Proudly Crying At College

As finals were ramping up at the University of Utah at the end of April, one student’s class project went viral. Senior Nemo Miller created a stand-alone closet in the J. Willard Marriott Library where stressed-out students could go for a good cry. The Cry Closet (#cryclosetuofu) caught on quickly. There was a 10-minute limit on crying, but @Gemini tweeted, “I stayed 11 mins but feel so much better thank you to whoever built this. Can we add a box of tissues please?” Miller filled the closet with stuffed animals and soft materials. “I think everyone just needs a safe space sometimes,” she said, “even if it’s in a very public place.”

Family Jesus

The Rev. Alex Santora of Our Lady of Grace Church in Hoboken, N.J., called local police when a suspicious package was delivered to the house of worship. After officers from the Hoboken Police Department declared it to be safe, church staff found a surprising delivery inside: a baby Jesus statue that had been stolen from the church’s Nativity scene 90 years ago. An unsigned note inside the package explained: the statue was stolen when the note-writer’s mother was a young girl, and it became a sort of heirloom in her family. When she died, it was passed on to the note-writer, who thought it should be returned.

Sandusky Made World Dangerous

At Pennsylvania State University, the Outing Club, founded in 1920, provided students with outdoor recreation opportunities such as hiking and camping. But no more. Penn State has announced that after this semester, the university will no longer allow the club to organize student-led trips because it is too dangerous out in the wilderness, according to the offices of Student Affairs and Risk Management. Two other outdoorsy clubs, the Nittany Grotto Caving Club and the Nittany Divers Scuba Club, have also been restricted from club activities outdoors. Michael Lacey, president of the Caving Club, told the Centre Daily Times: “Penn State’s just been clamping down really hard on the nature of activities” since the Jerry Sandusky scandal. University spokesperson Lisa Powers said Penn State will offer school-sponsored outdoors trips, but students noted the cost will be much higher.

Dress To Undress

Letitia Chai, Cornell University class of 2018, arrived at her “Acting in Public: Performance in Everyday Life” class ready to present a trial run of her senior thesis wearing a button-down shirt and cutoff denim shorts. Professor Rebekah Maggor was displeased, however, and asked Chai, “Is that really what you would wear?” She referred specifically to Chai’s “too  short” shorts and told Chai that her clothing choices would distract “men’s attention” from the content of her presentation. Chai left the room, but soon returned wearing just her bra and panties and delivered the entirety of her presentation. On May 5, she returned to the classroom to officially present her thesis and stripped down again, with more than two dozen others in the room joining her in bras and panties or boxers. Chai posted on Facebook about the incidents, telling The Cornell Daily Sun she wanted to raise awareness about this “huge societal issue.”

Food Product Romance

@BurgerKing workers changed a Boston location’s sign to read: “@Wendys … Prom?” and posted a picture to Twitter. United Press International reported that it took less than an hour for the red-headed fast-food heartthrob, just a few doors down, to respond: “OK, but don’t get handsy and we have to be home by 10.” In a classic love triangle, @MoonPie expressed his disappointment: “I knew I should’ve asked sooner.”

When Parrots Start Barking

Police in Loerrach, Germany, responded to complaints about a domestic disturbance after a neighbor reported a loud confrontation that had been going on for some time. When they arrived, they found a 22-year-old man arguing with his girlfriend’s parrot, according to Metro News. The parrot had been barking like a dog, and the man became annoyed with it. No charges were filed.

Just Leave The Socks Be

In Hudson, Fla., Brandon Donald McCray, 47, came unglued on May 1 after discovering two of his socks missing. When suspicion fell on his roommate, Frank Smith, 53, McCray attacked him with a sword. The attack continued as McCray also struck and injured two women living at the home. Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies said Smith nearly lost several fingers trying to defend himself. Deputies arrested McCray at a neighbor’s house on charges of attempted homicide and battery.

U FIRED

The Washington State DOT had to issue a mea culpa on the afternoon of April 17 after an electronic highway sign displayed the message “U SUCK” above Interstate 5 near Jovita. WSDOT called the sign “an inappropriate message” that appeared to have been posted due to a training error, and was “clearly a mistake,” according to KCPQ TV.

Taking Hog Farming To A New Level

On Yaji Mountain in China, hog farmers are experimenting with high-rise hog breeding facilities that house 1,000 head of sows per floor. Xu Jiajing, manager of the Guangxi Yangxiang Co., told Reuters the “hog hotels” save “energy and resources. The land area is not that much, but you can raise a lot of pigs.” The buildings range from seven floors to 13, with elevators to move people and pigs, and air circulation and waste management systems designed to reduce the risk of spreading disease.

United Fails Yet Again

In the same week that a dog perished after a United Airlines flight attendant insisted it be stored in an overhead compartment on a flight from Houston to New York City, another family’s pet was lost by the beleaguered carrier. Irgo, a 10-year-old German shepherd belonging to the Swindle family, was mistakenly sent to Japan instead of Kansas City. When Kara Swindle and her children went to pick up their dog after flying from Oregon, they were given a Great Dane — whose destination was supposed to be Japan. The dogs got mixed up in Denver, where they both had connecting flights. Swindle was concerned that her dog wouldn’t survive the long flight back: “He is a 10-year-old dog, and he’s never been on a flight before.” United had Irgo checked out by a vet and loaded onto a private charter to Wichita, Kan., where he was reunited with his family.

Potentially Dangerous Wi-Fi Names

A Planet Fitness customer in Saginaw Township, Mich., was alarmed to come upon a Wi-Fi network named “remote detonator.” The gym manager evacuated the building and called police, who brought in a bomb-sniffing dog and declared the facility safe after a three-hour shutdown. Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald Pussehl told MLive.com that people often choose odd names for their Wi-Fi networks, adding that one on his own street is called “FBI surveillance van.”