We love the Brown Bookstore. Over the past few years, we believe it has tailored its selections to our needs and has become creative with its apparel offerings, both in terms of brands (read: Polo) and items (read: those badass blue sweaters with the large “B” on them).

We are very happy to help out the Bookstore evolve even further to meet the ever-changing needs of the Brown community through our First Annual Bookstore Poll!  Responding to this incredibly short survey will help the Bookstore supply you with the Brown swag, gear, and essentials you need as a Brown student… and if that isn’t convincing enough, one lucky respondent will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Bookstore!

Think of this as your opportunity to let the Bookstore tailor its apparel and goodies to your needs. Fill out this survey to help the Bookstore make all of your apparel-filled dreams come true.

Image via. 

Family Weekend is just around the corner, and you know what that means: trips to the Brown Bookstore on your parents’ dime! But this Family Weekend, the Bookstore has more than just the fresh Brown apparel and accessories that you love—they also have the coolest threads for your family members.

That’s right: your parents can return to your hometown donning Brown apparel so that they can ever-so-subtly remind your friends and neighbors that you go here. Not only this, but they can do so while wearing the finest of brand names, including Ralph Lauren, Patagonia, Brooks Brothers, Under Armour, Gear, and Champion. The finest of threads with the name of the finest university plastered across the front? Seems like a win-win: Your family members will be bursting at the seams with Brown pride, and they’ll look extremely stylish in the process.

Be sure to plan a trip to the Bookstore while your parents are in town. Let your family show you off, and let them do so in style. Your parents will be thrilled with the selection.

Flights, on top of flights, on top of flights. Steve Rothstein ’72, an investment banker from New York, purchased an American Airlines AAirpass in 1987 that grants him unlimited flights — whenever, wherever.  According to the NY Post, the Brown alum has tallied a staggering 10 million miles of travel over 10,000 flights; he even occasionally stops by good ole’ Geoff’s for his favorite bologna and Swiss melt (The Bobbi Riggs?) on a whim. Since 1987, Rothstein has flown to England upwards of 500 times, Tokyo 120 times and Australia 70 times. Who doesn’t enjoy airplanes?!

Recently, his AAirpass was revoked due to fraudulent activity; in many cases Rothstein would merely label his second ticket under the name ‘Bag Rothstein.’ How baller is that?  Rothstein has filed an appeal and is currently waiting for a ruling on the case. In the meantime, I hear that the automobile serves as an effective mode of transportation.

Alright, alright, Grandma, we get it — you want tangible, wearable evidence to prove that your grandchild goes to Brown so you can brag to all your friends in book club. You’re being annoying, but we totally understand…we’re kind of a big deal.

The pressure’s on from all angles to return home from school with tons of Brown apparel for everyone: friends, parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings, etc. In purchasing a gift from any college bookstore, three criteria must be met: The gift must 1) boast name of college (the bigger the better), 2) be practical and 3) tasteful. Although everyone (predictably) will want you to buy them a T-shirt or sweatshirt with BROWN plastered obnoxiously across the front, you should consider purchasing something a little more unconventional… because now you can. The Brown Bookstore has stepped up its game this semester and has a lot of new (and bizarre) merchandise for us to choose from. Here are some gifts that will render the recipient speechless and still satisfy our three criteria for purchasing college swag:

Because everyone wants a Brown student’s nuts… especially if they’re gourmet.
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Producing a play is hell.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. And maddening. And gut-wrenching.

Do you want all these emotions, and a kickass ensemble cast to go with it? Then hit up Kassar Fox at 9 p.m. tonight and enjoy the debut of “Nothing Productive,” an original webseries chronicling the trials and tribulations of dysfunctional students trying to create functional… stuff. Eight people stuck in one room with an overload of chaos and questionable levels of sanity, attempting to make theater things happen — what could possibly go wrong? Written and directed by Kate Doyle ’12, executively produced by Andrew Favaloro GS, produced by Josh Bloom ’14, and starring the cream of Brown’s acting crop, “Nothing Productive” is, honest to God, the best thing you can do to pump yourselves up for Spring Weekend. You won’t get any work done anyways, so why not have a laugh or ten watching others do the same?

