The State House lawn was dotted with umbrellas on Saturday afternoon, as the hundreds of people gathered there maintained a hopeful spirit despite the intermittent rain. They were part of the National Day of Protest, a event organized by Join the Impact that brought people together in cities in all 50 states to protest the passage of California’s Proposition 8.

Many Brown students had waited nearly two years for this. President-elect Obama swept the West Coast around 11 p.m. last night, essentially clinching the 44th presidency and propelling hundreds of exuberant students onto the Main Green.

Hiring prospects are looking dim across the board. The only exception? Government. Fifty-two percent of employers surveyed in the Job Outlook 2009 Special Report said they would probably “be hiring fewer graduates during the 2009 recruiting season than they hired from the Class of 2008.

Renowned environmentalist Lois Gibbs described her transformation from housewife to environmental activist to a crowded MacMillan 115 Thursday night. Her talk, entitled “Love Canal … 30 Years Later,” described the circumstances surrounding the 1978 toxic waste scandal that enveloped her upstate New York community of Love Canal and made her famous.

The Providence office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which helps register low-income and minority voters, has received two threatening phone calls in the run-up to the presidential election.

Elana Siegel ’11 knows many people divide doctors into two camps, a la “Grey’s Anatomy”: one brilliant and precise but aloof, the other less renowned but down-to-earth and attentive to his patients’ needs.

Though new students from the class of 2012 have already settled onto campus, an influx of Texans could soon hit College Hill. The mayor of Houston sent a letter to the Delta Tau fraternity on Friday saying he is taking steps to make them honorary Houstonians – an honor bestowed upon foreign dignitaries, prominent individuals, entertainers or artists, according to the mayor’s Web site.

The Delta Tau fraternity has been forced to cancel a scheduled event this weekend after being placed on a six-week probation this week by Greek Council.

Thanks to a recent change in policy, students 18 years and older now have access to Brown’s expanded Zipcar fleet.

A new program in the Office of International Affairs will give 10 students scholarship money and an opportunity to connect their studies at Brown to the global community. The office’s Web site describes the three components, spanning two years, that will make up the new International Scholars Program.