A Cool Thing You Shouldn’t Miss: Class at Brown and Beyond

By: / April 24, 2014 / No Comments /

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This Saturday at 2:00 p.m.., several students will crowd the Crystal Room at Alumnae Hall to voice their opinions on class at Brown. The event — what Brown Political Forum founder Ben Resnik ’15 deems less coat-and-tie, more town hall — is the first of a new Community Forum series.

The event adopts the term “community forum” from the open discussion President Paxson hosted at Alumnae Hall following New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly’s canceled lecture last fall. Viveka Hulyalkar ’15, a chair of the Community Forum, said “the magnitude of the dissidence [on campus] was underestimated. There’s a huge demand for an opportunity to bring these pockets of consensus together and get in each other’s faces about the stuff that really tears us apart.”

The Community Forum will start with class, as the chairs feel that class on college campuses has become not only a hot-button issue at Brown but also a once-hushed subject that is now considered nationally. The event will feature several student speakers who Resnik said are known and respected figures on campus. But, the audience truly makes up the core of the forum.

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Ra Ra Brunonia: Brown Engineering footage from the ’60s

By: / April 24, 2014 / No Comments /

Ever wanted to know what Brown looked like in the 1960s… in grainy color film? This is your opportunity. This particular video highlights the Engineering program at this fine Ivy League institution and does include some stunning aerial views of the campus. Definitely worth watching, despite the lack of dynamism (and movement) in the interview segment. Ra Ra Brunonia!


It Takes Two: Jess Harper ’16 and Marileni Benopoulou ’17

By: / April 23, 2014 / No Comments /

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Marileni Benopoulou (left, we think) and Jess Harper (right, we think) might just be the best dead ringers we’ve had this year. These foreign ladies, who are actually, and truly, often mistaken for each other, are known for… well… having everything be exactly the same. Interviewing them was trippier than Diplo on Spring Weekend.

Jess: For a while now, whenever I’ve been going out or in the Ratty, I’ve had people come up to me and go, like, “Hey Marileni!” Literally, the other day in the Ratty some guy nudged me, and he was like, “Hey!”
Marileni: (Laughs.) Yes, he told me. He was telling me that he was shouting at me—or you, that’s confusing—and then he pushed me—or you?—and you turned around and he was like, “Oh my god, I pushed the wrong girl.” I was at a party in the middle of last semester and I bumped into a guy and we said hi. And then I walked away and then he was like, “Just because we’re at a party you’re going to pretend you don’t know me?” And I was like, “We’ve never met before!” And he was like, “C’mon Jess!” and I was so confused.

J: Is My Big Fat Greek Wedding your favorite movie? Because it’s mine.
M: It’s my life. basically. My family is exactly like that.

M: Do people ever tell you that you look like a celebrity?
J: When I was younger, people said I looked like a young Kim Basinger.
M: Not really at home, but here I get Rachel McAdams a lot.
J: I also used to get Hilary Duff when I was younger, like when she was a younger Lizzie McGuire.

J: Have you been to London?
M: All my friends live there, so I’ve been there a lot. You’re a sophomore?
J: Yeah.
M: I’m trying to think of sophomores I know, but none are coming to mind.

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Students “Stand with Lena” against Brown’s sexual assault policy

By: / April 23, 2014 / 1 Comment /

Yesterday, at about 11:00 a.m., some 50 students and community members gathered at the Van Wickle Gates to hear Lena Sclove ’15.5 speak about her experience as a rape victim at Brown. The above is a video recording of her speech, in which Lena discusses the attack, reporting the sexual assault, pursuing disciplinary action, and the ultimate decision of the administration to suspend her rapist for only one year. Despite her having appealed the decision, he will be back next fall, while she still has three semesters left at Brown. For more information, read The Herald’s article here, and Bluestockings Magazine’s response to the press conference here.

A petition has been started by students that asks the university to require “anyone found responsible for sexual misconduct be suspended until the person they have assaulted graduates, or until two years have passed (whichever is longer).”

Dean Klawunn sent out an email yesterday afternoon, acknowledging that “important discussions of sexual assault awareness, prevention, and related conduct policies are taking place at Brown and on campuses across the country,” and stating that today’s Brown University Community Council meeting will discuss the university’s policies regarding sexual assault. The meeting will be from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in Hillel, and it’s open to all interested students.


Yeah, that's right.

We sat down with American Politics Professor Wendy Schiller to discuss House of Cards

By: / April 23, 2014 / No Comments /

Recently, we interviewed Wendy Schiller, Professor of Political Science, to discuss the latest season of Politics 101 House of Cards. Her Introduction to the American Political Process and The American Presidency courses are favorites among the student body, and she has numerous years of experience working in Washington D.C. with real Frank Underwoods, Doug Stampers, and Jackie Sharps. She first started watching the show after her students raved about it in her various classes. After some Spring Break bingeing, she was ready for the interview. Her wealth of knowledge made for an enlightening and slightly terrifying interview.

Be forewarned: SPOILERS LIE AHEAD. If you haven’t finished the second season, well, I don’t know what you’ve been doing with your life. But also avoid the following interview if you are as emotionally invested in the show as most of its viewers. Without further ado, BlogDailyHerald presents to you an exclusive interview with the one, the only, Wendy Schiller:

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BlogDH Presents: Brunonia

By: and / April 23, 2014 / No Comments /

Teaser

We go to a pretty amazing and interesting school, don’t we? Thinking about Brown in the same way Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein think about Portland, BlogDH is producing Brunonia, a webseries that holds a mirror up to College Hill to have a laugh about the place we call home. Check back tomorrow night to see the first episode of Brunonia right here on Blog!


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