And then watch ours afterwards…

It came to our attention that some fools on campus thought our inaugural Breakfast with Buddy post was fake. That we had a meal put together and photographed. That we were lying to you. That we had betrayed our blah blah… you know the drill.

To the haters we have only this to say: you don’t got no swag until you’ve worn a suit to breakfast. Haters gon’ hate.

Calorie crunch:

• Two slices of whole wheat toast, 100.
• Yogurt, 80.
• Grapefruit and banana, 120.

We also asked Buddy about his favorite restaurant in Providence, and he said, “Depends on what I am in the mood for!” Guess that means y’all better be on your best behavior during those 5 a.m. Loui’s runs…

After a brief hiatus, Ra Ra Brunonia is back and better than ever. This week we examine the historical roots of Carrie Tower and its relatively subtle presence on campus. Located on the corner of Waterman and Prospect, the tower, in all its glory, peers down upon the slack-liners and studiers of the Quiet Green. Unlike its counterparts on the Main Green, Carrie Tower holds a more subtle, yet deep rooted reputation on campus.

Built in 1904 as a gift from Paul Bajnotti of Turin, Italy, Carrie Tower serves as a memorial for the daughter of Nicholas Brown II, the wife of the benefactor. The tower, built by the J.W. Bishop Company of Boston, is 95 ft. tall (it’s no SciLi) and is primarily constructed of brick (it’s also no ivory tower). The top of the tower is fashioned with four copper clock faces and often adorned with an assortment of invasive plant species. The foliage was not included in any of the original blueprints. Though no one has ever been held prisoner in its highest windows, in the mid-1900s, Carrie Tower and its now defunct bells were used to signal the beginning and end of classes and victories of the Brown football team. [Read more →]

Remember senior year of high school? Tearing through envelopes upon envelopes, closely reading  looking at pictures of different schools and their unique offerings. Beyond each distinct campus and student body, each college displayed one image that I am sure resonated with you throughout the process — the seal.

Though we have all become familiar with the Brown seal with the sun peaking its creepy face over four illegible books, the design of the seal has come a long way since the University’s establishment in Warren, RI in 1764. As Brown was founded prior to the American Revolution, the initial seal of the college, commissioned in 1765 at the second meeting of the Corporation, depicted the profiles of King George III and Queen Charlotte, an image often seen by students venturing into the Sharpe Refectory in 2012. Though ideas were developed and discussed, a new design was not formally instituted until 1833, almost thirty years after the change of name from Rhode Island College to Brown University. The present day Rhode Island College was not too creative in their choice of name #thatsso1803 (Get on our level). Brown: always the cool kid on the block. [Read more →]

We all know it, we’ve walked past it a thousand times — University Hall, the icon of Brown. If you don’t know it, it’s the huge building on the Main Green with the bell and the bricks, and you should probably stop taking the shortcut through the Leeds Breezeway. Beyond its purpose as a home for administrative and presidential goings-on, the College Edifice (its original moniker), built in 1770, can be traced back to the establishment of Brown in Providence. Once the lone behemoth on College Hill, University Hall has nestled in among the high rises and beautiful parking lots of the city, serving as a beacon of knowledge and intellect for all who make the trek up College Street.

As Brown’s first and oldest building, University Hall has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the course of the school’s nearly 250-year history. Brown was a bit lazy in its design and modeled the building after Nassau Hall at Princeton, the alma mater of Brown’s first president, Reverend James Manning. Controversy surrounds the construction of the building, as Corporation records denote the possible use of slaves in the work force. Once completed, the building held the students’ quarters, mess hall, chapel and classrooms until the construction of Hope College in 1822. It was at this time that the College Edifice was renamed University Hall. (Note: Why isn’t the word ‘edifice’ used more often? #18thcenturynostalgia #swag). [Read more →]

Coming to Brown has been a huge learning experience for me – new places, new people, and new ideas. This new knowledge is all good and grand but the most fascinating things I’ve been learning around campus are all the new vocabulary words. I’m not talking about dumb, fancy words like “hegemony”, “post-modernism”, or “agency”, I’m talkin’ ‘bout tha slang. I never thought about slang very much back home, but coming here has opened my ears to the many interesting regional bastardizations variations of the English language. Here is a short portion of Brown’s very own “urban” dictionary:

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