"colleges" news and stories

Not that we here at Slashfood would condone drinking, especially when you have a lot of homework to do. But the truth is college students drink, and Boston has a lot of bars and a lot of colleges. Ergo, a lot of college students are going to drink in Boston. Here's a quick guide, with the bars around each college highlighted.

I can vouch for some of these places. I've been to the Sunset Grill & Tap several times, and not only do they have over 100 beers on tap, but they also have close to 400 in bottles. They should have added Bukowski's Tavern though. It has two locations (on in the Back Bay, one in Cambridge), the drinks are fairly cheap, and it's an interesting place (named after writer Charles Bukowski) even beyond that.

Come on current and ex-Boston area college students, add on to this list. It just doesn't seem complete.

The freshman 15 may be a myth, but college students still face a lot of challenges when it comes to eating healthy. Greasy foods, especially pizzas, seem to be everywhere as clubs and other organizations try to lure students into their meetings. It is tempting, and myth or not, a student can still gain more weight than they would like if they don't watch what they eat. Just keep a couple of tips in mind and you should emerge from your freshman year no heavier than when you entered it.

• Low fat yogurt is a great food to keep in the mini fridge. Yogurts come in so many flavors that you're unlikely to get bored with them, and they can be mixed with fresh fruits or even some granola for a change of pace. Yogurts also frequently go on sale, so stock up by buying at those times.
• Trail mix, GORP or any other combination of nuts and dried fruits is a good snack to have around. The nuts are healthy and filling, while the fruits add a sweetness. A handful or two should put a stop to any candy-bar cravings you might have.

While some may have gained some weight during their first year at college, new studies are showing that the phenomenon known as the "freshman 15" doesn't have much more than word-of-mouth behind it. The term first appeared in the mid 1980s in the Chicago Tribune, where the fact that it was a large enough number to inspire worry, but not so large that it seemed unbelievable, kept it going. So will students entering college really gain 15-pounds in their first year? A study from Rutgers that was published last month showed that 25% of students (Rutgers students) lost weight during their first year, while 75% gained an average of 7 pounds. "Nobody gained 15 pounds," said the professor behind the study.

Of course, some students will go overboard and binge on pizza and vending machine snacks without any supervision but their own, but many students will not. College eating halls are offering healthier options all the time, so students are more likely to see organic, vegetarian and vegan options, along with lean meats and plenty of healthy veggies, rather than just greasy, fried fare.

Perhaps the "freshman 15" is really just a reminder to try to keep kids on a healthier track and, if so, perhaps the fact that most students aren't seeing that kind of weight gain is reason enough to keep it going.

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Thanks to Sarah, we now know which universities the Princeton Review thinks have the best on-campus food, but most college students will be happy to tell you that off-campus food is almost always better. With schools starting up right and left, students need to be prepared to find those places because greasy pizzas and pb&j gets boring pretty quickly. CampusFood.com is a website that allows users to search for lists of off-campus eateries and order their food online from the menus published on the site. Their ever-growing database includes independent restaurants and chains. Delivery is up to the individual restaurant (some only allow pick-up orders), but not only is this a boon to college students who want to really streamline their days, it is good for small restaurants whose primary business comes from college student, making them more accessible to their tech-savvy (and hungry) customer base.

By the way, the services offered by the website are not limited to college students - anyone can order food online as long as they are near enough for either delivery or pickup.

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The Princeton Review released its annual ranking of colleges for 2007, which includes individual lists for such things as parties, professors, and what we care about here, campus food (requires registration), which falls under a larger category called "Quality of Life." Bowdoin College in Maine tops out at the Number One spot - I wonder if they get lobster rolls? Here's the Top 20:

1. Bowdoin College
2. Virginia Tech
3. Wheaton College (IL)
4. Cornell University
5. Saint Olaf College
6. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
7. James Madison University
8. Colby College
9. Gustavus Adolphus College
10. Washington University in St. Louis
11. Scripps College
12. Middlebury College
13. Bryn Mawr College
14. Miami University
15. Dartmouth College
16. University of Notre Dame
17. Tufts University
18. College of the Atlantic
19. Claremont McKenna College
20. Bates College