Monday Munchies will be a weekly column in which Assistant Editor Isabel Echarte will explore some easy and college-friendly recipes.

This week’s recipe is baked oatmeal: a healthy and easy breakfast you’ll be able to prepare for the entire week so you don’t need to scramble—eggs or for time—before a 9 a.m. Spanish class. You can modify almost anything in this recipe to make it your own!  It’s so easy, even students in freshman dorms (with hellishly small and most likely gross kitchens) can make. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, sliced
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup honey or agave
• 1 cup uncooked quick oats
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk, any kind
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

The great thing about this recipe is that you can pretty much estimate it all: if you’re a bit off or forget an ingredient entirely it won’t matter. I used almond extract instead of vanilla extract and it tasted pretty much the same. All measurements are in Fahrenheit.

Read the rest of this entry »

Going forward, the Morning Digest will provide you with what you need to be prepared for the day: a daily round-up of links, local news, and important events on campus and around D.C. This series will replace the District Digest, which covered D.C. news. Yes, we felt we had to describe what that series was since none of you ever read it (and we don’t blame you).

 Don’t forget your raincoat and umbrella today: the weather forecast shows a rainy day with a high of 63 degrees.

To masticate today:

• The Kalmanovitz Initiative is hosting an event called “Justice for Janitors: A Digital History” from 1-5:00 p.m. in Lohrfink Auditorium today. They are celebrating the launch of their new website, which records and maps the history of the Justice for Janitors movement.
• The Georgetown University Astronomical Society is hosting a BBQ at 7:00 p.m. tonight at the Heyden Observatory to promote voting in a competition to win $100,000 for its restoration. You can vote for the project every day until May 10.
• If you care to listen to the Georgetown neighbors fight valiantly for issues they are passionate about, such as neon signs or the height of tree fences, the monthly Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting will be held at Georgetown Visitation School at 6:30 p.m.

What to look out for:

• Escalating political tension in Venezuela has led to the arrest of a Georgetown University graduate and filmmaker Timothy Tracy. President Nicolas Maduro’s government accused him of fomenting unrest and violence to spark a civil war, claiming he works for the U.S. government. Read more about this story in the Washington Post.
• Be sure to check out discounted and free yoga classes as part of D.C. Yoga Week, beginning today. Bikram Yoga at DuPont, Down Dog Yoga, and Georgetown Yoga are participating along with many other studios around the District.

This year’s Georgetown Day, beginning at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 2:30 a.m., will feature events such as a Leo’s kegger (called Club Leo’s) for 21+ students, the return of inflatables, and a concert in the McDonough parking lot by 2AM Club, a band featured on the show Pretty Little Liars.

Inflatables, which were cancelled last year due to the administration’s attempt to scale back Georgetown Day, will return with bounce houses, obstacle courses, and a rock climbing wall from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Other events throughout the day include a Build-your-own-Bulldog, a blessing of Jesuit graves, a faculty and staff wine tasting reception, a screening of Space Jam, food trucks, and a scavenger hunt (where students can win Tombs gift cards), among other events.

Jack the Bulldog’s retirement party will also take place that day with free cookies and a photo-op. A dunk tank on the lawn will also give students the opportunity to dunk GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) and DPS Chief Jay Gruber, according to Thomas De Bow (COL ’15), the GUSA representative on the Georgetown Day Planning Committee.

The events were largely brought about and planned with student input, according to Tisa. Club Leo’s is a revival of the beer garden, a Georgetown Day tradition that was cancelled last year along with the inflatables. From 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., students who present a valid ID and GoCard will be able to drink unlimited amounts of beer for $5 to $10, depending on whether they reserved tickets or not.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vox presents the revamped Remix Your Weekend, an end-of-week events listing for Georgetown and the greater District. See full listings after the jump. This week, Vox is featuring the 37th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival again, as the flowers have actually bloomed and the weather is nice enough to enjoy them.

FEATURED EVENT: Cherry Blossom Festival 2013 (again)

If you were like Vox and followed the National Park Service’s estimates, you might’ve tried to go see the Cherry Blossoms last weekend. Sorely disappointed, you probably would have taken pictures of the one tree that actually was in bloom.

The peak bloom came only a few days later on Tuesday, so this is the weekend to head out and see some pretty flowers if you get the chance (especially considering the cool and sunny weather expected beginning Saturday). The Washington Post has a map to help you plan your cherry blossom experience ahead of time.

Festival events include a Cherry Blossom Parade and a Japanese Street Festival on Saturday.

MUSIC

Read full events and concert listings after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Vox presents the revamped Remix Your Weekend, an end-of-week events listing for Georgetown and the greater District. See full listings after the jump. This week, Vox‘s featured event is the 37th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

Featured Event: Cherry Blossom Festival 2013

With Cherry Blossoms expected to peak this weekend after two delays due to cold weather, the 37th annual festival is set to begin with the Cherry Blossom Challenge Annual Bike Race on Saturday, 7 to noon at the Heller Parkway.  

For all you fit people, there’s also a 10K run on Sunday, registration beginning at 8 a.m. If you’re physical fitness level is more on par with Vox‘s, there’s also a 1-mile Fun Run and Walk on April 20 (the sad part of this is that Vox would probably have to train for the walking portion).

Other events include children’s activities, live music, cultural celebrations, a marketplace, and more at Bloomfest on April 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

EVENTS

• Spring Awakening—Poulton Hall, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., $8 for students. Voice preview.
• Pachanga Latino Takeover—Leavey Esplanade, Saturday at 10:30 p.m.
• Perspectives: Ai Weiwei—Arthur M. Slacker Gallery, free
• Fireworks Festival—Southwest Waterfront, 1-9:00 p.m., free
• Spring Sing—Gaston Hall, 5:30 p.m.

