Around The Globe, Yale Index
Around The Globe
Pumping up the volume
A three-year-old London boy is having a bit of problem controlling the volume
of his voice--he cannot speak without yelling. The child, who does not have any
hearing problems, is driving his family members crazy (except for his hard of
hearing granny) by shouting whenever he talks. The boy shouts so loudly and so
often that he has developed nodules on his vocal cords--a symptom usually only
seen in opera singers, football managers, New York sports fans, and those in
other high-decibel occupations.
British doctors who have examined the boy are "stumped" by his condition. No
clinical explanation has been discovered for the the boy's disorder. Some
doctors have suggested that the problem might just be a psychological ploy for
attention that he will overcome when he learns how to get attention in other
ways. A certain proctologist in the United States had another opinion--he
suggested that "this child needs a good, swift kick in the ass."
Dictionary doldrums in Chile
The Pacific port city of Antofagasta is having a bit of a problem with its
name: top Spanish "language-maestros" have officially made the term Antofagasta
a derogatory one. The city name will forever appear in the new historical
dictionaries of the Madrid Spanish Language Academy with the unpleasant
definition of "a person whose presence in a salon gathering or cafe is
undesirable or irritating." The new definition will only appear in historical
dictionaries.
The citizens of Antofagasta are outraged and fear the whole world will
ridicule them (even more so than usual). They are fighting back by flying flags
in the city's streets to show just how outraged they are. The city council
(who, for the record, is in fact undesirable and irritating) has also
participated in a vehement protestation declaring the neologism "an insult and
an attack on the dignity of its citizens." They plan on sending a delegation to
Santiago to present their case to Spanish Embassy and the Chilean Language
Academy.
Until the definiton changes, avoid any Antofagastans at Xando.
--Compiled by Mike Buckstein from The Arab News
| YALE INDEX |
| 1. Number of students who were out on Cross Campus Lawn on any given afternoon this past weekend | 170 |
| 2. Number of students who were in Cross Campus Library on any given afternoon this past weekend | 270 |
| 3. Number of students out sunning on the lawn who should have stuck to the cozy confines of the library | 70 |
| 4. Number of students stuck in the cozy confines of the library who should have been outside getting a little sun | 270 |
| 5. Number of students who will next year have to cram into the cozy confines of what this year is a Davenport "double" due to the housing squeeze | 70 |
| 6. Number of D-porters who don't know what the third planet from the sun is | 270 |
| 7. Number of D-porters who didn't get that last joke | 170 |
| 8. Number of D-porters who just don't get it | 70 |
| 9. Number of incoming freshmen named "Claire Danes" who requested to be in Davenport | 0 |
| 10. Total number of incoming freshmen who requested to be in Davenport | 0 |
| 11. Number of Index writers who really, really, really wanted to be in Davenport real bad but didn't get in | 2 |
| 12. Number of D-porters who believed we wanted to be EP&E majors | 70 |
--Compiled by Kevin Irwin and Jeremy Rissi
Sources: 1-12) Daniel A. Wilderman, MC '00, president of emeritus and co-founder of the Great Neck, NY chapter of the Hanson Fan Club
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| LIZ OLINER/YH |
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WHITE OUT: The Student Coalition for Diversity, Student Labor Action Committee, and other groups painted their faces white to protest the backlash against affirmative action on Wed., Apr. 1.
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