Etc...

Gee, this place is a dump

Let's say you're basking in the glow of your wedding reception, and the musician for the occasion breaks into song: "I hope you won't ... toss me out like a bag of trash/I wouldn't want your burning love to turn to ash." You'd be insulted, right? But Dave Hart and Rockie Graham took it in stride. After all, it fit with the setting for their nuptials: the Bethel (Maine) Transfer Station. The couple took their vows amid piles of solid waste because, well, both are employed there, and it's where they feel comfortable.

The Boston-Cambridge area - home to Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University, among a host of others - is the most student-friendly big city in the country. That's according to a ranking by Collegia, a consulting firm in Wellesley, Mass., that took into account such factors as availability - and cost - of public transportation, healthcare, and housing, as well as the international diversity of students. Boulder, Colo., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., rated best among cities with populations below 1 million and 2.6 million, respectively. Collegia's top 10 cities with more than 2.6 million residents:

1. Boston-Cambridge, Mass.
2. Washington
3. San Francisco Bay area
4. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
5. New York-Long Island- Northern New Jersey
6. Philadelphia
7. St. Louis
8. San Diego
9. Chicago
10. Atlanta - USA Today