Watercooler Stories

Most Canadian students enjoy virtual sex

TORONTO, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A Valentine's Day poll's results indicate not many Canadian college and university students would be having sex if it weren't for their computers.

The dating site Campuskiss.com found 87 percent of 2,484 students polled at 150 colleges and universities say they've had virtual sex online, using instant messaging, Webcams and phone connections.

By gender, 51 percent of males said they had virtual romps, versus 49 percent of females.

When it comes to real sex and where it's taken place, 15.18 percent said in public washrooms, 4.24 percent said in classrooms, and 1.68 percent in a professor's office.

The survey said women seem more daring than men, as 50.3 percent versus 42 percent listed "other" locales for real sex, including a Goodwill dumpster and an airport runway.

University 'accepts' students by mistake

ATLANTA, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Bungling at the University of Georgia led to 112 high school students receiving letters that looked like acceptance -- but weren't.

UGA officials say the admissions office accidentally sent out the congratulatory letter to the high school students who were supposed to receive a notice thanking them for applying, not congratulating them on getting in.

"Basically, someone picked up the wrong file and sent the wrong letter," UGA spokesman Tom Jackson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It was a mistake, and we are very, very sorry."

The university has since sent out letters of explanation and apology.

Natalia Prada-Rey, 17, was one of those whose excitement was deflated.

"They handed me my future and then, it's gone," she told the newspaper.

Judge in arson trial gets fiery shower

OAKLAND, Mich., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A Michigan judge hearing a juvenile arson case was showered with sparks when his courtroom's wiring short circuited.

The Brandon Township fire chief was testifying when the problem occurred.

"It was pretty ironic," Jeff Franklin, the judge's clerk, told the Oakland Press. "We had to proceed with fewer lights."

Defense lawyer Larry Kaluzny gave a more vivid description of the Valentine's Day interruption.

"Sparks were falling all over the judge and the clerk," he said. "It was crazy."

Chicago cop finds $320,000 the feds lost

CHICAGO, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A Department of Aviation sergeant was hoping to learn Thursday why he found $320,000 in brand new $20 bills on a tarmac at Chicago's Midway Airport.

Sgt. Donald Wojtowicz said from afar, he thought the package he spotted Wednesday was a stranded piece of luggage, but up close he realized the maroon-colored, vacuum-sealed bundle was anything but a piece of Samsonite.

The letters BEP were printed on the outside, which he knew wasn't an airport designator, but rather stands for the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

"I wouldn't dare open it," said Wojtowicz. "The city pays me a pretty good salary."

Wendy Abrams, a Department of Aviation spokeswoman, said the money was part of a larger shipment of cash that arrived on a flight Wednesday morning bound for the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.

But late Wednesday, it remained a mystery how the bundle got to be there.

Airplane gains a passenger midair

YAKUTSK, Russia, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The crew of a Russian airplane had to act as midwives Thursday when a passenger suddenly went into labor, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Yakutia airlines jet was three hours into a flight from Moscow to the eastern Siberian city of Yakutsk when a 24-year-old woman complained of abdominal pains, an airline official said.

A physician among the passengers examined the woman and concluded that she was in premature labor. Following his advice, the pilot decided to land the plane at the nearest town, Mirny.

But the labor progressed quickly, and flight attendants were called to assist the woman. Thirty minutes before landing, a newborn girl passenger appeared on board the plane.