The volleyball team heads to Fairfax, Va., this weekend to play in its first tournament of the season, the Patriot Invitational, hosted by George Mason.As part of the weekend, TCU will face George Mason, Cal Poly, Seton Hall and Maryland-Baltimore.

"All the teams that we're playing are really competitive, really good teams, and we're really excited about that," head coach Prentice Lewis said.

The team is permitted to participate in four tournaments over the course of the preseason to help prepare for conference play.

Some students at TCU work, but fewer students actually have people working for them.Justin Avery Anderson and Adam Blake are two business students who already run their own businesses.

Anderson, a freshman entrepreneurial management major, is the CEO and founder of a granola company, Anderson Trail.

Blake, a junior entrepreneurial management and finance major, runs a real estate business, B & B Acquisitions.

Bob Akin, a marketing instructor for the business school, said running a business "enhances schoolwork because it becomes the lab."

The athletic trainers at TCU give up Thanksgiving Break, Christmas at home, road trips with friends and eight consecutive hours of sleep.In return, they get out-of-state vacations, a sideline view and 29 "brothers and sisters."

"I have an experience I'm not sure most other college students get," said Aron Low, a senior athletic training major.

Low is one of 30 student trainers who will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training.

"It's a very good feeling to know I'm part of something good," Low said.

The TCU soccer team is going on the road for the first time this season to play the SMU Mustangs."It's time to get on the road and see some different scenery," said head coach Dan Abdalla.

The Horned Frogs and the Mustangs tied 2-2 in the spring, soon after Abdalla began coaching at TCU. Abdalla said the tie helped the team gain the confidence it needed to realize it can compete on the Mustangs' level.

Karissa Hill, a junior midfielder , said she agrees that the tie in the spring boosted their confidence.

When there is thunder, lightning is soon to follow. The same can be said about senior tailback Lonta Hobbs and junior tailback Robert Merrill.

Hobbs described himself as a straightforward runner.

"I don't try to juke," Hobbs said.

Merrill considers Hobbs to be a power runner, but considers himself to be the exact opposite.

"Slasher," Merrill replied when asked about his running style. "But I am nothing without my offensive line," Merrill said with a smile, turning to starting center Stephen Culp.

I was not born in Caucasia. I'm not a Caucasian.I am a white American and that is all I am. Political correctness has run amuck.

Granted, to get rid of all PC terms would be absolutely disastrous; we still must get rid of words that are racially offensive and words that are used in a derogatory manner.

There are so many places I could start this, but I think I will start with the recent ordeal with Indian, oops, Native American, mascots in college athletics.

I wonder why it is that the Fighting Irish never cause any uproar but the Redskins do.It's acceptable to be a Viking or a Trojan, but when dealing with mascots that represent a minority, people take offense to it.

Again, I wonder why that is.

Mascots personify pride in a team, but I find something disturbing about one group using a stereotype of another group to represent themselves in a positive light.

Maybe that's why American Indians take offense to sports teams that use the Redskins as a mascot.