I'm sure you have all been following the disaster news from New Orleans. I have watched and read everything I could and have come away in despair, confusion, comparing it to Sept. 9/11, sensing the differences and the similarities, struggling with the enormity of the losses, angry at times, and looking for signs of hope and recovery. Of course, my sociological brain also constantly processes the issues of race, class, politics and family dynamics. My husband Charles and I rolled up our sleeves on Saturday and went to work buying and hauling supplies to local shelters.

When it comes to football, senior wide receiver Ryan Pearson is all business.The same can be said of him off the field.

Pearson, in his fifth season on the Horned Frog football team, graduated with a degree in finance in May, and is now pursuing his MBA.

Pearson said he plays golf to relax in what little spare time he has, but his roommate and teammate, wide receiver Matt Grimmett, said Pearson finds it hard to take it easy.

Grimmett said Pearson approaches golf just like he approaches everything: with intensity.

TCU's track and field legacy could be in jeopardy because of an NCAA investigation and self-imposed sanctions now in place, said former TCU sprinter and alumnus David Spencer on Wednesday.Spencer was a member of the 2001 NCAA champion 4x100 meters relay team.

The TCU track team has been under investigation since September 2004 from the NCAA for alleged improprieties by former head coach Monte Stratton and his coaching staff.

TCU also has self-imposed sanctions, banning them from postseason competition.

Amidst the sounds of creaking pads, grunting men and the heavy thuds of bodies colliding, one noise at Tuesday's practice made Saturday's victory over Oklahoma seem relatively unimportant.The voice of a very unhappy coach.

Despite the Horned Frogs' upset over the No. 7-ranked Sooners, despite TCU's jump to No. 22 in the Associated Press Media rankings and despite the defense holding OU running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Adrian Peterson to 63 yards, players said head coach Gary Patterson made it clear that the past weekend is exactly that - the past.

After allowing the Cougars to score the first goal of the game, the Horned Frogs rallied to win 3-1 at Houston.Freshman defender K.D. Waters, junior midfielder Ginny Hubbard and sophomore midfielder Lauren Pope scored their first collegiate career goals.

Offensively, head coach Dan Abdalla said he was happy with the creativity the team displayed.

"I just wanted to see effort and see the team play with an attitude to win," Abdalla said.

Abdalla said that in light of recent injuries, the defense is still a work in progress.

We want to clarify our comments made about Hurricane Katrina in last week's Skiff View.We do not wish to take back our comments about the media using emotions to sell papers; rather, we'd like to explain what we meant.

We were not trying to downplay the effects of the hurricane when we said, "Katrina is a tragedy, but linking events to sell papers is an insult to the memory of those who died and an insult to all who read the news."

decorating an apartment or college dorm can be quite the task - both expensive and tiring - but it doesn't have to be overwhelming. A little creativity can go a long way.Freshman roommates Megan Harlow and Jessica Cox found creative ways to organize their Colby Hall dorm room.

"I have a lot of shoes, so I got this really cool shoe hanger from Bed Bath and Beyond," Harlow, an interior design major, said.

Cox, a radio-TV-film major, said a picture board above her desk was fun and easy to make.

Relief efforts: The Salvation Army Simon Center on South Cherry Lane in White Settlement (just north of I-30W and just past Ridgmar Mall) needs all the help it can get sorting items that have been delivered for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The center is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. North Texans have been very generous in donating items to the Salvation Army, but these items must be sorted into categories (clothing, water, food) in order for the Salvation Army to distribute them.

TCU students who studied abroad at the London Centre this summer experienced firsthand the confusion and fear of the July 7 terrorist attacks on the London transit system."There was always the thought in the back of your mind that it could happen again," said junior English and history major Tyler Brown.

Despite a "sense of paranoia," Brown said the bombings did not ruin his experience in the study abroad program.