Jan Cao

Cao '13: How unique are you?

Cao '13: A downside of crowdsourcing

"Studying: the act of texting, watching TV or tweeting while there's an open book in front of you."

Cao '13: The liberal arts versus the real world

A friend recently complained to me that the expectations of a liberal arts education and the demands of the real world go in two opposite directions. On the one hand, he said, students are expected to gain higher awareness of the human and natural worlds they inhabit. On the other, the real world asks ...

Cao '13: Across the strait: Chinese, Taiwanese or both?

Last Thursday night, students almost overflowed Salomon 001 to hear a speech by Justin Lin, the current chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. The title of his talk was "Demystifying the Chinese Economy." It was a very insightful and inspiring speech, but I find Lin's personal ...

Cao '13: Be international, be Brown

It feels strange being international. The stereotype is that large groups of foreign students from a single country tend to stick together rather than blend in with the rest of the student body. I admit that I hang out with other Chinese students a lot — but not exclusively. Some international ...

Cao '13: Calculus and pirates

One of my friends is taking her first college math class. Being a humanities student, she just bought her most expensive textbook yet — a 2011 edition of James Stewart's "Calculus" for $180. The past editions cost no more than $30. Some can even be downloaded online for free.

Cao '13: Should we eat that much?

My roommate, who works the closing shift at the Friedman Cafe, called me up Friday night and said, "Would you mind coming to (the Sciences Library) and taking a couple of the leftover muffins for us? It's so sad to see them going into the dumpster. I feel like a rampage killer." I went there and took ...