One of three former student-athletes accused of sexually assaulting a student on TCU's campus hired an attorney Wednesday, according to court records.Gwinda L. Burns, of Fort Worth, was hired Wednesday to represent Virgil Allen Taylor, 19, against sexual assault charges filed Tuesday in Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2, according to court records.

Shannon Monroe Behling, 19, and Lorenzo Labell Jones, 20, are also charged in the case but had not hired attorneys as of Wednesday afternoon, according to court records.

It happens at the end of every semester: Students wait impatiently in front of a computer, constantly refreshing my.tcu.edu's academic home page to see if final grades have been posted. Inevitably, someone will be dissatisfied with his or her grade. Disgruntled students can present their cases to the Academic Appeals Committee about discrepancies concerning a specific grade. Currently, a student has until the drop date of the next semester to appeal a grade, but a proposed appeals process would limit the time frame to appeal a grade to 10 days.

One iPod speaker, one Vera Bradley handbag, two candles, one Juicy tube of Lancome lip gloss and one Ralph Lauren Polo shirt - a bill at a department store or boutique? Nope, the receipt at the TCU Bookstore.Let's be honest: We've all been guilty at some point during our time at TCU of charging items at the bookstore and sending the bill home to Mom and Dad.

But the bookstore is just so tempting that sometimes you go in there and don't even intend to spend any money at all.

The men's and women's tennis teams concluded their fall seasons Monday, but a women's doubles team will soon play in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.Senior Ana Cetnik and sophomore Anna Sydorska won the doubles championship in 2006 at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Association Southwest Regional Championships at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, where they had been seeded No. 2.

What is it with this eerie "Nightmare Before Christmas" mix of Halloween and Christmas? Halloween is just around the corner; we have one month until Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations have already taken over local superstores.

There is something gravely wrong about seasonal commercialism these days. To us, Halloween commonly means candy and costumes. Thanksgiving means eating, napping and spending time with family. Christmas means trees, caroling, opening presents and spending time with family.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go - and that's a problem.It is still October, and Halloween is right around the corner. But at almost every retail store you visit, there is nothing but Christmas promotions.

Call me Ebenezer Scrooge, but bah, humbug on early Christmas promotions.

When I pulled up to Garden Ridge this past weekend, propped up right in front of the entrance was a gargantuan snow globe with everybody's favorite fat man inside giving yuletide greetings.

The Student Government Association announced an upcoming forum with the provost to discuss the plus/minus grading system and passed a bill allowing the student body to change SGA's constitution at its meeting Tuesday evening.Nowell Donovan, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, will host an assembly to allow students to express their opinions on the proposed plus/minus grading system, said Justin Brown, SGA student relations chair.

I've had two different jobs since my sophomore year. More important, I realized having a job isn't social suicide, partly because I feel I have a balance of friends from work and friends from school.

My roommate is one of my best friends. I met her at my first job, and we now live together.

Finding a balance between work, school and time for the miscellaneous, be that socializing or studying, is crucial.

Shoes, purses and jewelry, oh my! Students of all ages are competing for an opportunity to showcase these items in a local boutique's window display competition, said the store's manager.Ruby, an accessory store in University Park Village, is offering Fort Worth-area students a chance fill four spots in a competition for $500 and an opportunity to work with the store's designer, Larry Leathers, said Jen Shults, manager at the University Park Village location.

The theme of the window is "Making an Entrance."

Nationally, about 20 percent to 25 percent of college women say they have been victims of attempted sexual assault, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.And that 25 percent isn't comprehensive. Only about 39 percent of all assaults are reported, the CDC estimates.

With this semester's investigations of reported on-campus and area sexual assaults, students should realize TCU is not immune to sexual violence. It can happen here, and there's a good chance it does.

When my special someone and I recently decided to take a break from our relationship, we said for the most part things wouldn't change. We would still talk to each other often and would still spend time with each other when we returned home during holidays. In fact, the only thing that would really change would be our official status - we would no longer consider each other "boyfriend" and "girlfriend." We would even change our relationship status on Facebook.