In my four-plus years of college, I have heard a number of people make the argument that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. Their arguments generally go something like, "If 18 is the legal age to go to war for your country and to vote for your elected leaders, then why shouldn't you be able to drink a beer if you want to? I mean, after all, you are technically an adult at 18, so why shouldn't you be entitled to all of the same privileges and freedoms as a 21-year-old?" While these may be valid arguments, I think there is more to consider when it comes to the topic of alcohol.

The article, "University work practices unethical, scientist says" (8/23) is an example of unethical journalism. This is the most serious sort of professional accusation, yet it was reported without any information about the credentials of the accuser. I don't know the facts of the case, and I will not make a prima facie judgment about who is in the right. I do know, however, how to check on the credentials of the TCU faculty teaching in an accredited program.

A junior interior design major said she holds the TCU lighting program in even higher regard after being able to hold her own among graduate students at a boot camp sponsored by General Electric.Ericka Bailey, a junior interior design major, is earning a minor in lighting, a degree offered by the department of design, merchandising and textiles. Bailey was among a group of students chosen to represent TCU at GE's Student Boot Camp Lighting Conference this summer, where TCU's Center for Lighting Education was the only undergraduate program invited to attend.

TCU advertising and public relations students will soon have the opportunity to gain real world experience while contributing to Fort Worth's nonprofit organizations, said the director for the Schieffer School of Journalism.The journalism school's newest internship program, Real World Integrated Marketing Communications, was created with the goal of giving advertising/public relations students professional experience in a teaching environment, wrote Tommy Thomason, director of the Schieffer School of Journalism, in a overview of the program.

Due to the change in parking lots and the construction blocking streets on campus, numerous students and community members are receiving parking tickets.According to the TCU Police Department, about 400 parking tickets have been written on campus since Aug. 16.

TCU Police Chief Steve McGee said money from parking tickets goes back to the university, not to the police department, and that many of the tickets will be dismissed.

Although several hundred tickets have been issued, McGee said the number isn't unusual for the beginning of school.

I recently noticed a disturbing trend among the college-age crowd. This trend is that, due to the proliferation of Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the national pastime of flirting as we know it, has become a drastically under performed sport. So much so, in fact, I would say it is becoming less like the Super Bowl and more like Backgammon."This is preposterous!" you might say. Well, let's review flirting as it once was. A guy goes with his buddies to a party and meets a few more of his friends who, in turn, introduce him to their friends. But alas, no sparks fly.

Not since "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" came out in 1988 has there been such an enthralling movie title as "Snakes on a Plane."The film received huge Internet buzz when its title was first uttered in the media world.

The Internet frenzy then exploded when everyone heard Samuel L. Jackson had been cast in the lead role.

Bloggers from all over the globe showed tremendous interest in the film. My personal favorite being snakesonablog.com, which is a blog run by Brian Finkelstein.

How does it feel to make the Texas Collegiate League All-League team? That was a lot of fun. I was going in, I wanted to make the all-star team again. Up until the all-star break, I was kind of throwing well when it dawned on me that I was in the top two or three. Coming down to the wire, I got calls from the ladies running the league saying, "Yeah, you are in the hunt for pitcher of the year." That's when I really kicked it in, when I really wanted it. Not so much for me, but for Weatherford and Coach Lightfoot. He'd been really good to me over the last three years.

Recently reported scandals involving student-athletes at Duke and Northwestern reminded TCU administrators that the Internet is a venue for publicizing information that could damage the university's reputation. Three Duke lacrosse players were accused of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer during a team-sponsored party March 13, and two months later, images found on Webshots, a photo sharing Web site, exposed hazing rituals of the Northwestern University women's soccer team.

Drained. Aching. Weak. Nauseated.Sixteen-year-old Abraham Cherrix of Chincoteague, Va. is no stranger to struggle. But struggle shouldn't be necessary to obtain the right to make decisions about one's own physical health and well-being.

Abraham endured several bouts of chemotherapy last fall after being diagnosed with cancer of the lymph system, or Hodgkin's disease. The treatments left him exhausted and frail, his 5'11" body dropping from 156 pounds to a meager 122. Chemo took so much out of him that his father sometimes had to carry him.