Watercooler Stories

Student graduates with quadruple major

DULUTH, Minn., May 14 (UPI) -- A student at the College of St. Scholastica in Minnesota has graduated with a quadruple major and a 4.0 grade point average in just four years.

Brock Erdahl, who graduated Sunday from the school in Duluth, said careful planning allowed him to finish bachelor's degrees in history, political science, global culture/language studies and Catholic studies with a French minor in only four years with perfect grades, the Duluth News Tribune reported Monday.

"I tried to carefully manage my time from the get-go," Erdahl said. "I plotted out what I wanted to accomplish, what courses I needed, and how they would lead to a certain degree, instead of taking classes willy nilly."

Erdahl said his original plan was to graduate in just two years with a double major in history and political science, but his experiences at the school convinced him to stay for the quadruple major.

"I enjoyed school so thoroughly, I didn't want to rush and leave prematurely," he said.

Randall Poole, an associate professor of history at St. Scholastica, said Erdahl was one of the college's most remarkable graduates.

"I've not had a better student in my career than Brock Erdahl," he said.

Obscene chocolates given to schoolkids

WOODBERRY, Australia, May 14 (UPI) -- The Australian school official who handed out chocolates shaped like breasts, penises, posteriors and copulating couples to children resigned Monday.

The parents of students at Woodberry Public School in Woodberry, north of Sydney, said they were shocked when they spotted the provocatively shaped candies at a Mother's Day event at the school Friday, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph reported.

"I had to do a double-take," said Cassandra Lacey, whose two sons attend the school. "Every single chocolate was to do with sex. This was in the school hall, on the school grounds and in school time."

A Department of Education and Communities spokesman said the chocolates were not provided by school officials.

"The school says that the gifts were prepared by parents, for parents, and the school had no knowledge of them until some of the mothers complained," he said.

School council President Jenny Gray said the official responsible for the chocolates has resigned and the Federation of P&C Associations has been called in.

Bloomers in auction alleged to be queen's

MIAMI, May 14 (UPI) -- A Miami eBay user is selling a pair of bloomer-style undergarments allegedly once belonging to Queen Elizabeth II.

The auction alleges the undergarments, which bear an embroidered crown and the letter "E," were left on an airplane when Elizabeth visited Chile in 1968 and ended up in the collection of Hungarian-born sculptor Baron Joseph "Sepy" de Bicske Dobronyi, who died in 2010, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

The description in the auction, which was purportedly posted by Dobronyi's estate, says Buckingham Palace and the manufacturer of the garment have refused to confirm or deny the authenticity of the item.

"In either case this is an excellent example of a vintage undergarment of that era and very collectible," the description says.

The auction, which ends May 22, had a high bid of $5,300 as of Monday afternoon.

$17,700 worth of 'sex toys' stolen

STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN, England, May 14 (UPI) -- British police said they were investigating the theft of $17,700 worth of "sex toys" that were stored by an online mail order company.

Police said four suitcases containing the items were stolen at an address in Stourport-on-Severn, England, late Wednesday or early Thursday, the Worcester News reported Monday.

The Sun reported police asked local adult shops to be on the lookout for people attempting to sell the pilfered the sex toys.

"It would be quite difficult for the thieves to sell ... these items in any great quantity and so we would ask people to be on the lookout for these suitcases should the thieves have dumped them," Constable Emma Gunnell said.