There are certain topics many prefer not to talk about or to even think about. These topics might include racism, sexism or homosexuality.

But college is about stretching minds and challenging the status quo of the culture in which students were raised. It is about asking the difficult questions and having the courage to develop opinions through critical thinking.

This takes courage for sure, but it's necessary and enriching.

The study abroad experience is nothing new to TCU students. One area our university excels in is in providing ample opportunities for students, resulting in one in three TCU students making a trip abroad...

The opinion piece on the smoking ban is absurd. There is no good argument to allow smoking. Why else are so many cities and universities restricting smoking? To argue that smokers in America have the freedom and right to smoke is not good enough. No argument is. An individual's rights end when he or she begins to interfere with another individual's rights.

For example, a person's right not to breathe in secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes thousands of deaths from heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmokers every year.

South University Centre, new off-campus student apartments located south of Bluebonnet Circle, will restart construction within the next month after a prolonged break, a partner in the apartment's development firm said.

Mac Jones, a partner in Hammond Jones Real Estate Development, said the project was halted to expand existing water and sewer lines. The improvements were completed this summer, he said. The project's final completion date was pushed back and the site will open summer 2009, he said.

As the government officials meet to find a way for the $700 billion bailout of U.S. financial institutions to benefit taxpayers, many students may wonder where they stand when it comes to the financial system's crisis.

House and Senate negotiators from both parties said Thursday they had reached general agreement to move forward with the administration's proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial system, authorizing unprecedented government intervention to prevent what President Bush warned could be a widespread economic collapse, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The State Fair of Texas returns to Dallas blending traditional fair festivities with out-of-the-ordinary experiences that keep both Texans and out-of-state visitors coming back each year. Students and faculty can experience it at a $2 discount if they purchase tickets from the Information Desk in the Brown-Lupton University Union. The fair runs from Monday to Oct. 19. Times and dates are subject to change. Check the State Fair of Texas Web site for updates.

Listen to the Music

A student admitted Thursday to throwing away more than 1,300 copies of Tuesday's edition of the Daily Skiff.

Charles Beecherl, an entrepreneurial management major, said the Skiff went overboard in publishing the picture of a professor in a news story about a dispute between two professors. The student said he is an avid reader of the Skiff but did not like what the paper published, so he threw away the copies.