November is here; November means Christmas shopping.Christmas shopping means fighting traffic, crowds and credit cards.

Life is stressful but exciting during the holiday season, especially when we are juggling classes, jobs and exams along with the Christmas madness. Let us not make that an excuse to slack off on the gift-giving. Let us not forget the real significance of gifts.

It's true - gifts are difficult. What if he or she doesn't like it? What if he or she thinks this is weird? What if, what if?

Two women's tennis players made school history in their last match of the fall season by reaching the doubles finals of the 2006 ITA National Indoor Collegiate Championships at Ohio State on Saturday.Senior Ana Cetnik and sophomore Anna Sydorska became TCU's first female tennis players to reach the final match in a doubles national championship event when they defeated Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk of the Kentucky Wildcats in the semifinals of the tournament.

Panhellenic Council decided another sorority will be joining the Greek community next fall by a 9-to-1 closed vote at last night's meeting.Sixteen national chapters will be invited to TCU and those who express an interest in coming to campus will have to make a presentation to the Panhellenic Council about why they want to become part of Greek life at TCU, said Clare Edwards, Panhellenic Council president.

A recent national study found the number of American college students who participate in volunteer activities has increased nearly 20 percent since 2002 - exciting news for a community service coordinator."Student interest in volunteering here at TCU definitely seems higher," said Peter Thompson, program coordinator for Community Involvement and Service Learning. "Especially after last fall, when Hurricane Katrina put such a spotlight on volunteering - it was easier to see the need for it."

What is there to say about the latest animated movie to hit the silver screen? There are rats, jokes that are three years old and not a whole lot of laughs in between.Despite game efforts from A-listers Hugh Jackman ("The Prestige" and "X-Men") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children" and "Titanic"), the end result is the same as you would expect from less-talented actors.

Jackman voices Roddy, a coddled pet rat who finds himself flushed down the toilet of his plush bachelor pad by an obnoxious sewer rat named Sid (Shane Richie, "Shoreditch").

Student volunteering should be required. How many times this semester have you or one of your friends done something for either someone in the community or someone in need?

It's in TCU's mission statement: "To educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community." What better way to follow through with this campus mission than to implement a way students can help their community?

Born in 1986, the head baker for TCU Dining Services is the same age as many students attending TCU.Twenty-year-old Kelli Ginther has been in charge of baking for Dining Services since August - a role that, despite her young age, she is more than ready to fill, said Dining Services staff members.

"For me, this is a really exciting chance to prove that people our age can be capable of doing the work and gaining respect in the workforce," Ginther said.

Student Government Association passed three bills Tuesday evening, including one that promotes the sale of tax-free textbooks and could save Texas college students $40 million, said an SGA delegate Tuesday evening.The bill to support the sale of tax-free textbooks in Texas could help remove the 8.25 percent sales tax charged on college textbooks, said Mickey Ley, delegate from the AddRan College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Ley also said the cost of college textbooks has increased by 62 percent since 1994.

"American Idol" has done it again. Kellie Pickler's debut album, "Small Town Girl," released on Oct. 31, is sure to be a hit with "Idol" fans.While Pickler was voted off the fifth season of the top-rated...

Today, 75 students from Tarrant County school districts will get a firsthand look at college life as part of the College Student for a Day program.The goal of the program is to show middle school and high school students that college is an option, said Molly Baldwin, a representative for Americorps VISTA Center for Community Involvement and Service Learning.

Students follow TCU student-volunteers to class and through their daily lives at college, Baldwin said.

It's exactly what you would expect it to be - Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose" is bombastic, over-the-top melodrama and simply one of the best albums to come out this year.In what marks Loaf's ninth studio album, and supposedly the last in the "Bat" series, this disc delivers the goods. Opening track "The Monster is Loose," which is about war and famine, is more than seven minutes in length and sounds like something off a Styx record from the 1980s; it is clear that Loaf has been brushing up on his vocal abilities.