Colleges Adding Meow to Mix

Colleges around the country are warming up to furry friends, the Boston Globe reports. MIT is in the vanguard, offering as an example its 8-year-old program that allows student-vetted felines to live in certain dorms. "They can really lighten the mood,” one senior says, “especially when students have been working many, many hours on problem sets"—though not all administrators are on board.

“Sometimes the custodian will hear it crying or scratching to get someone's attention because they're hungry,” said an official of a school that provisionally allows pets, but not cats or dogs. “At that point, we vote it off because they are being abused.” But MIT students are happy with the arrangement. “It's just great to have somebody who's happy to see you,” one said. (More MIT stories.)