Although the chairwoman of the Faculty Senate said earlier this week that she was ready to end discussions on the plus/minus grading system, it continued to be the topic of debate Thursday at the Faculty Senate meeting.The grading system, which was approved 46-8 on Sept. 28 at a faculty assembly meeting, is now in the hands of the provost to approve and send to the University Council for further debate, said Faculty Senate member Andy Fort.

College life means freedom. Freedom to wake up whenever you want, freedom to go to class if you want to or not and freedom to decorate your room however you want.Each of the 2,989 students who live in TCU's residence halls can be their own interior decorator - the challenge is doing that on a college budget.

Decorating your dorm room or apartment is part of the college experience, said Daundria Randolph, a sophomore social work major living in Sherley Hall. It involves making your own decisions.

Once again the Student Government Association's new task force is working to institute an honor code at TCU, this time a pilot program targeted for next semester.SGA President Trevor Heaney said the council has never given up on the idea of an honor code but has been re-evaluating past efforts.

Heaney said the task force was created to research individual TCU honor codes it could expand on to ensure that the honor code will be school-wide.

Disgust, outrage, betrayal: The scandal centered on former Florida Representative Mark Foley has left a sour taste in the mouths of American citizens.The scandal began when concerns were raised about inappropriate contact Foley had with teenage pages through electronic messages.

Just when it seemed Americans' faith in Congress could not slip any lower, it has. Since the unfolding of the scandal, Congress' approval rating has plummeted to a meager 27 percent, according a New York Times poll released earlier this week.

Three Ms. TCU candidates said they have been barred from today's ballot because of Facebook groups created on their behalf.Seniors Jill Rutherford, Liz Hamner and Katie Williams all said they received e-mails from Natalie Boone, an assistant director in the Student Center, informing them of their disqualifications because of a rule prohibiting solicitation.

Rutherford and Williams said they were contacted Monday, and Hamner said she was contacted Tuesday. Boone confirmed Wednesday morning that the disqualifications were because of Facebook groups.

Students who recently took the Medical College Admission Test are some of the last to view it in its pencil and paper format.Starting January 2007, the MCAT will only be offered in a computerized format, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Kristi Tebo, a junior neuroscience major, took the MCAT in August and is scheduled to receive the results of her test on Saturday.

"I am hoping I did as well as I did in the prep tests I took before," said Tebo, who took about nine prep tests with Kaplan.

The Horned Frogs' volleyball team looks to improve its record, and despite recent losses, is happy with its season thus far.The Frogs, who are 3-4 in the Mountain West Conference, host conference foe New Mexico Lobos on Friday night, and team members said they hope to bounce back after last weekend's two losses.

"We've had a really good start," junior right-side hitter Emily Allen said. "In preseason, we did well, and we've struggled a little in conference, but I think next time in conference, we're going to pull it together and do really, really well."

College students are only a few short years away from entering the job market.How competitive will that market be? How much money will we have to pay in taxes once we receive that first paycheck? And what type of job security will there be?

Students assume they have little influence on the answers to these questions. But in reality, they do. Decisions affecting those issues will be made by the men and women elected to office - from local government to Washington D.C.

There has been little interest in the Picnic-To-Go program since the program's launch Oct. 2, says the marketing manager for TCU Dining Services.As of now, no students have ordered or purchased the Picnic-To-Go packages, which, Dining Services marketing manager Legia Abato said, is mainly because there has not been great weather.

"This is something we have been working out for a while now, and there was too much going on at the beginning of the year for it to be launched," Abato said.

Wuz up u goin 2 the party 2nite?no. can't hav hmwrk.

ok. call l8r

will u b my friend? i plan 2 talk thru text only. sry. i dont hav nuff time to call. i tell jokes w/ j/k after them 2 show im kiddin. i say wuz up but wont talk if i pass u. sry. i dont hav nuff time.

I'll admit I'm guilty of text messaging often. I'll admit I have some friends I don't talk to outside of text messaging. I'll admit I'll say something sarcastically and send a smiley face afterward to make sure the recipient of my text message knows I'm just kidding.

The invitational cross country meets have come to a close and the women's team is preparing for the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet this Saturday in Terra Haute, Ind.After placing in the top three team spots in their prior meets at North Texas and the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla., the Frogs will enter their largest race this season with hopes of better placement than last year's 25th-place finish out of 34 teams.

The Pre-Nationals is used to set the team qualifiers for the NCAA Championship race that takes place November 20.