In one month, Paxton Motheral will become the first student to receive a bachelor's degree from TCU's ranch management program.Motheral first enrolled at TCU as a finance major and planned to receive certification from the ranch management program because his family is involved in the ranching industry.

TCU began offering a degree in ranch management in 2004, but before applying for the degree, students must first complete TCU's university core curriculum requirements, said Kerry Cornelius, director of the ranch management program.

The Horned Frogs (17-12 overall, 5-9 conference) faced another 3 game loss against No. 18 BYU Cougars (20-4 overall, 10-3 conference) Saturday night.The Frogs fell short at the beginning of game one and started to climb back up with 12-17. Lauren Otto served three straight aces and there were several kills by Nirelle Hampton and Kourtney Edwards. The Cougars kept their lead however with several blocks with the final score of 30-22.

The H20 Frogs are using Saturday's meet against the BYU Cougars as a way to guage their performance going into the start of conference competitions, said head coach Richard Sybesma.Led by senior distance swimmer Alejandro Gomez and senior sprinter Erica Tate, the Frogs were able to muster 169.5 points against the Cougars aquatic powerhouse.

"They have an advantage getting to train at altitude," Gomez said, "but I felt good, and we had some good races."

Books and supplies: $810.Dining plan: $2,800.

Degree from TCU: $116,440.

Getting out of debt before retirement: priceless.

December is a month away and graduation for some seniors is in the not-so-distant future - followed closely by a bill for their education at TCU.

With the increasing cost of tuition, students are requesting more and more loans to help pay for their education, said Mike Scott, director of financial aid.

The provost set a goal to improve the student-faculty ratio from 14.7 to 1, to 13 to 1 at Thursday's Faculty Senate meeting.Provost Nowell Donovan said TCU must hire 59 new faculty to meet this goal.

In the past three years, 41 new faculty positions have been created, Donovan said.

Donovan emphasized to the group of about 40 faculty members the importance of forming one-on-one relationships with students and what it means to teach leadership.

Students were asked to badger, question, criticize or compliment the College Republicans and Young Democrats during yesterdays debate about the views of each party concerning high-priority issues for the upcoming gubernatorial elections, said the debate's moderator."We are here to talk about the things each party thinks is important for students to know before voting in the upcoming governor elections," said Amanda Edmiston, a sophomore political science and history major who was the moderator during the debate. "We want this debate to be led by the audience and their questions."

It is true. Believe the hype. "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," is hands-down the funniest movie you will see this year - possibly this decade.What can only be described as pure genius, "Borat" is a movie based on the sketch of the same name on HBO's "Da Ali G Show."

It follows the story of journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and "Da Ali G Show") who leaves his native land of Kazakhstan for America.

You've heard stories all about it. You're achy; you have a fever and chills. This means you might even have it. That's right; flu season is here.Lavonne Adams, a professor in the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and registered nurse, the best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated each year.

"Flu season usually begins in October and ends in February," Adams said. "Getting a vaccine is very helpful."

In case no one has heard, the Dixie Chicks are in the news again. They have a new documentary coming out soon titled "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing," which highlights the controversy that has followed...