The Mirror—September 5, 2016

NEWS BRIEFS

A student reflection of the UNC community

Above: Red-shirt sophomore Trae Riek earned 96 all-purpose yards in the first half, scoring one rushing touchdown. Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror. Below: The UNC Bears’ special teams pushed back Rocky Mountain’s unit and forced the Battlin’ Bears of Montana to play from their own zone several times. Photo by Oliver de la Cruz | The Mirror.

Battle of the Bears UNC took on the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears and earned huge success in their season opener, winning 56-27.

Starting strong, UNC jumped out to a 42-0 lead

Two biology professors at UNC have received a grant to study retention in undergraduate science education. The $225,000 National Science Foundation grant will fund a threeyear study into whether research-based classes boost retention in science classes.

Assistant professors Sue Ellen DeChenne-Peters and Ginger Fisher created a unique introductory biology course based on research, which has initially shown better retention rates than standard biology courses.

Their program will be offered at Wartburg College, the University of Texas at El Paso, and Mount Mary University.

UNC President Kay Norton will give her annual State of the University address on Wednesday. The address is intended to be an official update regarding the universities progress towards its goals. Lunch will be served to those who RSVP’d at 12 p.m. in the University Center Ballrooms, and the president will begin her address at 12:30 p.m. The groundbreaking of the Campus Commons project, scheduled for October, will likely feature heavily in her address.

UNC’s administrative offices will be closed for Labor Day on Sept. 5, and all classes will be cancelled.

The Mirror is looking for new reporters and photographers. An open house with pizza and refreshments will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept.

7 at 823 16th St. for those interested in learning more.

FB.com/UNCMirror

Story on page 6.

For the week of

9/5/2016

2 | September 5, 2016 | uncmirror.com

UNC faces tech curriculum crisis UNC News

Well-known for its teaching, nursing and performing and visual arts degrees, UNC lacks an engineering program that could compete with other schools.

By Will Costello

News Editor: Will Costello

THIS WEEK AT UNC TUESDAY 9/6

10-12 p.m.

Oral Comprehensive Examination, Laura Ridings, Special Education McKee Hall 44e

WEDNESDAY 9/7

2:30 p.m.

Office of Student Life: Milk and Cookies University Center - Office of Student Life, Second Floor 4-5 p.m.

Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance Candelaria East Lawn, weather permitting. If inclement weather, CAND 1375

THURSDAY 9/8

9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Annual Student Club Chartering Meeting University Center - Pikes Peak Ballroom

@UNCMIRROR FOLLOW FOR MORE UNC NEWS

news@uncmirror.com

Having been called, at various points in its history, the Colorado State Normal School, Colorado State Teachers’ College and Colorado State College of Education, the University of Northern Colorado has been in the business of teaching teachers for some time now.

UNC has continued to provide teacher education since its inception, all the while gaining a reputation for quality in its nursing, business and performing and visual arts programs. Through it all, a liberal arts education is always something that UNC has promised.

But with only a software engineering degree and a physics degree with an engineering emphasis to offer to students, UNC’s focus on growing industries in the technology sector is much less than its competitors' across the state.

According to payscale.com, nine of the 10 highest paying college majors are some variation of an engineering degree (actuarial mathematics, the only non-engineering degree, came in third).

It might seem lucrative for UNC to consider adding some of these highpaying majors, but implementing entire programs is a difficult prospect.

Colorado is already home to Colorado State University, University of Colorado and Colorado School of Mines, all of which already have wellestablished engineering programs that would be difficult to compete with.

To make matters worse, says UNC physics department chair Cynthia Galovich, the state must approve any new program additions, and might not want to add another engineering program to a state with so many existing choices.

Tobias Guzman, assistant vice president of enrollment management and student access, is concerned about the cost of implementing such a program, a sentiment echoed by Galovich. Introducing an entirely new program would require space to hold classes, professors to teach them and equipment to use.

However, Guzman says that UNC

limits itself if it chooses to remain satisfied with what is already accomplished. He proposes futurist thinking, and believes that UNC misses out on potential students if it isn’t looking forward.

“I don’t want people to think that engineering is the focus. We fall short in our thinking if we say that Mines has engineering, or CSU has engineering, so we don’t need it. How do we expand our thinking?”

According to Galovich, some of that futuristic thinking can be accomplished within her department, without establishing an entirely new program.

