When he was eight-years-old, Dan Huber could easily respond when asked if he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. "A second cousin of mine was attacked by a shark off of the east coast of Florida," said Huber. "It absolutely intrigued me. Since I was eight years old, I've had a tremendous curiosity about sharks. This past summer, Huber flew to Australia to work with a Great White Shark specimen. Along with researches from two Australian universities, the University of New South Wales and the University of New Castle, Huber, an assistant professor of biology at UT, helped create a computer model of the shark's cranial structure.

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Quilt's first open mike night of the year featured both the debut of talented artists and the return of familiar faces last Friday night. A common thread that wove through the eclectic blend of poetry, prose and song was the use of disclaimers before nervous performances.

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For some UT alumni, keeping a strong connection to campus after graduation is important. Student email accounts are currently being terminated after a minimum of one year from graduating from UT. The previous termination date was after 90 days of graduation.

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Perhaps a case of the Riverside Munchies? -- At 10:35 a.m. on Sept. 17, UT Security responded to a complaint of missing items from the Riverside Center. Upon arrival, Security spoke to a staff member who noticed that someone had entered a room and removed items from a refrigerator over the weekend.

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This October, P.E.A.C.E. will offer UT students a chance to get wild somewhere besides Ybor with a trip to Tampa's Croc Encounters. The trip is a chance for students to earn volunteer hours in an exhilarating way. Open since 2006, Croc Encounters provides 22 acres of natural wetlands and a home to alligators, crocodiles, native birds, lizards, turtles, snakes and other critters.

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Delta Tau Delta will become the sixth fraternity to join the UT community in the upcoming weeks. With over 150,000 initiates and 1,700 alumni in the Tampa Bay area, the Delts will open their 116th chapter within the next two years. "Delta Tau Delta at Tampa is a great opportunity for men not attracted to the existing fraternities to help develop an organization around both the ideals of the Fraternity and their own," Director of Expansion Nick Goldsberry said.

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As the nation focused on what many have called the beginning of the twenty-first century's civil rights movement, dozens of UT students showed their support for the "Jena Six" last week by wearing black. Many of those sporting black clothing around campus last Thursday said they first learned about the "Jena Six" from popular internet social sites.

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While most police officers retire their badges along with their careers, Kevin Howell simple traded his in for a UT Security badge. To most, Howell would seem like just another security guard in the ranks. But the 15-year Tampa Police Department veteran has a unique story to tell.

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Last week I read with interest Alex Davis' recent column comparing the University of Tampa to a "fancy day care center." His assertion is based in large part on the required attendance policies of some courses. He extrapolates from this idea the conclusion that students at UT are here for the external certification that a college degree provides and not an education.

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Apart from over $400 billion, the Iraq War is costing Americans much more than the dollar amount would seem to suggest. According to a study conducted by researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, as of October 2006 an estimated 660,000 Iraqis have died due to the war, a number that has definitely increased in the last year.

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines "cowardice" as "the quality of a coward; cowardliness; want of courage to face danger; faint-heartedness, pusillanimity." It goes on to specify the meaning of moral cowardice as "ignoble fear of the disapprobation or hostile sentiments of others".

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I am from a place where they have recycling bins in public parks, but not trash cans. My home state charges a deposit on bottles and cans to ensure that people are held accountable for their waste. When I walk into a class room at Oregon State University, I see one small trash can, and two enormous recycling bins labeled paper and plastic.

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Anyone who has been following my column lo these many centuries at The Minaret knows that every year, I attempt a diet. I tried the Cinnamon Toast Crunch diet, but there were not enough dairy cows in the continental United States to make it worthwhile. I tried a diet consisting solely of foods available in Vaughn Center, but, mysteriously, this led to me steadily gaining weight.

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