Post-Thanksgiving: You just got the small break you desperately needed, and oh look! you’ve returned with a sliver of hope. Little did you know how quickly the finals f**kfest begins.

The New Day (Greta Van Fleet):

♪Let the new day (ONLY UNTIL 4PM OF COURSE) shine its light on me
Shake the old way, nights too dark to see
Free tomorrow, it’s bright with something new
Believe the righteous, and it will come true ♪

Last Week of Class: “Wow, how the hell is the semester already over? I swear I was just about to go to the prof’s office hours for the first time yesterday, and form a meaningful connection for that recommendation letter I need”

“I wonder if she still remembers me from that one time we talked about climate feedbacks”

Time is fleeting friends.

Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin):

♪In the days of my youth
I was told what it was to be a man
Now I’ve reached the age
I’ve tried to do all those things the best I can
No matter how I try
I find my way to do the same old jam
Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
When my soul left home
For a midterm so bad
Well, I still don’t seem to care ♪

Live the best S/NC life people!

Final Night Out: Its time to go big before you go home! Nothing can keep you from that one last epic night out before you retreat to whatever corner of hell you have to spend the next month in, without your friends, and without your beloved sink in Andrews (that’s honestly what hurt most).

Baba O’Riley (The Who):

♪Sally take my hand
We’ll travel south cross land
Put out the fire
And don’t look past my shoulder
The brown shuttle is here
The SciLi lights are near
Let’s get together before we get much older
Teenage wasteland
It’s only teenage wasteland
Teenage wasteland
Oh yeah, teenage wasteland
They’re all wasted! ♪

Reading Period: So your one final night out turned into a few final nights out, but it’s okay. Self-care is important. In these three days without classes (if you’re prof ever got the f**king message, that is) is all you need to cram a semester’s worth of material. If this isn’t what 2x lecture capture was created for what else could it possibly be for? It’s time to hunker down and hunt for a seat in the SciLi/Rock/Shiru/Anywhere.

You actually get through one entire chapter of readings, a paragraph of your paper, one entire slideshow, you decide to watch just one youtube video…

“A few moments(hours/days/eons) later”

Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie):

♪ It’s the terror of not knowing what the course is about
Watching some good friends screaming
‘Let me out’
Pray tomorrow gets me higher, high (ok um sure, why not?, you’re under pressure)
Pressure on people, people on streets
Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don’t work
Keep coming up with love but it’s so slashed and torn
Why, why, why?
Love, love, love, love, love
Insanity laughs under pressure we’re breaking ♪

The Night Before Final 1: So you somehow got yourself to believe that you were able to condense a semester’s worth of missed lectures into your brain overnight. You also simultaneously convinced yourself that: “Its okay if I get a C in orgo, I’m not even a chem concentrator,” “the curve will save me,” “C’s get degrees”, “my parents don’t need to know my grades, I’m a grown ass adult,” “pre-med is so cliche, I’m going the Starbucks barista route.”

19th Nervous Breakdown (The Rolling Stones):

♪ You better stop, look around
Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes
Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

Oh, who’s to blame, that professor’s just insane
Well nothing I do don’t seem to work
It only seems to make matters worse, oh pleaseYou were still in school when you had that fool who really messed your mind

And after that you turned your back on treating people kind
On our first trip I tried so hard to rearrange your mind
But after a while I realized you were disarranging mine ♪

Hell Day Final 1: You’re used to getting up at 3 pm on Sundays like a normal sane human being, but your professor clearly has nothing better to do. So you wake up at 8:50 AM for the first time this entire semester, trek through the cold December wind to meet your doom.

Salt in the Wound (Delta Spirit):

♪ I want to disappear
Far from the folks I know
I want to get an answer
To why I was even born

No one here can tell me
What’s been haunting me all my life
Well, this rat race has left me limping
‘Cause I balanced on the edge of the knife

Why am I here?
Oh, what should I do?
Well, is this the point I’m trying to prove? ♪

Wow, these lyrics are spot on. I don’t need to change anything.

Hell Day Final 2: This was supposed to be your easy final, you barely studied for this one because you loved every moment of this course and were constantly on top of all the material. You’re genuinely sad you won’t be able to see the professor again. You smile at the professor as they hand you the exam, you’re ready to crush it, and then you are betrayed with the most difficult exam you’ve ever taken. “Well, there goes my one A.”

