In an effort to squeeze out negative energy (new year, new semester, new outlook, you know the drill), I must take this conspicuous opportunity to lay open my feelings against a most conspicuous man. He is someone who absorbs more attention than he will ever deserve. He is a man capable of and culpable ...
The ongoing crisis and relief efforts in Haiti have rightfully captured our close national attention. But as the acute phase of the disaster fades and relief rather than rescue becomes the order of the day, an important opportunity arises for self-examination. It may be uncomfortable, but the circumstances ...
The first time I smelled marijuana smoke, I distinctly remember thinking what an odd odor it is. Wood smoke has a crisp, full odor. Cigarettes give off a fainter aroma, light, but sharp. Marijuana is more difficult to describe: sharp like a cigarette, but distractingly sweet-and-sour. It's an unpleasant ...
I had been making my rounds as a responsible member of the Hong Kong Students' Association last week, attempting to get the word out about our latest event. I was surprised at the number of my friends who questioned or declined my invitation on the basis of "not being from Hong Kong." I felt a little ...
Since the 2008 economic crisis, there has been no shortage of "belt-tightening" rhetoric in our periodic e-mails from President Ruth Simmons. The administration's promise to reduce the budget deficit became incarnate in the Feb. 2 report of the Organizational Review Committee. The report is littered ...
Admit it: regardless of how much we enjoy our academic pursuits at Brown, they can sometimes seem very distant from reality. The journal articles and academic books we read can seem too specific to be useful in "real life," and the papers we write rarely see the light of day once their due dates have ...
Since the people of Massachusetts doomed the health care bill, the Obama administration has been trying to bridge the differences between the Senate and House health care reform bills, and will continue to do so within the next several days before the televised bipartisan health care summit on Feb. ...
Learning a foreign language is serious business. Although the rewards are great, the path to "fluency" — a concept which becomes more elusive the longer one pursues it — is long and arduous. And just when it seems like you've significantly expanded your abilities, you realize just how much ...
Ruth Simmons stole my column idea.
This year, if President Barack Obama can fulfill a promise he made in Wednesday's State of the Union address, Congress will finally repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. When — and only when — this national injustice is remedied, ...
Human interest stories are an easy way for newspapers to fill space. They appeal to readers without having journalists spend much time with pesky fact checking. Especially as newspapers and other organizations lay off science journalists, it is increasingly clear that entertaining consumers, rather ...
Barack Obama recently took the opportunity during his State of the Union address to chide you nay-sayers for your negativity. "Just saying no to everything," he condescended, "may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership."
Born to a small Chinese village two thousand miles away from Beijing, my father traveled to the nation's capital in the spring of 1978 and toured the city for the very first time.
Late last month, Gov. Donald Carcieri '65 gave his final State of the State address. For me — and I venture to suppose for the majority of The Herald's readers as well — the governor's imminent departure from Smith Hill is a rare ray of sunlight in what will undoubtedly otherwise be a cloudy ...
CollegeConfidential.com is a pretty frightening place.
My 30-minute commute to work, with the potent three cups of coffee en route and the beauty of the sun shining between sporadic trees, offers a nice snapshot of my past two years. Teaching fifth-grade science to 140 wide-eyed students at PFC David Ybarra Middle School in Edcouch-Elsa, Tex., has been ...
There are days in Providence when it feels like the only thing more common than rain is the police, when, with the Brown, RISD and Providence departments, you can't turn a corner, right here on the East Side, without running into yet another cop car. But even though we live next door to a precinct office, ...
I love hosting prospective freshmen. Last semester, I showed a delightful young woman from New York City around campus. I took her through the Main Green, to Jo's for a late night snack and, the next morning, to the Ratty for breakfast. (I figured it would be honest to expose her to ...
Between the two sure things in life — death and taxes — Amazon.com seems determined to eschew at least the latter in many places in this country. Collecting sales tax on Amazon.com was a largely ignored issue because, in most states, the online store has no legal obligation to collect taxes ...
During a reception for international students at the Faculty Club last month, Vice President for International Affairs, Matthew Gutmann, was questioned by concerned students about why the Watson Institute has not yet taken to starting programs on contemporary China and Southeast Asia.
Solutions by The State News
