Two and a half weeks ago, the Horned Frogs were riding high - leading the nation in consecutive wins and looking to dominate the competition by winning their second Mountain West Conference championship...

There is one thing I don't like about college other than the atrocious amount of parking tickets I get: The infuriating issues that I encounter in my classes. Some days I would rather stay in bed and pretend that while I slept, no one was being taken advantage of, no one was being forced from his or her home or injustice did not occur. But I go to class or I read the paper and my utopia becomes riddled with the bullets of reality.

The Frogs (5-6-2) enter the final third of their season with five conference matches left to play with their record hovering at the .500 mark.Mountain West Conference play began last week with a pair of matches against the BYU Cougars (10-2-1) and the New Mexico Lobos (6-4-3), both held at TCU.

TCU was held scoreless by No. 15 BYU in a 2-0 loss Thursday and the Horned Frogs fought to a 0-0 double-overtime draw against New Mexico, Sunday.

I am a huge sports fan, and I always try to keep a keen eye on the game. But at the last home football game against BYU, I wasn't able to cheer the Horned Frogs out of a deficit, because I couldn't take my eye off of what was going on next to me - people smoking.The smoking continued as I expected a security officer to come stop the man who - from what I could see - didn't even have to be in the disabled section where I was sitting. After no one approached, I went back to the gate and questioned the security officer.

Remember the good ol' days of scripted TV? You know, back when CBS had to shell out $1 million an episode for Ray Romano to give us a few chuckles. Back when anniversary dinners and little-league games were missed thanks to the latest episode of "Dallas." Back when television studios actually tried.Nowadays, television is saturated with a parasitic phenomenon that threatens to draw us away from the more important things in life and make our nation more stupid as a result.

Instead of sleeping late for one more day of Fall Break, five TCU journalism students spent Sunday morning at a simulated train wreck.Three students played the roles of victims and two students simulated reporters at the scene of the mock train collision, hosted by the Trinity Railway Express, said Amiso George, associate professor of journalism.

George said she thought a full dress rehearsal of a crisis situation would be relevant for students in her public relations principles and international and intercultural communication classes.

Even if cool Texas weather hasn't arrived yet, Fall Break has, and students are looking forward to two additional days of doing absolutely nothing. But before you turn on, tune in and drop out, consider taking 20 minutes to make a lovely libation just right for the 95-degree afternoons that summer hasn't quite given up on.Sangria, a mix of fruit, wine and an added kick of booze, is a painless cocktail for a lazy day.

After five years, alternative rock outfit Sparklehorse has released its latest album "Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain."With spaced-out vocals and a catchy pop style, Sparklehorse seamlessly blends all the elements of rock 'n' roll to craft its sound.

Singer/songwriter Mark Linkous has undergone many ups and downs during the band's 10-year career, and the band's latest album communicates his thoughts and emotions better than previous releases.

In reading the 2007 budget for the Student Government Association, one has to question why SGA and Programming Council are spending so much money on events. Especially ones in which the majority of students both on and off campus are wholly unaware.

NACA National? Frog of the Week? Movie Night Series?

These are just a few of the SGA-sponsored campus events, which just less than $8,000 is poured into this semester.

Another $600 is spent on SGA parties and $4,250 on an unknown event called "Lunch Bunch."

If college students and Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission investigators have a mutual disdain for each other, it's because they only meet when their two worlds collide, a TABC agent told faculty and students Tuesday.TABC Agent David Welsh said he had hoped to clear the rift between students and TABC at a campus crime prevention event in the Student Center sponsored by TCU Police. But there were only nine people at the gathering.

Even though HIV cases are increasing nationally, the university will not be following a new federal recommendation to routinely test people ages 13 to 64.The federal government now recommends routine HIV-testing for people ages 13 to 64 without requiring pretest counseling or signing a patient consent form, but TCU will continue to give HIV tests only upon request, said Marilyn Hallam, the assistant to the director of Health Services.