News, information and research from Boston University
April 5, 2011 at 11:18 am
If you’ve seen Best Buy’s brilliant “Technology Moves Fast” commercial, you understand those words couldn’t be more true. Well BU’s newest segment, Terrier Tech, is here to help lessen the “cool today, outdated an hour from now” blow by reviewing the latest mobile phones, tablets, apps, and other devices. Their first review features the HTC EVO Shift 4G from Sprint.
April 5, 2011 at 6:00 am
Arts Live at BU provides a central portal to a range of artistic, cultural, and creative pursuits across BU’s campuses; opportunities to attend off-campus cultural events; and ways for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to interact with one another through the arts. At Arts Live you can find information about arts-related programs with a spotlight on events featuring and produced by BU students, as well as what’s happening in the arts community of the Greater Boston Area.
Arts Live is having their official launch party today from 4-6 PM in the Francis D. Burke Club Room in Agganis Arena (925 Commonwealth Avenue). Attendees will enjoy performances by Fusion and the BU Pep Band and art work by CFA students. Attendees will also have a chance to win the following raffle prizes:
- 1 of 10 iPod shuffles (third generation - priceless!)
- A Commencement Weekend package for two (Pops and buffet),
- Eastern Standard $150 gift certificate
- Four tickets to BU Hockey home opener
- Huntington Theatre Company tickets
- Suite seats to Sesame Street Live
To attend RSVP ASAP at RSVPArts@bu.edu. For more information click here, or follow @ArtsLiveatBU on Twitter.
April 4, 2011 at 1:04 pm
By Josh Mellits, the Quad writer (@joshjo351)
Do you think BU has a big campus? Do you feel that the distance from Allston to Kenmore is too much to bear? Well, there's nothing like a panoramic view of Boston to get some perspective on our university, and the Skywalk Observatory at the Prudential Center provides it well. It's the only 360 degree vantage point in the city and at fifty stories up, there are breathtaking views of landmarks from Cambridge to Symphony Hall - not to mention the tiny speck of BU.
You get more than just fantastic views of Boston. There's an audio tour, a museum, a multimedia theater and, of course, a gift shop. The museum includes a whispering wall of voices of famous figures of Boston, as well as an exhibition on immigration featuring a rap that's sure to be the next big hit. Trust me, it's worth the price of admission alone - and you can save two dollars off that price with your BUID. Here's a video of my trip high above the city on the Skywalk:
For your own adventure, just visit the Prudential Center on the Green Line between Hynes Convention Center and Copley, or walk if it's a nice day.
The Skywalk is open 7 days a week, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Admission is $13 for adults, $11 with a student ID.
April 4, 2011 at 9:32 am
We spotted this video on the Howard Thurman Center's Culture Shock blog. Learn a bit more about the HTC's mission and culture, and meet some of the people who call it home.
Want to learn more? Visit their website, or reach out to the Center's Assistant Director, Raul Fernandez, via e-mail or on Twitter.
April 1, 2011 at 4:21 pm
The Boston University Dean of Students office is teaming up with the Boston Red Sox for another year with the Green Team -- collecting recyclables between innings to help with sustainability efforts at Fenway. Learn more about the BU Green Team on the Dean of Students website.
Photo courtesy Susan Lebovits.
April 1, 2011 at 10:35 am
As the new Major League Baseball season gets underway, Thomas Whalen, associate professor of social science at Boston University, talks about his new book, When the Red Sox Ruled: Baseball's First Dynasty 1912 - 1918 (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing, Inc.).
The book, which highlights such iconic players as Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, Harry Hooper, "Smokey" Joe Wood and Bill Carrigan, tells the story of baseball's coming out party as a major professsional sports league and how the team put aside their cultural and political differences in the clubhouse to create greatness on the field.
March 31, 2011 at 1:25 pm
The Life of [Kerin] Riley continues her musings on life abroad, turning 21, traveling the Irish countryside and a possible quarter-life crisis impending:
A Hard Question
“I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion."
--Jack Kerouac
What do you want to be when you grow up? Easy. When I was 8, I wanted to be a veterinarian. When I was 10, I was going to be the next Emril Lagasse. When I was 12, I wanted to be an archaeologist. When I was 13, I had a brief loss of consciousness and wanted to be a jockey. My Dad convinced me if I stopped growing (and learned to ride a horse) I'd be perfect. When I was 14, I wanted to be a historian. All through high school I was going to be a lawyer or maybe a politician.