“I’d say yes we are,” Galovich responded when asked if the physics department was doing enough to prepare students for technology careers, citing past graduates ability to get jobs.

“Now, what could we do to do a better job of that?”

Graduates of the physics department go on to work at firms such as Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace, Galovich says. One even went on to co-found Sphero, the robotics creator whose design led to BB-8, the droid in the latest Star Wars film, "The Force Awakens."

As opposed to a place like Colorado School of Mines, which, as an engineering focused institution, has a broad selection of engineering degrees to choose from, UNC might be better off finding its own niche.

“If there were a particular area of engineering that UNC decided to specialize in, I think that would probably be more effective”, says Galovich. The possibility of an audio engineering certificate had been discussed, as a member of the physics faculty had experience in that field.

If the department could establish a niche specialization, the idea would be to make people think of UNC if they wanted to pursue that field of study.

Another way to better improve students' chances in the job market would be to get UNC’s physics-engineering degree accredited, which would go a long way towards making students more employable, so long as the university would offer courses that the accrediting body wants to see.

UNC has a series of “signature” programs that it is known for, but according to Guzman, these programs do not

Photo courtesy of www.acu.edu

make UNC what it is.

“Our identity is something much deeper, and much more embedded into our culture,” Guzman says. “What is at the nexus of our identity is how we teach students.”

Guzman went on to describe what is called the teacher-scholar model, which involves bringing together talented faculty who look not only to educate students on a personal level, but also to involve them in their work.

If any new programs, engineering or otherwise, could fit into that framework, then UNC’s core identity would remain intact, according to Guzman.

But if that nexus was lost, UNC’s identity would be as well.

While the more well established engineering programs across the state may enroll many of Colorado’s potential engineering students straight out of high school, Guzman has other target audiences in mind, namely the adult student market, returning veterans, the 640,000 people in Colorado who have started a degree but haven’t finished one, and working adults who need to adjust their career.

“That’s the audience that’s primary,” Guzman says. “We’re all competing for

the undergraduate market at a very fierce level. So the basic numbers don’t pan out if we continue to stay focused on the undergraduate market.”

In addition, the liberal arts education that UNC prides so much could potentially be lost if administrators focus too heavily on trying to achieve a career oriented agenda. Certain institutions still need to have a mission of a liberal arts education. Society needs more than technically trained graduates, and everyone from lawyers to doctors needs to receive an education, according to Guzman.

“An engineering or technology focused mindset is not for everybody.

There are individuals who are just not into that,” Guzman says.

But Guzman says that balance can be achieved between technology and liberal arts, and that it would be easier for a historically liberal arts university such as UNC to strike this balance than it would be for a large research institution. In the process, UNC might be able to adapt to a changing world without losing what gives it its tradition.

Story also featured in The Klaw Magazine.

uncmirror.com | September 5, 2016 | 3

Opinion: Chromebooks for the win

By Jason Keller

editor@uncmirror.com

If you have less than $200 to spend for a laptop to take to college, you’d probably find yourself in a bit of a pickle. It’s not like there’s many decently performing options at that price range among Windows machines. Macs are another beast altogether.

What’s an impoverished college student to do? I’m not sure how much a kidney goes for these days, but I can assure you it’s worth having one. Not having a laptop is a simply not an option.

Enter Google Chromebooks, a fleet of cheap laptops paired with Google’s versatile, cloud based operating system cleverly dubbed Chrome OS. I can already see the red-flags flapping in the breeze. “A $200 laptop for college? I’d rather sell my kidney than put myself through that!”

Rest assured, for $200, you’re getting a machine that can handle just about anything you need it to do. The only catch being you involve yourself in Google’s robust web-app ecosystem. This means Google Docs for papers, Google Slides for presentations, Google Sheets for spreadsheets, web-players for music and Google Photos for your pictures.

Google has come a long way in creating something that’s both easy to use and wickedly powerful. Docs has graduated from a quick notepad to a full fledged document editor. All documents get saved locally for offline access, and can be accessed from anywhere. The same goes

for Slides and Sheets. Google’s suite of productivity applications is all grown up and ready for college life.

I currently use a Chromebook to write

all of my papers, check email, surf the web, do research and much more. Ask yourself this seriously: “How much do I use outside of the browser on my computer?”

