The Student Government Association's House of Student Representatives passed four new bills in its meeting Tuesday night, all of them written by the Elections & Regulations Committee.

The first bill discussed was "A Bill to Modify Campaign Rules." The bill clarified the definition of "campaigning" within the Student Body Code, also giving the finite starting and ending dates of when a campaign can be run, as well as runoff procedure. The bill passed unanimously.

Christopher Watts had no plans to enter into the field of speech-language pathology before he went to school at the University of South Alabama. In fact, the main reason he took a course on the subject was because his girlfriend was also taking it.

"I just kind of fell into it," Watts said about the beginning of his interest in the field.

Now, he is the new chair of the Harris College of Nursing and Health Science's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (COSD). Watts also heads the Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic on campus.

The Scholarships and Financial Aid Committee is expecting a decrease in formal appeals for scholarship renewal this year because of its decision to change the requirement for renewal from completion of 27 hours per year to 24, a Financial Aid official said.

Michael Scott, director of scholarships and financial aid, said all TCU academic scholarships require a 3.0 GPA at the end of freshman year and a 3.25 GPA for each consecutive year, but what most students seemed to overlook was the 27-hour requirement of past years.

A new town home development close to campus will likely further the university's goal of becoming a "residential campus," a university official said.Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, said...

When the equestrian team's season begins Friday, there will be a tough task at hand - defending a national championship.

However, head coach Gary Reynolds likes his team's chances.

"We're very fortunate to have a strong team with depth this year," Reynolds said.

The team will travel to Lubbock for its first action of the season in a scrimmage with Texas Tech University and West Texas A&M University.

The first-year Connections program, which became mandatory this fall, is receiving mixed reviews from students.

Carrie Zimmerman, director of the First Year Experience, said the Connections class changes were put in place because shorter orientation sessions this summer made it difficult to get necessary information to students. When students are given information throughout the year it is more helpful and retained, she said.

"The information is important for all first-year students, not just the ones who think they need it," said Zimmerman.

Can we all just stop kidding ourselves? The student tailgate issue isn't about underage drinkers crashing the party, it's about the safety of the student body. As weird as it seems, allowing drinking on...

The campus' Christian sorority, He Is Sufficient, turned down an offer to have on-campus housing because of little demand from sorority members, the sorority's president said.

Jackie Quisenberry, president of HIS, said the sorority did not get a house because of a lack of commitment from active members.

"We couldn't get enough girls to commit to it for us to go forward with it," Quisenberry said. HIS was offered ten rooms to house 20 members at Wiggins Hall last semester in the section next to Gamma Phi Beta, a Panhellenic sorority.

A $50,000 scholarship award in the name of TCU alumna and author Sandra Brown will start taking applications this November, said the chair of the English department.

Dan Williams, English department chair, said the scholarship is intended to award one incoming junior each year by paying his or her full two-year tuition at TCU. English majors or minors interested in fiction writing and active in the English literary club at TCU will be eligible to apply for this award.

The university will include a debating chamber in the construction of Scharbauer Hall at the site of the former student center, a university official said.The chamber will allow faculty and students to...