The Center for International Studies has announced a new approach for evaluating merit-based scholarship applications for study abroad to be implemented next fall, a university official said.

Jane Kucko, director of the Center for International Studies, said the new application will include sections in which students explain how they plan to immerse themselves in the culture while abroad and how they plan to share their experience upon returning to campus.

"It is a more exciting way of internationalizing the campus," Kucko said.

Is former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich the next Nelson Mandela? He'd like you to think so.

Comparing himself not only to Mandela, but also Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, Blagojevich professed his innocence across the airwaves and at his impeachment trial last week to no avail.

The now former governor has consistently denied any wrongdoing since U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald filed corruption charges against him in December.

Numbers can only say so much about a person.

With an essay now required for study abroad applications, this new approach gives The Center for International Studies a better look at the level of interest from students rather than just their qualifications. In the past, the only requirement was a grade point average and while it gives some insight into how focused students are on their grades, it doesn't offer their personal perspective on the experiences that lie ahead.

Editor's note: This story was revised for accuracy at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday.

A new student organization that gives student musicians the opportunity to demonstrate their musical talent is testing the idea that nothing good ever happens after midnight.

Living Out a United Dream helps market students involved with different musical arts to the community, said LOUD creator Mike Vosters, a sophomore marketing major. The organization finds performance venues, promotes shows and searches for ways to gain more advertising, he said.

Snarky Puppy, the band with a sweet name and an even sweeter sound, was formed in Denton by several University of North Texas jazz studies program graduates in 2004. Since then, the instrumental jazz group has grown to encompass over a dozen members, release three albums and go on more than a few tours throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Michael League, the 24-year-old musician who conceptually leads the band but shies away from the title of frontman, affectionately refers to the collective membership as "the pups."

Michael Lauck's Jan. 30 column "Obama shouldn't shut out dissenters" is another example of the persecution complex that seems to drive modern American conservatism. The article characterized Obama's remark...

In the 30 years that Hillary Clinton has graced the political limelight, she has worked her way from the governor of Arkansas' wife to first lady of the United States and then to a New York senator before becoming the only female presidential candidate to ever really be taken seriously.

Now she has been appointed to one of the most prestigious positions in U.S. politics, and you can call her Madame Secretary.

Men's tennis beats South Florida, falls to Texas

The men's tennis team finished 1-1 this weekend in two matches at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin.

The team faced the University of South Florida on Saturday and came away with a 4-1 victory. South Florida was ranked 28th coming into the match.

Things went a little differently for the Horned Frogs on Sunday against the University of Texas Longhorns squad.

The No. 2 Longhorns defeated the Horned Frogs 4-1.

Over the past two weeks the debate raged on: Arizona Cardinals or Pittsburgh Steelers?

The Steelers won, who honestly were my pick to win it all in the preseason, thanks to some shady officiating.

Before the weeks of analysis, we watched the NFL playoffs and before that there was the annual debate about the BCS.

Before that, we had college football and preceding that every year is Major League Baseball.