We all know Barbara Walters is quirky, but she may have outdone herself on The View Sept. 12 when she said her Havanese dog, Cha-Cha, had said to her, “I love you.” However, Us Weekly reports that some animal experts believe having a conversation with your pup isn’t impossible. “As people become more conversational with their dogs, it happens,” said Arizona-based animal behaviorist Kay Cox. “Dogs want so desperately to communicate with their owners that they try to speak in our language instead of their own when they need something.” Some scientists claim, however, that a dog’s larynx is incapable of mimicking a human voice, but Cox said she’d heard dogs say, “Alpo,” and, “I want to go out.” I can’t touch that.

Heiress-turned-singer Paris Hilton‘s hamburger craving got her in trouble Sept. 7 when she was arrested for driving her car under the influence. The 25-year-old had a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.08 percent, said LA attorney’s spokesman Nick Velasquez. Hilton’s arraignment on the drunken-driving charges was originally set for Sept. 28, but it has been postponed to December at the request of her attorney, the Associated Press reports. Hilton has no prior DUI arrests. If convicted, she could be sentenced up to six months in jail and fined $1,000. The minimum penalty for a first-time offender is a fine, probation and alcohol-rehabilitation program. Some NKU students are afraid Hilton will have problems paying her fine if she’s convicted. If you’d like to help, donations to the Paris Hilton fund will be collected at The Northerner office in UC 203.

Quotes of the Week:

“I have insanely dorky taste. It’s odd being a 37-year-old heterosexual male who owns nothing but Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos.” –Matthew Perry on his music collection.

“When I was a question on ‘Jeopardy,’ that’s when I felt famous.” –Reese Witherspoon