College towns: Berkeley and Stanford

Martin Griffith catches up on some reading outside the University Library at UC Berkeley, which simmers with undergraduate enthusiasm, intellectual fermentation and political skirmishing. The main action is in Cal’s 178-acre central core, which faces San Francisco Bay from the low slopes of the Berkeley Hills.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A student crosses campus at Stanford, whose student body — about 6,800 undergrads and 8,200 grad students — is about 39% Californian. About 21% come from other countries (mostly grad students).  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Students pass Cal’s University Library. The first buildings on the Berkeley campus were designed in the Second Empire architectural style, but then came a parade of styles — Gothic, Mission, Deco — that yielded a set of buildings almost as diverse as the students coursing in and out of them.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The biggest campus landmark at Stanford is the 285-foot-high Hoover Tower, completed in 1941 as a homage to President Hoover (who managed the football team as an undergrad). Visitors can check out the view from the tower.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Smiling students change classes on the campus at Cal, which has about 24,600 undergrads and 10,300 grad students, with about 85% of the freshmen from California.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A sculpture ponders the possibilities at Stanford — is the Palo Alto campus’ architectural style more Richardsonian Romanesque or rooted in Mission Revival?  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The Stanford campus is framed by graceful arches. The core of Stanford is mostly flat, the grassy expanses broken up by stately old buildings and dozens of sculptures from artists including Auguste Rodin, Andy Goldsworthy and Maya Lin.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)