I’ve been here a full semester, and I still cannot gracefully enter or exit a building at this university. This could be a #freshmanproblem (#unncessaryhashtags) but I really don’t think it is. And I really don’t think it’s me. There are serious door problems at this school.

At least twice a day I encounter a door that seems to be “just for show” at this university. And it’s always at legitimately the most inconvenient time to be unable to enter a building.

First of all, the SciLi. This building has probably the most confusing door rules that a building could have. I don’t understand why the revolving doors are the ones you’re supposed to go for, because its obviously natural to want to use the push-y ones, which are just are quicker and simpler. But no, I see people every day go up to push, and then become confused and have to switch to the revolving door. I’ve also seen people get up and push these doors open for fellow Brown students. While that’s lovely, and shows how great we all are, it’s probably the most unnecessary good samaritan act ever. We could just have functioning doors. [Read more →]

With hockey season midterms fast approaching, it is paramount to understand the historical significance of the concrete behemoths in which you will sit…for hours on end. Now, we all know the classic division and respective stereotypes that go along with where one studies, but why is this the case? Is the SciLi actually part of a CS15 project gone wrong? Do hipsters actually live in the basement of the Rock? Why can’t I ever get any work done in the Friedman Study Center? Is the Rock actually a nightclub? Why is the sky blue? All of these questions will be answered in this week’s edition of Ra Ra Brunonia: The Libraries.

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There’s a devastating scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in the opening, tone-setting portion of the movie. C-3PO and R2-D2, droids carrying fabulous secrets, crash land in the barren wastes of the planet Tatooine and immediately survey their surroundings, intent on making their way to civilization. As they gaze about, nothing but sand dunes and craggy, parched rock stretches away to the horizon. It is a landscape devoid of culture, of habitable climes, of — we might say — emotion and morals. They are alone in the caustic backwater of the galaxy, and there is no way out.

To make a long story short: let’s get the quad in front of the SciLi renovated already.

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Get it before it's gone!

Last night, masses of hungry students at the SciLi were fed at Pizza Nite, courtesy Campus Life and the University Library.

Tonight, the awesomeness repeats itself at the Rock at 9 pm. I was chatting with one of the librarians, and he mentioned that they order 90 pizzas for the SciLi’s Pizza Nite and 80 pizzas for the Rock’s. Last night, the pizza was almost all gone in a little over five minutes.

While everyone was waiting for the pizza, they were greeted with a surprise: a cappella caroling. Check out photos from last night after the jump. [Read more →]

What college student ever turns down free pizza?

Tonight at the SciLi and tomorrow at the Rock, the epic semesterly tradition know as “Pizza Nite” will take place at 9pm, according to Morning Mail. If you’ve never been, get ready.

Pizza Nite is probably one of the best free food events of the semester. First, there’s the anticipation. The crowds are waiting, growing larger and increasingly impatient. The pizza never arrives on time. Then, suddenly, the big moment arrives — library workers emerge with stacks of pizza boxes. The crowd goes nuts for the pizza, and you wonder if there will be any left when you get to the front of the line. Just then, 20 more boxes of pizza arrive, putting your fears to rest. As the pizza continues to disappear, another dozen boxes come along, then another dozen. In the end, something like a hundred pizzas are consumed in the span of a few minutes. (Then they bring out some cookies and fruit.) [Read more →]

If only they had this on RIPTA buses….

Ever notice that everything at this school seems to be a question of either/or? That’s right, the dreaded B-word. No, not that one, I’m talking about binaries, every non-conformist’s nightmare and the fodder of many a gender studies lecture (that is still a concentration, right?).

For all who have never seen the look of judgment in a friend’s eye when you tell him you’re going to the Sci-Li to work (“just to meet my study group, I swear! I’ll be like…ten minutes at most”) or don’t know what it’s like to blasphemously admit that you prefer Baja over Chipotle, we’ve put together a handy guide to Brown binaries that we’ll be rolling out over the next couple weeks.  A guiding hand to help you through the arduous decision-making process, this companion will illuminate  what your choices really say about you.

Up first on the chopping block: Libraries

An obvious choice, we know, but perhaps the most telling characteristic of any Brown student.  Unless we’re talking about those kids who study in their rooms because they “just don’t do the whole library thing,” the library choice is a prime expression of campus identity. Read more after the jump. [Read more →]

…because the FriSC is open 24/7, starting today until the end of finals.  If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of the Naked Donut Run, or if you’re just going to be stuck in the concrete jungle studying for exams, be aware that there is now additional space for you set up camp: the Quiet Center.

Photo c/o Greg Jordan-Detamore / Herald