Welcoming the Terriers of 2015: A note from our Dean of Students

Kenn_welcomeOver the weekend, Boston University sent out a round of invitations to the Class of 2015. Our Dean of Students, Kenneth Elmore, has a few words for our new Terriers as they make their final decisions.

Invitations Are Out — Hey New Terriers! (Kenn 2.0)

More: A Few Favorite Things (Kenn 2.0)


Synchronized Swimming, the ultimate team sport

The decade old Synchronized Swimming Team here at BU practices six hours in the FitRec Pool and three hours on dry land per week and yet competes against Division I Varsity Level Programs from schools around the country.

You can see team members in action at their end-of-season show on Tuesday, April 5, at 8:30 p.m. at the FitRec Center competition pool for free.


Robert Pinsky reading tonight

Pinsky HeadshotThe Creative Writing Program is hosting famed poet and BU Professor of Poetry Robert Pinsky for a reading from his newest book Selected Poems.  Pinsky was formerly a United States Poet Laureate and has written nineteen books.  The event will take place tonight at 7:30 PM in the Photonics Center (8 Saint Mary's Street) in Room 206 and is free and open to the public.


Sargent Choice Night Tonight

sarg choice dish

Dining Services and the Nutrition & Fitness Center are excited to offer Sargent Choice exclusive options at all of the student dining halls tonight beginning at 5:00 PM.  Sargent Choice only holds these nights once per semester - don't miss out on a chance to try some delicious, healthy dishes!


Students spend spring break week volunteering in Washington, D.C.

Arthika Chandramohan (SPH’11) (from left), Karen Contador (SAR’14), Allison Thomasseau (COM’14), Nicholas Pantages (CAS’14), Julie Frey (CAS’11, COM’11), Anna Carson (CAS’14), and Hayley West (CGS’12) at Food and Friends. Photos by Dennis Drenner

Arthika Chandramohan (SPH’11) (from left), Karen Contador (SAR’14), Allison Thomasseau (COM’14), Nicholas Pantages (CAS’14), Julie Frey (CAS’11, COM’11), Anna Carson (CAS’14), and Hayley West (CGS’12) at Food and Friends. Photos by Dennis Drenner

BU Today tagged along with a group of ten chaperones, students and coordinators who spent their week off from classes volunteering at two organizations in Washington D.C via the BU Community Service Center Alternative Spring Break program.  In its 24th year, the program coordinated more than 300 students last week to volunteer with 36 organizations around the country, rebuilding homes, assisting at animal shelters, working at food banks and volunteering in needy communities.  Student journalist Allison Thomasseau (COM’14) reports:

We had just gotten into our 12-person van for the eight-hour drive to Washington, D.C., where we were headed for Alternative Spring Break, when program coordinator Julie Frey exclaimed, “YOLO!”

Not wanting to admit my ignorance of the phrase, I waited for Sam Smith (COM’13), the other program coordinator, to ask what the phrase meant.

“It stands for you only live once—YOLO,” said Frey (COM’11, CAS’11).

Read More.


Hey Seniors, Check this out

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Now that I'm back from Spring Break, I'm faced with a  harsh reality check:  commencement is just around the corner. In fact, exactly 2 months from today we will be filling onto Nickerson Field in those gorgeous red gowns to collect the most important piece of paper we have ever earned. If the very thought of donning the traditional tasseled hat has you breaking out into a cold sweat, or if you are simply confused as to what is happening that weekend, fear not because the Dean of Students office has you covered. The Seniors website has helpful links to the commencement page, relevant articles for soon-to-be grads and information about the class gift and the all important Senior Week. So take a deep breath and take a look around; you wont want to miss out.

Samantha is a senior in COM graduating in May. Follow her on Twitter @skops.


BU Quad Bucket List #4: Beer Me, Boston.

By Chree Izzo, the Quad writer (@chreewashere)

With the weeks winding down until graduation, there are many things you should do in Boston before saying goodbye to Beantown. Catch a Red Sox game at Fenway, see a midnight movie at Coolidge Corner, nosh a cannoli at Mike’s in the North End. Now, all that’s well and good, but there’s one thing you need to do in Boston before you graduate: drink. Yes, I said drink.

