DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Switzerland, land of yodelling. PICTURE: Dino Reichmuth/Unsplash
• Looking for a degree with a difference? A Swiss university is reportedly offering a three year bachelor’s degrees and a two year masters in yodelling. The courses at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, set to commence in the 2018-19 year, are the first of their kind and will be led by prize-winning yodeller Nadja Räss. Yodelling was traditionally used by Swiss herdsmen to communicate in the alps but has since been popularised thanks to its unique sound which involves rapidly and repeatedly changing pitches while singing (and such is the love Switzerland has for it that the government has posited getting a World Heritage listing for the singing style). The uni expects to take on three or four students in the first year.
• We’ve run stories before in StrangeSights on dogs who have stood – in some cases successfully – for political positons. Sadly, Angus, the three-year-old wire-haired Vizsla won’t be one of them. He was reportedly barred from standing for election as governor of the US state of Kansas after his best friend, Terran Woolley, filed the paperwork on his behalf. Woolley, who had believed Angus would run as a Republican, described the would-be candidate as “caring, nurturing individual who cares about the best for humanity and all creatures other than squirrels”. But officials have ruled Angus would be incapable of doing the job. Fair enough we suppose.
• A US professor who failed a student for saying that Australia was a country (excuse me!?) has been replaced. Ashley Arnold told BuzzFeed News that she was given a failing grade for an assignment with her teacher telling her Australia was a continent not a country (it’s actually both thanks very much). Southern New Hampshire University said in a tweet on Friday that the unnamed academic had been replaced and apologised to Ms Arnold. “To our friends in Australia, we know that you are a country & a continent, best of luck in the Olympic games!” the university added. Apology accepted.
