My mother has breast cancer. It takes a lot for me to write that. It was caught early. The timeline, as it often does in times of trauma, flashes in bits and pieces. I remember whispered conversations in the shoe aisles of thrift stores. There are the hushed phone calls, the second opinions and the ...
Last week, the U.S. Senate — a chamber charged with safeguarding the “national character” and resisting the “impulse of sudden and violent passions,” according to our founding fathers — voted to increase the defense budget by $80 billion. That’s enough money to pay for the elimination ...
Returning to Brown in September is always a bittersweet process for me. Not for the reasons you think: Of course, I hate leaving home and the lack of responsibility that summer affords me. But I also hate returning to Brown because, on campus, I cannot walk anywhere more than two minutes away, especially ...
I lean in for a picture with a group of friends. I am in the front row and sitting beside two girls, one white and the other black. As we pose, the white girl in between us turns to the crowd behind and says, “Oh my God! I’m going to look so pale in this picture! Look who I’m sitting next to!” ...
Last week, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner announced the sale of the iconic publication that has been both reporting and influencing pop culture since 1967. The sale of the magazine demonstrates a broader decline in print media, which is a daunting subject to tackle in writing or even think about. ...
As a junior who came into Brown thinking she had it all figured out, I’m more confused about what I want to do with my life now than I was as a bright-eyed freshman. In high school the choices seemed black-and-white: I imagined I’d spend my undergraduate years preparing for either law, medical or ...
Over the weekend, President Trump unleashed a series of tweets criticizing NBA star Steph Curry’s unwillingness to accept an invitation to the White House, as well as the multitude of NFL players who have collectively refused to stand for the national anthem. While these tweets are not the first time ...
When I returned back to campus this semester after studying abroad, I felt like I was entering a second freshman year. Thayer Street had completely transformed, the dining halls had changed and everywhere I looked, the unfamiliar faces of new students replaced those of the upperclassmen who had long ...
President Christina Paxson P ’19 announced Wednesday that the University will launch a $120 million campaign to remove all loans from financial aid packages for all undergraduates and replace them with grants. This effort displays an important commitment to improving socioeconomic diversity on campus. ...
Joel Stein and Nancy Gibbs. Gene Roberts. Anderson Cooper. The team from Spotlight. When I think of journalists who inspire me, these are the men and women who immediately come to mind. It is saddening that, off the top of my head, I can’t think of a single print journalist or columnist of color. ...
Recalling first-year orientation brings back little besides the sensation of immense loneliness. Watching as my peers made fast friends with each other, feeling like an outsider observing social rituals conducted in a foreign tongue. I didn’t connect to anyone that first week at Brown, or the second. ...
In recent years, Hollywood has been pushing for equal representation for all genders, sexualities and ethnicities on-screen. While Hollywood is making progress on these issues, there is clearly more to be made, especially for the Asian American community. Only in the past three years or so have Asian ...
This summer, a few friends and I decided to drive into Providence, Rhode Island to grab dinner. Our destination was a small, unassuming Mediterranean grill, somewhat out of place among the dozen-plus Italian restaurants on Federal Hill. The food was good, but we weren’t there for that. The place was ...
The S/NC grading option is a cornerstone of Brown’s academic experience. It provides students with the freedom to try courses without worrying about letter grades or GPAs. However, the value of the S/NC option often comes under debate. Most recently, a column printed in The Herald, written by Nicholas ...
On June 15, Jay-Z became the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In the induction ceremony, former President Barack Obama recorded a video tribute as an introduction to Jay-Z’s acceptance speech. During the tribute, Obama said, “So, I’m pretty sure I’m still the only president ...
Over the years, people have attributed the economic inequality in higher education to a variety of conditions: the advantage given to legacy students, the lack of extensive and well-communicated financial aid opportunities and the altogether inscrutable college admissions process. Now, a new factor ...
When I think back on my summer, some of my favorite moments were spent alone. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed my daily one-hour commute in Los Angeles traffic from the San Fernando Valley to Pasadena. My falsetto dramatically improved with all of the R&B music that I sang along to in the car, and ...
When applying to colleges, the thing I liked most about Brown was its promise of academic freedom. As I toiled through my final year of high school, I had grown weary of rigid course requirements. At a Brown information session that year, I was enthralled by the promise of an open curriculum. After ...
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a proud Virginian. I am a proud native to a small rural county just southeast of Charlottesville. On Aug. 12 I attended the counterprotest to the “Unite the Right” rally that brought hundreds of white nationalists to my home state. I witnessed firsthand the hate, ...
An immutable fact of life is that people talk. But when Brown students are frustrated, not all of us can feel better just by talking. Some of us yell, some argue and some even protest. One of the first things I noticed when I got to college was the overwhelming lack of silence. While I appreciate the ...
Solutions by The State News
