A former Olympic athlete and TCU alumnus reflected on his experiences from growing up in south side Fort Worth to becoming a world-class runner at Tuesday's "MENtality Luncheon."

Khadevis Robinson spoke at the free Student Affairs luncheon for men about the importance of hard work and surrounding oneself with positive influences to achieve success. Robinson, a 1998 TCU graduate and track star, won the national championship in the 800 meters while at the university. In 2004, he made the U.S. Olympic team.

The first week of February offered a bonus break to students when the university was forced to close for four weekdays due to snow and ice.

Although students enjoyed the time off from class, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Don Mills said the storm created many difficulties for administration.

"We've been describing it as the perfect storm," Mills said. "If it could go wrong, it went wrong."

One issue that came up was the breaking of a pipe in the computer center on campus. University e-mail was shut down for a couple of days.

There is a lot of talk about TCU's sold-out game versus No. 7 BYU Saturday, but the Frogs have another game to focus on before their brawl with the Cougars. Coming off an eight-game losing streak, TCU...

Reading today's "Skiff View," I was a little surprised at the reasoning behind your dislike of Nerf guns. While I agree that children should not be allowed to bring Nerf guns to school, I also know that elementary school children don't live on campus, but at home, where their toys belong. It does not take a senior engineering student to recognize that a yellow pistol with a pullback plunger is not a lockdown threat. Someone who sees a Nerf fight between two students and mistakes it for a real threat needs to relax a little more because they are obviously very high-strung.

Local school districts are scrambling to catch up after the snowstorms that swept across most of the country the past two weeks caused numerous school cancellations.

TCU's campus closed for a total of five days. Public schools also were forced to shut down across North Texas, according to a Feb. 3 article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Although the yearly schedule already has two snow days built in, the weather required students to miss an additional three days, which has put many classes behind.

Let's face it: Giving blood isn't the most fun thing to do in the world. If people can avoid getting a needle stuck into a vein and removing that red liquid that helps keep a body functioning, they will generally do so.

But however unpleasant the experience may be, it can save lives. With the winter weather we recently endured, the blood shortage many hospitals and blood banks already face became even worse.

Carter BloodCare usually sees a decrease in donors around the holidays from December through February, but with the weather issues in previous weeks, the shortage has become more severe.

TCU students can help with the blood shortage by donating blood at the Carter Blood Drive at the Carter Technology Center between Carter and Samuelson halls from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, a Carter BloodCare official said.

The TCU Horned Frog marching band kicked off Super Bowl week with an appearance on ESPN'S Mike and Mike in the Morning radio show Jan. 31 at Sundance Square.

The band performed several pieces for the live broadcast, including the fight song and other football game day favorites. The Showgirls also performed routines during the songs.

Assistant director of bands Jeremy Strickland said the band had been in high demand leading up to the big game.

Head football coach Gary Patterson announced the signing of 24 new players for next season, bring in the 26th ranked class in the country by Rivals.com.

This is the highest in TCU's history. It also marks the third year the Horned Frogs have had the highest rated class in the Mountain West Conference.

"This is a great group of people," Patterson said. "Not only is it good athletes that we feel like met our needs, but it's a great group of people ... they all came with the emphasis of understanding that they want to win a championship."

TCU dropped its eighth-straight game to Wyoming Saturday, 77-67, at the Cowboys' Arena-Auditorium.

The loss dropped the Frogs to 10-16 overall this season and 1-10 in Mountain West Conference play. Wyoming improved to 9-16 overall and 2-9 in the MWC while ending an eight-game losing streak.

Junior forward J.R. Cadot led the Frogs with 16 points, his top scoring total in conference play this season. He went 6-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.