The Duke University lacrosse team rape scandal. The deaths of 30-year-old IndyCar driver Paul Dana and 28-year-old Army women's basketball coach Maggie Dixon. The Major League Baseball steroids probe. Sometimes, what you're seeing on SportsCenter gets just as serious as anything you see on CNN.

When you see the harder side of sports covered on ESPN, you expect the same seriousness and respect paid to these matters as you would from CNN. Most would also assume the same credibility and autonomy.

People In Planes' American debut, "As Far As the Eye Can See," proves that a knack for the experimental is all it takes to bring a decent pop record to the next level.Hailing from South Wales, PIP's sound leans heavily on the same formula that fellow Brits Radiohead did on its early albums, "Pablo Honey" (1993) and "The Bends" (1995). The album is full of haunting verses and epic choruses that would be just as at home in a huge arena or in a small, hole-in-the-wall club.

Willy Mason's debut record, "Where the Humans Eat," is a collection of thoughtful tunes from the 20-year-old songwriter that shows an artist speaking far beyond his college age.The record is a fabulous bunch of folk songs with a modern twist. Rather than talk about folk standby topics like tall tales and politics, Mason opts to use the folk form to verbalize the 20-something experience. If nothing else, Mason is undoubtably the first performer to use the name "Ritalin" in a folk song.

The men's golf team wrapped up its play at the U.S. Collegiate tournament in Georgia Tuesday with a seventh-place finish - and a ranking to be proud of."I think we're getting better," said head coach Bill Montigel. "I think we beat some good teams."

The Frogs, with an overall score of 890 (+26), finished ahead of schools like Texas, Tennessee and Florida State. Montigel said not only did the team play well, but the individual athletes did as well.

Some might associate Greek organizations around the country with crazy parties, drunken students or not attending class, but many TCU organizations did not get the memo.TCU Greek organizations have been shown to have just as much success in the classroom as non-Greek students.

Fourteen Greek organizations on campus have cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or higher, according to records posted on the TCU Greek Web site.

Alex Castriota, 18, has never been in love and would rather diepeacefully than in a random accident. According to his MySpaceprofile, the Berkeley Preparatory senior who lives in Tampa, Fla.,fears the...

TCU's Board of Trustees met for its spring meeting Friday and decided on a $293 million budget for the 2006-2007 academic year, said Brian Gutierrez, vice chancellor for finance and administration.This year's budget is an 8 percent increase from last year's budget, which was $271 million, Gutierrez said.

The $22 million increase can be attributed to a series of initiatives that will fund programs ranging from Academic Affairs to student life, he said. Rising utility costs were also factored into determining next year's budget, Gutierrez said.