Complicated (Avril Lavigne):

♪ Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you’re acting like you’re somebody else gets me frustrated
Life’s like this you
And you fall, and you crawl, and you break
And you take, what you get, and you turn it into
Honesty and promise me I’m never gonna find you fail me
No, no, no ♪

I really didn’t think I’d end up ever recommending this song, but elementary school me is proud (although, today me is concerned).

Time to Go: You can’t believe it’s over. Everyone’s leaving and as your roommate walks out the door, you feel a void grow in your heart — even though you literally never talked this semester. You look back at the whirlwind of things that have happened over just three months. The amazing people you’ve met, the memes you’ve tagged them in, the places you’ve cried over Orgo in. It’s unfathomable that you have to leave for an entire month.

Okay, I know this is a cliche, BUT ITS SOOOOO GOOD.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (Greenday):

♪ Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why
It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time
It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life
So take the photographs, and still-frames in your mind
Hang them on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoo’s of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while
It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life ♪

We really hope you did have the time of your lives (so far) and hope y’all have a great winter break!!

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you happen to actually like dad music.

DISCLAIMER: This is me reminding you that I don’t have a degree in medicine and/or psychology (yet)- just lots of advice that has worked for people I know.

(I’ll try to leave out the obvious ones.  I mean, everyone knows you should eat right and sleep enough.)

So… It’s officially that time of the year again. You know the one. The one where the sun sets at 4 pm and the only thing looking darker than the sky is your future. Yup, it’s finals season. Joy. Well, I don’t know about you guys, but being a procrastinator and/or a perfectionist especially sucks this time of the year. From a certified perfectionist, here are a few tips about \ beating the stress. I know they work because I haven’t used most of them and I’m always stressed, so:

1. SLEEP WHENEVER YOU WANT.

Seriously. As long as you’re getting 6+ hours, it doesn’t matter if you go to bed at 4 am or 11 pm. As long as you’re not missing anything important (and most important things end before reading period), you can sleep into the day. Setting hard deadlines on a night will only stress you out- besides, no one else gets to tell you when you should be most productive. TIME IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT.

2. DO YOUR CAFFEINE SMART, NOT HARD.

5-hour energy pills are a strong no. I gave a bottle I found at Andrews once to a friend. I don’t usually push drugs onto my friends, but this one hadn’t started a final project that was due within the next 5 hours. I mean, to be fair, they did successfully keep him up… but only because he spent 60% of those 5 hours hunched over a toilet bowl in agony. Note to self: concentrated caffeine on an empty stomach can have undesirable effects. But I digress…

So, if you do need caffeine at all, it would be advisable to switch to green tea. But since this is just slightly idealistic, try to have a glass of water with every cup of coffee instead. This should also help keep you from getting too jittery. Bonus points if you like your coffee cold! That reduces nausea.

3. FOR BEATING PANIC ATTACKS

Make sure you have someone to call and talk to at any given time. If you don’t, you can always call CAPS, or contact a mentor from Project LETS (see our previous article.) Hell, even Facebook DM me if you need to – my name is right up there in the by-line.

If you are alone, however, a pretty good way to curb panic attacks is to lie on a flat surface on your stomach. This forces you to breathe more evenly and hence calms you down. Also, funnily enough, chewing gum can prevent panic attacks, as well as reduce feelings of nausea.

4. FOR PREVENTING ANXIETY PANGS

First off, if you have a friend in your class, study with them. Misery loves company, after all. If not, try and find some new company.

Also consider investing in a lamp, since many people find the dorm lights anxiety-inducing. I can’t imagine why. Fluorescent-white is so soothing.

Drinking something cold also helps some people, as well as hugging a hot-water bag. Whenever I’m stressed, for example, there’s nothing that soothes me more than BJ- or Belly Jelly, as I like to call my hot water bag. It’s worth noting that walks in the cold Providence air are a pretty good alternative if you’re the type who gets hot spells.

5. FOR IBS

Jam on toast is a pretty safe bet if you can’t keep anything in. Avoid caffeine and dairy products as far as possible. Drink cold water – or iced-tea, if you need to caffeinate at all. If you know you get IBS during exams, try going to Health Services and see if they would advise you to take pills. Y’know, the type that… *ahem*, stopper you right up.

