Sweet Tooth Heaven! Check out these great events.

If you have a sweet tooth, this week is the week for you!

Census and Cupcakes

We will have cupcakes via Georgetown Cupcake in the lobby from 3-5 pm, this Tuesday, April 20. Show us your census, get a cupcake- it's that simple!

Chill Out, Cool Down

Join your RAC and House Mentors in the Courtyard this Thursday, April 22, from 2-4 pm for ice cream! This is a celebration of graduation and all of your accomplishments. Come mingle with your fellow South Hall residents and reunite with the folks you lived with Freshman year!

Have a great week!

Melissa and Maura

2010 Census- Seriously, get it done.

2010 Census

You've seen the fliers and heard about it on campus. Then you received the 2010 Census in your mailbox. So, WHY ON EARTH HAVEN'T YOU DONE IT YET?

Well, I don't know. It only takes 5 minutes, it will help the DC community, and it's in the Constitution.

So seriously- get it done.

What happens if I don't do it?

U.S. Census Bureau workers will come knocking on your door, and will bug you like crazy until you've done it. 

How will it help the DC community? Don't I get counted at home?

The US Census plays a role in determining the amount of federal resources that are allocated to cities across the nation. Since you spend most of your time here, that means you consume DC resources and should be counted here. Your response helps create an accurate picture of the DC population at present, which is the purpose of the Census. Again- even though you won't necessarily be here next year, your responses help federal officials estimate the number of college students who will be here in the future, until they conduct the next census in 2020. 

It's in the Constitution?

Yes- check out Article 1, Section 2.

Does it really only take 5 minutes?

Yes.

How do I fill out the information?

Give your name and basic demographic information, and answer "yes" on number 6- "Do you live or stay in this facility most of the time?"

Do I need to fill anything out on the envelope?

No.

What do I do with it once I've filled it out?

On the first floor at the mailboxes, there is a U.S. Postal Service bin marked with a US Census sign. Drop it off there.

Move Out Deadline

Several of you have had questions regarding this. If you are a graduating senior, you must be moved out of your room by Monday, May 17, at 12 pm. Please note that graduating seniors automatically have extended stay, and are not charged an additional fee by GW Housing to stay until this date. Again- you must be out no later than Monday, May 17 at noon.

Have a great week!

Melissa and Maura

JUST DO IT! 5 Essentials, Money Madness, and 2010 Census

The Five Essentials to Surviving and Thriving After College
Featuring Author and GW Alum Marcos Salazar
Tuesday, April 6th - Funger Hall Auditorium, Room 103
Reception at 5:00 p.m. (refreshments will be served), Main Event at 6:00 p.m.

RSVP here for FREE tickets: http://five-essentials.eventbrite.com


George Washington Housing Programs is hosting author, researcher and entrepreneur, Marcos Salazar on campus April 6th. Salazar authored "The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide: Figuring Out Who You Are, What You Want, & and Where You're Going After College." In his speaking engagement at GW he will share with students tips and dynamic advice about transitioning from college to the professional realm, how to best prepare and maximize junior and senior year, and how to become an indispensable member of the workforce. Incorporated into his topic will be a discussion on networking, personal branding, and life transitions. Salazar will help GW students gain the knowledge and skills they need to move from being successful on campus to being successful in the workforce. This is a special networking and speaking event that all students should not miss! 

Money Madness Continues!

Budgeting and Credit Session
What's a credit rating? How do you plan your future income to make ends meet?
Date: Wednesday, 7 April
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: South Hall Lounge

Stock Market 101 Session
Learn what you can do now to begin investing now. Learn to grow your money!
Date: Thursday, 8 April
Times: 10:30 AM OR 2:00 PM
Location: Duques 155. Capital Market Trading Room.

2010 Census- JUST DO IT!

Your 2010 Census form was delivered to your mailbox today. Every South Hall resident must complete this form. I did mine tonight- it literally took less than 5 minutes. Make sure you check "yes" for number 6- "Do you live or stay in this facility most of the time?" When you're done, place the form in the mail bin indicated by the sign at the mailboxes on the first floor. The more efficiently you fill it out, the less we'll have to bug you about it!

And congratulations... Michelle Obama is officially the GW 2010 Commencement speaker!

Have a great week!

Melissa and Maura

Money Madness this month and other great things for GRADS!!!

Money Madness Week!

Presented by GW Housing Programs

Loan Repayment Session
Learn about strategies to repay those piles of loans. Experts from GW will be on hand to help you get ready for the reality of repayment.
Date: Monday, 29 March
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Ivory Lounge
Budgeting and Credit Session
What's a credit rating? How do you plan your future income to make ends meet?
Date: Wednesday, 7 April
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: South Hall Lounge
Stock Market 101 Session
Learn what you can do now to begin investing now. Learn to grow your money!
Date: Thursday, 8 April
Times: 10:30 AM OR 2:00 PM
Location: Duques 155. Capital Market Trading Room.