THE MIRROR STAFF 2015-16 Editor-in-Chief Mikhala Krochta editor@uncmirror.com Production Manager Karli Cumber adproduction@uncmirror.com

News Editor Will Costello news@uncmirror.com Arts & Culture Editor Jason Keller arts@uncmirror.com Sports Editor Dylan Sanchez sports@uncmirror.com

The Mirror is seeking Photographers, Ad Reps, and Reporters for paid positions.

Photo Editor Breelyn Bowe photo@uncmirror.com Copy Editor Lorelei Thorne Advertising Manager Naomi Butler ads@uncmirror.com General Manager Matt Lubich mlubich@uncmirror.com

Office Address: 823 16th St. Greeley, Colorado 80631 Phone Number: 970-392-9270

MISSION STATEMENT

The Mirror’s mission is to educate, inform and entertain the students, staff and faculty of the UNC community and to train the staff on the business of journalism in a college-newspaper environment.

ABOUT US

The Mirror produces a print newspaper every Monday during the academic year as well as maintains a current web page. The student-operated newspaper is advised by the non-profit Student Media Corporation and is printed by Signature Offset.

For more information, or to apply, send an email of interest to:

editor@uncmirror.com

4 | September 5, 2016 | uncmirror.com

Bear Fan Fest holds first tailgate UNC Arts Arts Editor: Jason Keller

Your daily dose

MONDAY 9/5

All day, through Sept. 23 Art/Photography Exhibit: Grassland Inspiration IV Mari Michener Gallery

TUESDAY 9/6 10:00 a.m.-4 p.m.

UNC Faculty Art Show Mari Michener Gallery

WEDNESDAY 9/7 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

First Wednesday Book Sale Michener Library

By Erika Siebring arts@uncmirror.com

All week, the UNC Athletics website had a countdown clock on it, all leading up Sunday’s game, the first of football season: UNC Bears versus Rocky Mountain College. Before any team took the field, UNC’s Alumni Association hosted the Bear Fan Fest Tailgate to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1996/1997 National Championship.

At 11 a.m., UNC Alumni Association kicked the party off in style, with the 94.3 radio station booth blasting music.

Sporting two “All Star Arena” bouncy castles, giant Jenga and a UNC beanbag toss across, the organization made sure it could compete with the restaurant booths set up just up the street. The UNC mascot Klawz wandered around close by, playing and taking pictures with kid and students alike.

At least half of Nottingham Field’s north side parking lot was reserved for over 20 tailgaters, each contributing to a masterpiece of product placement and advertising. Perpendicular to the UNC Alumni section stood another UNC tent, offering free “Bear Den” T-shirts and a drawing to win free books for a semester; other booths and stands in-

cluded jammin DJs, Young Life, VASA Fitness, UNC fraternity and sorority life, and Pepsi. At least six booths had their own logo’d version of the beanbag toss across game, and each family brought their own trailers, chairs and tents. Everyone, however, was trumped by two UNC fraternities.

Alpha Kappa Lambda proudly displayed their flag and played what appeared to be some sort of drinking game, but were completely upstaged by their neighboring frat.

Blasting their own music, Delta Tau Delta kept the energy of the entire tailgate going, playing a game involving tossing a hammer into the air, catching it and then hitting a short tree stump embedded with nails. Their show continued with a comedic rendition of the national anthem, followed by everyone in the group taking a drink.

For those who couldn’t get into these private tailgating parties, eight different restaurants set up shop adjacent to the UNC merchandise booth at Gate 8.

Chick Fil A, Red Robin, Wing Shack, Papa John’s, Rudy’s, Old Chicago, The Country’s Best Yogurt and Noodles and Company used the advertising cornucopia to their advantage. Behind the line of food stood a covered area with table tops, fenced off with a transparent UNC fence, designed for those drinking alcohol. Students and tailgaters

were bombarded with everything from Red Robin water bottles and bottles of seasoning, to TCBY’s mini foam footballs and samples of strawberry frozen yogurt.

UNC junior Felicia Sudmeier was one of these students, seeking refuge in a shady spot just west of the line of booths. The marketing major explained she was going to stay for the game after the tailgate.

“I’ve never gone to UNC students and families play games during the Bears Fan a tailgate before,” Sud- Fest Tailgate Saturday morning near Nottingham Field. Photo meier said.

by Oliver de la Cruz | The Mirror Before the game “I don’t like people watching me,” even started, though, the UNC marching band walked past a few overflowing Khler said.