6. TO-DO LISTS/TIMETABLES:

Okay, I know this particular horse is very dead – but as dead horses go, this one is particularly useful to beat. Deadlines that sneak up on you are the least fun type. Not that there are any fun deadlines, of course.

I always use timetables, and I’ve never missed a deadline in my life. (Except the deadline for getting a life. I keep pushing that one up on my calendar.) For those of you that think you would benefit from a a high-tech to-do list, check out this website which has changed my life completely.

As for me, Christmas music is a year-long entity in my life; and by Christmas music, I mean Michael Bublé’s 2011 Christmas album. The gift that keeps on giving, this album is Bublé’s take on some of the season’s most popular tunes. 15 songs (technically 16, if you count the 8-second “Christmas Welcome Message”) in total – it is time for the Pop Culture Guru to rank them.

15) Jingle Bells

It’s a shame that maybe the most well-known song on this album is easily Bublé’s worst output. Featuring the Puppini Sisters – a vocal trio that looks like they came here in a time machine straight from the Roaring 20s – this adaptation is clunky at best and disgustingly bad in reality.

14) Silent Night

*Sigh* God damn, this one is boring. I thought the point of this album was to modernize and reinvent some Christmas songs, but Bublé sounds like he can barely stay awake by the time the first chorus comes around. If you can somehow make it all the way to the children’s choir part, I applaud you.

13) Santa Baby — or should I say, Santa “Buddy”

This is frankly a pretty bad song in general, and there’s not much Bublé can do to fix it. I just don’t think it should have been on the album in the first place.

12) I’ll Be Home for Christmas

While we are provided with a masterclass in the art of anticipation here, it just never really gets going. I counted five moments where the music swelled up and it seemed like something big was coming, but Bublé failed to deliver on every occasion. I’ll forgive him, though.

11) Ave Maria

In terms of technical vocal performance, one could argue that this is actually Bublé’s best work. The song itself, though, just isn’t exciting enough to keep me interested.

10) Holly Jolly Christmas

Not much to note here. Efficiently gets the job done, but there’s very little of the patented Bublé pizazz we’ve all come to expect.

9) Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Bublé has long been considered the heir of Frank Sinatra, and that assessment is most relevant here. Bublé himself has stated that he resents the comparison for reasons I don’t really understand, but all I know for sure is that this performance is a triumphant one. I will admit that it does kind of slog on, though.

8) Blue Christmas

Bublé takes on Elvis Presley here in an absolute tour de force performance. This is the soulful Bublé that fans fell in love with, and a definite breath of fresh air on the album since it comes right after “Silent Night.”

7) It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

This one kicks off the album, and starts us all on the journey to our respective destinies. It effectively opens the door into a wondrous world of crooning and passion that makes all my wishes come true… baby all I want for Christmas is you (that’s a little sneak peak of a song toward the top of the list).

6) Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad

It was a long and painful decision to leave this one outside the top 5. Duetting with Mexican singer Thalia, Bublé flexes his linguistic capabilities by rotating between the Spanish and English versions of the song. Not much on this album beats the transition into the first chorus here. However, about three minutes in, we have to listen to some out of place background audience that just completely takes away from the once-marvelous vocal essence of the song.

5) Santa Claus is Coming to Town

This is where things get really good. We get Bublé whispering a verse, chaotically screaming a verse, and delivering a verse with an unmatched amount of emotion. It is him at his most dynamic, amplified by a heroic trumpet solo in the middle (to be clear – the trumpet player is someone in Bublé’s entourage, not Bublé himself. He’s not that dynamic, don’t worry).

4) Cold December Night

Probably the catchiest one on the list, Bublé ropes us in here with his two most obvious qualities: charisma and charm. As the sleigh bells jingle on in the background, Bublé masterfully navigates his way around a song that fits his traditional vocal tendencies perfectly. It’s an absolute joy to listen to.

3) White Christmas

This is another duet that works. Working with his good friend Shania Twain (all speculation), it’s easy to visualize Bublé having a lot of fun here. Let me set the scene for you, because it all feels very holiday movie-esque:  Bublé and Twain are struggling street performers who, after losing everything, give this career-defining performance. The crowd begins as just one middle-aged man lightly tapping his foot before slowly expanding until all of New York City is watching them in excitement. By song’s end, they have still not earned any money, but they have earned something much stronger – holiday cheer.

