Last month, Georgetown University Hospital performed a total of 16 kidney transplants in a week thanks to its partnership with the United Network for Organ Sharing.

UNOS, an organization that uses a national database to pair individuals for organ donations, coordinated the program with Georgetown Hospital and three other hospitals around the country. According to the Associated Press, Georgetown Hospital now transplants kidneys to nearly 30 percent of the people on its waiting list, double the number of transplants it completed before the hospital joined the kidney exchange.

Dr. Keith Melancon, the hospital’s kidney transplant director, plans to comb through records to find more patients who were not previously matched.

Photo, h/t: AP

George Washington University finally beat Georgetown. At getting infested with bedbugs.

Five residence halls on GW’s campus have reported infestations this semester, resulting in six confirmed cases of an infestation. According to the GW Hatchet, four of these cases have been fully treated, with the remaining two will be treated within the next week. At least two dozen bed bug infestations have been reported at GW in the last three years.

In September, a Georgetown University-owned townhouse was treated for a bedbug infestation. So, maybe it took us three years to finally catch on to the trend. We had no idea our neighbor school was such a trailblazer!

What’s next, GW? Norovirus? Beat ya.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

h/t GW Hatchet

Just like Philly P, parties with more than two kegs, and Dan Porterfield, another piece of college canon is leaving us for good. After a struggle led by pretty much everybody except college students, the Food and Drug Administration banned Four Loko and other caffeinated alcoholic drinks.

Today, the FDA sent letters to four companies—including Four Loko’s manufacturer, Phusion Products—informing them that the FDA had decided that adding caffeine to alcoholic beverages was unsafe. The companies must take action within fifteen days, or the FDA warns it will seize the products or seek a court order to ban the distribution of the products.

“FDA does not find support for the claim that the addition of caffeine to these alcoholic beverages is ‘generally recognized as safe,’ which is the legal standard,” Joshua M. Sharfstein, the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner, said in a statement. “To the contrary, there is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public health concern.”

Just last night, Phusion took preemptive action by announcing that they would remove caffeine, taurine, and guanine—three of the four ingredients that give Four Loko its name—from their beverages.

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week, Junior forward Camille Trujillo (COL ’12) was named the nation’s Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Week.

The honor comes after the women’s soccer team’s historic upset against the University of Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where Trujillo scored a tie-breaking goal in the 51st minute of the game.

Trujillo, who was previously named to the All-Big East second team, has already set Georgetown’s single-season record with 13 goals this year. She has also tied the program’s single-season scoring record with 28 points. Last Friday, her two goals against Siena helped carry the Hoyas to their first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

The Lady Hoyas (14-6-2), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, play their next game on Saturday afternoon at the University of Minnesota.

h/t Georgetown University Athletics

Remember the Georgetown Law grad who sold his degree online? Well, it looks like he started a trend—and even former U.S. Attorney Generals aren’t safe from it.

On April 15, 1994, Georgetown Law gave Janet Reno an honorary law degree. More than fifteen years later, that piece of parchment found itself in an auction lot of Presidential and political memorabilia at a U.S. Government Surplus auction. CIE Surplus, an asset liquidation company in Northern Virginia, bought the degree and opened an Ebay auction for it. (Bidding began at $9.99.)

After seven bids, the “used” diploma was sold for the low, low price of $41.

It’s good to know that someone out there cares enough about Clinton-era politics to drop forty bucks on Reno’s degree. Or maybe Mr. and Mrs. Reno are just damn proud of their little Janet.

Ever wish you could flirt without doing that whole “talking” thing? You might want to try Like a Little.

The site, which launched last month, calls itself a “flirting-facilitator platform.” Each flirt includes a location, description, and anonymous message for a person’s crush.

“The site’s purpose is to allow you to compliment and chat about your crushes around you or otherwise bemoan your missed encounters from the safety of your trusty screen,” Evan Reas, founder and Stanford graduate, wrote.

Like a Little has already expanded from Stanford to Syracuse, Notre Dame, Yale, and Georgetown. And just because it’s Friday, here are some of our favorite posts.

