Many former Keeney residents were shocked when they returned to campus to find that the building received a major facelift. But this summer’s changes hardly end there.

Today’s Herald featured a spread that breaks down all of this and next summer’s housing changes, which aim to create a more uniform progression of housing from freshman to senior year. Since we’ve already given you a photo tour of the new Keeney, we now bring you inside some of the other renovated dorms.

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The Walk of Shame is ten times longer from Keeney…

Last Friday, I was dragged along by my friends to the soccer game. Now, I don’t pay attention to foot-games, so as I sullenly zoned out (what color uniforms do we wear again?). I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation of the sophomore girls seated behind me.

“I’m so super excited to be going out this weekend! Oh my god, I’m gonna get so wasted.”

“Yeah, I haven’t gotten laid in forever.”

“Oh my god, just be careful. You don’t want to hook up with a freshman.”

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It comes once twice a year. The chance for every club to strut its stuff. The chance for every new freshman to find his or her new calling among the diverse, active, hilarious, serious, lighthearted, political, food-oriented, and multicultural chaos integral to all of Brown’s student groups and clubs. Fun, right?

It sucks. It really effing sucks.

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Welcome to Brunonia, First-Years! And welcome to BlogDailyHerald. Here at Blog, we give you the scoop about all that’s happening in and around Brunonia. From free food to time-wasters to help you procrastinate in the library, we have everything you need to survive campus life.

As you begin your time at Brown, people will want to see what you’re up to so they can live vicariously through you. Inevitably, they will stalk your Facebook. The number one thing you need right now: parent appropriate pictures. So hide those photos from Whisco last night and show these to Mom and Pop. Like our page so you can tag your friends and hallmates here! Have a great first semester at Brown!

An important part of your freshman year is learning that some things you thought about college were wrong. Your roommate may not become your best buddy, and those parties may not be as fun as they looked on TV (or maybe they were — you can’t remember). And if you think you know what classes you’ll be taking, shopping period begs to differ.

Shopping period is basically Brown’s way of ensuring that you really love all your classes (unless you need to take orgo, in which case… have fun!).  For the next two weeks, you can add and drop courses at your leisure and sit in on as many classes as you’d like.  There are so many classes to choose from that shopping period can seem pretty daunting, but here are some tips to help you make the most of it.

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Freshman orientation should ideally be a time of grace and poise, but this façade is too often lost somewhere between your second and third Karkov-cranberry. So, as you gather with other anxious first-year students from across the globe, what could be more fitting than a tropical themed dance?! “We’re all dressed in silly outfits! Isn’t this like the most fun!  This is just like what I read about!”

An essential stepping stone in the process of initiation into Brown student life, the Annual Freshman Orientation Dance is no time for goofing off, and you better bring your A-game. Although classes haven’t started yet, important life decisions are definitely about to be made. In order to help you kill it, we’ve compiled a helpful list of “Dos and Don’ts” to adhere to so that you can make a stellar first impression on your new peers. Check it out after the jump.

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This changes everything.

Living in Keeney has been known to have its advantages and disadvantages. For a long time, Keeney Quadrangle has been defined as a hub of activity due to its large concentration of freshmen first-years (+).  Keeney was also defined by the condition of its interior: not so great (-). The furniture was old, the bathrooms were gross, and kitchen and lounge space was scarce.

As part of a larger plan for dorm renovations, Keeney is being renovated in two phases. The first phase, which occurred this summer, overhauled and reconfigured student rooms and created new “magnet lounges” (with fancy kitchens!) on the top floors. Next summer, the bathrooms and hallways will be renovated, elevator installation will be completed, and the building will be split into three separate sections. Check out BlogDailyHerald’s tour of the new and improved Keeney after the jump.

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We just want you to know that right now is the most exciting moment of your entire life! I mean, this is the type of thing you’d think in a million, billion years is never gonna to happen to you… and even when it does, you still can’t believe it: you’re at orientation. At college, at Brown University. Freshmen, meet BlogDailyHerald. We’ll explain it all.

We all move into our freshman year differently. Maybe you’ve been coordinating a color palate with your roommate, and maybe this is the first time you heard about move-in day. Either way, you probably have some questions. Yeah, there are obviously the essentials — deodorant, socks, and that obligatory college poster — but BlogDH is here to help with those finer details of packing. We hit you with some ideas last year, but after another year of college living, and several more “I wish I hadn’t packed my rice cooker”s, we’ve amended the list so that you’ll never be without your fracket.

Do: Bring Tide to Go. BBQ sauce, beer, blood—you will encounter all of these stains your first semester (maybe even all at once!). You’ll want this to erase what denial and untagging photos on Facebook can’t.

Don’t: Bring cooking supplies. First, I will steal them from you, because I’m still damn bitter you guys get the shiny new kitchens. Second, unless you really, really want to cook, there’s no way you’re going to be making anything practical or worthwhile while in the dorms. Let’s face it—they’re going to be broken in (emphasis on broken) via the drank in your red solo cups. [Read more →]

Heated rhetoric. Pack mentalities. Buzzwords. Embarrassing gulfs between words and actions. Sound like Washington? According to a new study, it’s just you.

UCLA researchers, in a survey of college freshmen across the United States, found that all that squawking on behalf of liberal causes is actually just part of a trend indicating all talk, no walk… sigh. Among other findings reported in the Chronicle of Higher Ed,  71 percent of freshmen are in favor of same-sex marriage and almost half advocate marijuana legalization. In the realm of substantive activity, however, the freshmen falter. A paltry 6 percent planned to participate in political protests on campus. Moreover, results revealed a roughly 5 percent drop in student participation in campaigns at any level of government from previous years. Rather than spur political activity, the fictional travails of Leslie Knope and the Pawnee Parks Department have apparently only encouraged us to draw sophisticated parallels between Ron Swanson and an actual libertarian named Ron. Comments on the study’s significance after the jump. [Read more →]