When I met with my first-year advisor earlier this semester, he made an offhand remark I'll never forget. We began our conversation with what is something of a tradition between us now: some healthy, agreeable complaining about the weather ("Where I come from this would be illegal." "But it never snows ...
Last week, Brown students saw numerous posters and banners declaring that "we don't want our education profiting from occupation." To this end, activists observed Israeli Apartheid Week, advocating Brown's divestment from companies that profit from Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza. This advocacy ...
It's that time of year again: the applications have been reviewed and a lucky few have been invited to attend interview weekends at their prospective grad schools. This is a chance for both the faculty and the potential students to evaluate each other and get a feel for the "fit" between student and ...
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill introduced in Uganda last fall is deeply disturbing: it called for the death penalty for "any form of sexual relationship between persons of the same sex," which was later lightened to life imprisonment. However, capital punishment is still applicable for "serial offenders" ...
Seeking a way to keep brick-and-mortar colleges and universities relevant, in an age when online institutions threaten to make the attainment of a bachelor's degree substantially easier and more convenient, David Sheffield '11 ("What could Brown do for you?", Feb. 25) proposed several recommendations ...
I'm refreshing my Firefox page again. The event listing now says 11 confirmed guests and two maybes."One more confirmed guest!" I cry out triumphantly to the other people sitting in the living room. I am answered with enthusiastic "yays" from my companions. The thrill of this exercise is getting to ...
The minimum wage is defined as the lowest wage that an employer is legally allowed to pay. This concept was first brought to power by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 and has been enforced ever since. Currently, the minimum wage for Rhode Island is $7.40 per hour and most employers, including the ...
Will Wray's '10 column ("B.A. — D.O.A.", March 5) makes the case against higher education for those who cannot afford it and are not brilliant enough to deserve merit-based financial aid. He argues that a B.A. is essentially an overpriced tool for businesses to screen applicants, and dismisses ...
The gay rights movement, for all its endless challenges inside America and other Western nations, faces an even bleaker future in Africa. Pitted against the social aftermath of a continent that wallowed in colonial establishments for almost a century, and a stubbornly conservative culture spanning virtually ...
As students, university life bombards us each day with words. We listen to professors lecture, talk with our friends and read words of great scholars. Words represent concepts through which we understand the world. They are the content of the way we think, the tenets in which we believe and the activities ...
A disturbing opinions column ran in the Daily Princetonian on Feb. 22 ("The real ‘Sex on a Saturday Night' " by Iulia Neagu). The thesis was that a girl becoming significantly intoxicated is "equivalent to agreeing to anything that might happen to her while in this state," and that a serious injustice ...
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."
Recently, The Herald's editorials have been — appropriately — frustrated with the United States Senate.
It's about that time of year again. As the days until June fly off the calendar, students are rushing to find summer internships and post-graduation jobs in a still relatively weak economy. With so many possibilities and so little time, finding something to do when classes end can be a daunting, ...
It is a typical Kafkaesque situation where one can never figure out where the chain of hierarchy ends and who is accountable for making a fateful verdict. The world is neither understandable nor escapable, indeed a boundless labyrinth.
Senator Evan Bayh's recent decision to retire instead of seek re-election is an indicator of a larger trend in American government today — democracy is slowly dying. It's not a pretty death; rather, it's more like the long, protracted, gruesome death of a Western movie character. Shane isn't turning ...
A few weeks ago, I attended a standard gathering of The Brown Daily Herald opinions writers and editors to lay down rules and explain the ways of the Herald world. Given that I seldom keep track of my fellow columnists, I was excited to see who else was writing. As I scanned the room, I couldn't help ...
Conservative activist James O'Keefe laments that college students are "drowned in relativism." This is a fairly common criticism of academia, but it is not exactly precise. It is fair to say that American universities are generally socially liberal and that many students and professors value tolerance ...
In the past, when Brown received complaints from media conglomerates that students were using file-sharing networks for purposes of copyright infringement, the administration would react by sending a simple e-mail to the offender. The e-mail demanded that the student delete the copyrighted ...
Solutions by The State News
