If you’ve read any news blogs or even watched a televised newscast in the last week and a half, chances are that you’ve heard the tragic story of Annie Le, the Yale grad student who disappeared ten days ago. Her body was found hidden inside a wall at the building where she worked last Sunday—which was to have been her wedding day. Now a lab technician named Raymond Clark has been charged with Annie’s murder.

This whole saga has been unbelievably upsetting and awful, and our hearts go out to Annie’s family and her fiancé. It’s also spurred a lot of interesting discussion about safety on college campuses—and why the media is curiously fascinated by crimes that occur on Ivy League campuses.

Slate editor Jack Shafer observes that the New York Times has written five stories about Annie’s case so far, while the Boston Globe has run at least six. A quick search shows that CNN.com has a whopping 14 stories about the murder. The media frenzy has been so… well, frenzied that an NBC producer was trampled when journalists and camera-people rushed to speak to a New Haven police spokesman on Tuesday. Read More »

Police find body, suspect it is Annie Le.

Hey. Kanye said sorry, people!

That means “having sex.”

Lil Wayne’s a dad…again.

Eat your way to beauty!

Need some workout inspiration? See what a year can do.

Welcome to a brand-new College Candy feature: The Rival Rundown! We’ll be taking a look at the oldest, fiercest, and even funniest rivalries between colleges and universities all over the country. We’re going to be examining everything from mascots to mess halls to the most obnoxious traditions, all with the intent of determining which schools are ballin’ out of control.

And if you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

What better rivalry is there to begin with than arguably the oldest and most prestigious in the country? That’s right, its Harvard versus Yale, baby! The two Ivy League institutions have been duking it out since 1852 at the inception of the first Harvard-Yale Regatta.  Now, their rivalry extends beyond crew to who gets the top US News & World Report ranking and the largest endowment. Let the hysteria begin!

1. Mascot Matchup

Harvard- The Crimson are…well, a deep red color. Unless you’re hematophobic (fearful of blood), there isn’t much that is particularly intimidating about Crimson. And the “mascot” is technically a charicature of John Harvard, the founder of the institution. Interesting.
Yale- Yalies are ever faithful to their Bulldogs, which has been proudly carried on by seventeen generations of live bulldogs, each named “Handsome Dan.”

Three credits to: Yale–bulldogs are more intimidating and, well…tangible. Read More »

Danny Gokey speaks!

Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Sinatra?

The 5 greatest American Idol moments ever.

Guy says: the annoying things girls do.

Is Jessica Alba in the Skull and Crossbones?

Holy sh*t! Those women are strong!

[There are some women out there that we just can’t get out of our minds. No, we aren’t switching teams - yet - but we do have some serious crushes on some pretty fierce females. These ladies are all special in their own right and we aren’t ashamed to tell the world we love them.]

As a self-proclaimed Harry Potter nerd, I’m super excited for the next movie to be released in July.  After watching all the trailers multiple times, (as well as recent TV viewing of the older movies), one of the actors has me crushing.  While I was always drawn to Harry Potter in the books, in the movies it’s Hermione, played by the fabulous Emma Watson, that caught my eye.

Emma Watson was cast as Hermione at the ripe age of 9 and has really grown up (into one hot tamale) in the spotlight. Unlike her other under-20 peers, though, she’s grown up right. The worst things we’ve seen of her are some awkward fashion choices and picture of her drinking a beer; not her lady parts sticking out under a skirt, or her doing some illegal drugs in a bathroom.

So Emma is more than deserving of her position at #15 on the Forbes 20 Top Earning Young Superstars in 2007. The girl is worth $16 million!

Like our many other girl crushes, Emma has brains that could rival those of the character that made her famous.  It’s reported that she’s going to take an acting hiatus after Harry Potter wraps and will either be going to Yale or Brown in the fall.  Her backup plan is to be an artist, though with all that money in the bank and the rumors that she’s going to be the next face of Chanel, I’m not sure she needs a backup plan.

But back to why I love her. Read More »

(We’re back with another weekly installment of G.W.W.E. [Guys We Wanna Eff]. With all the news retrospectives airing to close out 2008, we thought it was about time to pay homage to our favorite journalist, the infinitely effable Anderson Cooper. )

Let me make no mistake: Anderson Cooper is a stone cold F-O-X. They should change the call letters of his station from CNN to E-F-F, because when I tune in, all I see are Anderson’s steely blue eyes telling me he wants to jump my bones.

But Anderson isn’t just a journalistic automaton–the guy’s got substance. After graduating from Yale, he didn’t have a job and simply decided to fly himself to far-flung locales like Burma and Somalia to cover wars as a freelance journalist, which he wrote about in his book. He gained recognition for his hard-hitting news coverage, landing him a spot as a CNN reporter and anchor of the program Anderson Cooper 360. Known for his grit and endurance for reporting across the globe, Anderson also starred in the documentary Planet in Peril, about the most critical environmental issues facing the earth today.

But all work and no play would make Anderson a very dull boy. He is well-known for being down-to-earth and plugged in to today’s popular culture. He’s a BIG fan of Real Housewives of Atlanta, (as he’s professed on many talk shows), and has a Facebook and a Twitter. He made a big splash a few weeks ago (literally!) when he challenged Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps to a mini-swimming race. Anderson may have lost the race, but ladies won the chance to see our favorite journo jock shirtless on national television. Most recently, he co-hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve special with Kathy Griffin (whose wild remarks have been the talk of bloggerati since yesterday), where he professed his resolution to blog more in 2009. Will I be hanging on his every effable word? Yes, yes I will.

Don’t worry, I’ve read all the gossip. I could care less if he loves men, women, or panda bears–I’d like to dispatch Mr. Cooper to my bed to experience some of his hard-hitting coverage. “Anderson Cooper’s Effability” is the only breaking story on my news feed.

