As many of you probably know, there was a fire in a Jameson 3rd floor room Monday night at around 7:00 p.m. Rumor is that it started when a lit candle caught a curtain, but we’re not here to speculate about that. Though no one was hurt, the fire, of course, has affected many more students than just the resident(s) of that room. A couple of hours after firefighters had put out the blaze, Res Life sent out an email telling students from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors of Jameson to “relocate for the evening.” According to the same email, students had an opportunity to grab their things and prepare for one of numerous slumber parties throughout the rest of Keeney that night.

Until earlier today, however, students were still unsure when they would be back in their rooms. According to a second email sent out this evening, people on the 1st and 2nd floors would be allowed back into their room on Friday, April 26 once necessary repairs were complete. They had until 9 p.m. tonight to pick up whatever they needed. Those who live on the 3rd floor would be back in their rooms by Monday, April 29. Res Life has offered students “temporary housing” – if they aren’t down for a longterm sleepover at a friend’s, in which case they can still pick up an extra mattress – and has gone the extra mile to send students a list of instructions for making property damage claims for damaged belongings (check after the jump).

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ResLife recommends you study hundreds of floor plans. Because that is the level of insanity the lottery requires.

This is an incredibly important PSA reminding everyone that lottery applications are due this Friday, March 22 at noon. Do not miss this deadline! If you do, you and your tragic housing group will be automatically entered in the Summer Housing Process. ResLife provides a step-by-step account of that process, but it can be summarized as being officially fucked over for housing. So again, submit your housing lottery application by FRIDAY!

As you’ve probably heard, there have been significant changes to the housing options available for rising sophomores, who are now part of a separate lottery from rising juniors and seniors. As you have also probably heard, no one actually seems to know how exactly this will affect the lottery; some will tell you the Class of 2016 has been saved from the brutality that would have been, while others offer the opinion that they have been royally screwed over (Perkins as a sophomore, anyone?). It doesn’t help that ResLife is intent on sending out very confusing emails and maintaining several different webpages that offer different sets of information. Example: the initial lottery information email told students to check the “front desk in North Wayland” to verify their semester levels. Um, ResLife has been located in Grad Center E since the beginning of this school year. You would think that they would know…

We do our best to provide useful lottery information and links after the jump:

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For a long time, students have been wondering exactly what the dorm options will be for the 2013 housing lottery. On Wednesday, ResCouncil posted a list of all the changes. We’ve broken them down for you in an easy-to-digest map:

Note: Greek and program houses located in sophomore communities will still be open to juniors and seniors.

A year ago, the University announced a sweeping plan for renovating and reorganizing campus housing. We won’t recap the details of that, but there are some important differences between that plan and the new one: Perkins will be sophomore doubles, not junior/senior singles, and Slater and Hegeman will be for juniors and seniors, not sophomores. Read more here.

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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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The Hunger Games movie is coming out this Friday, and to say we’re excited is a bit of an understatement. We’ve listened to the soundtrack, watched the trailers (five times), and even have begun to play the game “RISD outfit or Capitol citizen?”

To celebrate our age-inappropriate excitement for the wholesale, post-apocalyptic slaughter of adolescents, BlogDH reimagines the world of District 12 here on College Hill:

It’s sometime in the indefinite future. Brown’s endowment is gone, and to make money, the Corporation has started The Housing Games—a nationally televised event where Americans can feed their schadenfreude and watch freshman Ivy Leaguers fight to the death.

But freshmen eagerly look forward to the competitions: awaiting everyone in the winner’s dorm is priority housing, early registration, and 500 flex points.

So fame, mortal danger, and a whole lot of Blue Room sandwiches lie ahead.

May the odds ever be in your favor, and let the Housing Games begin!

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If you thought you hit the lottery because you signed a lease for that white Victorian on Waterman, let me burst your bubble. Those that live on John Street… maybe you should stop reading. Turns out students at the University of California, Merced, are literally living the life off-campus applicants dream of, at least according to the New York Times. From chandeliers to Jacuzzis, these kidz don’t care for stereotypes— they’re apparently too busy sipping Natty Lights by the “curvaceous swimming pools” of their low-rent McMansions.

Not going to lie, as I read this article, a part of me died. But here’s some food for thought to make you feel better: yes, their housing (and by housing, I mean actual six-bedroom houses with elegant fixtures and backyards and carpeting and… where was I going with this?) may be exponentially better than ours, but their real estate fortune has a clearly defined expiration date. I’m not saying Brown is very indicative of the real world, but at least we’re used to some housing heartbreak. Which might prepare us for the disappointment of finding a house after we move out of the East Side… right? I mean, that picture doesn’t even look totally fun or anything.

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If you haven’t already heard me ranting about it in the SciLi, or at UCS, or on the Main Green, here’s some not so new news: the university is currently 80 students over capacity, resulting in the displacement of students all over campus in makeshift dorm rooms.  Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but housing this year has put a damper on some of our original plans for Brown’s social scene. These include hipster get-togethers in the South Wayland lounge (now home to four sophomores), late night baking parties in unconverted kitchens, and rockin’ parties in a charming Jameson lounge.  Without this communal space, students have been driven to find other ways to entertain themselves.  This includes waiting in ridiculous lines for Blue Room sushi/Kabob & Curry, people-watching from the window of Tealuxe (or is that just me?), attempting to break into the mythical tunnels, and ranting about said housing crunch.   [Read more →]

Courtesy of Brown Auxiliary Housing

An email from our favorite prez, Ruth, just announced some exciting news from the Corporation meeting this weekend:

The Budget & Finance Committee approved funding for renovations, beginning next summer, to 315 Thayer Street to expand campus housing. Currently an apartment building, the project will result in a 66-bed dormitory within the residential hall system.

Props to the Corporation for actually doing something about our housing crisis, even if it may just be a band-aid for the problem.  Here’s hoping a newly constructed dorm is soon to follow!