Two hundred people in their best suits and dresses began to serve themselves at the buffet lines full of pasta, chicken and steak.It was a typical formal for Sigma Phi Epsilon.

As the formal continued, the fraternity president received word that someone was ill from drinking too much alcohol. In a matter of minutes, a cab was called, university officials were contacted, and the female student was safe and sound in her residence hall.

TCU's swimming and diving team will compete in its first big meet of the season, the Texas Invitational, Thursday through Saturday in Austin."This tournament really gives the kids a chance to swim in one of the fastest pools," said head coach Richard Sybesma. "We really use this tournament as a chance to compete against some to the best teams in the country."

Sybesma said about 30 teams will be at the invitational, including Southern California, which is one of the best.

TCU has $100,613 to buy a scientific instrument to allow genetic sequencing, officials said.LI-COR Biosciences, a company that manufactures scientific equipment, gave around $50,000 of the amount through an education matching fund program, said Phil Hartman, professor of biology.

The TCU biology department matched the LI-COR grant to reach the $100,613 needed to buy the genetic sequencing equipment, Hartman said.

Bloc Party: Silent Alarm"Silent Alarm" may be the most energetic debut since a little band called U2 put out an album called "Boy."

"Silent Alarm" plays to Bloc Party's technical talents. Razor-sharp guitar interplay and tight drumming dominate the mix, while lead singer Kele Okereke's soaring vocals take center stage. When Okereke delivers the line, "It's so cold in this house" in "Like Eating Glass," you can actually feel the temperature drop.

Which sounds better to you: Staying in your dorm room located on an empty campus, or staying in a motel room for the duration of Winter Break?Unless the motel in question happens to be in walking distance of the Las Vegas strip or some other interesting place, students would probably prefer to stay in their own room, even if it is a dorm.

But international students who can't make it home for break don't have that option. They have to seek refuge for the holidays with friends or at hotels.

The bass was throbbing and the alcohol was flowing.Every room in the house was dark and crowded; every flat surface taken with people talking, laughing and drinking. As she accepted the first of many red plastic cups and wandered through the party, she spotted him.

He watched her walk over and cracked some joke as she approached about the class they shared. Two hours, a few laughs and several drinks later, they disappeared into an upstairs bedroom.

The TCU Bookstore will undergo a makeover in February to accommodate student demand that has earned it a spot in the top-five college Barnes & Noble bookstores in the nation, said the bookstore's general manager.Barnes & Noble will add 8,000 retail square feet to the TCU bookstore toward the end of February, said Llisa Lewis, the general manager.

Stan Frank, the marketing director for Barnes & Noble, said the company tries to renovate college bookstores every three to five years but said that the more business a store does, the more attention the store gets.

Being president of the TCU Student Government Association is not necessarily a stepping stone into a political career, but it is a pathway to learn time-management, to sharpen people skills and to learn a great deal about yourself, say two former SGA presidents.Jay Zeidman, SGA president in 2004, said being president while juggling 15 hours of class taught him a lot about time-management, discipline and himself.

"You find out what you're strongest and weakest at," Zeidman said.

A decade worth of battles in regular and special session state legislative sessions have yet to yield a solution for financing our Texas public schools.But now, the environment has changed.The Texas Supreme...

As a basketball player, Sheryl Swoopes has won three gold medals, four WNBA titles and is the reigning WNBA MVP, but all that seems to matter now is that she is a lesbian.In a recent article in ESPN The...