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March 29th, 2024

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Bright Ideas

News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd

By News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd

Published June 1, 2015

Bright Ideas

German high school student Simon Schrader, 17, preparing for the all-important "Abitur" advanced-level tests to identify top-performing students, filed a formal request in April, under North Rhine-Westphalia state's generous freedom of information law, for an advance copy of the test.

"I just wanted to see what they would say," he said. (He filed a little late, in that the state's deadline for responding came after most of the testing.) [The Guardian (London), 4-9-2015]

Raising Our Most Delicate Generation: In preparation for the National Union of Students Women's Conference in Solihull, England, in March some attendees requested that clapping for any of the speakers be discouraged, but that approval from the audience be expressed by "jazz hands" -- open hands, palm directed to the stage, and the fingers extended wildly.

Using "jazz hands" would show compassion for attendees who have anxiety and other disorders, and for speakers who might be distracted by the din of approval. [BBC News, 3-24-2015]

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