$100,000 in the bank but on food stamps

A loophole in Ohio's public assistance plan allows wealthy people to collect food stamps. Affiliate WLWT reports

Computer model says UNC will win tournament

(CNN) - Here's a hot tip: The University of North Carolina is going to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

At least that's the prediction of Joel Sokol, a Georgia Tech professor whose statistical model correctly selected the Final Four, championship game and winner of last year's tournament.

Be glad he's not in your office's betting pool.

Finding some kind of rationality in March Madness, which starts in earnest Thursday, has been an American pastime for decades. Tournament brackets are everywhere, and from sports TV to the dinner table, everyone seems to have predictions about which team will claim the top spot, and why.

But in recent years, "bracketology," as sorting out the single-elimination basketball tournament is sometimes called, has increasingly become the scientific endeavor its name suggests. It's even something on which university professors and professional statisticians stake their reputations.

Like fathers, like daughters

Meghan McCain isn't the only daughter of a politician to make a public impression. Click for more

Student turns to Web for help getting to college

The 17-year-old high school senior recently launched http://iwanttogotonotredame.com to help her raise money to pay for an education at the school. The site includes copies of her Notre Dame application form, letters of recommendation and her high school transcript. Harris has applied for admission to the Roman Catholic school in South Bend, Ind., and expects to be accepted there. The problem is meeting its more than $46,000 annual cost of tuition, fees, room and board.

She hopes her Web site will generate enough in donations to help cover at least part of it. She has applied for at least 10 scholarships, she said. Inspired in part by President Barack Obama use of the Internet as a fundraising tool, Harris said, "I decided to try and use the power of the Internet to help me pay for my college education."

She carries a 3.97 grade-point average and is ranked 10th in her class at Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon County's Muskegon Township. She plans to pursue a degree in biomolecular engineering at Notre Dame and then attend medical school to become a pediatric endocrinologist, she said.

"The only thing that is keeping me from possibly going is the financial aspect to it, especially with these economic times," Harris said. "I'm just doing everything I can to not let that stop me from going there."

The real story of St. Patrick

Though he didn't banish snakes from Ireland, St. Patrick's real life was remarkable. Myths vs. facts

Shark circles 700 swimmers

A hammerhead shark is spotted near a swim competition in Sydney, Australia. ITN reports.

Girl Scouts say no to YouTube

A North Carolina Girl Scout's plan to use the Internet to generate more cookie sales is crumbling. Eight-year-old Wild Freeborn posted a YouTube video in the hopes of selling enough boxes to send her troop to summer camp. But scouting officials said it violated a ban on Internet sales and told her to take it down after she scored about 700 orders.

Freeborn told NBC's "Today" show Friday that she and her Web designer father, Bryan, had honorable intentions and took orders only from their hometown of Asheville. Her father says the ad was just promoting the cookies, so he thought it was OK.

Girl Scouts of the USA spokeswoman Denise Pesich says the organization wants to ensure fairness for all girls and the policy is to protect the girls' safety.

Student can't wear Obama mask in show

An elementary school principal is barring a fifth-grader from wearing a Barack Obama mask in the school's talent show because parents have complained it's inappropriate. Dru Lechert-Kelly, 11, hoped to dress presidentially and dance to a YouTube parody that features an Obama look-alike and a rap called "I Can Do Whatever I Like."

The skit features him in a navy blue suit, white shirt, red tie, black shoes and an Obama mask purchased at a costume shop — one like Obama himself once donned for a Saturday Night Live sketch. The choreographed routine rehearsed Thursday ends with Dru on the floor in the splits and was met with applause from students and teachers.

But some parents objected.

"I talked to the parents who are coordinating the talent show, and they feel it's inappropriate and potentially offensive," said Steve Powell, principal of Llewellyn Elementary School in Portland.

He declined to say specifically why it might be offensive. Dru's parents, Scott Lechert and Paul Kelly, suggest it's race.

"There was obviously no intent to harm here or really any possibility of offending anyone," Kelly said.

Dru said he didn't think performing without the mask was an option.

"If I don't have the mask," he said, "it's just some kid up there dancing around."

Model auditions cause riot in New York City

"Top Model" audition ends in chaos with six people injured. Click for video.

'Witch' is box office surprise

An unexpected audience sends the kids' flick, "Race to Witch Mountain," to the No. 1 spot. Reasons why