<p>A room, perchance, where more than those that can fit in the lower blue room can chill?</p>
<p>Face it, faunce isn't really condusive to socializing</p>
<p>Maybe I'm just a huge geek, but I don't meet up with people in Faunce ever.</p>
<p>That's what the SciLi Mezz is for. And btw, Rachel, almost all transfers are for the student center, whereas many who have been here straight through just don't get the idea.</p>
<p>They were going to knock out the space in Metcalf by the Greenhouse, make that all enclosed in class and make a nice space there, which I think could have been cool/interesting, but truly, with student offices moving into J. Walter Wilson opening up even more space in Faunce and the Creative Arts center offering studio space, etc, I'm not sure we're losing that much.</p>
<p>My only complaint about Faunce is how dark and miserable the inside feels to me. I like big glass atrium where I meet with people so that I still feel sorta outside, still have some natural lighting, etc.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, architectural studies show to have a true student center, a school the size of Brown needs a space 100,000-150,000 sq feet, and Faunce is only about 30-40,000 sq feet.</p>
<p>er...not prudent</p>
<p>i dunno...maybe that's cuz we still feel like outsiders and are craving community <em>tear</em></p>
<p>But seriously, you can't tell me that it wouldn't be cool to have a place where everyone goes to chill? The mezz doesn't cut it. You don' like...meet there to go have fun. You run into people there while studying / procrastinating.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, so forget faunce and BUILD A BUILDING</p>
<p>I love how we're talking here even though we're living negative 2 seconds from each other.</p>
<p>This way, I can do this from my boxers.</p>
<p>i guess if i want good food ill have to work for google</p>
<p>I always saw the dining establishments as places to just chill. Freshman year, my friends and I spent hours on sundays for brunch just sharing stories from the weekend, reading the projo, and not doing all the work staring us in the face. We also took long study breaks at Jo's or the Ivy Room, and dinner almost always lasted at least an hour. It got a little different sophomore year, but I still don't really think we need places to "just chill" other than our own rooms or places to eat.</p>
<p>Right, i mean, there are a lot of seperate places, but a general "common room" (maybe i've been reading too much harry potter...) of sorts would be nice. Sure you can run into someone at the Ratty, but it's not the same.</p>
<p>Maybe some of this is stemming from growing up in a university town with a large student center, and seeing how cool it can be. And then we could have a legit food court, too. Always back to the food rachel...always back to the food :)</p>
<p>lol, the food court is what scares me most of all.</p>
<p>The day we have a McDonald's or a Subway IN a Brown University building, I will shed at least a few tears.</p>
<p>Anyway, is it really so miserable to walk ALL THE WAY to Thayer street? Thayer street is like a food court, except it has charm and uniqueness rather than being a cesspit of suburban disgustingness :-)</p>
<p>I live next to Spat's. Thayer is closer than the Ratty.</p>
<p>Sweet.</p>
<p>We're getting a Chipotle soon too, which is amazing. 2meals worth of burrito for five bucks here I come...</p>
<p>Yeah but in theory we could use flex points or even meal credits at said food court...</p>
<p>So...basically you want Jo's with a bigger seating area?</p>
<p>The school could, of course, arrange to allow us to use flex points on Thayer, which would accomplish the same thing without putting a bunch of super-chains in an enclosed, air-conditioned space that Brown students would never choose leave :-P</p>
<p>I do respect your opinion on this though, ClaySoul, because you're the one who's actually experienced what a strong student center could be like, and you obviously enjoyed it. I just question it's usefulness on a campus which already has two very charming anchor streets full of restaurants, a number of which are independent. My main concern is this: these student centers have become extremely popular, and every school wants one - it's like a competition. The whole thing is very formulaic, and even though Frances Halsband et al do an OK job of taking into account the 'Brown spirit', so to speak, I imagine that it would still look like it had been plopped down based on designs that are more appropriate for suburban campuses (like, say, U of MD) or urban campuses where the students can hide from the city if they want to (like, say, Georgetown). I really love that Brown blends into its College Hill neighborhood, and I think it's a strength that we don't all insist on congregating in one place that's (de facto) limited to Brown students.</p>
<p>Speaking only with what I'm familiar with, UNC has a nice student union/central congegating area, and that certainly doesn't mean you won't find students out on Franklin Street. It's not just a bunch of "super chains under a building"; many schools also put their main dining hall in/near the student union, as well as other facilities (theater, bowling alley, whatever random stuff).</p>
<p>Besides that, what's so wrong with McDonalds or Subway (other than their mediocre food)? It's not like buying Pom tea is makes you "less corporate" than eating a Big Mac</p>
<p>difference between subway and mcdonalds: I'll eat at one of them.</p>
<p>um yea no (about jos with a bigger seating area)...i want a subway i can use flex points at. </p>
<p>but that's only one of the perks of a student center. The problem with having so many smaller gathering places is exactly that: they are small and there are many of them. I would like one large place where everyone gathers, frankly, in addition to the others</p>