What about now, at 21? I kind of just realized that my next "big" birthday is 25 and I graduate from college around this time next year! So umm, how about a real job?...see for yourself
March 30, 2011 at 2:50 pm
If you've been following BU Now regularly, you might be wondering where all the posts featuring Boston University professors have gone. As a way to streamline our blogging efforts, BU Public Relations recently launched a sister blog to BU Now called Professor Voices that does just that.
In our ongoing efforts to keep the news media and general public alike updated on what BU faculty experts are thinking and saying about national and world events, Professor Voices was created to be a timely and one-stop collection of newsworthy commentary and analysis from our professors. In addition, Professor Voices highlights the breadth and depth of research being conducted at the University.
BU Now will continue to focus on all things BU-related, from campus events and happenings to student news and voices.
March 29, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Dean of Students Kenn Elmore has just announced a challenge to the graduating Class of 2011; if 2,011 members of the graduating class gift the University $2,011 by midnight on May 21, 2011, the night before commencement, he will tux up and jump into the Charles River.
In addition, if the challenge is met, the BU Alumni Council will give $100,000 to the University on behalf of the class of 2011. There are 83 funds for graduates to chose from including schools and colleges, scholarships, athletics, student life and The Community Service Center. Check out who's already given on the Donor Roll. If you are graduating and want to participate, giving is easy through the class gift homepage.
March 28, 2011 at 2:52 pm
By Paul Squire (@pauljsquire) and Monica Castillo (@purplegirl8485), the Quad writers
It's late on a Friday night, and you've got a craving for popcorn. You gather up your friends and head to the local multiplex. But just around the corner are other movie theaters, ones you've probably never noticed before, stuffed full of the greatest cult, foreign and independent movies on the East Coast.
So, movie buff, if there's one thing you must do before you walk down the red carpet out of Boston University, it must be to check out a true Boston movie house.
Yes, there is a world beyond our beloved Regal Theater at Fenway, and I assure you it's worth the trip. These theaters offer up something unique. The concession stands pour real butter on your popcorn. The midnight movie is probably a title you have never heard of (ever heard of Blacula, the 70s blacksploitation horror film? Didn't think so), but will soon come to love. These independent theaters don't sell you the latest blockbusters; they are selling a true movie-going experience, one unlike anything you've seen before.
Take the Brattle Theatre, a single room moviehouse in Harvard Square on the Red Line. The theater there, tucked into a basement, has been operating non-stop since 1953, bringing the biggest cult classics to Boston for adoring fans and new converts to enjoy. From a week-long series on the Muppets to reviving the classics like Rear Window and Casablanca, the Brattle is an ideal place to turn to get your retro fix. And with student prices just $7.75, it's cheaper than the major theaters too.
The Coolidge Corner Theatre, a staple of Brookline since the 1920s, is another prime location for a great movie night. The non-profit Coolidge, the last Art Deco theater left in Boston, has four different screens, but the main screen on the first floor will make your jaw drop (the cinema's spectacular ceiling was recently restored). Still, the Coolidge is so much more than just a pretty face. Located on the C branch of the Green Line, the Coolidge offers a wide variety of new independent releases and special programming. The theater even hosts occasional stage acts, including plays and even burlesque dancers. Student tickets are available all day on Thursdays, but be sure to keep checking in to see if your favorite movie is schedule to play. The Coolidge plans what movies they'll screen one week at a time.
If you're looking for something a little more mainstream, you couldn't do much better than the Kendall Square Cinema, a member of the Landmark chain of theaters. The Kendall specializes in foreign language and documentary films, and with nine different screens, they can fit a lot in. The Kendall features the best of both worlds: the indie sensibilities combined with the furnishings of the latest greatest multiplexes. While the Kendall may be a short walk away from the nearest Red Line MBTA stop, the walk is certainly worth it.
So, whether you're a movie maniac or a casual theater-goer, you can't miss these cinema shrines. Go for a movie, and be prepared to fall in love; you may never want to set foot in a big-chain multiplex ever again.
