TCU is in the hole to the tune of $50 million - not the university, but the student body.Student loans went from helpful tools to necessity as tuition skyrocketed across the country.

It is dangerous to build up a great deal of debt in college, but what are students to do if that debt is the only way to get into college in the first place?

As nice as it would be to have someone step in and make this debt go away and ensure education for anyone who wants it, a government with a rising debt of its own would have a hard time finding the funds.

England's highest-ranking education official told a classroom of education majors Tuesday they need to have an enthusiasm for reading in order to imbed a love of literature in their students."Teachers must be interested in reading in order to pass that enthusiasm on," said David Bell, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England.

Bell is a friend of Samuel Deitz, the dean of the School of Education, and used it as an opportunity to come speak at TCU.

Bell spoke to a class of seven women who are all interested in how to teach reading to children.

No more tickets are available for Wednesday's on-campus appearance of actor Ben Stein, said event coordinators. The event, which is free, is open to the public with reservations, said Mark Murtagh, coordinator of the Fogelson Honors Forum. However, reservations are no longer being taken because the venue is full, said Murtagh, a senior political science major.

The eighth annual Fogelson Honors Forum is sponsored by the TCU Honors Program, Murtagh said. Each year, the Honors Program brings a speaker who represents modern American culture to campus, he said.

It was discouraging to read the Sept. 30 issue of the Skiff, which featured a lead article and editorial about "encouraging diversity" on the TCU campus, but contained no mention of Bruce Feiler's inspiring Gates of Chai lecture that had occurred the previous night at Ed Landreth Hall. This remarkable lecture series, now in its eighth year, is a joint undertaking of the Program in Jewish Studies at TCU and Brite Divinity School. The series has brought the likes of Elie Wiesel, Morris Dees and the late Chaim Potok to campus.

In the 2003-2004 academic year, nearly 8,000 loans-- - totaling more than $50 million- - were taken out by TCU students, according to a report from the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp., a nonprofit agency that coordinates transactions between schools and banks in Texas.The report states that the average loan each student takes out for the year was more than $11,000.

The number of students borrowing money to pay for school, and the amount they are borrowing, has more than doubled in the last 10 years, according to a new report from the American Council on Education.

Calling all creatures: TCU is holding its first Blessing of the Animals ceremony at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.Students, faculty, staff and the Fort Worth community are encouraged to bring their pets or pictures of their pets to be blessed individually, said Ann Smith, TCU Ministries Intern for Worship, Spiritual Life & Pastoral Care.

The Blessing of the Animals is in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century monk and patron saint of animals, and will be held outside of Robert Carr Chapel.

President Bush announced Monday his nomination of longtime campaign supporter and White House counsel Harriet Miers as a Supreme Court justice despite her having no judicial experience.Miers' nomination could go either way, said Joanne Connor Green, associate professor of political science.

A number of groups are already concerned about the fact that Miers has not served as a judge prior to the nomination, Green said.

"Members of Congress expressed how important it is for someone to have had trial experience," Green said.