.m. Monday to Friday, as it is posted on the TCU Library homepage and the doors to Mary Couts Burnett. If the university is able to keep the library open 24 hours during finals week, which students love and take full advantage of, then why can it not keep such hours all year long?

Laura Anderson

Want a pet? Check with ASPCA first

When people decide they want a pet, most purchase a puppy, usually from a breeder. I believe it is important that people realize there are thousands of perfectly acceptable animals that the American Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals picks up off the streets that are open for adoption. A major problem with the system is if the society is unable to find a home for an animal they are obligated to put it to sleep. If you are considering a new pet in your home, consider adopting an animal. You can learn more about your local shelter on www.aspca.org.

Chris Laverde

Race (or sleep) for a cure April 2

About 1 in 7 women will get breast cancer sometime in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. Improved detection methods and treatments have made survival much more of a reality than in years past; however, there is still no cure.
The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is an easy and fun way for people to help find a cure for a disease that is killing our mothers, our sisters and our wives. The Fort Worth race will take place April 2 in downtown Fort Worth and I encourage everyone to join me as we race for a cure. For those people who think a Saturday morning run/walk is too strenuous, there is the Sleep In For a Cure option. Either way, be inspired and get involved.

Bryce Romero

http://www.komen.org

Americans need to fight obesity in own lives

Americans have taken on the stereotype of being obese. Most Americans are, in fact, overweight. Americans need to take a stand and start eating healthy and exercising. If you eat healthy and exercise it makes you look and feel good about yourself. With higher self-esteem, you can accomplish many things compared to when you have doubts about yourself. If you are not comfortable with the way you look you tend to hold back and not be yourself. You want to be a better person. All we need to do is watch what we eat and work out.
Mary L. Gavin of the Nemours Foundation has said those who work out on a regular basis have higher self-esteem than those who are less active. You should control your weight by exercising and eating moderate portions of healthy food. You can talk to a doctor or dietitian about how to develop healthy eating and exercise habits.

Dana Cherry

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/exercise/compulsive_exercise.html

Co-eds should stop pursuing MRS degrees

I think too many young people have their minds set on getting married at too young of an age. The saying that girls go to college to get their MRS degrees needs to be disregarded. While you are young, you should experience the world and date around if that is your interest, but do not settle down and sell yourself short. You have the rest of your life to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right! “The divorce rate for couples under 20 is incredibly high (between 80 and 85 percent). Social scientists have found that people who marry young are seldom prepared for marital roles,” said Dr. Neil Clark Warren, a psychologist and popular speaker based in Pasadena, Calif. His best-selling books include "Finding the Love of Your Life" and "How to Know if Someone Is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less." While you are young, you need to live it up and not focus on getting married!

Meredith Moore

http://www.eharmony.com/core/eharmony?cmd=ncw-articles&article=3

Kindergarten can stunt intellectual growth

I believe that kindergarten can be detrimental to the intellectual growth of children. School systems all over the United States are changing their curriculum so that kindergarten is more “work-intensive.” That is great, and of course it is to be expected and welcomed that the children of tomorrow are being challenged and pushed to live up to their highest potential. But it also needs to be recognized that these children may not be physiologically capable of what they are being pushed to do. The American Academy of Pediatrics has published what they deem a 5-year-old should be able to do and what is to be realistically expected of them. The current curriculum at many schools does not coincide with what the AAP deems is to be reasonably expected of 5-year-old children, the age of most entering kindergarteners. [1]

Kelsey McIntyre

---

[1]www.education-world.com/a_issues/issues325.shtml

'The Bachelorette' just said no!

Most people either really love or really hate reality television. Most of the girls I know, and some of the boys (I don't know why), have recently been obsessed with "The Bachelorette." I personally did not like this one, but I watched a little and the results were astonishing. She didn't pick anyone. She shocked all of America by not choosing her husband from the very handsome selection ABC so generously provided her. At first I thought, "I can't believe she just did that," but then I thought, "Way to go Jen!" She did the unthinkable. Many on the ABC.com message board condemned her, but I say cheers to finding love in the real world and boo to a reality love connection.

Diana Maddox

Martha's comeback is not 'a good thing'

According to this link from CNN http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/03/news/newsmakers/martha_walkup/index.htm?cnn=yes Martha Stewart was released from prison. It states that “prison has done wonders for Stewart.” Could it be that the public actually believes that prison time has improved this homemaking guru? Will Martha's career skyrocket, along with her stock, now that she's shed a few pounds and complained about the lack of garnishing on prison food? I find it completely absurd that after violating a federal law (and serving jail time for it) people still thrive on her return to the free world, much less respect her. WHERE HAVE OUR MORALS GONE? I'm sorry, but Martha's career comeback is not “a good thing.”

