American Scene: College turns to dogs as exam stress-busters

ATLANTA — Emory University in Atlanta has become the latest college to bring dogs on campus during exams to help stressed-out students.

Schools are placing pups in counseling centers for students to visit regularly or allowing faculty and staff to bring their pets to campus to play with students.

Some colleges have created pet-friendly dorms where students can bring their dogs or cats from home.

Research shows that interaction with pets decreases the level of cortisol - or stress hormone - in people and increases endorphins, known as the happiness hormone. But there is scant research on how pet programs on college campuses help students cope with stress.

TENNESSEE

College sweethearts to marry 60 years later

DYERSBURG — Two residents of a Tennessee assisted living center were to marry on Sunday, more than 60 years after they first met.

The State Gazette reported that Peggy Schuster and the Rev. Henry Freund were college sweethearts in the early 1950s.

Mr. Freund said the couple often sat together in class at Rhodes College in Memphis (then Southwestern) and frequently dated. But they eventually went their separate ways and married other people.

While attending a church meeting in Memphis in 2001, Mr. Freund learned that Mrs. Schuster had been widowed.

Mr. Freund, who had lost his wife, wrote his college sweetheart to offer sympathy. A decade later, Mrs. Schuster gave Mr. Freund her email address and the couple, both in their 80s, began corresponding.

Mr. Freund said a spark that had survived for more than 60 years “burst into flames.”

CALIFORNIA

Historic battleship set to become museum

RICHMOND — The USS Iowa was last actively engaged in conflict in the late 1980s, helping escort reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war.

Story Continues →