TCU's largest graduating class will end its undergraduate career May 12. Chancellor Victor Boschini said this spring will see the largest graduating class in the history of TCU. Because the graduating classes are progressively growing larger, there will be no speakers at the commencement ceremony, he said.

The ceremony will be held in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

To accommodate the large size of the graduating class, the ceremony will be divided into two sections, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Yendor Reese has come a long way from once being called "snot boy" as a child to becoming a rock star.Reese was known as the "nerdy, snotty boy" in elementary school because of his runny nose during "Field Day" events.

He is now seen as anything but.

Reese was named after his father, Rodney. Yendor is Rodney backward.

Reese, a senior communication studies major, is the lead singer for RedTape, a rock and R&B band with a gospel message he created two years ago with alumnus Mark Lettieri.

Students go to college for a variety of reasons. Many students attend universities to increase their earning potential. Others go to college for personal fulfillment. Some people simply go to college to have fun - or even earn their "Mrs. Degree." However, Ronald B. Standler, a Massachusetts attorney who specializes in higher education law, believes that the primary purpose of a university education should be to teach students how to think.Unfortunately, many students go to college and do not learn how to think; rather, they learn what to think.

The Barnett Shale formation has become a household name for drilling companies in North Texas looking to open a pocket of natural gas. TCU rests atop this subterranean jackpot, and a new energy institute is in the making for the geology, engineering and business schools.With more global emphases being placed on alternative energy research and the threat of global warming, an endeavor such as this for TCU is a huge step in the right direction for preparing students in facing these issues.

The Faculty Senate will try to deal with three vacant seats from one college at their meeting next week, the Senate chairwoman said.Elizabeth Gillaspy, Faculty Senate assistant secretary, said in an e-mail there are 18 new senators for the next term but three vacancies in the College of Science and Engineering.

Chairwoman Suzy Lockwood said the online elections were April 16 and 17.

Lockwood, an assistant nursing professor, said the new senators will be introduced at their May 3 meeting and proposals to fill the vacancies will be discussed.

It is easy and cheap to capitalize on America's obsession with celebrities, said two professors at the Searchlight Symposium Wednesday night.Richard Allen, radio-TV-film professor, and Adam Schiffer, political science assistant professor, shared their distinct views on celebrities in a media-crazed society and answered questions from several students among the nearly 50 in attendance.

Children scrambled all across campus to be rewarded with unsolved math and science problems Wednesday. Fourth- and fifth-graders from 20 schools in Fort Worth ISD applied their knowledge of science and math to the TCU campus, calculating angles, assessing the habitat of campus wildlife, converting measurements and many more activities as part of a program called the "Math and Science Trail".

New to TCU, the trail tested the students based on a curriculum similar to that of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills test, according to a press release.

As reigning conference champions, the men's tennis team will be in position to defend its crown this week out in the Rocky Mountains.The No. 68 Horned Frogs will begin match-play in the 2007 Mountain West Conference Championship this afternoon in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The team went 5-1 in conference play during the season, including a regular season finale sweep of the Air Force Falcons, University of Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels and the New Mexico Lobos.

When the AddRan department of humanities and social sciences began its search for a new dean last fall, the search committee wanted to find someone who would exemplify the TCU mission and its values, said the religion department chairman. The committee decided that person is Andrew Schoolmaster from Eastern Kentucky State University.

David Grant, chair of the religion department, said Schoolmaster received exceptional recommendations from everybody the committee talked to. He also said Schoolmaster was impressive as a leader and has a great sense of humor.

A friend of mine recently sent me the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episode dissecting the 1951 short film "Spring Fever" that evidently was meant to teach the world the importance of springs. The plot goes something like this: A man doing the manly chore of fixing a couch gets so fed up with the springs that he wishes he never had to see another spring again. Insert the creepy cartoon "Coily the spring sprite" who grants the man his wish and then spends the next three minutes popping up whenever something the man owns doesn't work because it has no springs.