Those who chose to participate were metal trash bins and around the parking lot, ending their trail on the south told to gather on the grass on the north end of Nottingham Field, making way side of the field at 1:30 p.m. What started off as a group of only 15 quickly for the premiere of a new tradition.

The tradition is the “Running of the gained more members as blue and gold Bears 2.0,” a key component of not only students recruited more participants. the football game, but also the entire With 12 minutes until kickoff, over 40 UNC students lined up and ran onto tailgate, designed for UNC freshman.

However, Mackenzie Khler, a pre- the field, weaving through the marchnursing major and UNC freshman, ing band and ending on the south side decided she would not be a part of the of the field. new tradition.

5-8 p.m.

Alana Street Bash Doubenmier Field

THURSDAY 9/8

10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Study Abroad & Cultural Fair University Center

@UNCMIRRORARTS

FOLLOW FOR MORE UNC ARTS

By Erika Siebring arts@uncmirror.com

As nervous feet tap the floor and hands slap loose denim, a voice arises, carrying the notes being read, held in sweaty hands.

Moving with the guidance of piano, the voice fades, sending in another to dare recreate it.

Step into the world of acapella, a cultural phenomenon that has taken permanent residence at UNC in the form of Vocal Iron, a group of individuals dedicated to practicing and performing this popular form of music.

Vocal Iron held auditions for new members

UNC students audition together during UNC’s Vocal Iron Acapella auditions on Thursday in Frasier Hall. Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror

at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday night in Frasier 204, providing everyone with a copy of the sheet music “Traces,” as well as an information sheet and recordings of the music for all voice types, courte-

sy of their Facebook page.

Katie Hughes, the Vocal Iron Music Director picked “Traces” because she thought it’d be a challenge for the contestants, and she wanted to push them a little further.

“I thought it was a good piece for seeing what people were capable of,” Hughes said.

“The harmonies were pretty close.”

For the audition, each participant sang their part of the song in a group of four to five people, each of a different voice type.

The individual portion called for the participants to sight read, or sing from an unfamiliar sheet of music simply by reading the intervals, as well as count rhythm. Students took different approaches to both; some sight read by saying “Do-Re-Mi” or a series of “La”s, while some counted rhythm by clapping or actually counting one, two, three, four.

However, the students that were put to the test weren’t all newbies.

According to Vocal Iron President Martha Eades, a junior vocal performance major, excluding Hughes and Eades, all previous members out of 18 had to audition again.

One of those who auditioned for the first time was sophomore Abbi Larson, a business management major who had never done acapella before.

“I did choir for one year and I did musical theater for three years,” Larson said. “This was the first group I came across and it sounded really fun.”

Larson explained in the past, she’s always had

the music to back her up.

“It was very nerveracking,” Larson said about the whole audition.

Larson also admittedly tagged her interest in a capella to “Pitch Perfect,” but unfortunately real acapella is very little like what’s portrayed in the films.

“That type of stuff takes everybody having perfect pitch,” Eades said, explaining that there aren’t any impromptu bursts into perfect harmony.

The final cuts were posted on Vocal Iron’s Facebook page shortly after the Thursday wrapped up. Fourteen people were accepted and sorted into categories of soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and vocal percussion.

uncmirror.com | September 5, 2016 | 5

6 | September 5, 2016 | uncmirror.com

Bears run over Rocky Mountain UNC Sports Sports Editor: Dylan Sanchez

HOME GAMES WEDNESDAY 9/7

7 p.m.

Volleyball vs. University of Denver Bank of Colorado Arena

AWAY GAMES TUESDAY 9/6

All Day Men’s Golf at Challenge Ballyneal Holyoke, Colorado

THURSDAY 9/8

7 p.m.

Women’s Soccer vs.

University of Denver Bank of Colorado Arena

Tight end Michael McCauley makes a grab for the ball in traffic for a gain of 33-yards. The Bears earned 185 yards in total throwing the ball, but also gained 272 yards on the ground, scoring six rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns during the game against the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears Saturday. Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror.

By Chris Bolin

sports@uncmirror.com

FRIDAY 9/9

11 a.m.

Women’s Volleyball vs.

South Dakota Stockton, California 7 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball vs.

