She wasn't the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, but millions of supporters noted her with keen interest on the first night in Denver. Michelle Obama delivered a remarkable speech that made the audience shed tears of joy, and gave a smile of hope with her firm support for her husband, Barack Obama. The leading lady of the first day of the convention, Obama tried to connect with the common American through her personal story. She shared her moments of pains and gains to let everyone know she was not different, but one of them.

When reading the news story "Plus/minus system not widespread on campus," I couldn't help but make some observations. The system, in essence, reverts to a standard grading system some colleges have implemented. Although there isn't a consensus regarding whether TCU should use the plus/minus system, I think it would be appropriate to render a final decision on whether the system will be used. Many people believe using a plus/minus system will strengthen the academic reputation, however, there are other factors that comprise academic reputation besides a plus/minus system.

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 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...