Howling cows?

People already feel like cattle as they try to squeeze through the human chute down the hill from the Expo Center, between the Hobbies and Crafts building and the Rabbit Barn. Might as well have some ice cream that has some heifer, uh, heft to it while you're passing through.

Next to Hobbies and Crafts, the N.C. State University dairy offers giant cones of its Howling Cow ice cream, made with fresh milk from local university research farms.

People line up 100-deep to get it -- no exaggeration -- getting jostled by strollers and ears of buttered corn as they wait.

And, with today's high temperatures expected to reach near 80 degrees, the line won't be getting any shorter.

When it's not fair season, this dairy treat is available to students, faculty, staff and visitors at University Dining locations, where lines are presumably shorter and nobody is trying to guess your weight.

- Martha Quillin