Saturday, September 6, 2008

Sleep tight

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Chinese university helps parents beat 'empty nest' syndrome: Let them sleep in the gym. University is supposed to be a time of growth and self-discovery, when you leave your parents for the first time to go out in the world.
But some parents - and children - find that a little more difficult than they'd bargained for.
The parents of freshmen students sleep on the floor of the gym at Central China Normal University
One university in China is helping them get through the transition - for the first night at least.
The Central China Normal University opened its gym overnight to allow 350 parents of freshmen students to sleep on mats laid out on the floor.
The parents were accompanying their children on their first day of school. It is not clear how thrilled the children were to hear the news.

In the News

Cops Kick in Door to Find Bird Squawking for Help
Cries for help inside a Trenton, N.J., home turned out to be for the birds. Neighbors called police Wednesday morning after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house. Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue.
But instead of a damsel in distress, officers found a caged cockatoo with a convincing call.
It wasn't the first time the 10-year-old bird named Luna said something that brought authorities to the home of owner Evelyn DeLeon.
About seven years ago, the bird cried like a baby for hours, leading to reports of a possible abandoned baby and a visit to the home by state child welfare workers. But it was only Luna practicing a newfound sound, DeLeon says.
DeLeon says her bird learns much of her ever-growing vocabulary from watching television, in both English and Spanish.
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Labrador had a full stomach
A dog had to have 13 golf balls removed from its stomach after eating them on walks around a golf course.
Owner Chris Morrison had been taking five-year-old black Labrador Oscar round the Pitreavie golf course in Dunfermline for several months.
He took Oscar to the vet after noticing a rattling sound coming from his pet's stomach.
They then discovered that 13 balls - each weighing 45 grams - were lodged in his stomach.
Mr Morrison, a planning administrator, said one of the balls had been in his stomach so long that it had turned black and was decomposing.
He said: "He finds golf balls like truffles. We're not sure how long exactly this happened over, but it must have been a fair period - several months at least.
"I felt his stomach and heard them rattling around.
"He normally brings a few home, but I had no idea he had eaten so many.
"The vet hadn't seen anything like it, it was bizarre.
"He is a black lab so he is a fair size, but to swallow 13 is quite amazing."
The balls were removed two weeks ago in a successful hour-long operation.
Oscar is now on the road to making a full recovery on a special post-operation diet of watered-down food.
He also has to wear a muzzle while out and about.
Mr Morrison added: "He does get a bit frustrated now and again."
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