At one point in my life — one dark, dark time in my life — I was a vegetarian. For over a year. I did it out of some unholy fusion of angst and love of animals. Sometimes, I was even one of those angry vegetarians that was kind of in-your-face about it. But then one day, something changed. I decided to 1) let myself feel happiness, and 2) grow up and be a militant atheist like every other white boy in the ninth grade.
They might be several years late to the game, but Chapel Hill and Durham just earned the prestige of beating out Boulder, Colo. for the "most vegetarian city" in the U.S. Six years ago, I would have been ecstatic. But today's me is not because, like, now I love myself.
— Danny
- In North Carolina, suicide rates among children have doubled in the past five years. A special task force is looking into it for the General Assembly.
- Aziz Sancar, the UNC professor who recently won a Nobel Prize, runs a housing space for Turkish scholars coming to America. He wants it to eventually be a Turkish sorority.
- Today marked the beginning of a challenge where UNC students do what they referred to as a "90-day meditation." Girl, that's a hibernation.
- Chapel Hill and Durham were just named No. 1 nationally in being vegetarian. No word on how Carrboro is taking it. :/
IN ANIMAL NEWS
Some lucky students got to meet a python named Julius Squeezer on Wednesday. As part of its annual "Creepy Creatures" event, the Campus Y brought her (Julius is not only a heat-sensing, 13-foot powerhouse of a reptile but also a staunch opponent of gendered names) and some of her closest friends. Others in attendance were animals whose names were not puns and subsequently do not matter enough to mention.
IN REAL-LIFE HANNAH MONTANAS
Junior Austin Rick toured as a country musician before starting at UNC. He also graduated with a 4.0 from the College of Southern Maryland and served in the military. Meanwhile, my notable accomplishments include eating half a bag of (stale) Flamin' Hot Cheetos that a random staffer left on my desk tonight.
IN CAMPUS NEWS
UNC officials are re-examining the evening lighting situation at UNC. The Nighttime Travel Working Group is planning to take a "lighting tour" across campus and into student-populated neighborhoods to gauge how safe and well-lit the area is. On a totally unrelated note, stay on the lookout for my upcoming quiz, "Which obscure UNC working group fits your personality?"
IN RESTLESS SPIRITS
We went out and asked a bunch of people whether they believe in ghosts, and the results were about what you'd expect. OK, so some of the answers we got from people are as noncommittal as my effort on this punchline — or to being a vegetarian. But I'd still recommend reading them. Because, you know. Halloween.
IN THE BLOGS
We found records of a reminder to email "Drake" during UNC's chancellor search and can only assume it was the rapper. Emailing Drake at the same time as now-Chancellor Carol Folt — when will the scandal stop? This blog has two of my favorite things: Making allusions to Drake's days as Jimmy from Degrassi and scanning very professional documents for things you can make fun of. Good job, Nick. A+.
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