Watercooler Stories

Teacher staying in tree to teach students

ROCKFORD, Mich., May 13 (UPI) -- A science teacher at a middle school in Rockford, Mich., says he is spending 65 hours in a tree in part to make his students curious about learning.

Rockford Christian School teacher David Buth said his decision to spend three days and nights living in a couple of trees on school property is also a response to his students' successful attempt to earn $6,500 for a school trip to Wyoming, The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press said Tuesday.

"When I was in elementary or middle school, I would have been fascinated by this," Buth, 35, said. "I've piqued their curiosity, and that's neat to see."

Each hour the part-time teacher spends in the trees as part of his Operation Squirrel represents $100 of the money raised for a trip to Teton Science School in Jackson, Wyo.

Meanwhile, Buth's students commented on the unusual school project, which will conclude Thursday morning.

"He's going to teach us science from up in that tree," 13-year-old Audrey Mustert said of her teacher's unique teaching method.

"He said we might want to wear raincoats," Mustert's classmate Christie Chiles, 14, added about the possibility of rain during Buth's tree stay.

Leash law has some dog owners barking mad

BALTIMORE, May 13 (UPI) -- Some dog owners in Baltimore say the Maryland city's increased fines for a violation of a leash law are completely unfair.

Baltimore resident and dog owner Jackie McGee said during a recent City Hall meeting she considered moving out of Baltimore after learning the hard way the city increased the fine for dogs caught outside without a leash from $100 to $1,000, The Baltimore Sun said Wednesday.

"I really wanted to pack my bags and move," she said at a City Council hearing Tuesday. "One of the simple pleasures of city living is going to a common area and playing with my dogs."

Nearly 50 people attended the hearing, many of which came to complain about the increased fines.

"What you've done is said to the people, 'If you have a dog don't live in Baltimore,'" Baltimore resident Bill Roberts, who was one of those fine opponents, said.

The Sun said council members in response voted to create a staggered fine system for unleashed dogs as well as create certain hours that dog owners will be allowed to have their canines unleashed in certain parks.

Family story wins couple a Titanic wedding

MILWAUKEE, May 13 (UPI) -- The great-granddaughter of a young Armenian immigrant who survived the sinking of the Titanic is to be married in a Titanic exhibit in Milwaukee.

Melissa Vartanian won a contest by sending in David Vartanian's harrowing story, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The 22-year-old swam to a lifeboat and hung on to the side, resisting passengers who tried to shake him off, until he was rescued.

More than 1,500 people died when the White Star liner sank on April 15, 1912. In steerage, where David Vartanian was traveling, three out of four passengers died.

"It was a tragedy, an absolute tragedy that happened. The difference for my family is that it was ultimately about hope and freedom," Melissa said. "For my family, it brought life."

David Vartanian's young wife had remained in Turkey and finally joined him in the United States in 1923. Vartanian walked with a cane because of the damage his legs suffered the frigid North Atlantic water.

On Friday, Melissa Vartanian and Vache Mikaelian will be married in the "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit" at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Entering her family history in the contest sponsored by WTMJ-TV's "Morning Blend" show won Melissa Vartanian an all-expenses-paid ceremony and reception.

Artist charged for fake suicide attempt

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 13 (UPI) -- Swedish authorities said an art student has been charged with faking a suicide attempt as part of her final school project.

Prosecutors in Stockholm said Anna Odell, 35, was taken into custody by police Jan. 21 on the capital's Liljeholm bridge after officers determined that she appeared to be preparing to commit suicide, the Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra reported Wednesday.

Odell was taken to the St. Goran's Hospital psychiatric ward, where she revealed Jan. 22 that she had been faking mental illness and the suicide attempt was staged. The student said the incident was part of her final art project at University College of Arts, Crafts and Design.

Public prosecutor Stefan Lind said Odell was charged with violent resistance, dishonest conduct and raising a false alarm.

"Quite simply, I believe she's guilty of these crimes," Lind said.

Odell's project, titled "Unidentified woman 2009-349701," opened this week at the university.

"Closed psychiatric care is the most dictatorial part of society we have, through which a patient can have all their rights taken from them. (And) it certainly needs to be, as I have also been helped by it myself," Odell said. "But there also needs to be control; patients are sometimes not believed."