2) All I Want for Christmas Is You

Here Bublé takes on the daunting task of covering Mariah Carey. While his Herculean effort unfortunately comes up just short, he more than holds his own with this soulful expedition. Once those wind chimes kick in after the first verse, it’s impossible to turn away. All I want for Christmas is you, Mr. Bublé.

1) Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Since 2011, this song has been echoing through my brain 24 hours a day. Listening to this song is no longer merely a desire of mine, but a necessity. From the opening chords to the final words that gently escape from Mr. Bublé’s lips, this is an absolutely entrancing performance. It is the album-defining track, and the reason we keep crawling back to him each and every year.

1.Rockstar

Nickelback x Miley Cyrus (or Hannah Montana… idk)

https://rave.dj/NcdqVrenCfI05A

They say Hannah went off the rails, but they ain’t seen nothing yet.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? The whole 2 minutes. It was one of the first few I made.

2.Changes

David Bowie x 2Pac

https://rave.dj/eymY34yaqjn34w

Two classics that are great by themselves- and strangely, not that bad together. Or maybe I was just desensitised, because it was the ninth mash-up I’d made.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? Ashamed to admit it, but the whole 2 minutes.

3.Rude Boy

Rihanna x Bob Marley

https://rave.dj/7ay-ixqfghzxXg

Exactly as horrible as it sounds.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 2 minutes, but only because I was horrified into   paralysis.

4. Crazy

Seal x Aerosmith

https://rave.dj/JnOS1Jk8__wqZw

Chaotic evil. Absolutely terrifying. Some might even say… crazy.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 1.48 minutes. I almost made it, but not quite. It was just too much.

5. Let it Go

James Bay x Idina Menzel

https://rave.dj/cvnlNl8xq6DaFA

Starts out pretty nice. Gets pretty confusing somewhere around 0:35.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 1 minute exactly. I got weaker as time passed, I guess…

6. Somebody to Love

Queen x Justin Bieber

https://rave.dj/G9rheQ-s8kv0PQ

Noise. Just noise.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 58 seconds. I just couldn’t power through after a certain point.

7.Photograph

Ed Sheeran x Nickelback

https://rave.dj/jbdMWJQb-o8sTg

The last time I was this confused, I was touring Brown as a freshman and saw Blueno for the first time.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 38 seconds. If you click the link, you’ll get it.

8.California Girls

The Beach Boys x Katy Perry

https://rave.dj/Y52eIylMWcyJ3w

I noped the f@#$ out of this one pretty fast.

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 27 seconds. 27 seconds of my life I will never get back…

9.Lithium

Evanescence x Nirvana

https://rave.dj/oLukPHuuaEkmMg

Starts out all wrong. I thought the songs would make sense together, since I heard both in my angsty phase, but evidently not…

HOW LONG DID I LAST? 14 seconds. Not going to lie. They pitched Cobain’s vocals and the disrespect was just too much.

10. This one’s a surprise…

I’ll let you figure it out

HOW LONG DID I LAST? I lasted 69 seconds.

https://rave.dj/71V_KrxI4TO6NA

Primed with his newfound knowledge of words like “heteronormative” and “nuanced,” Kendall, in early November, reported that he was confident in his ability to even further alienate his conservative family at their singular, annual gathering. Kendall even expressed a hard-line stance on “problematic” statements, reiterating that not even close friends from his rural, small-town Southern high school would be granted passes.

Correspondents reported, however, that all evidence of Kendall’s previously unshakable moral convictions had mysteriously disappeared once his plane landed in his hometown, which overwhelmingly voted for Trump in the 2018 midterms (write-ins). We’re told that Kendall was witnessed sighing deeply, but not vocalizing, when his old classmates expressed their relief that Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed. Incendiary statements such as “Sure, we can’t know what happened, but the important thing is a Republican majority on the court,” were overlooked by Kendall, who noted that his classmate was making good use of his state’s open-carry gun policy. When confronted in the local supermarket with “I don’t mind immigrants, but it’s the illegals that need to be simultaneously waterboarded, separated from their children, and held in the basement of an abandoned windmill for the rest of time,” Kendall meekly suggested that his childhood best friend read a recent Vox article on the issue. It’s worth noting that Kendall did express regret that he didn’t bring his projector, which made a thorough PowerPoint presentation on the topic impossible.

