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This just came in from the wire and by wire I mean via Moye and will upset most Brunonians. I had heard whispers and rumors of this but couldn't quite believe it until I saw this:
Your eyes do not deceive you. Beloved Spikes on Thayer Street, that delicious gourmet hot dog shack and post-drinking provider of nutrients is closed! I don't understand this closing at all.
For those of you who didn't attend Brown or wasn't aware, this place was integral to Brown experience. Spikes certainly holds a slot among my fondest memories at Brown.
In a follow up to the previous entry on courses and profs at Brown, Professor Hazeltine's popular "Engin 9" is one class in particular that has had a lasting impact on me, especially the further and further I find myself removed from academia. With that, I enjoyed reading a profile on him and his business management class in the recent issue of the Brown Alumni Magazine (BAM).
Later, Hazeltine outlines the final paper assignment. He advises the students that "college often teaches you to write long, discursive papers on extremely complicated things. Don’t do that here. In the real world people want solutions, and they want them expressed simply." The deadline for these final papers, it turns out, is flexible, unofficially at least. "They’re due on December 9th," he tells the class, "but if they don’t come in that day the world won’t come to an end." Hazeltine is also open to changing grades. "There’s nothing wrong with telling students to rewrite a paper for a better grade if they think they can do better," he says later in his office. And when asked about cheating, he says, "In a way, students talking to each other during a final exam is not a bad thing. When you ask employers what they look for in an employee, they always say they want someone who can work efficiently as part of a team." Hazeltine emphasizes that he does not endorse cheating, however; if he discovers a student cheating on a final – and because the class is so large, there are always some who do – the grade for the test is an automatic zero.
As he lectures on the Salomon stage, Hazeltine shifts his weight from one leg to the other and rolls back and forth on the balls of his feet. During class, he often hops off the stage and strides up and down the aisles. He has a long-standing tradition of shaking the hand of every student who correctly answers one of his questions, and, because he asks a lot of questions, he does a lot of jogging from one corner of the auditorium to another. After the lecture, walking back to his office in the Barus & Holley building, Hazeltine admits the handshaking is a little gimmicky. "But the students expect it," he says, "and if I forget to do it their feelings get hurt. They come up to me after class and say, ‘Why didn’t you shake my hand?’ "
Haha, it's so true. I was pleased when he shook my hand after I answered a question right once. (Hey, it's nerve-wrecking sometimes to volunteer an answer in front of hundreds of your peers!)
Read more here.
On behalf of my alma mater's admissions office, I interviewed last Fall a prospective student who was applying to Brown. I was happy to hear that she was admitted, and she just recently emailed me asking me if I had any recommendations on any must-take courses or professors. As Brown subscribes to an open curriculum pedagogy, it can be a bit daunting the first year when attempting to pick one's courses. So, fellow Brunonians: What courses and professors at Brown do you recommend?
I'm recommending Professor Robert G. Lee. (Am Civ), James T Campbell (Africana Studies), Anani Dzidzienyo (Africana Studies), Barrett Hazeltine (Engineering), Tomasi (Poli Sci) Wendy Schiller (Poli Sci), and Darrell West (Poli Sci) off the top of my head.
And for first year courses: EN 9 and PS 22.
I was browsing the newsletter sent out by the Brown Alumni Club in New York and they are promoting some Valentine's Day social mixer. Here are the advertised drink specials:
From 6 - 9 pm there will be drink specials: $6 Cosmos, $6 Wines, $5 Domestic Beers, $6 Imported Beers.After 9 pm drinks will be full priced.
I am fully aware of the higher prices here in NYC, but this is the least special drink special I've ever come across. Brown University: The Stingy-est Ivy. Brown is always the last to volunteer to buy a round at the bar. When Brown is at a group dinner, it totally "forgets" to toss in the tax and tip. At its wedding, there was a cash bar.