To RSVP for any of these sessions, please click here.


"The Five Essentials to Surviving and Thriving After College"

Featuring Author and GW Alum Marcos Salazar
Tuesday, April 6th - Funger Hall Auditorium, Room 103
Reception at 5:00 p.m. (refreshments will be served), Main Event at 6:00 p.m.


RSVP here for FREE tickets: http://five-essentials.eventbrite.com


George Washington Housing Programs is hosting author, researcher and entrepreneur, Marcos Salazar on campus April 6th. Salazar authored "The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide: Figuring Out Who You Are, What You Want, & and Where You're Going After College." In his speaking engagement at GW he will share with students tips and dynamic advice about transitioning from college to the professional realm, how to best prepare and maximize junior and senior year, and how to become an indispensable member of the workforce. Incorporated into his topic will be a discussion on networking, personal branding, and life transitions. Salazar will help GW students gain the knowledge and skills they need to move from being successful on campus to being successful in the workforce. This is a special networking and speaking event that all students should not miss!

Pigs for Peace!



It's not too late to give! With a simple gift, you can empower a woman across the world by helping to get her a livelihood. And it all starts with a pig. Celebrate Women's History Month by donating today! For just $50, you can sponsor a pig, and for just $10, you can sponsor a share of a pig. For more information and to donate, visit: http://www.glrbtp.org/index.html.

Pigs for Peace and International Women's Day

Today marks International Women’s Day, a day “when women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development (UN).” While we celebrate the freedoms that allow approximately half of the GW student body to pursue an education and a future, we also remember the millions of women around the world who lack the means to do the same. Today, we can make a concrete impact on these issues for the women of a war-torn nation by giving them tools for their economic empowerment: Pigs For Peace.

In what has been referred to as the “forgotten conflict,” an estimated 5.4 million people have been brutally killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998, making it the second deadliest conflict since World War II (Oxfam). Oxfam International reports that since “January 2009, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed, 7,000 women and girls have been raped, and over 6,000 homes have been burned down in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.” While there may be little a group of university students can do to stop this complicated conflict and the atrocities that have accompanied it, there is something we can do to assist survivors. In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8) and Women’s History Month, throughout March, GW Housing Programs will be partnering with the students of Johns Hopkins University to bring hope to the women of DRC.

Pigs for Peace, run by the nonprofit organization Great Lakes Restoration, is a microenterprise project that allows women, many of whom are victims of rape, to become economically empowered. After women in the program are taught husbandry skills, they are given a pig to nurture and care for. After approximately eight months, the pig will have its first litter. Participants are required to give two piglets, one from each of the first litters, back to the organization, so that they may be given to someone else in need. Participants can then sell the remaining piglets in the market; they keep one to continue breeding. With the income generated from the sale of the pigs, the women invest in their families, impacting quality of life by influencing health status and the education level of their children. There is currently a waiting list for over 700 pigs. Let’s change that.

With a donation of $50, you can fund a pig. With a donation of as little as $10, you can fund a share of a pig. In other words, you and your roommates have the ability to impact the life of a woman living across the world.

To make an easy contribution through PayPal, follow the link below to the Great Lakes Restoration homepage, and click on the “Donate” button you find there (please make sure you use this button to make your contribution, so that GW Housing Programs can track its progress):

http://www.glrbtp.org/index.html

For more information about the Pigs for Peace project, visit the website here:

http://www.glrbtp.org/projects_p4p.html

Keep your eyes open throughout March for Pigs for Peace progress reports, discussion groups, and other Women’s History Month initiatives. If you have ideas, give them to us here:

http://tinyurl.com/IntlWomensDayIdeas

Have a great week!

~Maura and Melissa

Half the Sky! Relax with the RAC!

Hello South Hall!

Below are a few upcoming events that may interest you:

Half the Sky

Thursday, March 4

In honor of International Women's Day, GW Housing Programs has reserved a select number of tickets for Half the Sky on Thursday, March 4 at Ballston Common Mall. This one night event was inspired by stories from the New York Times bestseller “Half the Sky” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Featuring musical performances, celebrity commentary and the world premiere of “Woineshet,” a short film by Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. (Visit this link for a preview: http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/OriginalPrograms/event/Half_The_Sky.aspx)

The cost of tickets and metro fare will be provided. We will be leaving promptly at 6:30 pm on Thursday from the Foggy Bottom/GWU metro stop. Please follow this link to RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/HalftheSkyRSVP

As tickets are limited, please only RSVP if you are sure you will be able to attend and are committed to doing so. You will receive an email confirming your RSVP.