• At ICC: Female, Brunette. victory now, Georgetown forever? My victory will last forever if I get you cutie
• At Walsh 396: Male, Brunette. How sinful of me, but I can’t stop staring at you and your epic hipster outfits in Problem of God. You never speak but that’s ok because I’d want you to be silent while I make love to your lips anywayyy
• At McDonough: Female, Brunette. I saw you walking with one crutch leaving the trainer. You can lean on me any day ;)
  At Philodemic: Male, Brunette. Your ideas about the South were a little off.. Let me help you see what down south really means.
• At Leavey: Male, Brunette. I see you in the Subway line. Let’s head to Burger King instead and you can have it your way ;)

After a razor-thin vote, we’re ready to name the winner of our Halloween costume contest: Jed Feiman (COL ’12).

Although he was matched up again Disney cartoons and two internet phenomenons, Feiman rode the Rent is Too Damn High Party to victory. (Unlike his costume’s inspiration, Jimmy McMillan.)

Feiman is now the proud owner of an old bag of candy corn. Enjoy the spoils!

Growing opposition from medical and academic communities may threaten the continued production of Four Loko, a hyper-caffeinated malt liquor dubbed “blackout in a can.”

The main concern? The mix of caffeine and alcohol causes heavier, longer periods of drinking.

Four Loko consumption at college campuses across the country have caused a recent frenzy of backlash against the cheap beverage. Nine students at Central Washington University were hospitalized after drinking Four Loko. Ramapo College, a small public school in New Jersey, banned the drink last month. And earlier today, Harvard University officials warned students to avoid Four Loko. (Even the New York Times jumped on the trend.)

According to Mary Jane Reen (COL ’11), GERMS director of public relations, the D.C. Department of Health is now keeping tabs on Four Loko-related hospitalizations.

“The D.C. Department of Health has asked all EMS agencies in the District of Columbia to report any cases involving consumption of “Four Loko” energy drinks,” Reen wrote in an email. “In order to maintain patient confidentiality, any identifying information is removed before the report is sent to the Department of Health.”

Several states, including New Jersey, Montana, and Utah, are already looking to restrict or ban the sale of caffeinated alcoholic beverages. While D.C. Health Department officials have yet to confirm they are doing the same, Four Loko nonetheless appears to be going the way of Tilt and Sparks.

Call us crazy, but we don’t think a Lokomotive ban will stop college students from finding cheap alcohol.

Looking to go out tonight but not sure what to wear? Use up all your good costumes already?

The Washington Post has a few suggestions for college-themed costumes, including “Can of Four Loko,” “Mark Zuckerberg,” and of course, the Georgetown-themed “Alleged Georgetown DMT Lab Scientists.” From the Post‘s college blog, Campus Overload:

Throw on a Georgetown sweatshirt and maybe a white lab coat, drink your beverages out of a mason jar but do not actually try to create DMT yourself—it’s a crime.

P.S. Don’t forget to submit your favorite costume from this weekend to Vox‘s Halloween costume contest!

Not 21 yet? Has Third’s stopped accepting your ID? There’s one bar that will never close its doors to you—a candy bar.

With our sweet tooth at the ready, we visited Georgetown Candy Bar yesterday. Here’s what we learned about the store:

• The first half of the deceptively long store features bins of scoopable candy. To our delight, the store seems to leave nothing out—classic gummies and sours, licorice Scottie Dogs, candy rocks, and even a few oddities like “Swiss fruit candies” and neon “techno bears” line the narrow aisle. (Don’t get too excited, though; a pound of assorted candies will set you back ten dollars.)
• Further inside the store lie a variety of taffies, lollipops, and brightly decorated gift sets aimed at children.
• Near the register, you’ll find different brands and flavors of chocolate, including a chocolate-bacon bar we thought only existed in our dreams.

It might be a bit pricey, but if you’re yearning for a sugar rush—or if you’ve always loved chocolate with bacon bits in it—take the worthwhile walk down to 1417 Wisconsin Avenue to visit Georgetown Candy Bar.

Photo: Julie Patterson