Watercooler Stories

Girls with low grades get heads shaved

LOME, Togo, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Schoolgirls in the African country of Togo who spend too much time playing with their hair will have to cut it off, school officials announced this week.

Madame Olympio, a teacher in Lome, Togo's capital, told the BBC girls are under-performing scholastically compared to boys, and the goal is to take away the distraction.

"They must know how to organize themselves and use their time in order to succeed in their studies instead of wasting their time -- three hours, sometimes days -- with their hair," Olympio said.

The move came two weeks after the education minister urged moderation in girls' dress and hairstyles in the classroom.

But Difernand Dossou, the president of the students' and parents association, said schools have misinterpreted the minister's words and that forcing girls to shave their heads is taking the matter too far. He said only state schools are affected and some parents said they will transfer their children to private schools.

70 percent of Brits take hotel shampoo

LONDON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Seventy percent of Britons take hotel shampoo home with them but only 19 percent feel guilty about taking toiletries, a Hotels.com survey concludes.

The survey of 500 people also found that 60 percent of respondents say they take hotel shower gel and 46 percent grab hair conditioner.

The survey by the arm of the Expedia travel service concludes that Britons have taken 430,000 gallons of hotel shampoo home, tiny bottle by tiny bottle.

"Our survey proves that Brits love a freebie, and the extras from our hotel rooms are no exception," a Hotels.com spokeswoman told The London Telegraph.

"Around 2 percent of people actually take the "Do not disturb" signs with them, because for some they are collectors' items -- which sounds a bit sad," the spokeswoman said.

Law firms lure clients, staff with food

NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Law firms across the United States find that upscale cafes and dining rooms on the premises are good for both staff and clients.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reports one of New Jersey's largest firms, Lowenstein Sandler, recently opened Cafe LS. The cafe offers granite tiles on the floor; armchairs; gold-chain curtains serving as room dividers, and a menu of items like smoked ham and Brie sandwiches, truffle brownies and cappuccino at subsidized prices.

Michael Rodburg, the managing partner, refused to say how much the firm spent on the cafe.

"I get sick thinking about it," he said.

But he said employees are more willing to put in long hours if they can get good food in a relaxing atmosphere.

Jody Stahancyk, a divorce lawyer in Portland, Ore., equipped her office with a dining room and kitchen to spare her clients the embarrassment of advertising their marital woes in a restaurant.

McCarter & English, another major New Jersey firm, has begun providing full dinners, including dessert, to lawyers and staff who work late.

Book claims to unmask 'real' Shakespeare

LONDON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A new book claims William Shakespeare's plays were written by Elizabethan diplomat Henry Neville.

"The Truth Will Out: Unmasking the Real Shakespeare" by Brenda James and William Rubinstein claims Neville -- whose nickname was Falstaff -- used Shakespeare as a "front man," the BBC reported Wednesday.

Mark Rylance, artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, wrote the forward and said the authors have "shaken" the image of the Bard in their "pioneering book."

Among their arguments supporting Neville as the author were inside details of King Edward III and John of Gaunt -- both relatives of Neville -- as well as Shakespeare's details of court life, Elizabethan politics, Italy and France, the BBC said.

Renaissance Literature Professor Jonathan Bate of the University of Warwick called the book's claim rubbish.

"These arguments always fall back on verbal parallels, which never stand up," he said.