The TCU community took part in the ranch management program's 50th anniversary ceremony Friday and had the opportunity to witness the first showing of a painting given to the program as a token of appreciation.About 80 students, faculty, staff and members from the board of trustees viewed artist Karen Holt's painting, "Nearby ... there is peace," at the ceremony.

Holt's painting was a gift from TCU to congratulate the program for its accomplishments, said Bonnie Melhart, associate provost for academic affairs.

Out of toilet paper and snacks? Need a mid-morning coffee fix? Need some gas to get home for the holidays? I bet when you think about these questions, a slew of nationally franchised stores come to mind.Like it or not, we live in a nation of chains. Gone are the days of main streets littered with mom-and-pop shops. The old hardware store's been turned into an Ace. The burger shop has given way to the nauseating golden arches of McDonald's, and the local creamery has been replaced with an overpriced Coldstone franchise.

Looking to erase the memory of last season, the men's basketball team sent the home crowd home with a smile and a 72-66 victory against the Centenary Gents in Saturday night's season opener at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Coming off a disappointing 2005-06 campaign that saw the Frogs go 6-25, the team set the tone on offense with five players scoring in double figures and on defense by holding the Gents to 37% shooting.

Reformed University Fellowship's former leader is in critical condition after he fell off his bicycle Wednesday evening, said RUF's current leader.Dustin Salter, the previous RUF leader, started the RUF program at TCU eight years ago, said the Rev. Rob Hamby, the current leader for RUF.

Salter was riding his bike, without a helmet, with his two sons, Jacob, 9, and Nathan, 7, when he fell off his bike one block away from his house, Hamby said.

"His sons ran home to tell their mother," Hamby said. "He was immediately life-flighted to Greenville Memorial Hospital."

Eight Starpoint School students shot paint from bottles, carved clay with toothpicks and created wood sculptures to show parents, teachers and classmates at their art exhibit Thursday.Art education coordinator Amanda Allison, said three TCU art students from her art curriculum class developed the Starpoint art curriculum, called "Process of the Artist," which she said gave her students the real-world experience of teaching art.

The up-and-down fall season for the men's golf team came to a close Tuesday as it shot 10-ver and finished 16th at the CordeValle Classic in San Martin, Calif. Playing at an unfamiliar course and going up against a talented pool of nationally ranked competition such as UCLA, Coastal Carolina and tournament champion Stanford proved to be too much for the top-25 ranked Horned Frogs.

Though the team finished with a season-worst 16th place, the Frogs were fewer than 10 shots away from their third top-10 finish of the five-event fall season.

The chimes of a piano can echo through the ears of classical music audiences worldwide this weekend, thanks to a new program allowing TCU's music department to broadcast concert events online. TCU alumni Adam Golka, and Jose Feghali, artist in residence and professor of piano, will perform a Beethoven sonata Sunday, which will be broadcast live online using Internet2, a new high-speed Internet program.

Working along with network engineers, TCU network engineer Tony Fleming said Feghali has used the Internet2 program to aid with some of the online musical computing.

Each semester, Greeks pay their chapters hundreds of dollars in dues, used for everything from philanthropies to recruitment, Greek officers say.Will Sager, Interfraternity Council president, said chapter dues range from $450 to $800 a semester and many chapters have summer dues.

Amanda Ziehme, Alpha Chi Omega treasurer, said active members of the sorority paid $440 in dues this semester and new members paid $741.

Today's first-ever TCU Health Fair is a way for students, faculty, staff and community members to become healthier, more informed individuals, said the assistant dean of campus life for health promotion.Research shows healthier students have higher grades and a better overall experience at college, said Laura Crawley, assistant dean of campus life for health promotion.

"It's better by far to prevent illness than to have it treated," she said.