A new study shows that 32 percent of TCU's freshman class graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

That is less than other comparable schools like Baylor University, at 35 percent, and Southern Methodist University, at 42 percent. But as important as grades are, more goes into students than their grades in high school.

A good student has to be someone who is focused, balanced and involved in his or her community. So far, it seems TCU has done a good job of selecting students based on factors other than their grades in high school.

TCU has a lower percentage of freshmen who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class compared to peer schools, such as Baylor University and Southern Methodist University, according to institutional research statistics.

According to the TCU Fall 2008 Fact Book, 32 percent of TCU's freshmen graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

About 42 percent of SMU's freshmen graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class, according to SMU fact books.

Young Americans gravitated to the polls this election, and youth voter estimates show the percentage of eligible 18-29 year-old voters rose to at least 52 percent, an increase of 4 to 5 percentage points since 2004.

According to a voter turnout projection report released by Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), the increase in youth votes accounted for at least 60 percent of the overall increase in votes cast, suggesting the recent election rallied more young voters than any other age group.

The Board of Trustees met Friday and approved a 5-percent tuition increase, raising the cost to attend the university to $28,250.

While no one likes tuition increases, it is good that the university realized TCU's tuition was rising too quickly as its cost is still above average.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the mean cost for a four-year private university is $25,143 for the 2008-2009 school year.

Before I came to Texas, my only knowledge of the state amounted to what I had seen in westerns: cowboys and longhorns. Cowboys were the guys with the boots and ten-gallon hats, and longhorns just had long...

Tuition should not be raised in difficult economic timesRecently, according to what I can only assume was a schoolwide e-mail, TCU's Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition for full-time students from...

The Student Publications Committee selected the spring 2009 editor-in-chief and advertising manager for the Daily Skiff on Friday.

The selection for editor-in-chief for the spring 2009 semester was senior Max Landman, a news-editorial journalism major, who currently works as the design editor. He was selected from a pool of four candidates, all of whom are editors this semester.

"Ever since I arrived here at TCU, I've worked with the Skiff as a designer and a design editor, and now I'm just really happy to see it off the last semester I'm here," Landman said.

For years I have been saying how the professional football game is better than the college game.

The players in the NFL are bigger, stronger and faster than college players, making the games more exciting because fans are seeing the best of the best.

But this weekend changed my mind.

The NFL players are still bigger, stronger and faster than college players, but the way the college game is played is just so much better than the NFL.

First, the replay system. Isn't the job of the officials to get every call correct?

The psychology department and Neeley School of Business are teaming up for a new study abroad program this summer.

The new program, Enduring Lessons in Leadership, will be located in London and the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Natasha Chapman, associate director of the Leadership Center, said she thinks going to London and Scotland will give the students a "unique way to learn about leadership." In London, the students will learn about leaders important to the area like Winston Churchill, Ghandi and Queen Elizabeth, how they led and their impact, Chapman said.

The third candidate for the Schieffer School of Journalism's director position gave a different outlook on the future of journalism than his two predecessors.

Craig Flournoy, who serves as an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University, said Monday in the Moudy South Building that the turmoil currently affecting the industry benefits young people because it allows them to move up the ladder faster.

"The idea that you could get a meaningful assignment in the first year was impossible," Flournoy said. "That's not the way it is now."