The New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group (NHPIRG) released a report in July comparing the rise in the amount of debt students must repay after graduation to the rise in the cost of living for the years 1993 to 2004. Nationally, student debt rose 107 percent in that period, from an average of $9,272 per student with loans to $19,210. At the same time, the cost of living in the Boston-Nashua area ? defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the counties of Bristol, Essex, Hampden, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester in Massachusetts; Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham and Strafford in New Hampshire; York in Maine; and Windham in Connecticut ? rose 37 percent. Medical expenses for the same region rose 74 percent..

? Gallery hopping by the sea: Art Round Town, Portsmouth?s monthly art gallery event, returns Friday, Aug. 11, 5 to 8 p.m. The aptly named annual estuary group show at The N.W. Barrett, 53 Market St., Portsmouth, includes pieces from Don Gorvett, whose work was recently purchased by the Currier Museum. Darlou Gam?s romantic landscapes will be featured at Family Tree Fine Art & Furnishings, 23 Ceres St., while Alfredo Lorenzo?s abstract landscapes open at TaraPeck Gallery/Studio at 39 Ceres St. An anything-goes kind of show is at the New Hampshire Art Association?s Levy Gallery, 136 State St., while photographers Karen and Dick Hudnall show ?Through the Eye of the Beholder? in the Levy?s East Gallery. Visit artroundtown.org for a map.

I must say it got my curiosity when the e-mail arrived saying the Monarchs were going to hold what seems like their annual August press conference to name a new coach last Friday at 3 p.m. Who holds a press conference at 3 p.m. on a Friday in August? Because I?m the cynical type the practice from in the Dan Duquette era of sending out notice of the latest enormous increase in Red Sox ticket prices on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving came to mind. But these are the Monarchs, who have the impeccable record of doing the right thing, so I knew that couldn?t be it.

Slow aging, help prevent cancer and improve your vision ? what is this miracle drug?

The blueberry..

The new Derryfield Repertory Theatre actors are passionate about musical theater, which is good because they do it all day, almost every day, together. Age 15 through 19, most members of this summer cast are also pursuing college degrees in performing arts.

The 360 tries to replicate the giddy mech-smashery of early original XBOX star Mech Assault with Chromehounds, a slow, plodding homage to everything Mech Assault wasn?t..

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