and head over to soldiers’ arch, because Girl Scout cookies are back! Being sold out of a wagon, apparently. Get on it, Brunonia.

3:50 Acela to New York
Is life on College Hill getting you down? Do you long to see the familiar faces of your beloved kin? Do you dream about home-cooked meals that don’t cost you flex points? Well, kids, we’ve got the solution to ALL of these problems, and more! Go home! Just go home! Don’t think about it! Get outta here! We’re all sick of you anyway! Don’t think about the fact that you’re missing the first weekend of 40 degree weather in months, just GO HOME!

Men’s Hockey vs. Clarkson & Brown Band Ice Show
7:00 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.
Meehan Auditorium, Hope St
One of the things we’ve come to dearly love about Brown is the fact that our school band ice skates. Yes, that’s right. They ice skate! Playing a wind instrument on ice takes balls, my friend. Come out tonight to support them in their last on-ice game of the season. Rumor has it there might also be a hockey game going on…

Ghost Stories by the Fire
9:00 P.M. – 11:00 P.M.
King House
Are you afraid of the dark?

Get Off My Lawn!
10:00 P.M. – 12:00 A.M.
ADPhi, Goddard House
If you’ve ever wanted to be a curmudgeonly old man, then break out that sweater vest and your favorite pair of corduroys and head over to ADPhi, where you will be rewarded with golf, poker and lots of rants about those damn kids these days.

—Brian Mastroianni & Anne Speyer

If you happen to be a Rhode Island taxpayer who hasn’t . . . well . . . paid your taxes, you might want to get on that.

The Central Falls school superintendent is going through with her promise to fire all of Central Falls High School’s teachers; she sent them all letters yesterday reporting the board of trustees will decide whether they get to keep their jobs or not on February 23.

Rhode Island will be one of eight guinea pigs in a new program that will provide college-level coursework to high school students in order to prepare them for college.

In the spirit of this year’s First Pick competition, we’ve found a couple of hot international videos highlighting what a group of people can do with a little coordination and a video camera. Hopefully, Brown students this year will hold a candle to University of Quebec students:

More videos after the jump [Read more →]

If you’ve been missing your paninis and that “free” pizza your parents already paid for, then you’ll certainly be excited for today’s reopening of The Gate.

Back in 1947, when The Gate first opened, Pembroke students were excited, too. Unlike the Blue Room, which they could only enter when accompanied by a male escort,  The Gate provided a place for the females of College Hill to lunch freely.  Brown men were allowed in, too, but only if accompanied by a Pembroke student, according to the Encyclopedia Brunoniana.

And there were actually gates! White picket fences, which you can make out in the background of this picture. According an Evening Bulletin article describing the new eatery, The Gate also featured “many cozy nooks with leather-upholstered wicker furniture in lime, yellow and deep green.” Way too charming.

After the jump, a picture of the 1947 snack bar with era-appropriate glass bottles of soda, as well as pricing from the 1979 Gate menu. [Read more →]

Retro-style “Diamonds and Coal” from The Herald‘s issue on September 15, 1995:

A diamond to the Cable Car Cinema, for finally finding something other than Pulp Fiction to put on its screen.

Can’t get enough D & C? Read slightly more current incarnations in today’s Herald, or submit your own at DiamondsandCoal.com!

In memory of Avi Schaefer ’13, whose death shook the Brown community a week ago today, The Herald has collected reflections and rememberances from Schaefer’s loved ones. See them below, or in Friday’s print edition.

— — —

Drawn by Sarah Young

Avi Schaefer was an inspiration, a far too uncommon person. We have such a limited time to make this world brighter; nothing more than wink in time for our lives to shine. Judaism teaches us that “The soul of man is the light of G-d” (Proverbs 20:27). Avi lit and warmed this world with his soul. He burned through the darkness, and without him the world is a little less bright and a little more cold. We are left to carry his torch, to keep the flame alive so as not to be lost in the darkness left by his absence.

Dan Nissimyan

It is hard to communicate how immediately and fully Avi impacted our lives from the minute he arrived on our campus only a short time ago. It is indicative of how incredible Avi was that we find it so challenging to summarize what he meant to us. He was, first and foremost, a dedicated son and brother to his family, a loving and generous friend, and a compassionate human being who knew how to bring people together. He arrived at Brown after three years of service in the Israeli Defense Forces. Avi always defined himself as a “soldier for peace.” His Jewish identity was central to how he positioned himself in relationship to his interests, beliefs, friendships, and experiences. We were blessed to have him in our lives and his impact on our community had only just begun. We will keep his inspiration, passion for peace, and love of identity and values alive in our community and in our hearts.

Samantha Adelberg ’11
Danya Chudacoff ’11
Roberta Goldman ‘13
Jana Loeb ’08
Sarah Rapoport ’10
Nava Winkler ’13

More after the jump. [Read more →]

To waste your time today — Lady Gaga.

This just in: American Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir is “gonna get ya hard.” He just may show ya what he’s got, too.

After the jump, even more Poker Face. [Read more →]

Lunch: V-Dub. But not for its Chicken Finger Friday this time. No, this time, it’s for your Vegan Nuggets Friday.

Dinner: V-Dub. Thanks for reconsidering how to use your Stir Fry Station. That’s right, out with the vegetables, and in with the Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee.