Watercooler Stories

CARRYING CIGARETTES MAY BE HAZING

Requiring pledging sorority sisters to carry cigarettes at all times just in case a sister might want one could be considered hazing.

About 200 sorority sisters at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, in Indiana, Pa., learned more about what is considered hazing -- cigarette carrying can be a form of servitude -- at a special workshop, the college's newspaper The Penn reports.

Delta Zeta's new member, Jenna Berggren, says she was unaware hazing encompasses regular sorority events, such as scavenger hunts.

Panhellenic adviser Laura Williams, a graduate student, explained how a former roommate had to chug 30 beers as part of a sorority initiation scavenger hunt.

UNUSED WINE RESOLD IN RESTAURANT

As part of testimony of a London employment tribunal deciding a case on wrongful dismissal, it was revealed a top hotel resold leftover wine.

A restaurant manager at the London Ritz admitted it was common practice for customers' leftover wine to be resold to other guests, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Matthew Rivett, assistant restaurant manager at the Ritz, wrote in a letter that opened bottles of wine were taken from the hotel's private dining room and later sold by the glass in the restaurant.

CONDOM FATIGUE MAY SPREAD HIV

The editor of a New York City-based magazine devoted to AIDS says condom fatigue is contributing to 45 percent of men not wearing condoms.

Walter Armstrong, editor-in-chief of POZa, knows a lot about catching and transmitting the HIV virus, and although not infected himself he admits he's had unprotected sex.

"I don't always use condoms," Armstrong tells the New York Post. "If I can't be safe all the time, who can?"

A recent study shows more than 100,000 New Yorkers are infected with HIV, and health officials worry that laziness, impatience and pleasure-seeking put many more at risk.

LESBIANS PLAN LESS FOR RETIREMENT

Women tend to put less effort into planning for retirement, compared to men, but lesbians plan even less.

In one of the first studies to look at the retirement plans of gay and lesbian couples, Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., finds a significant factor is the satisfaction of the relationship.

"Although the quality of a marriage tends to influence how much a couple plans for retirement, the link between relationship satisfaction and retirement planning is much stronger for same-sex couples," says study author Steven E. Mock, who will present the research at the policy forum in New York City.

"In other words, gay and lesbian adults who are happier with their relationships plan more for retirement."