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6 Speed Reads: Massive Sinkhole Opens Up at Football Stadium

In our midday reads: a sinkhole threatens a football stadium, Sandra Bullock surprises graduates and one girl makes U.S. Women’s Open history.
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1. Massive Sinkhole Opens at Football Stadium

File this under rare: a huge sinkhole opened up Monday on the football field at Austin Peay State University in Nashville. It measures nearly 40 feet across and upwards of 30 feet deep, and officials blame it on years of rain eating away at the limestone. The stadium was undergoing renovations prior to the sinkhole opening up. Fortunately, no one was hurt and crews are working to smooth everything out by the school’s September 13th home opener. We’re guessing the team’s going to have to find a new place to hold practice this summer.

2. Sandra Bullock Surprises High School Grads

Lots of graduation speakers have been the center of controversy this commencement season. But not at the Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans, where Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock made a surprise appearance and treated students to a moving speech. Some of Bullock’s tips: eat something green every day, do not pick your nose in public and avoid one-armed hugs.

3. Meet McDonald’s New Mascot

McDonald’s introduced a new mascot today. The character is a big-toothed Happy Meal box with a pair of golden arch eyebrows and cartoon arms and legs. Its name is Happy, and so far the social media reaction is far from positive, with many calling the character “creepy.” According to a McDonald’s release, Happy is meant to be a healthier spokesperson to encourage kids to make “improved nutrition choices.” In McDonald’s defense, what fast food mascot isn’t just a little bit terrifying?

4. Should College Classes Take a Cue From HBO?

“Trigger warnings” could arrive soon at a college campus near you. What are they? Think of the content warning that comes before your favorite HBO show; students would receive a detailed list of adult content they will encounter in books or movies used in class. Not all academics are for it, though. Some say students should trust professors to use common sense, and that these trigger warnings hamper an educator’s ability to choose provocative learning material. Right now, the student government at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has already asked for the warnings. There are similar requests at least five other colleges and universities.

5. 11-Year-Old Golfer Qualifies for U.S. Women’s Open

While most 11-year-old kids are busy with friends, iPads and school sports teams, Lucy Li is getting ready to tee up with the pros. She is officially the youngest player ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. The native Californian will now head to Pinehurst, where she’ll face the best women’s golfers in the world. But Li won’t be the youngest player to compete at the tournament. That honor still belongs to Beverly Klass, who competed in 1967 when she was just 10-years-old without having to qualify.

6. Friends Reunite to Save Dying Language

Most of us have fallen out of touch with at least one close friend over the years. But it’s doubtful you’ve ever had a falling out that threatened to make a centuries-old language extinct. That’s what happened when Manuel Segovia, 78, and Isidro Velazquez, 72, stopped talking decades ago. The two men, both residents of Tabasco, Mexico, are the last-known speakers of Ayapaneco, a pre-Columbian Mexican language that’s near extinction. But European cell phone operator Vodafone managed to get them talking again as a part of a marketing campaign called Vodafone Firsts. The company also flew in a linguistics professor, who is compiling an Ayapaneco dictionary. The lesson from this tale: you’re never too old to kiss and make up.