Visit the Holocaust Museum and listen to a survivor speak 

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, promote human dignity, and prevent genocide. The Museum provides a powerful lesson in the fragility of freedom, the myth of progress, the need for vigilance in preserving democratic values.

Experience this emotionally powerful display of history and a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from Leon Merrick, a survivor of the Holocaust.
When: Saturday, March 6th at 11am
Where: Meet at the top of the Foggy Bottom Metro
RSVP by following this link to the Google form. Please RSVP ASAP as we expect this event to fill up quickly. 

http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/gwmail.gwu.edu/viewform?formkey=dEdLblplTE9NMThwS09XUE1MTWJhanc6MA

As tickets are limited, please only RSVP if you are sure you will be able to attend and are committed to doing so.

You will receive an email confirming your RSVP.

Please email House Mentor Laurel Gwizdak with questions at gwizdak@gwmail.gwu.edu


Relax with the RAC

Friday, March 5

Join the RAC for food and stress relief this Friday in the South Hall lobby from 2-3 pm.

GW Career Center Business Etiquette Dinner

March 3rd, 6-8 pm

Marvin Center

Join Nancy Mitchell of The Etiquette Advocate for an instructional dining experience that will put you at ease in any social or business setting. You’ll enjoy a multi-course dinner in a relaxed setting while learning proper greetings, introductions and handshakes, receiving-line protocol, place settings and utensils, mastering difficult foods, toasts, host/guest responsibilities, business dining tips and the top 10 dining etiquette mistakes. Space is limited. Cost $10. Cosponsored by the Student Activities Center and the Office of Greek Life.

The main course is a chicken dish with a vegetarian option. Students who are affiliated with sororities or fraternities must go through their chapters to RSVP. All other students will be required to RSVP via GWork.

Coffee Hours

Wednesdays, 7-9 pm

As midterms close-in, remember that Coffee Hours continue in Melissa's room. Take a break from the studying (or fuel up for it) with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and cookies.

Have a great week!

~Melissa and Maura

This week: GAP Year Event! More events next week...

THIS WEEK IN SOUTH HALL!

Gap Year Options Night - Tuesday February 23
6-7:30 p.m. - South Hall Community Room
RSVP mclark28@gwmail.gwu.edu

Gap Year - Taking a gap year (also known as year abroad, year out, year off, deferred year, bridging year, time off and time out) refers to taking a year out of studying to do something else. Many people take a gap year before starting college or graduate school.

Learn about your post-graduation options! Join representatives and speakers from the Peace Corps, JET Program (Teaching English Abroad), Teach for America, Fulbright Scholars, WUJS (The International Israel and Jewish Experience), and AEISIC (international leadership and work opportunities). Representatives from The Career Center, Office of Scholarships and Fellowships, and the University Counseling Center will help connect you to on campus resources.

RSVP - mclark28@gwmail.gwu.edu

NEXT WEEK!

March 1, 2010 @ 6:15pm in Jack Morton Auditorium
"Your Life, Your Money"

Register at http://yourlifeyourmoneygw.eventbrite.com for a chance to win one of twenty $100 saving bonds that will be given out as well as financial planning sessions with experts from HSBC and Smith Barney.

Join in the Interactive Expert Panel discussion with special guests on planning your financial future NOW!

Every attendee will walk away with giveaways and cash!

GW Career Center Business Etiquette Dinner

Join Nancy Mitchell of The Etiquette Advocate for an instructional dining experience that will put you at ease in any social or business setting. You’ll enjoy a multi-course dinner in a relaxed setting while learning proper greetings, introductions and handshakes, receiving-line protocol, place settings and utensils, mastering difficult foods, toasts, host/guest responsibilities, business dining tips and the top 10 dining etiquette mistakes. Space is limited. Cost $10. Cosponsored by the Student Activities Center and the Office of Greek Life.

The main course is a chicken dish with a vegetarian option. Students who are affiliated with sororities or fraternities must go through their chapters to RSVP. All other students will be required to RSVP via GWork.

When: March 3rd, 6-8 pm

Where: Marvin Center

Before you leave DC, check these events out!

Hello South Hall!

Here are a couple of upcoming events that might interest you...

The Embassy of Canada

There is still time to sign up! Break away from watching the Vancouver Olympics to join us on Monday, February 22nd as we meet with the Canadian Ambassador's right hand man for an information session and Q&A, and receive a guided tour of the embassy and its gallery. If you have a question about border regulations, international affairs, culture, history, hosting the Olympics, or even just how to work/intern at an embassy, please consider attending.

