Last Friday, the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges voted to change the system's open-door admission policy, which would allow 58 colleges to refuse to admit prospective students who may present a significant threat.

The vote came almost two weeks after Jared Loughner allegedly killed six people and wounded 13 others in Tucson, Ariz. Loughner himself was expelled from his community college after reportedly displaying erratic behavior in class and shooting a video of himself in which he called the campus "my genocide school."

Soldiers who are screened for mental health issues before they are deployed have a reduced risk for behavior and psychiatric issues, according to a new study by the American Psychiatric Association.

Major Christopher Warner and colleagues in the U.S. Army conducted the study that included over 20,000 soldiers deployed to Iraq during 2007 and 2008.

Texas Wesleyan University student Aaron Herrera, who is a member of TCU's Army ROTC program, said he felt the mental health screenings would be advantageous for soldiers preparing for deployment.

It is not a textbook and it does not use paper, yet students in various courses around campus are required to buy it for class.

At the university, the iClicker is used to test students' knowledge of subject matter as well as take attendance, Mark Dennis, assistant professor of religion, said.

Students register their devices online at the beginning of the semester, then use the five multiple choice buttons to respond to quiz questions, Dennis said. Professors then retrieve the information from a receiver, record the students' responses and then assign grades.

In Arlington, gun rights advocates sought to persuade the school board to give licensed teachers and administrators the ability to carry concealed firearms in school but to no avail. The reasons behind allowing this potential privilege are concerns over the safety of the students against potential threats and also to deter these types of threats from materializing.

The school board dismissed the issue, but there is still the matter of whether school districts are doing the right thing by not allowing teachers and staff to arm themselves against potential threats.

After the successes of the Texas Rangers, the failure of the Dallas Cowboys and the hot start and subsequent injuries of the Dallas Mavericks, it's easy to forget that the Dallas Stars are one of the...

The Cassata High School library will be converted to the Phil Record Media Resource Center this summer in memoriam of former TCU journalism professor Phil Record, Cassata administrators said.

Cassata principal Nancy Martin said Record was an active board member at the school for several years and had helped the school in many areas.

"Phil touched so many people," Martin said. "There is such an outpouring from his life of people wanting to do something to honor his memory."

It may seem counterproductive to ask college students to watch President Barack Obama's State of the Union address tonight considering the state of the job market.

But whether students are into politics or not, watching the address is one of the easiest ways to stay up to date with our most pressing issues.

In a representative democracy, our personal contribution is our vote. By taking the time to access information to which we have a right, we can better dictate where our vote would be best used.

A bill calling to approve revising the Constitution of the Student Body to remove Programming Council as the body responsible for student programming passed in the House of Student Representatives meeting Tuesday night. In last Tuesday's House meeting, a revision pertaining to this same issue did not pass.

The former revision involved including the organization theCrew as a part of the Constitution change. According to the Skiff, theCrew replaced Programming Council this fall as the primary event-planning group in on-campus events.

TCU athletics director Chris Del Conte isn't often at a loss for words. The second half of my Tuesday sit-down with Del Conte touched on TCU's move to the Big East, the Pittsburgh Steelers' scheduled practices on campus and even the athletic director's favorite childhood sports teams.

Here is part two of the Q&A:

Q: Where are you in terms of rescheduling a non-conference game after Texas Tech backed out?