Boston boasts a plethora of bars, pubs and dives to choose from, but for an avid beer lover like myself, one of the coolest things about living in Boston is that you can eschew crowded bars altogether and go straight to the source: breweries. The Bay State is home to a number of craft breweries and brewpubs, from the Harpoon Brewery to Cambridge Brewing Co., so put down that lukewarm Natty Ice and take advantage of all the brewed goodness Boston has to offer.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

My personal favorite is the Sam Adams Brewery. Grab the Orange Line to the Stony Brook T-stop in Jamaica Plain and spend an afternoon with a free tour of the brewery. You read that right—free, a college kid’s favorite word. The brewery does suggest a voluntary $2 donation, which is given to local charities and will make you a beer-filled Good Samaritan. Win-win.

The tour, led by one of the brewery’s entertaining employees, takes you through the complex process of making a simple pint of beer. You get to taste the different types of grains and hops that give Sam Adams its distinct flavor, see some of the action in the malting and brewing machines, and learn strange beer jargon like “wort,” “trub,” and “mouthfeel.” The tour is informative and interesting for beer connoisseurs, but what you really want to know is if you get some free brew, and the answer’s a big malty yes.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

After the guided tour, you’re led into the brewery’s tasting room to sample some of the finished products. You get three samples, about half a pint each, usually of their signature Boston Lager, a seasonal selection, and the Boston Brick Red, a special brew that’s only available on draft in Boston. The freebies keep coming, as you’re quickly informed that you get to keep your engraved Sam Adams’ commemorative tasting glass, which would make the perfect shot glass if you had Charlie Sheen’s liver. You also get to smell (not taste, as that would probably be lethal) Utopias, Sam Adams’ 25% alcohol experimental beer, which holds the Guinness World Record for strongest beer in the world. Cool beans, er, hops.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Post-tasting, you can venture over to the Boston Beer Museum and learn more about brewing history, or you can continue your day of drinking at the nearby Doyle’s Café, a flagship bar owned by Sam Adams’ makers, the Boston Beer Co. The brewery runs a free shuttle to Doyle’s, where you can enjoy some of the newest, freshest Sam Adams brews in town. Free drinks, free glasses, and a free ride to the bar? Yeah, you definitely can’t go wrong with an afternoon spent at the Sam Adams Brewery.

The Sam Adams Brewery is located at 30 Germania St. in Jamaica Plain. For more information, check out http://www.samueladams.com/.

Images courtesy JanetandPhil, Eric P and Ross Housewright on Flickr / Creative Commons.

Men’s basketball enters NCAA tourney tomorrow night

Second-year Men's Basketball Head Coach Patrick Chambers, just the second coach in the BU record book to earn at least 21 wins in back-to-back seasons, and the Terriers are making the program's 7th trip to the NCAA tournament tomorrow night against 1st seeded Kansas.  Tip-off will be at 6:50 PM and the game will be played in Tulsa, Oklahoma as part of the tournament's second round.  Watch parties are taking place around the country, including on campus at T's Pub.  BU had its most success in the tournament in 1959, advancing to the Elite Eight.  BU Athletics spent the day with Coach Chambers earlier this year and filmed a "Game Day in the Life":



 

SXSW Day Four: Felicia Day on the power of niche communities

FeliciaDayIf anyone understands the power of a niche audience, it's Felicia Day. From her involvement in various sci-fi television and movie projects, to co-starring in Joss Whedon's cult Web hit "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," to ultimately building the wildly successful Web series "The Guild" on the donations of viewers, Day has experienced firsthand the influence of a community that is created around a common interest.

Day's Web series "The Guild," a comedy about the lives of online gamers, began with Day's own interest in gaming. With fans of Joss Whedon's work on her side, she shot a pilot episode, calling on favors from friends for equipment and resources and filming on cost alone. Her team released subsequent episodes one at a time on a monthly basis, building a loyal fan base who began to donate to the production of more content.

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Current issues in education: Bullying

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Today, SED is honored to welcome Dorothy Espelage, Professor of Child Development and Associate Chair in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, for its Annual Spring Lecture.  Espelage's research addresses bullying and youth aggression. In light of the recent tragedies here in Massachusetts, the  spring lecture discusses these topics and considers positive means to face them directly. All events will take place in the SED Auditorium (Room 130).

There are two sessions for this presentation.

Session 1 is an lecture by Dr. Espelage at 10 AM in room 130. To register for session 1 please visit here

Session 2 is a lecture and Q&A with a reception to follow. The program begins at 3:30 in room 130 and is open to SED Alumni and the public. To register for session 2 please visit here.