The university is waiving the usual $40 early action application fee for students affected by Hurricane Ike, an admission official said.

Victoria Herrera, Houston regional director of admissions, said students whose lives have been disrupted by the hurricane can request to have the fee waived by filling out a form for students impacted by natural disasters found on the admissions Web site.

Brite Divinity School is searching for a new director in the Black Church Studies program to replace Stacey Floyd-Thomas, the program's founder and longtime director, who has accepted a position at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn.

Nancy Ramsay, dean of Brite, said she is chairing a three-person committee consisting of two professors and one student to search for a replacement.

The job description calls for an assistant professor with a Ph.D. or equivalent and states that commitment to teaching and scholarly research is expected.

It is not often you come across a press release from a reputable company or organization with the word "castrated" in the title. That is why People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals officially lost its place on my list of reputable organizations.

Last week, PETA sent a letter to Michael Iavarone and Richard J. Schiavo, owners of the 134th Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, requesting the thoroughbred be castrated in an effort to prevent future generations of race horses from suffering similar injuries.

With all the buzz swarming around the upcoming presidential election, voters everywhere are looking at all the aspects of the candidates. Everything from world views to the candidates' running mates and...

Lilly Frawley works at Market Square once a week, but she isn't an employee with Dining Services. She is a nutrition student in a class called Quantity Foods.

With the construction of Market Square, nutritional sciences students enrolled in the class have a brand new facility in which to learn the tricks of the trade.

"Our hope and our plan was to use Expeditions as part of the class," said Legia Abato, marketing manager of Dining Services said.

Despite the current economic situation, the university does not expect graduate enrollment to change drastically, a university official said.

Bonnie Melhart, associate provost for academic affairs, said the university still has students seeking a graduate degree because it's a credential that will help advance their careers.

"In an uncertain economic time, people don't know exactly what to invest in," Melhart said. "But we don't expect that we're going to see any difference here than we did before."

I discovered my favorite eye shadow last winter. It's black as night and appropriately named coal. One of my favorite movies is "Coal Miner's Daughter," in which the hard working, humble family of a coal miner romanticizes the dark sedimentary rock. Those are the only two things I like that have the word "coal."

By 2012, coal plants in the United States, China and India are expected to emit an extra 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide, according to a study cited in the textbook Contemporary Environmental Issues by TCU environmental sciences professor Michael Slattery.

Financial companies are shedding jobs across the nation, but the Neeley School of Business expects MBA applications to continue to increase, a Neeley official said.

Bill Cron, associate dean for graduate programs, said it's too early in the application cycle at the Neeley school to determine any increases, but he feels confident that applications will increase as they have in the past.

The university will be one of eight temporary early voting locations in Tarrant County starting next week, a TCU official said.

Early voting will be located near the 1873 Grill in the Brown-Lupton University Union starting Monday, said Cyndi Walsh, assistant dean of Student Development Services. Tarrant County election officials will be monitoring early voting on campus, Walsh said.

Students' uneaten food may soon find its way into pigs' bellies, thanks to efforts by Dining Services to reduce waste on campus.

Legia Abato, district marketing manager for Dining Services, said Dining Services is using a new machine called a pulper to help reduce the amount of waste. The pulper grinds and blends food scraps and other waste products and turns them into an organic compost material.

Dining Services is in the process of finding a pig farmer to take the material, which can be used as animal feed, Abato said.