Last Tuesday, a 69-year-old homeless man entered the lobby of Heafey Law Library with a roofing hatchet hidden in his coat, said Santa Clara police spokesman Lt. Mike Sellers.

It's an all too familiar occurrence in Santa Clara's residence halls: What starts off as a fun night becomes a potentially dangerous situation after a student has had too much to drink. As the situation worsens, the student's friends debate whether they should risk getting in trouble by making a call for help.

Every morning, your cell phone alarm beeps at you from where it is lovingly placed every night under your pillow. After a quick shower, you throw some clothes on and text your friend down the hall to tell her you're ready for breakfast. Between classes, you whip out your phone to give your significant other a quick call -- after all, you haven't talked to them all day. When classes start getting a little dull (or the person that's texting you has the latest gossip), you pull out your phone yet again, sending messages to your friends across campus. That night, while going out, you text your friend constantly -- who happens to be across the room from you.

I've been an American in Paris for seven weeks. Seven weeks as an international student subjecting myself to one-way suicidal streets, unavoidable cigarette pollution and that eternally pungent smell of urine in the Metro.

The men's crew team won the Head of the Port regatta last Saturday in Sacramento, finishing the 5K race in 17 minutes, 10 seconds.

After head EMT senior Dan Stepan reached for his two-way pager to respond to a call from Campus Safety, he and his partners hurried to the emergency site.

In one of their few home games this season, the men's water polo team defeated UC Santa Cruz 12-8 on Sunday.

Lacing up my shoes, clipping on my iPod and heading outside for a long run was a routine I enjoyed, even craved.

The university was ranked No. 44 out of 100 in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine's "Best Values in Private Colleges" of 2007.

When New Jersey's prodigal rock and roll son, Bruce Springsteen, stated in an interview that "the best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with," he must have had an album like his newly released work, "Magic," in mind.

There was standing room only by the second half of the Fall Dance Festival Saturday afternoon, as patrons crowded in to see the capstone projects of four seniors: Julia Canavese, Leah Laroche-Paperno, Amanda Lowrey and Marcella Reynolds.

Homesick, but not alone

A first- and second-place finish in two categories propelled Santa Clara up to ninth place in the 2007 Solar Decathlon by Wednesday afternoon, as the competition reaches its final stretch in Washington D.C.

It seems to me that in this day and age, appearances, or illusions, have become the basis on which our interpersonal relationships are formed.

One of the two student-directed productions premiering Saturday will make Santa Clara theater history as the first musical one act.

Last Wednesday, freshman Kai Serri was told she didn't get enough votes to secure a seat on the Associated Students senate.

Finally, it's Friday afternoon, and Santa Clarans are ready to start their weekend. But there is a strange window of time between the end of class and the time when students start their weekends. The campus seems to chill out from about 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the afternoon, but what are students doing during these awkward hours?

As Study Abroad Week approaches, students will be wading through a wealth of information in an attempt to find the international program that's right for them. With the choice of 167 locations in over 40 countries Santa Clara offers students, that might not be the easiest task.