See full events and concert listings after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Georgetown Confessions, a Facebook page created so students can post anonymous comments, seems to have become a forum for less than intelligent discussions on differences in socio-economic status and racial inequality and how those issues affect the college admissions process.

Beginning as a place where the people can finally confess what they’re really doing in the Lau study rooms late at night (or a place  for the pathetic and lovesick), Georgetown Confessions has recently caused controversy over the issue of affirmative action.

One of the most popular comments, with 54 likes at the moment, hopes to fix the issues that divide us by referencing Mean Girls:

Read the rest of this entry »

Yoani Sánchez and Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Cuban dissident bloggers and writers, visited Georgetown on Wednesday to discuss the uses and benefits of social media under the Castro regime in the context of freedom of speech. The event, “Cuba and the Digital Revolution,” was organized by the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, the Georgetown Government Department, and several student groups.

Pardo Lazo, who is also known for being a freelance writer and photographer, spoke about the power blogging can bring in a society where free expression, even if it is not critical of the government, is repressed.

Blogging critically has led to his being arrested several times without charges as a threat, but he finds the benefits of such expression worth it. He discussed a blog’s ability to create bridges not only between Cubans and between Cuban-Americans, but also among people around the world.

“In the middle of repression, in the middle of stigmatization … I have been enjoying making my blog,” said Pardo Lazo, known for his blog, Lunes de Post-Revolución. He stressed that the price for such dissidence could be as high as his life as he introduced Sánchez, who has also experienced such instances of intimidation for her critical writing.

Sánchez is best known for her blog, Generación Y, on which she is often critical of the government and depicts daily Cuban life to millions of people each day. She has won numerous awards for her work supporting free expression from groups like Time magazine, Foreign Policy magazine, and Columbia University, among others. Because the Cuban government would not allow her to travel, she has not been able to collect the awards or the money she earned with them (which she hopes to use to create a free press in Cuba) until now, as the Cuban government has previously denied her requests to travel. Revisions under Raul Castro’s government now allow many Cubans to travel, though many other dissidents have still not been able to.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vox presents the revamped Remix Your Weekend, an end-of-week events listing for Georgetown and the greater District. 

FEATURED EVENT: St. Patrick’s Day Festivities in D.C.

Considering parties in Georgetown are likely to get shutdown this weekend thanks to sensitive neighbors and an even more sensitive administration, here are a few things to do around D.C. that SNAP can’t yell at you for.

Until such festivities begin, you can head over to the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Constitution Avenue at 12 p.m.

Since St. Paddy’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, the pubs will be packed even earlier than normal. Getting to pubs even earlier to avoid cover fees and long lines will definitely make your day less hectic.

“A number of pubs are expecting long lines to start forming between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., or, as the manager at O’Faolain’s put it, ‘right after mass,’” Ftriz Hahn wrote for the Washington Post.

Some of the pubs that Hahn recommends aren’t too far from Georgetown. 51st State, located in Foggy Bottom, offers $3 green beers, $4 baby Guinness shooters, and $5 pints of Guinness at specified times. At James Hoban’s in DuPont, the festivities begin at 8 a.m. with “Kegs and Eggs,” and live music with traditional Irish food begin at noon (no cover charge).

EVENTS

• Groove Theory: One Move, One Groove- Gaston Hall, Friday, 7:30 p.m.
• Polk Street- Walsh Building Black Box Theatre- Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m., 8 p.m. Voice Review.
• Improv Show- Leavey Center Bulldog Alley, Saturday, 9 p.m.
• Norwuz: A Persian New Year Celebration- Freer Gallery of Art, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., free

MUSIC

Read the rest of this entry »

Beginning this weekend, SNAP will increase enforcement of existing off-campus party policies through more “proactive patrolling and stopping,” GUSA President Clara Gustafson (SFS ’13) wrote in an email to Vox.

Gustafson sits on the Georgetown-Community Partnership steering committee, which plays a large role in implementation of the provisions included in last summer’s campus plan agreement. “[T]he neighborhood partners have felt the need for some time, since the summer Campus Plan Agreement, for an improvement in their quality of life, namely noise on the weekends. Therefore the increased and more effective enforcement of existing policies and procedures will go into effect.”

The email Dr. Todd Olson, the Vice President of Student Affairs, sent to students yesterday reminding them of the school’s and the neighborhood’s policies for off-campus parties seems to confirm this coming stricter enforcement. He did not respond to Vox‘s requests for comment.

Likely in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day events this weekend, Olson reminded students that their behavior affects those living near the school. ”First, as the weather begins to warm, it is important to remind everyone about the high standards that guide life both on and off campus,” Olson wrote. “As members of a university community, we simply cannot behave in ways that disrupt life for our neighbors.”

The email emphasized being quiet when walking by Georgetown homes and ensuring that parties remain manageable in terms of size and noise. Olson also reminded students that a first noise violation can have serious consequences, since it is considered disorderly conduct under District law.

Olson’s email intended to remind students of existing policy. “There have been no changes in University policy, and Dr. Olson’s letter served to inform, as much as to start a broader dialogue with students about the Georgetown community,” Gustafson wrote. “I am sure some students will feel put upon, and frankly—they have a right to feel that way. However I hope that that feeling gets translated into helping create an on-campus environment where we, the undergraduates, rule the roost.”

Olson also announced that the University will start providing regular bus service to DuPont Circle and Adams Morgan on Friday and Saturday nights. The bus new late-night bus service is set to start up this Friday.

Read the rest of this entry »