Mike Sacks, a third-year student at the Georgetown University Law Center, set a peculiar goal for himself at the start of this year’s Supreme Court term—to be the first one in line for a seat at every major argument, or First One @ One First, as the title of his blog boasts in a reference to the Supreme Court’s location.

Vox wasn’t aware of this, but apparently, waiting in line outside the Supreme Court Building to get one of the few, highly-coveted seats available to SCOTUS enthusiasts is a pretty popular sport. The New York Times caught up with Sacks just after his hopes to be the first one at One 1st all term long had been crushed by two gun rights supporters who flew in from California to watch a big gun control case go down. Sacks had arrived at 8 a.m. on a Monday, 26 hours before the case was set to begin. The Californians, shown above with a moping Sacks, had been there since before dawn.

Along the way, NYT also found a person who had been hired through Craigslist for $250 by an anonymous SCOTUS follower to hold a seat for 19 hours. Dick Heller, famous for bringing landmark the case against the District of Columbia that affirmed the right for individuals to carry firearms for private use, jacked Sacks’ seat.  And, according to Sack’s blog, sometimes, the ABA Journal provides pizza.

This week marks Wheel of Fortune’s College Week, where the show “gives contestants the chance to pay off those pesky student loans!” and one of Georgetown’s own will be participating in tonight’s show.

Jed Feiman (COL ‘12) will be competing against students from Tufts and the University of Maryland.  In his interview posted on the show’s website, Feiman says he learned to read by watching the show and that whatever money he wins will go towards paying for college and improv classes.

The show airs at 7 p.m. tonight on ABC 7.

Looking for a change of pace during your summer vacation? Tired of sunny beaches and drinks with tiny umbrellas? Look no further than the Mongol Rally, an adventurous road trip organized by the Mongolian Principle Charity Mercy Corps.

Participants from all over the world pile into tiny cars and drive from London to Ulaan Baatar, the capital of Mongolia, for the sake of making a financial contribution to a charity of the participants’ choosing.

Georgetown sophomore, Rich Rinaldi (MSB ‘12) decided to take this trip along with fellow Jersey Boy Alex Insel this summer. Choosing a European-made Ford ‘Ka,’ bought on eBay, the duo drove 8,100 miles through thirteen countries.

The 30-day trip was not without its pitfalls. Rinaldi himself, in fact, crashed the car on the day before the rally was scheduled to start (as is typical of many New Jersey drivers). A friendly British mechanic, however, took the boys into his own home, fed them, and fixed their car so they could start the trip on time.

In Kazakhstan, potholes on the country roads were often bigger than the 1.3 Liter Ford the two relied on. During the final stretch, one of the car’s tires blew out during a snowstorm in the Mongolian mountains, prompting one to wonder why anyone would opt to take this trip in the first place.

“It’s for charity, and it’s for adventure,” Rinaldi explained. The Jersey Boys have raised over $2,000 for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, an organization that runs an orphanage outside of Ulaan Baatar, thanks to contributions from friends and local businesses in New Jersey.

If any readers are thinking about trading Caribbean beaches for Eurasian deserts, Rinaldi has some advice: Russian traffic cops will give you ice cream if you bribe them enough and the Super Mash Brothers are the right start to any day of driving over treacherous terrain.

Swine Flu: Scourge of college coeds everywhere

As you’ve surely noticed from your hacking, sniffly friends and classmates, H1N1 has hit Georgetown.  But we’re not the only ones: a virulent H1N1 strain has spread rapidly through several D.C. college campuses, according to the Washington Post.  UMD College Park, for one, has already reported 435 cases of flu-like illness.

With students sharing living space, classrooms, and red solo cups, H1N1 has the potential to spread widely on campus, according to the Post:

Swine flu appears to have spread to most of the country’s colleges and universities. A weekly survey by the American College Health Association found influenza-like illness at 72 percent of schools surveyed as of Sept. 4. The flu is being contracted at a rate of about 18 cases per 10,000 students.

In other parts of the country, H1N1 is most widespread at Washington State’s Pullman campus, where more than 2,600 students have contracted flulike symptoms, according to Inside Higher Ed.

At Cornell University, where a junior died Friday due to complications related to the flu, the Inter-Fraternity Council at Cornell University has enacted a moratorium on all social events for a week.