Free: an idea that should help with the topping ceremony celebration for the new Brown-Lupton University Union.Chancellor Victor Boschini and Linbeck Construction project manager Tom Hale will gather with TCU students on the Milton Daniel lawn Monday to view the placing of the spire on top of the University Union clock tower and discuss the progress of the University Union.

The ceremony, which celebrates the topping of the tower, offers several free incentives for students.

It was standing room only at Smith Hall for the first guest speaker put on by the Institute of Asian Studies, who spoke about her life in Communist China.Qui Jin, an associate professor and director of Asian studies at Old Dominion University, spoke Thursday about her struggles to overcome the obstacles surrounding the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.

Qui said she came to the U.S. to study a part of Chinese history that was forbidden by the Chinese government.

Texas is currently failing in women's health, but getting involved in decision-making and education could raise the grade, a nursing professor said. Melissa Sherrod, assistant professor of nursing, said she has worked in health care for 30 years, specifically in women's health, and was not surprised by the low national and state grades.

The National Women's Law Center and Oregon Health and Science University graded the overall health of women in each state and the District of Columbia and stated there was not one place in the nation that had a satisfactory grade.

Burgers and hotdogs. Beer and soda. Purple and white.All the basic elements of a good tailgate.

But what's missing?

The students.

During the last several home games, the number of Greek students who attended the student tailgate was high, while the number of non-Greek students, who make up the other 60 percent of the student body at TCU, was surprisingly low.

Tailgating goes hand in hand with football season and is part of the college experience in general, so why aren't students actually going?

For years she stayed mostly out of the spotlight, standing in the background, strong and silent, always graceful and elegant, every hair in its proper place.First lady Laura Bush has established herself as a woman of good repute, and although her approval rating has remained consistently high, the public expects to see little of her and hear even less.

But with the days of her husband's presidency waning, as well as his approval ratings, Laura Bush has moved into the foreground, taking on issues more visibly than ever before.

Wednesday's article entitled, "Happiness, contentment both factors separating men, women" proved controversial with me, as well as the students in two of my classes.I felt Ms. Hutchinson's attribution...

Red carpets, spotlights, celebrities and cameras flashing.A scene straight from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood took place Tuesday outside the AMC Palace 9 theater in Fort Worth at the first Lone Star International Film Festival.

Celebrities such as Bill Paxton, Fred Durst, Martin Sheen, Jason Ritter and Steve-O will be walking the streets of Cowtown for more than 13 major independent films and nine international films that will be showing through Sunday.

Student government elections are just around the corner.Polls are open Tuesday until 5:30 p.m.

This year, candidates have made an exceptionally broad effort to reach out to students with their platforms.

Candidates have done more than the traditional signs along the walkways and letter-sized posters.

This year, SGA added candidate Web sites, which provide a forum for each candidate to outline their platform and address their plans at length.

Though the women's basketball team is coming off an exhibition rout, the head coach does not want the team to get too ahead of themselves, a senior guard said.With one victory under their belt, the Lady Frogs will face Radford University in round one of the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament on Friday.

Head coach Jeff Mittie said this will be the second time in his career at TCU to participate in the tournament. He led the Lady Frogs to round two of the tournament in his first year as head coach in 1999.