At freshman orientation, students are encouraged to get involved and be part of something they love - sports teams, fraternities, sororities - the possibilities are endless.Students are told that every person can find a place to fit in. But when does the desire to find that place overlap a need for self-expression?

Erica Bensik, a senior English major, said in an effort to belong, some students are giving up the things that set them apart.

Bensik came to TCU with a picture of what college would be like. But after four years, she said TCU isn't what she expected.

Seven TCU students have received university funding to travel to Fort Benning, Ga. on Friday to protest a military training school that has been accused by its critics of providing unethical military training to Latin American military officers.Since 2001, different groups of TCU students have been going to Georgia every November to participate in the national protest of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, more commonly referred to by its former name, the School of the Americas.

Changes in residential halls in fall 2007 will make history, allowing women to live in Milton Daniel Hall for the first time, the director of residential services said.Milton Daniel, along with Wiggins, Foster, Waits and Jarvis halls may all have major changes for fall 2007, said Craig Allen, director of residential services.

"All of this is part of our broader initiative to really reshape TCU as a residential university," Allen said. "We're moving forward full steam on this and most of the changes should be permanent by the end of the semester."

What do you do when your tolerance of college food is on the verge of disappearing? Where do you go when even Pond St. Grill doesn't sound any better than The Main? Chili's? Panera? IHOP? All pretty good...

University officials, in the wake of sexual assault charges filed in October against three former TCU athletes, say they are exploring ways to more closely scrutinize applicants for possible criminal histories. And, a public records search by the Daily Skiff of 370 current male and female varsity athletes reveals that two football players have pleaded guilty to felony crimes and three other football players have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.One of the players who pleaded guilty to a felony charge did so in 2004, more than a year before his freshman year.

Though the four newly elected Student Government Association officers will represent the entire student body, a little more than a quarter of students participated in the vote that put them in office.Only 26 percent of 7,267 eligible students voted for president, while even fewer students voted for vice president, treasurer and vice president of Programming Council, according to the SGA election tabulations.

The Horned Frogs volleyball team is working on cohesiveness in preparation for its final regular season game against the Wyoming Cowgirls at 8 p.m. today in Laramie, Wyo., the head coach said.Head coach Prentice Lewis said the team is not working on individual things but is working on the team as a whole.

"You work on making sure the team is meshing the way you want them to mesh," Lewis said.

Anna Vaughn, a senior middle blocker, said the team is better at home and wants to get back its chemistry during away games.

Students have a right to know what illnesses are prevalent on campus. Until TCU statistics are released, students can't receive accurate facts.Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Don Mills recently sent about 3,200 students who make up a random sample an e-mail encouraging them to participate in the National College Health Assessment Web Survey. Mills said in the message that the survey will be used to assess health behaviors of students in order for the university to develop and improve health services and programs on campus.

The cost to attend TCU next fall is $1,840 more, and some students say they aren't happy about it.The board of trustees raised annual tuition 8 percent to pay for utilities, health-care benefits for faculty and staff, and lowering the student-to-faculty ratio to 13-to-1, said Chancellor Victor Boschini.

At a Nov. 2 Faculty Senate meeting, Provost Nowell Donovan said TCU will have to hire 59 new faculty to lower the ratio of 14.7-to-1 to 13-to-1. He also said over the past three years, 41 new faculty positions have been created.

In the first five minutes, "Stranger Than Fiction" appears to be just another one of Will Ferrell's outrageous comedies, but the film ultimately develops into a heartwarming tale about love and relationships of all kinds.The film centers around an Internal Revenue Service agent named Harold Crick, played by Ferrell, who discovers that he's a character in an upcoming book. When his narrator lets it slip that his "imminent death" is looming, Crick sets out to find out what his fate is and who is controlling it.