More often than not, when a conversation has run out of steam, you talk about the weather.These days though, the weather is pretty important.

With a possible record number of storms this season, it is important to keep in mind that, despite the high amount of media coverage that has sensationalized natural disasters, students are still responding to needs of those who have been affected.

With the early-decision admissions deadline approaching for prospective TCU students, admissions office staff members said they expect half of applications to arrive over the Internet.Over the past five years, Internet applications, at TCU and across the country, have grown in popularity, according to www.collegeboard.com.

The Web site also reports 98 percent of students applying to college this year have access to Internet applications.

Let's face it: A big law enforcement agency like the FBI, even with its substantial political clout, doesn't have the resources to keep the smaller cases from falling through the cracks.Crime victims deserve justice even if their attacker doesn't make the Most Wanted list.

In that spirit, Oprah Winfrey has brought the full force of her considerable fan base and bank account to bear on a particularly insidious breed of criminals: child predators.

International students from Guatemala are working to raise money for their flood-ravaged country to aid their neighbors back home in the wake of Hurricane Stan.These students say they are part of a greater community, one that holds onto its heritage and supports its communities back home.

A group of eight students from Guatemala have come together to form Guatemalan Hope, an organization that will raise funds to support relief efforts.

J.C. Williams, the assistant chief of the TCU Police Department, said TCU does not have a problem with fights at football games."TCU's events are so much larger than high school events," Williams said. "Our resources and police presence are so strong. A lot of your public schools can't really afford the resources necessary to cover parking lots, as well as inside and outside the stadiums, and control those areas the way we can."

Williams also said the inaccessibility of many of the parking lots at TCU keep fights and other criminal activity from occurring near the stadium.

This past Homecoming Programming Council sponsored a dorm room window-decorating contest to promote Horned Frog spirit.Windows were decorated during Homecoming week, and winners were announced Friday. There were two categories in the contest. One for the most creative window, and one for the window that showed the most TCU spirit. Students with the best decorating skills in these categories were awarded $100.

Bill Pelke became enraged when his grandmother was stabbed to death in her Indiana home in 1985 by four teenage girls, including a 16-year-old girl who became the youngest death row inmate in the country. Pelke, who was originally in favor of the death penalty, said he experienced resentment but eventually chose a path of forgiveness rather than revenge and worked to overturn the young girl's death sentence. She is now serving a 60-year prison sentence.