Opinions
Tomasko '13: Rankings schmankings
By William Tomasko | February 7CollegeConfidential.com is a pretty frightening place.
Opinions
Opinions
Editorial: Senate slowpokes
By Brown Daily Herald | February 5We have a number of grievances against the U.S. Senate. Here's one more to add the list: The dysfunctional chamber is stalling on an important bill that would expand student aid and go a long way towards making college affordable.
Opinions
Martinez '08: Ending educational inequity
By Marco Martinez | February 5My 30-minute commute to work, with the potent three cups of coffee en route and the beauty of the sun shining between sporadic trees, offers a nice snapshot of my past two years. Teaching fifth-grade science to 140 wide-eyed students at PFC David Ybarra Middle School in Edcouch-Elsa, Tex., has been ...
Opinions
Liebling '12: Police brutality comes to College Hill
By Simon Liebling | February 4There are days in Providence when it feels like the only thing more common than rain is the police, when, with the Brown, RISD and Providence departments, you can't turn a corner, right here on the East Side, without running into yet another cop car. But even though we live next door to a precinct office, ...
Opinions
Editorial: Learning curve
By Brown Daily Herald | February 3This January, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges unsurprisingly reaffirmed Brown's status as an accredited institution. The team of NEASC evaluators praised Brown as "one of the premiere educational institutions in the United States," but NEASC's Jan. 8 letter informing President Simmons ...
Opinions
Letter: China studies a growing discipline for students and faculty at Brown
By Brown Daily Herald | February 3To the Editor:Many thanks to Sarah Yu '11 for her thoughtful column ("Our say in academics," Feb. 2) regarding student involvement in curricular matters, especially those relating to international studies. Either I didn't express myself well or Yu may have missed part of my comments, so let me try again.Since ...
Opinions
Badami '11: The importance of being earnest
By Anthony Badami | February 3I must thank a friend who recently encouraged me to seek out a salient university document that I had treated, at best, with indifference. This noteworthy piece of text is the oft-disputed Brown University mission statement. From what I am told, it received considerable revision in the past two decades, ...
Opinions
Ratledge '11: Plastic or plastic?
By Alyssa Ratledge | February 3Last Friday afternoon found me at the Brown Bookstore, searching for that elusive species of textbook which has a "love me, I'm marginally less expensive" used sticker without six thousand markers' worth of unnecessary highlighting. The bookstore's Web site had lured me in with the promise that the ...
Opinions
Letter to the Editor: Numeric illiteracy to blame for typo
By Brown Daily Herald | February 2To the Editor:In Hunter Fast's recent column ("In defense of Ruth," Jan. 28), he erroneously states that the Brown endowment lost $800 billion during the financial meltdown. In fact, the endowment lost $800 million. I'm sure Fast simply made a typographical error, but I worry about the fact that this ...
Opinions
Andrea Matthews '11: Eating a hole in our wallets
By Andrew Matthews | February 2I love hosting prospective freshmen. Last semester, I showed a delightful young woman from New York City around campus. I took her through the Main Green, to Jo's for a late night snack and, the next morning, to the Ratty for breakfast. (I figured it would be honest to expose her to ...
Opinions
Editorial: Sober solutions
By Brown Daily Herald | February 2More positive alterations are in the works for Rhode Island's developing cannabis laws. State Reps. Joseph Almeida and John M. Carnevale are seeking to streamline the distribution of medical marijuana and discourage abuse of the substance. The state already allows patients with chronic pain or their ...
Opinions
Letter: Bookstore not to blame for textbook prices
By Brown Daily Herald | February 1To the Editor:
Opinions
Yue Wang '11: Repeal Rhode Island's Amazon tax
By Yue Wang | February 1Between the two sure things in life — death and taxes — Amazon.com seems determined to eschew at least the latter in many places in this country. Collecting sales tax on Amazon.com was a largely ignored issue because, in most states, the online store has no legal obligation to collect taxes ...
Opinions
Sarah Yu '11: Our say in academics
By Sarah Yu | February 1During a reception for international students at the Faculty Club last month, Vice President for International Affairs, Matthew Gutmann, was questioned by concerned students about why the Watson Institute has not yet taken to starting programs on contemporary China and Southeast Asia.
Opinions
Editorial: Syllabus day
By Brown Daily Herald | February 1The last time the Brown community broached the subject of holidays, the University eliminated Columbus Day amidst fierce debate and controversy. We are certain, though, that Columbus Day enthusiasts and detractors alike will appreciate our new recommended tradition.
Opinions
Corrections
By Brown Daily Herald | February 1In a column in Thursday's Herald ("In defense of Ruth," Jan. 28), an incorrect value was given for the losses to the Brown endowment over the course of the current financial crisis. In fact, the endowment lost $740 million over the 12 months ending June 30.
Opinions
Brian Judge '11: Haiti: where morality meets reality
By Brian Judge | January 31As I read the heart-wrenching accounts of people being pulled from the rubble in Port-au-Prince, I couldn't help but wonder what we hope to do for Haiti in the long term. Eventually the streets will be cleared of rubble and the wounds will start to heal. But what comes next?
Opinions
Editorial: Fee-for-all
By Brown Daily Herald | January 31Nobody likes hidden fees, as is painstakingly obvious to anyone who has watched television long enough to see advertisements for cell phone service providers, banks, car insurance companies or airlines. Brown, thankfully, does not add extra, undisclosed charges to stated tuition and fees. However, it ...
Opinions
Editorial: Sext offenders?
By Brown Daily Herald | January 28In the last week alone, two new reports emerged of prominent individuals using digital technology for unseemly purposes. A former aide to 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards alleged that Edwards recorded sexual acts on DVD, and Greg Oden, the top overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, ...
Opinions
Nida Abdulla '11.5: A meal credit or a snack credit?
By Nida Abdulla | January 28I feel like someone out there in the intricate corporate web that is Brown is sticking it to me every time I buy food at the Gate, Jo's or the Ivy Room. The other day I missed dinner in the V-Dub, so I decided to go to the Gate for a meal. A meal at the Gate is six bucks, and it bought me a cup of soup, ...
