An e-mail sent by the Department of Public Safety informing students of two incidents near campus proves why 1) why you should always be careful in Providence at night, and 2) why you should always proofread closely:

Incident #2

On Saturday, April 24^th, at approximately 12:36 a.m. on Carrington Street, two brown students were jumped by a subject who was looking for their money. They did not have any. The suspect subsequently  ran from the area after the students started yelling. The students did not sustain any injuries.

Yes, “two brown students” were robbed. Way to turn the name of a school into an awkward faux pas.

Forbes Magazine has placed Providence tenth on a list of U.S. cities in free fall.

The magazine looked at 40 metropolitan areas in the country and judged them based on six categories: percent median home price has fallen, new home construction, net population change, per capita gross domestic product, percent change in unemployment between July 2006 and 2009 and number of jobs added between February 2007 and 2010.

Providence, which Forbes called “picturesque” (have they seen the Sci Li?), is the only city in New England on the list. It is also the only city on the list to see a negative population change. Props to us for sticking it out.

Even though we may want to be included on some list following Brown’s hipster-related snub earlier this week, we probably shouldn’t be too proud to have made this one, although it’s probably the only time Providence will be mentioned in the same breath as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami (except perhaps in response to the question, “So now that you’ve graduated and can finally move away from Providence, where to?”).

Most Brunonians are now back home or relaxing at a sunny vacation spot for spring break.  But back in Providence, a record amount of rain has fallen. Providence has received over 7.9 inches of rain in a 36 hour period, according to the ProJo 7 to 7 News Blog. Rainfall across New England has led to flooding, home evacuations and school closures. But the end is in sight. The high in Providence is supposed to approach 70 degrees this weekend and will be in the 60s for our return next week.

Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence today announced the birth of a giant anteater sometime Tuesday morning. (What do you call a baby giant anteater? An anteater?) Here’s the as-yet-nameless babe on the back of mother Talara, where it has apparently found some ants to eat.

Roger Williams Park Zoo

In case you were wondering what the deal was with these zeppole things at the Ratty, V-dub and Blue Room — it’s all in honor of the other big saint with a day this week, St. Joseph.

Don’t know how the pastries got added into the mix of traditions, but “San Giuseppe” — Mary’s husband — is big with the Italians, hence his feast’s importance in Providence. Unfortunately for us college students, the March 19 holiday isn’t used as an excuse for excessive drinking, but at least nobody’s going to pinch you for forgetting to wear red.

Rhode Island has its quirks, to be certain, and among its hidden secrets is that it birthed the dive diner.

And who doesn’t love a little validation?

Last week, the Liberty Elm Diner had its moment in the sun on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Featured on the “Comfort Foods Classics” episode, the local spot taught Guy Fieri a couple tricks on how to make a roasted turkey sandwich.

The episode re-airs over the next couple of weeks. Make friends off campus — IPTV is not a Food Network subscriber.

And if you want a little dive lovin’ even closer to home, Loui’s made its appearance on the show in November.

For those of us who won’t want to leave our rooms today to puddle-jump all the way to Worker’s Appreciation Day dinner, why not get some Ratty take out, stay in and watch our very own President Ruth Simmons address the Rhode Island General Assembly?

President Simmons will be the keynote speaker for the Joint Legislative Black History Month Celebration today at 5 p.m. Fans of the president can tune in to Capitol TV.

Read the full press release after the jump.
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Gallup just completed its annual state-of-the-states poll, rating all 50 using a highly calibrated Well-Being Index. Hawaii won (seriously? They should be disqualified.); West Virginia came in last (maybe that’s just what you get for being an off-shoot of a state).

And Rhode Island didn’t perform too shabbily, coming in at 40th place. As the smallest state in the nation, we’ll take what we can get.

But the real kicker was the city-by-city analysis. Providence ranked as the second-worst on the well-being chart. To make matters worse, it was our emotional health scores that brought us down.

We’re just speculating, but this could be a reason the Brown girls are feeling emotionally … burdened.