Pacific Stockton, California

Saturday 9/10

2 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball vs.

Oregon State Stockton, California 5 p.m.

Football at Abilene Chrisitan University Abilene, Texas

The University of Northern Colorado football team scored early and often Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 56-27 victory over the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears.

“We came out and did what we were supposed to do in the first half,” said head coach Earnest Collins Jr., who is now 3-3 in home openers as head coach of the Bears.

Doing what the team was supposed to do got it out to a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and a 42-0 lead at the half.

In that first half, the Bears had 354 yards of total offense with six touchdowns, while holding Rocky Mountain to only 117 yards of total offense and no points.

Red-shirt sophomore Jacob Knipp led the way at quarterback for the first two quarters, going 11-16 for 185 yards and two touchdowns, a five-yard screen to red-shirt junior Ellis Onic II on the first drive and a 32-yard pass to senior Stephen Miller in the second quarter.

“We were able to get some plays that we wanted, we executed the way we wanted to and put points up on the scoreboard pretty quickly—and that was the goal,” said Knipp.

Senior running back Darius Graham also had a good day, scoring two firsthalf touchdowns on only seven carries, while sophomore running back Trae Riek had 55 rushing yards to go along with 41 yards receiving.

Riek didn’t make any appearances after the first half which allowed other tailbacks to get some reps.

It was red-shirt junior Brandon Cartagena and red-shirt sophomore Zachary Lindsay who had the most productive days on the ground for Northern Colorado. Cartagena had 87 yards on 10 carries while Lindsay had 88 yards on just two carries, nearly all of them coming on an 87-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

“It was a team effort from the running backs today, we were in it together and it didn’t matter who scored the touchdowns,” Graham said. “We trusted the guys up front and the running backs trusted them.”

In the second half, the Bears were

able to get some younger players some playing time and valuable experience.

In that second half, Rocky Mountain was able to score all of its points, including outscoring UNC 10-0 in the third quarter and 17-14 in the fourth.

“We can teach off the second half,” Collins said. “It was nothing more than undisciplined football, giving them 27 points off of simple mistakes that can be corrected.”

When it was all said and done, Northern Colorado had 457 yards of total offense with 272 yards on the ground and 185 through the air.

One unsung hero of the game was punter Keifer Glau who averaged 48.8 yards per kick. Glau forced Rocky Mountain to start inside their own 20 yard line three times on five kicks.

More than just a punter Glau also made appearances at the safety position on defense recording one tackle and one pass breakup.

Coach Collins praised his versatility and said he expects to use Glau not as a punter, but a safety that can kick the ball.

“Keifer isn’t afraid of anything,” Collins said. “I’m not going to say he’s quite

Dirk Johnson but he has that mentality.”

Johnson is a UNC alum who went on to have an 11 year career in the NFL playing for 10 different teams.

The 56 points that the Bears put up also tied their Division-I single game scoring record, tying the 56 points they put up against UC Davis last year.

UNC will travel to Abilene, Texas to take on the Abilene Christian Wildcats next Saturday before returning to Colorado to take on the CSU Rams in Fort Collins.

The Bears will return home to open Big Sky play the weekend of Oct. 1, as Northern Arizona University will be in town.

@UNCMIRRORSPORTS

FOLLOW FOR MORE UNC SPORTS

uncmirror.com | September 5, 2016 | 7

Bears Volleyball goes 2-1 in Texas

By Brittany Riley sports@uncmirror.com

The Barcelona Labor Day Classic in Houston, Texas over the weekend proved to be a good game for the Northern Colorado Bears, who improved their overall record to 3-3 after facing North Florida, Houston Baptist and Penn.

Friday afternoon, the Bears took on the North Florida Ospreys in a competitive four-set match.

The Bears went down two sets to none, but sophomore outside hitter Kortney Lockey led the team to a 25-20 win in the third set with two kills and four aces. Overall the Bears had a .199 attack percentage over the four sets compared to North Florida’s .291 and ultimately fell three sets to one to begin the weekend.

Saturday fared much better for the Bears, with a strong outing by their junior middles Natalya King and Alex Kloehn.

Northern Colorado began their day against the hosting Houston Baptist Huskies, who they took to four sets. The first set was a long one for both teams. Lockey started things off with a kill to put the Bears on top 1-0.

