Cliche Come to Life; Not as Sturdy as They Used to Be

• For her Advanced Placement World History class at Magnolia (Texas) West High School in December, Reagan Hardin constructed an elaborate diorama of a Middle Ages farm -- which her dog ate on the night before it was due. Veterinarian Carl Southern performed the necessary scoping-out on Roscoe, extracting the plastic chicken head, horse body, sheep and pig, along with wire that held the display together. Warned Dr. Southern: "Don't put anything past your dog. We all say my dog would never eat that, and that's the main thing he'll eat." [KHOU-TV (Houston), 12-11-2014]

• Some students at Harvard, Columbia and Georgetown law schools demanded in December that professors postpone final exams because those lawyers-in-training were too traumatized by the grand jury decisions in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, which cost them sleep and made them despair of the legal system's lack of integrity. (Critics cited by Bloomberg Business Week suggested that lawyers who cannot function at a high level in the face of injustice might fare poorly in the profession.) [Bloomberg Business Week, 12-9-2014]

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