Even more shocking than Kendall’s interactions with his classmates — people that he considers further removed from his social network than literal strangers — are the conversations that he partook in during Thanksgiving. During dinner, Kendall used phrases such as “intersectionality,” “cissexism,” and “binary determinism” twenty-four times less than he was known to while at Brown University. Usually a prolific advocate and known to express his opinions in any situation where everyone would undoubtedly agree with him, Kendall exhibited surprising timidity in the presence of his family members, whose elderly authority had been ingrained into his impressionable psyche for the past twenty years straight. We’re told that Mitch McConnell’s work in the senate was lauded extensively at some point during the third course, and though Kendall attempted to make a statement, he ultimately decided to simply continue eating Grandma Pearl’s famous mashed potatoes.  

At press time, Kendall was still debating whether Pop-Pop’s comment about “those homosexuals” was worth an argument that would likely give the family patriarch a prolonged heart attack. In the end, Kendall decided against a confrontation that might have actually benefited the political development of younger members at the table, choosing instead to live tweet the experience @unapologeticallyopinionated.

10) “I’ll Stand by You” – Finn (Season 1, Episode 10)

This is by far Finn’s best solo performance, but I will say that it was a bit odd to see him singing a love song to a sonogram. Awkward moment when his mom walked in on him. Also, I used this version of the song as inspiration for my acapella audition last year. Did I get a part? God no.

9) “Toxic” – New Directions (Season 2, Episode 2)

Taken from the Britney Spears episode, which is an absolute classic, this was… something. I mean, although the kids were, as usual, terrific, I don’t know how I feel about Mr. Schue putting on his sexy dance moves while sharing the stage with his students. I get that he was trying to peacock in front of Ms. Pillsbury, but he could’ve gone about it differently. Either way, an outlandish episode such as this deserves an outlandish performance.

8) “Valerie” – Santana (Season 2, Episode 9)

While I continue to believe that Santana was an overrated singer given far too much screen time, I do not take personal bias into account when concocting these rankings. Santana, to her credit, heard my criticisms, and she delivered in a major way here. Yes, Brittany and Mike Chang’s dance moves obviously steal the show in this one, but Santana gives the vocal performance of a lifetime while simultaneously relegating Rachel to the background. Impressive.

7) “Defying Gravity” – Kurt and Rachel (Season 1, Episode 9)

Yeah so more of this please. I, the Pop Culture Guru, happen to be a big Wicked fan, and seeing Glee tepidly venture into this territory brings joy to my heart. Kurt and Rachel engage in an intense “diva-off” here to see who is worthier of playing Elphaba. Rachel obviously wins because she’s a better singer, but Kurt still did a decent job. All I know is that I enjoyed it.

6) “Somebody to Love” – New Directions (Season 1, Episode 5)

For many years, fans have argued whether Rachel or Mercedes was the best singer on Glee. While Rachel had the most natural talent and confidence, no one could ever beat Mercedes when she was at her best. That conclusion is drawn from many examples, but is most evident with the insane high notes at the end of this performance.

5) “Dream On” – Will and Bryan AKA Neil Patrick Harris (Season 1, Episode 19)

This was one of the only times in Glee history where we got a true battle song. Will Schuester and Neil Patrick Harris play mortal enemies in this one, and they take out their aggression toward one another in the form of Aerosmith’s “Dream On”. Who won this battle, you ask? That award has to go to the drama club director, who, after watching two grown men sweat profusely and give the performances of their respective lives, stares them down and tells them that they won’t get a part in the school’s production of Les Mis.

4) “The Scientist” – New Directions (Season 4, Episode 4)

To be honest with you, I could have done more research on this one. This is a really powerful performance with everyone in the main cast, and there are some tearjerking flashbacks peppered in here and there, but I couldn’t tell you what the hell is going on in the context of the episode itself. Honestly, though, it doesn’t matter. The song is f*cking awesome. Each of the cast members give a valiant effort during their time in the spotlight, but, like usual, Rachel steals the show pretty easily.