[Every week our style guru takes a celebrity look and breaks it down for you, our poor college fashionista. What does that mean? It means that while the celebrities are spending $5,000 on an ensemble, you don’t have to.

All you have to do is click on the goods and - boom - you can buy the entire ensemble. Yes, we know; there is a spot for her in heaven.]

October 23rd marked Brit’s 10 years since Hit Me Baby One More Time hit radio stations and 7th grade girls dance routines nationwide, starting a school-girl frenzy. Everyone wanted to act, dress and be Britney (until she shaved her head and started walking around barefoot, that is). And this past year, Gossip Girl brought back the school-girl prep, showing us that What’s Old Becomes New Again, much like the current fads of 1990s flannels and studded belts.

So, in honor of this still-cute prepster look, which is in stores everywhere, I bring you this weeks Celebrity Chic On the Cheap: Let’s get Preppy One More Time. (Wow, I am so creative with words.) Read More »

So, after last week’s steamy, scream-at-the-tv episode, it’s only fair to give the GG writers a break this week. Sure, tonight’s ep was full of underage drinking, fights, and Rufus trying to send Little J to jail, but it wasn’t as nail-biting as some of its predecessors. Of course, this only means that tonight’s episode was a vehicle to set up some MAJOR dramz next week and the week after.

Blair is still hell-bent on going to Yale, even though her little tiff with S. a couple of weeks ago may have maimed her chances. The solution? Serena gets Blair to babysit the Dean’s niece to earn brownie points. Only problem (and who didn’t see this one coming?) is that little Emma is on a mission to lose her virginity.

Gossip Girl put it quite poetically: Lady B…outsoxed by a young fox. Because, of course, if there’s a young, horny virgin on the prowl, she’s bound to get intercepted by the one and only Chuck Bass.

Favorite line of the night, courtesy of Mr. Bass: “The only thing I like aged is my scotch.” LOVE it.

However, Mr. Bass laments to Blair that he holds very few things sacred, and one of those things is humping in the back of a limo. How sweet, in a pervy Chuck Bass kind of way. Needless to say, the jailbait bounced and hit up a club in search of Mr. Right Now.

Meanwhile, Little J. is planning her big, risque fashion debut… at a charity gala being thrown in honor of Lily and Bart. Like that doesn’t have “disaster” written all over it. She pulls the “Do you care about me?” card with Nate…isn’t it a little early to try to whip your new boy toy, Little J.? Nonetheless, Nate takes the bait and the next thing we know, GG is loading Jenny and Nate’s second kiss into an RSS feed. Read More »

With the economy in the sh*tter…it’s not crazy to ask yourself how the eff you are gonna pay for college. Well for you young’uns lookin for schooling in this time of economic turmoil, here’s a list of schools you might want to avoid, despite their prestige.

Consumerist.com posted a list of the 25 most expensive colleges in the U.S. (determined by tuition + room and board). Naturally, this list consists of the creme de la creme of prestigious schools (though surprisingly you won’t see Yale or Harvard on there), that charge extra for the name.

Now, I may not be going to Sarah Lawrence – which costs about $53,166 per year – but I think I’m getting a damn good edumacation without totally putting myself in debt (by “totally” putting myself in debt” I mean I’ll only be paying back loans till I’m about 40… not 80). While prices are on the rise, Hofstra University maintains a rather affordable tuition with plenty of financial aid. The University boasts several accredited departments as well as famous alums, such as Francis Ford Coppola. Hofstra proves that there are schools out there that offer a great education without having their students bend backwards to cover tuition.

So really guys, what’s in a name? Why the hell are these school’s so expensive? And how is anyone going to pay back the loans if they can’t get a job? And are these schools really worth all this money?

So many questions; I need answers!

If there’s anyone reading this who attends one of these top-o-the-line schools, tell us: are you gettin your penny’s worth?

When last night’s episode of Gossip Girl opened with a spoofy Eliza Doolittle dream sequence, I wanted to throw up in my mouth. However, what unraveled over the next 42 minutes (not including commercial breaks) was one of the juiciest, drama-filled, completely-untrue-to-high-school-life episodes of the season.

I freaking loved it.

All of our favorite Upper East Siders are getting ready for college. Which makes me think: my alcoholism peaked in college in a Keystone-Dubra-Keg Party blur. These “high schoolers” drink martinis for breakfast. What will happen to them after graduation?

So, obviously the GG writers have to come up with an elaborate scheme to get everyone to Yale for College Admissions Day. What better way to do so than by having Blair slam Serena, and Serena fight back by flaunting her hot Blake Lively self for the Dean of Admissions? You know something’s gonna go down when the kids’ Headmaster advises them to “present yourselves in the best possible light.” Yeah, right.

To put it in a nutshell: Chuck wants to join a secret society. Nate’s dad has a bad rap at Yale, so Nate pretends to be none other than Dan Humphrey in order to shack up with a collegiate hottie (Ladies– would you EVER shack up with a high school boy on a school tour? To answer my own question, I guess I’ve never seen a minor who looks like Chace Crawford…). Oh, and did I mention that Yale has decided to change it’s “stuffy” image, hence the interest in Socialite Serena? More on what I DID NOT find believable later.

In typical Chuck Bass fashion, blindfolded, non-English-speaking prostitutes show up in threes to *cough* impress the members of the secret society Chuckie so desperately wants to join, but what these guys really want is a piece of Nate Archibald. Hmmm. So Chuck sets up poor Lonely Boy to get beaten and tied, half-naked, to a gazebo. (Editor’s Note: Is tying a skinny kid in his boxers to a statue really the best a secret society can do?) Where was this when I was scoping out potential unis? Read More »