Three Boston-area students are among the 34 recipients of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Graduate Scholarship. Two attending MIT and one attending Harvard, the scholarship is known as the “richest in the world,” as it will cover up to $300,000 in graduate school expenses. For information on the scholarship and to apply, visit jackkentcookefoundation.org.The Princeton Review named UMass Boston as one of the 222 “Best in Northeast” colleges, and one of 81 “Colleges with a Conscience.” UMass Amherst was named to these lists, as well as the “Long Lines and Red Tape,” “Their Students (Almost) Never Study” and “Campus is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both” lists. UMass Lowell was also one of the “Best in Northeast” colleges. There are 37 Massachusetts colleges on the “Best in Northeast,” and 10 on the “Colleges with a Conscience.”Delta Dental is offering Massachusetts students and their dependents a voluntary dental insurance plan. The cost is $259 for a student, $482 for a student and one dependent, and $723 for a student and two or more dependents, and the coverage begins Oct. 1, lasting until Aug. 31, 2008. For more information on the plan and to sign up, visit University Health Services or their Web site, www.healthservices.umb.edu.College Democrats and College Republicans are getting the chance to debate each other on the Open Student Television Network’s interactive show “We the Students.” The first debate, to be hosted by Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, is going to be filmed on the University of Miami’s campus, and is going to air and broadcast live online Sept. 10. To watch the debate, visit www.ostn.tv.Paige Zinzella, a UMass Boston alumna and biology teacher for Boston Public Schools, joined an Earthwatch Institute research team for 13 days. Zinzella went to Brazil with six other volunteers from the US and England to assist with the Jaguar Conservation Fund’s researchers with the capturing, radio collaring and sample collection of live animals such as maned wolves and crab-eating foxes. For more information on Earthwatch and to get involved, visit www.earthwatch.orgAccording to a study conducted by Houghton Mifflin, the Internet has been more of a study aid, as opposed to a detractor, for college students. They surveyed 896 currently enrolled college students and found that 59 percent of them use online study tools to keep up with course work and prepare for examsThe Dining Services Advisory Committee announced that the Quinn Café is no longer a full-service dining area, instead offering drinks and pre-made food. The Campus Center Food Court is now going to open at 7 a.m. and will have a full service breakfast, and the Atrium Café in the Campus Center will have a Peet’s Coffee, and Sushi Chef will move to the Atrium to make sushi in a public viewing area and provide an opportunity to prepare specialty orders.