I love college campuses, even though it’s been many years since I spent any time as a student on one.

I love the buildings, and the libraries, and the bookstores. I love checking out the architecture and the landscaping, and people watching, and buying a sweatshirt to wear so I can pretend that I am an alum.

On a rainy day last summer, I had a layover in Boston with my best friend, Anita. She and I took a couple of hours and explored the Boston College campus.

Boston College was founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The main campus is currently located in the once rural area of Chestnut Hill. Having graduated from a Jesuit university myself, I have always been appreciative of their commitment to integrating intellectual, personal, ethical, and religious formation; and to uniting high academic achievement with service to others.

For anyone considering attending BC, here are a few interesting statistics: There are 9,059 full time undergraduate students, of which 53% are women. The Class of 2009 had a SAT range of 1260-1410 for the middle 50%. There are 650 full time faculty members. BC grants undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees and 90% of the Class of 2008 intends to pursue an advanced degree. The BC Eagles play at the NCAA Division I level.

Because it was pouring down the rain the day we visited BC, we didn’t have too much time to walk around the grounds and were forced to admire the distinctive campus architecture between raindrops, or from indoors.

The campus is accessible on the T’s green line. Get off at the Boston-Newton boundary on Commonwealth Avenue. Cross the street, walk by St. Ignatius Church, and follow the perimeter road to campus entrances.

Photo credits:  Mary Jo Manzanares

Post from: The Boston Traveler

Where else but Salem would Halloween become a month long event?

The city that has made a cottage industry of witchcraft pulls no punches this Halloween, as it launches its month of Haunted Happenings. It’s a combination of an autumn event, celebrating the changing leaves and cooler weather, with the spirit of Halloween, complete with accompanying ghosts, goblins, witches and folklore.

The Halloween events are all found in historic downtown Salem, and it’s easy to walk from one venue to the next. You can choose from museums, attractions, haunted houses, and a variety of tours, or decide to wander the streets enjoying the dramatic reenactments, psychic fairs, and shopping. Events have been designed to appeal to all age groups. There admission fees for entry to some of the events, others are free.

Here is a partial list of attractions: Salem Witch Museum, House of Seven Gables, Salem Trolley, Witch Dungeon, Witch History Museum, and the Pirate History Museum

And if a tour is more to your liking: Candlelit Ghostly Tours, Cemetery 101: Grave Matters (this sounded like one I’d enjoy), Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour, 1692 Salem Village Trolley Tour, Salem Spirits Trolley Tour, Witchcraft Walk, and Spirit of Salem Seance.

That’s just a few of the things you can do in Salem this month, so be sure to check out the full schedule of events. There’s likely to be something to appeal to your spirited side.

Salem is located 16 miles north of Boston on the Atlantic coast. It is easily accessible by public transportation. In fact, this is the busy season for Salem, and traffic can be a nightmare, so public transportation is a very good idea.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

While many students take their meals in their dorm dining halls, most campuses still have other student dining facilities.  Whether it’s a snack bar, cafe, full restaurant or bar, the prices are geared to a student budget.  Of course, the food is geared to a student palate as well, but if you’ve been subsisting on a diet of cold snacks, a burger may seem pretty darn tasty.

Most non-dorm dining facilities are open to the greater campus community – meaning visitors as well as students.  Plan on using cash, as not all accept debit or credit cards.

Since Boston if full of colleges and universities, I’m sure there are lots of options for a reasonably priced meal.

If you know a great campus cafe or bar, please leave a recommendation in the comments.

Photo credit:  personal collection

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Post from: The Boston Traveler

A couple hour drive west of Boston, nearly to the New York state line in Stockbridge, is the Norman Rockwell Museum. 

The site was Rockwell’s home for the last 25 years of his life, and was turned into a museum housing over 700 of his paintings, drawings and studies (the largest collection in the world), along with a huge collection of personal artifacts.

Rockwell is perhaps best known for his 321 Saturday Evening Post covers, with his first in 1916, “Boy with Baby Carriage.”  His inspiring “Rosie the Riveter” and “Four Freedoms” series remain lasting visual tributes to World War II, and his holiday images take us back to a kinder, gentler era.

