Apparently, every area of the University has to make its fair share of sacrifice — except the athletics department.

Phi Beta Kappa is a prestigious collegiate honor society. In fact, it’s the oldest one in the country. According to its Web site, Phi Beta Kappa “celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.” Its chapters invite America’s “most outstanding arts and sciences students.”

Over the course of my last five semesters at Brown, I have found that it falls far short of the hype that its ultra-liberal reputation and conservative detractors led me to expect.

Late last month, Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 gave his final State of the State address. For me — and I venture to suppose for the majority of The Herald’s readers as well — the governor’s imminent departure from Smith Hill is a rare ray of sunlight in what will undoubtedly otherwise be a cloudy political year.

Sean Hannity is fond of proclaiming America the “greatest, best country God has ever given man on the face of the Earth.” Bill Maher has an interesting response: “America must stop bragging that it’s the greatest country on Earth and start acting like it.”

What use is a solvent state government if intoxicated teens can operate motorboats with impunity?

When I was at the Empire State Building last week, I noticed an interesting mural. It was a stylized map of the northeast, the point of which undoubtedly was to portray New York at the center. All the states but one were labeled. Can you guess which was left behind?

When I first set foot in this great state, I knew there was something special about it. Something unique. Rhode Island makes New England’s other small states look gigantic by comparison, and yet it has the longest name of any state in the union.

We’re back at Brown! Another year passed, another anticipated yet somehow still jarring transition from the indolent laze of summer to the purposeful buzz of academia. It’s been four long months. So long, in fact, that I even missed the Ratty! I suppose a summer of shopping and cooking and cleaning can open one’s eyes to its hidden beauty.

The rest of New England is preparing to follow in Iowa’s footsteps. New Hampshire and Maine look likely to approve marriage equality bills this year, and Vermont’s legislature already overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of its marriage equality bill by a two-thirds vote. Where is Rhode Island?