Schedule:

11am- meet at Foggy Bottom metro

11:45-lunch at Good Stuff Eatery (Canadian food specialties for the Olympics!)

12:30- Embassy Visit

1:30- return to campus (should be back by 2)

Lunch & metro fare are included!

RSVP to Cathleen (cathleen@gwmail.gwu.edu) by Wednesday February 17th to reserve a spot.

(Also, if you're looking to get in the Olympic/Canadian/hockey spirit, take CTV's quiz, Who's your Hockey Twin? as most of Team Canada's players are from the NHL.)

The Gap Year- Options After Graduation!

Taking a gap year (also known as a year abroad, year out, year off, bridging year, time off and time out) refers to taking a year off from formal studying to do something else. Many people take a gap year before starting college or graduate school.

Learn about your gap year options after graduation at The Gap Year Night! Join representatives and speakers from Peace Corps, the JET Program, Teach for America, Fulbright Scholars and AEISIC. Representatives from the Career Center, Office of Scholarships and Fellowships, and the University Counseling Center will help connect you with available on campus resources.

Date: Tuesday, February 23rd @ 6:00-7:30pm

Location: South Hall Community Room

RSVP: mclark28@gwmail.gwu.edu by Sunday, February 21st to reserve a spot.

Have a great week!

~Melissa and Maura

BINGO!

Coffee Hours and State of the Union Bingo

Coffee hours continue this week! This week only, coffee hours in Melissa's room will be held on Wednesday from 8:30-10:30 pm. We will be watching the State of the Union Address, and playing SOTU Bingo. Come hang out for a night of coffee (or tea), cookies, and good, old-fashioned (nonpartisan) fun!

What's all that construction about?

If you've used the G Street entrance at all, you've no doubt noticed the construction being completed. A new green space is coming soon. If you'd like more information, please click here.

Newseum Trip

The next Newseum trip is planned for Sunday, Jan. 31st. The trip will leave the Foggy Bottom Metro stop at 11am. If you are committed to going, please email Melissa or Maura with your name, building, and room number. Admission to the Newseum and Metro fare will be covered! Tickets are limited so RSVP as soon as possible!

Don't Forget!

Last but not least, remember that graduation applications for the Spring commencement ceremony are due on February 1!

Haiti Relief Efforts and Coffee Hours

First of all, thank you all for your responses to the survey!

We gained valuable information about the types of events you are interested in seeing in the building, and are working on facilitating those things.

Haiti Relief Events

The Caribbean Student Association has put together the following events to raise money for earthquake relief in Haiti. A few of you have expressed interest in efforts to assist this impoverished nation; we encourage you to support CSA in their endeavors. If any of you have ideas for events you would like to see held in South Hall to benefit Haiti, please feel free to email Maura or myself, or leave a comment below.

WED. JAN. 20
LETTER WRITING AND SAMPLE OF HAITIAN CULTURE
MULTICULTURAL STUDENT SERVICES CENTER- 7PM

THURS. JAN 21
NIGHT AT SESTO SENSO
SESTO SENSO (1214 18TH ST NW)
*$10 to enter after 10pm; 20 % of proceeds go to Haiti relief efforts

FRI. JAN. 22
SWIPE YOUR GWORLD FOR HAITI
*you can do this in J-street, Colonial Central and in the SA office

FRI.JAN.22
FUNDRAISER PARTY (w/ live DJ and live performances)
MARVIN CENTER BALLROOM – 10pm – 2pm
*$5 to enter; all proceeds go to Haiti relief efforts

MONETARY DONATIONS WOULD BE ACCEPTED AT ALL EVENTS!!!

Coffee hours!!!

Back by popular demand! Many of you seemed to enjoy the coffee distribution that was held at the end of the Fall semester, so we have decided to make it a regular, weekly event.

Maura will host coffee hours in her room on Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30 pm and Wednesdays from 4-5 pm.

Melissa will host coffee hours in her room on Wednesdays from 7-9 pm.

Swing by for a lovely afternoon brew, or a nighttime boost!

Have a great week.

~Melissa

This is it!

Hello South Hall!

I hope you all had a fantastic Winter Break. Welcome back to DC!

As the semester begins, Maura and I are looking to bring in events to the building that YOU are interested in. Like all of you, this is our last semester at GW as well, and we want to make it AMAZING. To do this, we have put together a short survey and would love your input. The survey is only five questions long, and unlike many of the surveys that flood your email inbox, it will have a direct impact on you, so please help us out! Here is the link to the survey:

Click here to take survey

If you have specific comments, feel free to post them in the comments section of the blog or on the survey.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please shoot either one of us an email or stop by our rooms... You know where we live!

Let's make Spring 2010 EPIC!



~Melissa