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The Student Activities Center provided students with a potential cure for their cabin fever throughout the week with University activities in designated “Warm Zones.”
SAC offered events like free movies, bowling and food nearly all week. The Fishbowl has had free breakfast almost every morning with coffee and donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts.
“We believe that students should have a wealth of options and this is normally handled by student organizations and many University departments. However, the snow has cancelled almost all campus events so we wanted to make sure students had fun opportunities across campus,” said SAC Executive Director Tim Miller.
The Fishbowl has seen increased traffic, Mariana Vengoechea, one of the general managers of the Fishbowl, said, estimating they have had upwards of 200 students in their each day since the snowstorm.
“We decided to keep the place open since it is a designated Warm Zone,” Vengoechea said. The building hosted events like an Entourage marathon and a Wii tournament and provided free food.
The Hippodrome, too, has been open and offered free bowling every snow day.
“Once you stay inside long enough you start to get bored,” said Kristina Zarenko, a junior who also took advantage of the free bowling.
The Marvin Center’s Amphitheatre also held a movie-marathon of comedy flicks, including The Hangover and Anchorman.
Miller said there were over 500 people through the Hippodrome on Tuesday.
“The school has done a good job of accommodating people who have nothing to do,” said Peter Boaz, a sophomore who participated in the Hippodrome’s bowling tournament Tuesday.
But Foggy Bottom wasn’t the only campus with activities; the Mount Vernon campus has also offered movies, popcorn, and sled rentals.
Not all students have been enjoying their free time in the snow. Many students have been studying and working on projects with the extra time.
“I’ve been writing a paper, not very fun,” said Daniella Binshtock, a sophomore international affairs and anthropology major.
“I think that it kind of sucks,” said Binshtock said who likes the fact that her 8 a.m. classes force her to wake up and be productive. “I’ve been sleeping until noon, watching TV and being unproductive.”
“I’m happy I get off work though,” she added.
Binstock wasn’t alone. The Gelman Library reservation system showed that most of the study rooms were reserved Tuesday and there was a general bustle through the building.
Some students used their time off to work out.
“The gym was packed,” said Jillian Fasser, a sophomore who went to the Health and Wellness Center on Tuesday. The Health and Wellness Center is one of the few University facilities that remained open throughout the snowstorm.
“The majority of our student staff live on campus and are near enough to come to work,” Assistant Athletic Director for Health and Wellness Andre Julien said.
“It’s been a sort of combination of things [that have helped us stay open],” he said, citing other departments and GW Housing Programs for making it easier for student staff to get to work.
