TCU put an exclamation mark on its first Mountain West Conference season Saturday night, pounding the Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels 51-3 at Amon Carter Stadium.The win, TCU's tenth straight, capped a 9-0, championship run through conference for the 11-1, No. 18 Horned Frogs.

"I told them that we wanted to play this game like we were champions," head coach Gary Patterson said. "I think we did."

A stingy TCU defense held the last-place Rebels to six first downs, 25 rushing yards and 157 yards of total offense.

In efforts to create a more environmentally friendly campus, I voted for Wyatt Goolsby's resolution to reduce paper towel usage on campus. This simple, single-lined resolution seemed harmless and was written for a good cause. In efforts to "reduce, reuse and recycle," the resolution addresses the fact that many of us recycle and reuse, but we forget to reduce our use. Goolsby called for the support of the Student Government Association to hang friendly signs on paper towel dispensers to remind students to reduce usage of paper towels.

Former TCU running back and current San Diego Charger LaDainian Tomlinson will be honored at Saturday's football game by a university that has seen an increase in school awareness and student applications since he left for the NFL in 2001.Tomlinson will be on the TCU field for LT Day, which will include a halftime ceremony to honor his No. 5 jersey.

His jersey isn't being retired, but future TCU players will have to get permission from Tomlinson to wear his number, said Donna Biasatti, an athletics marketing administrative assistant.

The men's basketball team has received commitments from two Texas high-schoolers for the 2006-2007 academic year, head coach Neil Dougherty announced Thursday.Dougherty said the Frogs' two newest members are a product of scouting diligence.

"We've improved in recruiting over the past couple of years, and I think we did it again," Dougherty said. "Jason and Luke will be welcome additions to the Horned Frogs."

After she and her husband had commuted more than 160 miles a day - and spent more than $600 a month on gas - Paola Chernosky saw a need for change.The Fort Worth Transportation Authority provided an answer.

Chernosky, an administrative assistant in the office of admissions, lives 40 miles south of Fort Worth in Grandview. She used to spend 50 minutes commuting by car to campus; she now spends just over an hour but has cut her family's monthly gas usage in half.

The practice of affirmative action has been controversial at universities throughout the country, including TCU, where Ray Brown, dean of admissions, said taking race into consideration in admissions decisions is standard policy.Brown said since he arrived at TCU in 2000, the university has taken race and ethnicity into account in admissions, despite the Hopwood decision, a court case that essentially outlawed affirmative action in Texas universities.

"Does TCU practice affirmative action?" Brown said. "You bet we do."