Although many art critics and historians do not consider Rockwell a “serious” artist, there can be no doubt of his immense public popularity, and he is one of the best-known illustrators in history.  His Americana themes, showcasing the ideas of kindness, tolerance, and freedom, resonated with the public, and viewing his collection is a retrospective of family life over the past century.

The museum is located at 9 Glendale Road, Route 183, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  It is open daily (except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day).  Summer hours (May-October, and holidays) are weekdays 10 am – 4 pm; weekends 10 am – 5 pm.  Daily winter and holiday hours are 10 am – 5 pm.

Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for collect students (with ID), $13.50 for seniors, and youth (18 and under) free with an adult.  Tickets may be purchase onsite, or online.  An audio tour is available for an additional $5 for adults, and $4 for seniors and youth.  Parking is free.

No photography, backpacks, or large packages are permitted inside the museum galleries.

Image credit:  wikimedia (museum); Amazon (Runaway print); Amazon (Doctor & the Doll print)

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Post from: The Boston Traveler

Someone happened to be carrying their video camera or cellphone when a couple of B-boys caught a Red Line T train at the Kendall Square/MIT stop in Cambridge recently and commenced to getting down until Charles Street/Massachusetts General Hospital, one stop later. Nice!

Check out the video after the jump, which I warn you is not high quality in the least. It is an authentic and impromptu slice of life here in the city, though, so it’s worth a peek.

Incidentally, the dancers in the photo that accompanies this post are jamming in front of Macy’s department store in Boston’s Downtown Crossing shopping area.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

I spent significant time this morning browsing assorted Best Of 2007-type compilations on numerous local publications’ websites. As I expected from one of the most widely read free newspapers around these parts, the Boston Phoenix produced some particularly interesting and entertaining content throughout the year to chronicle the highlights and lowlights of Beantown, including a nice video-based list on the Phoenix Phlog.

That’s where I discovered a bit of news concerning Boston’s second most famous academic institution that I sorely regret missing when it occurred back in early October. The event in question was co-organized by graduate student Kevin Driscoll (pictured here), a Boston-based DJ with the moniker Lone Wolf who has taught computer science and graphic design.

Follow the jump to get more positive proof why MIT is one of the world’s more renowned universities. It’s truly a cure for anyone suffering from the holiday blahs, and I bet you’ll never guess what it is (unless you peek at the Technorati tags first, of course).

According to the Boston Phoenix article “Crank That, Techie,” those MIT dancing machines were taking part in some Comparative Media Studies-inspired activity to commemorate 17-year-old hip-hop newcomer Soulja Boy Tell Em’s (aka DeAndre Ramone Way) major-label debut album Souljaboytellem.com.

The beat-heavy “bubblecrunk” tune from the release playing at the beginning is “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” a song that might never have come to be without the current Internet-video mania perpetuated by such social websites as YouTube and MySpace. It went all the way to the top of the Billboard charts this summer and is roundly acknowledged as one of the top singles of 2007 for both spawning yet another phenomenal dance craze and once again demonstrating how deeply the Internet continues to impact culture in contemporary society.

Now that you’ve seen MIT students and faculty put their unique Bay State spin on the Soulja Boy Crank Dat dance fad (Henry Jenkins, the co-founder of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program, claimed that the event would “single-handedly transform the coolness factor for MIT”) check out the original video below for a little more study and comparison, Down South-style.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

This year there’s a bit of a controversy, though, because Auditi Guha, a reporter for the local community newspaper the Somerville Journal not only decided to film the students as they launched their eye-catching event but to post the resulting video footage on that icon of voyeuristic viral-ness called YouTube. The video is also featured in the article “Tufts Naked Run Brings Students Together — with a Few Injuries” posted on the newspaper’s website. Critics argue that those actions are a violation of the students’ right to privacy … as hordes of them jog buck-naked … outside in the great wide open … for any passersby to see.

As the Bostonist notes, there’s really no need for the unwitting subjects of the nearly three-minute clip to fear recognition since Guha did at least have the consideration to film them only from behind (double entendre fully intended). Still, as you can imagine, posting this kind of traditional yet local coverage on the Web has rubbed many the wrong way, no ifs, ands, or butts about it. Maybe the kids will think twice before running around au naturel outdoors next year now that the taboo of filming them has been broken in a very public, widely available way. Then again, knowing fun-loving college students, probably not.

Post from: The Boston Traveler