Posts by Ana Alvarez

This is when you would call Hangover Helpers

We’ve all been there. The splitting headache. The sea of red cups. The anonymous vomit in the corner. Last night you threw the wildest rager. But now its Sunday, and you’ve got to deal with a hangover and a destroyed post-party house. To some this might seem like a nightmare, but to a couple students at University of Colorado students, this was a business opportunity. Hangover Helpers, a student run business, brings fellow students and party-throwers breakfast burritos and Gatorade and will also clean up the party mess, all for a price of course — $15 per roommate. So, any students in Engineering and New Ventures, here’s a possible idea for a final!

Einstein believed in poetry.

Last week, an editorial appeared on MIT’s newspaper lamenting the cut of the university’s Advanced Poetry Workshop due to financial restraints. And we rather agree — especially if, instead of continuing the poetry class, MIT is deciding to offer a class on “Communicating With Mobile Technology.” Really, MIT? A class on how to text and use Twitter? Instead of poetry!?

Clearly there are some (apparently the administrators of MIT) who can argue a scientist doesn’t need to know how to conjure lyrical verse in the engineering lab. Yet, the MIT editorial makes the very bold claim that “poetry, as long as man could string words together into longer, more involved metaphors and language-pictures, has been the remedy for our dumbness.” Maybe  Einstein can provide a more  eloquent (or poetic?) defense for the study of verse — “pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.”  That’s right, MIT. If soon-to-be-scientists are able to study how to communicate with their buddies over Facebook, they should at least be offered a class to practice the art of poetry.

Due to the upcoming Thanksgiving festivities, there aren’t any events offering free food this week, so instead go home and raid your pantry! It’s the best source of free food we’ve found so far.

GLEE Showing
8-9 pm
Smitty B 106
Gleeky fun and free food

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER showing
8-8:30 pm
Barus and Holley 168
TV, food, trivia, and prizes

Independent Concentration Info Session
6 pm
Curricular Resource Center (Stephen Roberts 228)
Learn about crafting independent concentrations and munch on free K & C!

Traditional Games and Activities Night
7-8:30 pm
Mo-Champ Lounge
Play traditional Asian games and eat some Asian snacks

Max Heiges's masterpiece "The Juggler"

A frat’s Saturday night dilemma: after many rounds of beer pong and shotgunning, empty Keystones cover the sticky basement floor. What to do? One Dartmouth student’s answer: turn it into art.

Max Heiges, Dartmouth art intern and football player, incorporated the classic frat beverage into his installation piece “The Juggler.” Much like anyone who supports themselves on Keystone, the sculpture seems like it is about to collapse from too much alcohol intake. But the precariously balanced sculpture stays afloat,  incorporating a couple of seemingly floating chairs and a lot of cases of empty Keystone, all of course donated by Dartmouth frat members. Who knew a Saturday night’s worth of beer could become a contribution to the art world? And, like with any other serious work of contemporary art, we must ask what does it mean? Heiges’s answer: “Nobody rages anymore.” Hmmmm. Right.

What we want to know: why hasn’t some hipster vis art student already done this with PBR?

Yeah, you wish you heard the sound of the waves

Ever been stuck in the draining silence of the Rock stacks where you’d much rather hear the peaceful lull of beach waves? Prefer to listen to the sounds of creeks or forest birds instead of your roommate’s snoring every night?

Nature Sounds let’s you compose your own ambient melody, be it for reading, sleeping, or meditating, for free. Some of our favorite sounds: cat purr, fireplace, tibetan bowl…and “brown” noise? What it’s a sound of and why it’s called “brown” remains a mystery.

Out of Bounds, Brown’s sketch comedy group that brought you classics like SciLi State of Mind, presents yet another soon-to-be Brown YoutTube sensation – A Social Network Trailer. Watch. Laugh. And don’t miss out on seeing Out of Bounds perform live in their upcoming show later this fall.

Our state's seal - with the controversial "Providence Plantations"

In yesterday’s election, voters sent a strong message – Rhode Island’s name should not be changed. A proposition presented a call for the official name of the state to go from “the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” to just “the State of Rhode Island.” Many thought the “plantation” referenced politically incorrectness about Rhode Island’s role in slavery, and should therefor be nixed from the official state name. However, supporters of the original name argued that “Providence Plantations”  was supposed to mean “settlement” when it was coined by Roger Williams, an opponent of slavery, in the 1600s. And about 80% of voters agreed – history reigns and Rhode Island’s name will not be changes, regardless of how “bad” it sounds. What we’re wondering is when’s the vote coming to get rid of “Island” in Rhode Island? If we’re trying to make the state’s name PC, shouldn’t we also try to make is geographically correct?

What's wrong in this picture?

Yup, boners are kinda awkward. Make sure your professor doesn’t catch you looking at this during class. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Four Loko - Drink responsibly. Or regret it the next morning.

For most college students, drinking on the weekend normally consists of a couple cans of Natty Light and a beer pong table. Yet now, more students are foregoing the 12 cans of beer and instead are buying just one can — of Four Loko. You know that warning you’ve often heard: never mix alcohol with Red Bull? Well, Four Loko is just that: an energy drink with 12 percent alcohol content. And while anyone who has ever Four Loko-ed it on a Friday night (or Eight Loko-ed, if they are brave and don’t mind throwing up) can tell you that Four Loko’s flaw is that it is almost too effective; it is the cheapest and fastest way to get a guaranteed blackout.

Which is why Ramapo College in New Jersey has recently decided to ban the drink altogether. Concerns arose after New Jersey officials found even high school students getting loko off of the energy drink. And, with its reported role in the recent anti-gay violence in New York City (one victim was forced to drink 10 Four Lokos, impairing his memory of the attack), Four Loko might be, well, a little too loko. My advice – if you do decide to Four Loko, perhaps share it with a friend. And when you both pass out, make sure you have a trash can nearby.