US universities try going 'dry'
The University of Oklahoma became the latest US college to ban alcohol earlier this year, amid rising concern across America about binge-drinking students.
But the ban is having unintended consequences, driving drinking off campus and into the surrounding community.
It is also unclear whether it is really deterring students from drinking to excess.
In an Oklahoma bar, Jen has just turned 21, the state's legal drinking age, and is drinking shots of spirits to celebrate.
"I have to drink 21. It's kind of tradition" she says as she knocks back her fifth or sixth shot. She has already lost count.
But while drinking 21 shots remains a rite of passage, most students have started drinking long before.
Freshman Blake Hammontree was just 19 when he died of alcohol poisoning last September, at the University of Oklahoma.
His death sparked an all-out ban on drinking in residence halls, even for those over the legal age of 21.
It is not the first university campus to go dry, and some fraternities and sororities - once notorious for their alcohol-induced hazing - have already passed a drinking ban in their chapters across the country.
But the University of Oklahoma has gone one step further and started a "three strikes" policy for students who get into trouble with the police or are caught inebriated - even off campus.
The university's Dean of Students, Clarke Stroud, is in charge of implementing the new policy.
"It was designed on what we call the three e's - education, enforcement and environment," he explains.
All students are required to have alcohol education, and after three alcohol violations, they face suspension for at least a semester.
In Oklahoma, one of America's most conservative states, with a strong religious influence, banning alcohol was greeted as a positive step in the beginning.
But it is having some unintended consequences. The parties are moving off campus into residential areas.
Joyce Collard lives a few miles away from the campus in what was once a quiet neighbourhood.
She is outraged by the growing number of "nuisance houses" on her street, where students hold huge parties.
"We've had an influx of students into the neighbourhood because the university has been going dry and now it's completely dry," she said.
"It's been very detrimental - it's caused a lot of traffic jams and property damage."
As she laid out her grievances, a car sped round the corner.
"He's one of our major problems," she said.
Police overstretched
As we approach, Chip and his friends are draining the last few drops out of a bottle of vodka.
They have been drinking all day. Chip's not concerned that he's under-age and therefore running the risk of collecting a strike if he's caught.
"We like to have fun you know. Here's my beer collection," he says, gesturing towards a row of about 200 empty beer bottles.
"It's not like living on a dry campus is it?"
Pushing student parties off campus has also increased pressure on the already stretched police force, who have to deal with complaints from neighbours as well students driving home drunk.
Across America, up to 1,400 students die in alcohol related incidents - mainly because of drink driving.
Backlash against drinking
The Sigma Chi fraternity, where freshman student Blake Hammontree died last year, moved off campus the next day.
One of the members, Adam, says their parties are now a bit more restrained.
"We used to have 500, 600 people in a house at a time. It was just madness. You would have two, or four beers at the same time. Now it's a bit more chilled."
But Adam agrees that no level of prohibition can prevent students from binge drinking.
"Does it still happen? Probably yes," he says. "People are going to drink, no matter what. They'll find a way to drink."
The university realises the new policy is not perfect.
But the authorities felt something had to be done, both for the welfare of students and the university's image.
According to a Harvard University study, one in three American colleges has already banned alcohol on campus and many more are considering plans to restrict student access to booze.
It seems the backlash against student drunkenness is gathering pace across America.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4395857.stm)
'Wrong queue' for Star Wars fans
Star Wars fans have started queuing seven weeks early for the opening of the final movie - but appear to have camped outside the wrong cinema.
Dedicated fans are lining up outside the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood but have been told it will open on 19 May at a cinema a mile away.
Producers opted to open the film at the ArcLight cinema, making it unlikely other cinemas in the area will show it.
But the fans are refusing to move, believing the news to be false.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith will open at the ArcLight complex, which is adjacent to another Hollywood landmark, the Cinerama Dome.
"We've heard all this before," said Sarah Sprague, one of the small group already queuing.
She said similar stories were circulated ahead of Star Wars releases in 1999 and 2002 - but the films had eventually opened at Grauman's.
"This is still the epicentre for Star Wars fans," Ms Sprague added.
"For the big iconic pictures of the 1970s, people lining up were here. They weren't at the Cinerama Dome."
Revenge of the Sith will be the last of three prequels to the original 1977 science fiction classic.
Executives from 20th Century Fox and ArcLight told Variety magazine Revenge of the Sith would be showing at the Arclight although a deal had yet to be completed.
In 2002, two die-hard fans started camping outside their local Seattle cinema four months before the release of Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
Despite mixed reviews for the past two Star Wars releases, anticipation for the final instalment is expected to be high.
Director George Lucas has said Revenge of the Sith is darker and more emotional than previous Star Wars films.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...lm/4419365.stm)
US man sells middle name on eBay
I said it once, I will say it again... Only in the USA... :D
US software engineer Matthew Jean Rouse faces an uncertain future as he waits to discover what his new name will be.
After years of hating the middle name Jean, given to him in honour of a grandfather he did not like, the 31-year-old decided to take action.
He used the auction site eBay to sell his middle name, vowing to replace it with any name the highest bidder chose.
On Monday a company that hosts web sites placed a winning bid of $8,000 for the chance to rename Mr Rouse.
Brother's bid
But he will have to wait to find out what LucaHost.com want to call him.
"I'm guessing it will be LucaHost.com,'' Mr Rouse told the Associated Press news agency.
Also trying to win the auction had been Mr Rouse's brother Bill, who offered $1,500 to keep the name Jean in the family.
"Basically, he's trying to dump our grandfather's name, and I'm trying to buy it and make it stay as it is," his brother said.
The middle name was taken from his late grandfather, Jean Stelter.
Just short of 40 bids were made before the bidding was cut off by the web host company agreeing to pay the full "Buy it now" asking price.
"I guess I'm just surprised that this would generate that much interest,'' Mr Rouse told AP news agency.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4417391.stm)
Nosy leech wriggles into HK hiker
A Hong Kong woman who washed her face in a stream brought home an unwanted souvenir - a leech up her left nostril.
The woman only consulted a doctor a month later because her nose kept bleeding, the Hong Kong Medical Journal said in its April issue.
The patient was taken to hospital, where doctors identified the leech.
Removal was initially impossible because the 5cm long (2 inch) creature retracted into the nostril and disappeared, the journal said.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...3_leech203.jpg
The leech was anaesthetised with a nasal spray
Doctors used a nasal spray to anaesthetise the leech.
"After two minutes, the leech slowly moved out of the antrum [sinus] and was retrieved with forceps," the journal said.
The article said the leech could have suffocated the woman if it had moved into her larynx.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4423175.stm)
Cookie Monster curbs cookie habit
Cookie Monster, the biscuit-eating puppet on US children's show Sesame Street, will cut down on his favourite food as part of an anti-obesity drive.
The blue-furred muppet who used to sing "C is for Cookie" will now tell viewers that "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food".
Each episode of the show's new series will begin with a "health tip" about healthy foods and physical activity.
A Sesame Street representative said the popular character would be "broadening his eating habits" in future.
Talking vegetables
"We are not putting him on a diet, and we would never take the position of no sugar," said Dr Rosemarie T Truglio, the show's vice president of research and education. "We're teaching him moderation."
New characters such as talking aubergines and carrots will be introduced, while guests stars such as soul singer Alicia Keys will talk about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Almost one in three children in the US is now overweight, as opposed to one in 25 in the UK.
Sesame Street begins its 36th season on America's PBS network on Monday. It is broadcast in over 120 countries, with more than 20 local versions being made.
Last year Cookie Monster - originally played by Muppets regular Frank Oz, the voice of Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear - revealed that before eating his first cookie his name was Sid.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...io/4432415.stm)
'Holy Ghost' faces classroom ban
New guidelines for religious education in Norfolk suggest expressions such as the Holy Ghost be banned from lessons because they could confuse pupils.
The Norfolk Agreed Syllabus for religious education recommends that teachers use the term Holy Spirit, to avoid comparisons with ghost stories.
Marian Agombar, who compiled the list, said the document provided advice to teachers, but it was not statutory.
The draft rules will be considered by Norfolk County Council this week.
The guidelines also suggest teachers avoid terms such as the "body of Christ" and the "blood of Jesus" because Christians are not actually eating flesh and blood.
In addition, when lecturing on Judaism, teachers are advised not to refer to the first 39 books of the bible as the Old Testament because it suggests the books are out-of-date.
Ms Agombar, said: "We've heard stories of children taking these stories home and becoming confused, particularly the little ones."
The document was a very small part of a large document which provided advice to teachers in the classroom, she added.
'Demystify life?'
"It's basically a list of dos and don'ts for teachers which we have borrowed from someone else and which have already been used to train teachers."
Head of Notre Dame Roman Catholic School in Norfolk, John Pinnington, said: "Updating language generally is good and if it's done with caution and respect it could be a good thing.
"But I'm just concerned about its motives, and if they are to demystify life?
"Life has its mysteries and all religions are part of a mystery based on God. It would be ashame to demystify everything.
"But it all depends on the general context of the document."
'Over-the-top'
Norfolk secretary for the National Union of Teachers, Tony Mulgrew, said: "I'm sure there's a lot of good ideas in this document, but it does all sound a bit silly.
"I've heard that they plan to change the name of the Old Testament because it makes it sound old.
"Will they change the New Testament too, because that's not new is it?
"We probably need to look at the whole document, but it does sound over-the-top."
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4432007.stm)
Fidgeting children 'learn more'
Children who fidget with their hands in class learn more quickly than those who stay still, say researchers. Psychologists found that children who could move their hands around freely were better at learning than pupils who were not allowed to move.
They believe that hand movements and gestures can help children to think, speak and learn.
The research on primary school children was carried out by academics at the University of Hertfordshire.
The study examined the differences in learning when children were able to move around their hands and when they were forced to keep their hands still - by putting them into a pair of mittens attached to the table.
Hand to mouth
The psychologists found that when children were able to move their hands they were more likely to be able to find the correct answer - particularly when it was a case of trying to recall a word on "the tip of their tongue".
The children, aged six to eight, had been asked to name objects in pictures - and the researchers found that using their hands to gesture helped children to "find the right word".
"People often think we gesture to help others understand what we are saying. But in fact gestures help us find the right words," said researcher Karen Pine.
"We also know they can help children think and are important for problem solving and speaking.
"Therefore, far from restricting children from moving their hands, if teachers encouraged more fidgeting in class they might find children actually learn more," said Dr Pine.
"Children who fidget in class can be an annoyance for teachers. Many cope by telling children to sit on their hands or keep absolutely still in class, but our research has shown that they need their hands free so that they can gesture."
The research, by Dr Pine, Hannah Bird and Liz Kirk, was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4437171.stm)
