Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe N.Y. woman arrested at children-only park NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A woman waiting for an arts festival to begin was arrested by police for violating a rule that bans adults without children at some New York playgrounds. Advertisement Sandra Catena, 47, did not notice a sign that says "Playground Rules Prohibit Adults Except in the Company of Children" when she entered Rivington Playground Saturday. Within minutes of sitting on a bench, the belly dancer said two police officers -- hands resting on their guns -- questioned her in the "scary" case. "They walked toward me and said, 'Excuse me, are you accompanied by a child?' I said, 'No.' They said, 'You're breaking the law,'" Catena told the New York Daily News. "Then he called backup. Do I look dangerous?" One officer told Catena the judge likely would dismiss the ticket that carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Advertisement Police and parks officials defended enforcement of the 1996 rule imposed to combat pedophiles. A parks source told the newspaper police should have used more discretion in Catena's case. Eavesdropping device turns out to be game PROVIDENCE, R.I., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A Providence, R.I., lieutenant who mistook an electronic game he found at police headquarters for an eavesdropping device has been demoted to patrol officer. Lt. John Kaya violated five regulations when he took the Blinky Blink to an outside agency rather than internal investigators, a disciplinary panel ruled. While the panel rejected a 60-day suspension, it approved demoting the 26-year police veteran two ranks to patrol officer, the Providence (R.I.) Journal reported. Kaya told the panel he feared top brass was eavesdropping on rank-and-file officers and cited two previous instances when bugs were found in a police computer and a clock. Kaya was faulted for taking the device he found in February to the police union, which brought it to an outside company that said it was an eavesdropping device. When Kaya turned the device over to Deputy Police Chief Paul Kennedy 4 1/2 days later, an investigation by state police and the FBI determined it was the Blinky Blink memory game made by Lincoln Beach Software of Ballwin, Mo. Advertisement Indian call center helped Texans flee Rita GANDHINAGAR, India, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Many of the Texans who telephoned a helpline about assistance and shelter during Hurricane Rita were actually speaking to a call center in western India. The BBC reported Monday that a team of 12 fielded over 300 emergency calls for 36 hours, a spokesman for the call center in India's Gujarat state said. The call center, run by Effective Teleservices in the city of Gandhinagar, used information about evacuation plans and local maps provided by authorities in the United States. The Indian branch took over the operations after the company's call centers in Texas closed down because of the hurricane threat. The director of the call center had lived in Texas and was familiar with the hurricane-affected areas. The Indian call center also handled about 5,000 routine business calls a day after the company's two Texas call centers shut. Nearly 350,000 people work in call centers across India supporting international industries, up from 42,000 four years ago. Nanjing U. pulls out of feng shui program NANJING, China, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Nanjing University withdrew its sponsorship of a feng shui program amid heated controversy over the ancient Chinese art outlawed since the 1960s. Advertisement The 3,000-year-old practice of harmonizing buildings with nature was outlawed by Chairman Mao Zedong, father of Communist China, for its propensity for fraud. Feng shui masters still cannot get business licenses or advertise in China for the illegal activity considered superstitious. When Nanjing University decided to start feng shui training with an arm of China's Ministry of Construction, academics pressured Beijing to halt the program. "It's a fake science," Qinghua University Professor Che Zhihua told the Los Angeles Times. "It only makes money for some swindlers." However, researcher Xu Shaoshan of the construction ministry's China Architectural Culture Center, said China should embrace the philosophy many practice in secret. "It's not superstition. It's applicable philosophy," Xu said. However, the university pulled its sponsorship of the $720, weeklong program that was to be held month.
