When senior Calum Best returned to Liberty University’s campus from spring break on March 20, it looked more like a ghost town than the busy epicenter of Christian higher education. When he left, about 8,000 students lived in Liberty’s dorms. By the time classes resumed on March 23, only about 1,900 were on the Lynchburg, Va., campus.

Last week, with students scattered throughout Europe during spring break, administrators of Lithuania-based LCC International University scrambled. The week began with leaders hoping the 600 or so students on campus—72 percent of whom are from outside Lithuania—would stay out of Italy, a coronavirus hot zone. By week’s end, with coronavirus spreading and much of Europe locking down, they feared what would happen when students returned from places like Germany, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

One of the brightest stars of the night sky is fading, and scientists aren’t sure why. Since October, Betelgeuse—the right shoulder of famous constellation Orion—has continued to dim. It’s possible the star, which goes through cycles of darkening and brightening, is experiencing a particularly dim cycle. But scientists say if it continues, Betelgeuse could burn into a supernova, blazing through the firmament.

The 1991 film City Slickers, about a trio of buddies who go on a cattle drive adventure to stave off midlife crises, is mostly fun but offers poignant moments. In one, a main character grieves the mess he’s made of his life back home, which includes adultery and losing his job. Billy Crystal’s character says to his crying friend, “You remember when we were kids, and we were playing ball, and we hit the ball over the fence out of bounds, and we yelled, ‘Do-over’? … Your life is a do-over. You’ve got a clean slate.” 

The slang term “86” in restaurants refers to an item no longer on the menu, but in baseball it’s meant futility and perseverance. Boston baseball fans waited 86 years (1918-2004) for their team to win a World Series and shake off their demons. Washington fans waited 86 years (1933-2019) for their team even to be in a World Series. But from Oct. 11 to Oct. 15 the Washington Nationals swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight games to win the National League championship and face the Houston Astros in the World Series.

In 1959, on the top floor of a Brooklyn apartment building, Don Wilkerson, 19, stood next to his brother David, 28, watching a heroin addict named Shorty and two others prepare to shoot up. David steadied a 16 mm camera. They planned to film the gritty reality of heroin addiction and take the footage around the country to raise awareness and support for their new ministry to addicts. 

It could have been much worse in the United States. On Sunday, Sept. 8, many church prayers included thanksgiving for deliverance from Hurricane Dorian, which could have been another Katrina or Maria. Dorian did spin into the Carolinas, flooding towns and shooting off tornadoes, and at least four people died while preparing for the hurricane.