Ashley Alderman

College: Prescription for an unhealthy lifestyle

Many young adults are brought up by their parents to eat healthy, be active, and get plenty of rest. Students may blame themselves for the freshman 15, but I think that the school is to blame. Students are forced to live strenuous irregular lifestyles of all-nighters, early mornings and juggling class and work. Dining halls don't always serve the healthiest options, and who has time to cook a well-balanced meal when you're late for class? Teachers tend to assign work and schedule tests as if that was the student's only class. Working out is more of a luxury than necessity that comes if students are able to find time between schoolwork and a job. With all of the demands there is no wonder so many students fall behind after going out and partying on the weekends. Maybe college is both an education and a test for survival of the fittest.

Keely Hayes

Props to TCU

TCU is helping its students to avoid the dreaded "freshmen fifteen" by offering a wide selection of healthy foods in their cafeterias. Many students find themselves still coping with the added weight upon graduation time, myself included.  Most colleges aid in this weight gain by only offering a selection of fried foods dripping in grease. However, TCU has tackled this matter by updating its dining services to maintain a salad bar, sushi and other healthy options.  For those students who don't mind the few extra pounds, hamburgers and fries are still an option as well.  My props go to TCU for helping its students maintain a healthy lifestyle upon entering college.

Joanna McReynolds

http://www.diningservices.tcu.edu/

Alcohol enhancer? Give the Russians credit

Alcohol drinkers can now enjoy a good buzz without the painful hangovers. Russian scientists have developed a tablet called RU-21 Red that can enhance the effects of alcohol. At the same time it has natural antioxidants that can rid the body of harmful bi-products of alcohol. This drug is sold in the United States as a dietary supplement. It minimizes the harmful effects of alcohol for moderate drinkers. RU-21 Red makes drinking half as expensive and cuts the calories in half. This supplement needs more publicity, because it could be as beneficial to college students as milk is to growing kids. RU-21? Yes please.

Denise Daly

Argggh! Parking shortage drives me crazy!

In the past couple of weeks I have found the parking at TCU to be absolutely horrendous. Over the last few days I have spent well over two hours driving around campus searching desperately for a spot -- even the dreaded coliseum parking was full. Last night my car wouldn't start because I had run out of gas. While this was mainly my fault for not filling up right when the gas light came on, I can't help but feel like TCU should start paying for my gas, since I have emptied most of the tank while circling campus.

Whitney Little

How about a flat rate four-year tuition?

As I'm sure everyone at TCU knows, tuition is raised every single year. How come when you apply they don't tell you that? Obviously, TCU is trying to make more money, but it wouldn't be that hard to just increase it every year but instill a flat rate. The tuition you came in at should be the tuition you graduate with. At least then the students can be prepared to spend that kind of money. It is wrong and unfair to charge more and more each year when TCU is already a very expensive school. Everyone complains about it, however, transferring is a pain and most people don't want to leave. Even the Student Council comes and claims they can change it, but has anyone seen any changes? As a result, TCU ends up getting away with it.

Kirby Shiffler

What's wrong with students today?

I want to know why college students, such as myself, feel so put-upon? Is everything so much different from when our parents went to college? It seems to me it was worse then because when my mom described the time when her parents took her to the University of Texas for her first year in college, they just dropped her off in front of her dorm and that was that. In my case, my mother was putting my sheets on my bed for me and trying to help me get comfortable in my new environment before she left me there to fend for myself for four years of college. Is it because college students are too spoiled today or less dependent? I've heard of more students dropping out of school or being forced out due to alcohol or drug problems or just because they quit trying. Just a few weeks ago here at TCU a freshman went missing but then later we found out he simply ran off for whatever reason. Stories like this are not few and far between, so what is to blame?

Diana Maddox

Enough is enough: Student anxiety, stress excessive

Tests and homework are all part of going to school and learning but when is enough enough? Anxiety among college students is very prevalent due to the overload of school work they receive from their teachers. A significant amount of work is expected for each course but when taking a full load of classes, the stress can be overwhelming. Some teachers seem to think that their class is the only one that exists and give an extreme amount of work associated with projects and other class activities. Teachers need to remember that students do have other classes and many other outside factors affecting their lives.

Stephanie Helm