Tonight, North America will regain its fourth sport, but not without some major changes to the game and promotions to attract fans.After a yearlong work stoppage, the National Hockey League is returning to the sports scene, and will have to deal with what Major League Baseball faced after its season-ending 1994 strike: an apathetic fan base.

The strike, which wiped out all 1,230 regular season games last year, has caused many problems for the sport of hockey and its fans.

After a decade on the music scene, Sponge's latest release, "The Man," represents a shift from radio-friendly hard rock to fan-pleasing live anthems."The Man," released on Dallas-based Idol Records, carries many of the same glam-rock anthemic hooks of its older material that drew comparisons to Grunge-era bands like Spacehog and Alice in Chains. Under many of the tunes, however, there is an added influence of detuned nu-metal groups.

America is Waiting's debut EP, "In the Lines," is geared toward those who seek an album more progressive and fast-paced than many recent releases.The EP, like a Hitchcock thriller, aims to build the tension...

After two weeks of Saturday evening sneak previews, where the median age of attendees left me searching for retirement home buses, "In Her Shoes" opens in theaters this Friday.Aside from the fact half...

President Bush announced Monday his nomination of longtime campaign supporter and White House counsel Harriet Miers as a Supreme Court justice despite her having no judicial experience.Miers' nomination could go either way, said Joanne Connor Green, associate professor of political science.

A number of groups are already concerned about the fact that Miers has not served as a judge prior to the nomination, Green said.

"Members of Congress expressed how important it is for someone to have had trial experience," Green said.

In the 2003-2004 academic year, nearly 8,000 loans-- - totaling more than $50 million- - were taken out by TCU students, according to a report from the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp., a nonprofit agency that coordinates transactions between schools and banks in Texas.The report states that the average loan each student takes out for the year was more than $11,000.

The number of students borrowing money to pay for school, and the amount they are borrowing, has more than doubled in the last 10 years, according to a new report from the American Council on Education.

Calling all creatures: TCU is holding its first Blessing of the Animals ceremony at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.Students, faculty, staff and the Fort Worth community are encouraged to bring their pets or pictures of their pets to be blessed individually, said Ann Smith, TCU Ministries Intern for Worship, Spiritual Life & Pastoral Care.

The Blessing of the Animals is in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century monk and patron saint of animals, and will be held outside of Robert Carr Chapel.

It was discouraging to read the Sept. 30 issue of the Skiff, which featured a lead article and editorial about "encouraging diversity" on the TCU campus, but contained no mention of Bruce Feiler's inspiring Gates of Chai lecture that had occurred the previous night at Ed Landreth Hall. This remarkable lecture series, now in its eighth year, is a joint undertaking of the Program in Jewish Studies at TCU and Brite Divinity School. The series has brought the likes of Elie Wiesel, Morris Dees and the late Chaim Potok to campus.