Scoring continued back and forth with the largest lead at any point in the game a mere five points. The last time a lead of more than one point occurred was following a kill by King who put the Bears on top 20-15.

The set went from a one-point lead to a tie and back until

the Huskies finally topped the Bears 45-43 in the longest set in Northern Colorado history.

The Huskies weren’t able to top the Bears again who won three straight sets. Northern Colorado had 67 kills over the four sets—with Houston Baptist not far behind with 64, but the Bears had 13 aces to the Huskies’ six, and 12 blocks to the Huskies’ three.

Aces and blocks propelled the Bears to their three straight sets to win the match three sets to one.

Following the Huskies, the Bears took on Penn, and were able to walk away with the match win after three strong sets for the first sweep of their season.

King and Kloehn had a strong hitting game against the Quakers, both recording 12 kills in the match. As a team, the Bears came away with a total 42 kills, eight aces and three blocks to top Penn 53 points to 34 over all three sets.

Although she rested her arm against Penn, Lockey came out of the weekend with 43 kills, 20 coming from the Houston Baptist match and 17 from North Florida.

She also recorded eight aces on the weekend with half of them coming from the North Florida match, a career high for her. She leads the team with 93 kills and 11 aces on the season after just six matches.

Lockey and the Bears return to Butler-Hancock to face the Denver Pioneers at 7 p.m. Sept. 7. with the hope of improving their 3-3 record before heading to California for the Pacific Community Classic on Sept. 9.

Women’s soccer shuts out Drexel Staff Report

sports@uncmirror.com

The University of Northern Colorado Bears soccer program was back in the friendly confines of Jackson Stadium tonight, facing the Drexel Dragons. The lone goal scored by senior Sydney Schroeder gave her team the victory and extended Norther Colorado’s record to 3-1-1 for the season.

Northern Colorado got off to a hot start, earning three shots, including a couple from Freshmen Thalia Kusulas.

However, the speedy play from Drexel’s Vanessa Kara and Madison Dunn turn the momentum in the Dragon’s favor.

“They’re a very dangerous team. Those two forwards gave us fits all night, but overall I though we matched them very

well. We had some opportunities and we were fortunate to get one in on a great individual effort from Sydney Schroeder,” said Head Coach Tim Barrera.

By the end of the first half, Drexel led in shots, shots on goal and corner kicks.

In the second frame, though, Barrera’s squad came out determined and focused.

Sydney Schroeder took control of a ball deep in the attacking third in the 59th minute.

Some shifty maneuvers later, she found herself in a one-onone opportunity with goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami.

Schroeder got the best of the matchup, slipping the ball past Ogunsami in the bottom right corner of the net.

From there, the game was a defense. Madeline Chase and her back line kept away a flurry of Dragon attacks. When Drexel did have a solid look

on goal, Madeline Burdick was there to make the save.

At night’s end Burdick finished with seven saves, a season high, her second shutout of the season and the Bears’ third victory.

After giving up four corner kicks in the first half, Northern Colorado only surrendered a single corner kick in the second half.

Madeline Burdick – Seven saves and her second shutout of the season.

“One of our team goals is seven shutouts this season. As a team, I think we did great defensively, starting with the forwards all the way back. It starts with the team. I try to prevent as many shots as a can, they make my job easy.”

The Bears return home on Sept. 13 to battle Wyoming at Jackson Field.

Sophomore outside hitter Kortney Lockey continues to dominate for the Bears’ volleyball team, earning 43 kills over three games. Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror.

8 | September 5, 2016 | uncmirror.com

“Back to school” by Ethan Funk-Breay

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

In the 1990s a man in Iran, while trying to capture a snake, placed the butt of his shotgun against its neck, and the snake wrapped the length of its body around the gun, pulling the trigger in the process and killing its would-be captor.

Thanks to extremely flexible jaws, the African egg-eating snake can swallow an egg that’s much larger than the diameter of its head. It also can tell with a flick of the tongue whether an egg is fresh or not.

92 percent of teens say that they use social media. However, according to a recent survey, 54 percent of teens feel their teen years would be happier if social media didn’t exist.

A Japanese company called B&H Lifes came out with a “wine” made for the feline palate: Nyan Nyan Nouveau. The wine doesn’t contain any alcohol, though; it’s a mixture of catnip and the juice of cabernet grapes.