3) “Don’t Stop Believing” – OGs (Season 1, Episode 1)

The Glee cast performed this song many, many times throughout the show’s run, but, as they say, the sequel is never better than the original (unless we’re dealing with Shrek 2). Putting a unique twist on a beloved song, this performance is exclusively why – and this is all speculation – Glee became popular and was originally picked up for a full season. Rachel and Finn absolutely kill it, and the look on Schue’s face when he realizes that he may be on to something remains a defining image of Glee.

2) “Paradise by The Dashboard Light” – New Directions (Season 3, Episode 21)

It was no small task taking down Jesse St. James and Vocal Adrenaline, but after three seasons, New Directions finally pulled off a Nationals win with this performance. And wow, did they deserve it. Killer vocals? Check. Amazing choreography? Check. Sexual tension? Check. Jesse St. James reaction shots? Check!

1) “Teenage Dream” – The Warblers (Season 2, Episode 6)

So, frankly, this is not really close. This was the moment where the show became… cool. Season 1 was all about a bunch of outcasts struggling to find a safe place and never being fully comfortable with themselves, and while it always stayed like that to an extent, Season 2 – specifically this performance – introduced the concept that these kids could one day be real stars. The Warblers, and especially Blaine of course, are so unbelievably talented, and they turn a decent Katy Perry song into something absolutely amazing. But the best part of this performance may be the look on Kurt’s face when he realizes that his singing doesn’t have to be something that makes him an outsider. If you haven’t watched it, please do yourself a favor, and do so.

A stressful day, week… month. Where to go? What to do?

The lost and confused student need not wander much further than the shining beacon of hope that is the Ratty. Sometimes, the most therapeutic remedy in a time of tribulation is to resolve one of our most biological needs: the need to eat. For seven days a week, the Ratty is there for students, offering a bountiful wealth of sustenance, with the glimmering promise of “comforts” and better days to come.

It is nearly a perfect place. An area to socialize, eat, reflect, and learn. One glaring issue, however, restricts our beloved Ratty from reaching its full, unbridled potential: 24/7 CNN news coverage blaring from the large television mounted prominently on the wall.

Do not get me wrong. I respect the University’s logic to keep their student body informed about the current happenings of the world, but the issue with the 24-hour national news cycle is that it leads to the painful rehash of mostly negative news stories that you didn’t possibly think talking heads could have more to say about. Constant coverage of often divisive, controversial, or simply downright upsetting current events on that large and prominent television is the last thing that I want to see and listen to when I enjoy a meal. The mood that it causes that corner of the room to emit is palpably grim. So, BUDS (or whoever is in charge of what is being played on that godforsaken television) hear my cry and my humble proposition:

Here are five things we could be playing on the TV in the Ratty instead of CNN 24/7.

1. Cartoons

This seems to be the most logical conclusion. Cartoons are the timeless entertainment form that guided so many through their youth, and they continue to delight young adults today, especially with smash hits such as “Rick & Morty” and “Big Mouth”. A stream of cartoons would be extremely valuable in setting a lighthearted, nostalgic, and jovial vibe in the Ratty. My suggestions? Spongebob, Phineas & Ferb, Rick & Morty, the Simpsons, and Bob’s Burgers.

2. Vine Compilations

Who doesn’t love to sit back, relax, and waste an hour that should be spent studying on watching relics of a lost era? Ah, vine. The fleeting sensation that gave us so many classic one-liners. Vine compilations played on the TV would be funny, hip, might even help my friends understand what the hell I’m talking about when I make weird, esoteric references to obscure six-second clips.

3. 2000s Music Videos

The mail room might be on to something here by playing classic bops that you might’ve last heard at your middle school dance, but the Ratty has the chance to step it up by playing the absolute gems that used to be only accessible on YouTube by way of Vevo. Bringing music to a social environment is rarely a bad idea, and pairing it with some cheesy yet comforting visuals to watch while you eat is the final step in the process.

4. First Aid Instructional Videos

You never know when disaster is going to strike, right? Let’s keep Brown students prepared and ready to save the day at a moment’s notice.

5. Lecture Capture Of That One Class I Keep Skipping

Dude, you don’t even KNOW how much time this would save me.