Easy, Inexpensive, AND Healthy Recipe? Yes!

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

(reprinted from CollegeRecipes.com)

3 Bell Peppers (Any color)

8 oz. of Pasta Sauce

1 8.8 oz. Bag of Uncle Ben's 90 Second Ready Rice (Or 9 oz. of regular rice)

1 Can Black Beans

4 oz. Shredded Cheese

Bread Crumbs OR A few broken-up crackers

Preheat your oven to 400.  Cook your rice as instructed on its package.  Cut your peppers in half and remove the seeds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and evenly place each bell pepper half on the baking sheet.

Once your rice is finished cooking, pour the rice and can of beans into a large bowl for mixing.  Add your pasta sauce slowly, while stirring the mixture together. The mixture should be firm but wet, and have an equal distribution of ingredients.  Now, use a spoon to distribute the rice-bean-sauce mixture into each pepper half. DO NOT overload the peppers, this will make a mess in your oven!

Before baking, cover each pepper with bread crumbs or broken-up crackers and ample shredded cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes, remove and let stand for 3 minutes.

Makes 6 low-cost servings.

Summer School or Summer Internship?

Okay, it’s only March.  You may not have had a single thought about what you are doing when the spring semester finishes up.  Or, you may have already decided to keep the USC academic train rolling through summer school. 

Here’s another thought.  How about trying a summer internship?

Before you come back to hit the books for fall semester, you could get some real-world job experience, some excellent networking for after graduation, and maybe even make some money!  (Of course, some internships pay while others don’t.)

And in a city as large and diverse as Los Angeles you MAY find the internship is at your dream company right here!  You can stay settled in at your Trojan Buildings apartment- all cozy while you dip your toe into that wide world of the workers. 

We found some great websites for searching internships:

• Internmatch.com
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• Internships.com
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• Summerinternships.com
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• YouTern.com

Good luck!  And start looking soon.  Some of the deadlines for applications are already closing up.

Spring Break Safety

Take care of yourselves this Spring Break, Trojans!  Come back to Trojan Buildings safe and sound.

Spring Break marks one of the biggest periods of binge drinking each year – when young adults from all over the county head south for a week of vacation and partying with friends. For many people, Spring Break can mean social drinking, often to dangerous excess.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in six U.S. adults binge drinks about four times a month, consuming about eight drinks per binge. About 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 in the United States is in the form of binge drinks.

There are a few simple strategies that can keep your Spring Break safe and sober. Here are a few tips: 

• Take a trip with non-drinkers – Peer pressure and enabling are big factors when it comes to binge drinking. If you have friends that have demonstrated a history of dangerous behavior, they may not be the best travel companions.
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• Go on a spa outing or nature hike – Find a vacation option that centers on an activity that is not alcohol related. Busying yourself with a highly relaxing or stimulating activity will leave little time for over-indulgence.
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• Avoid trips where alcohol is included in the package – Many Spring Break packages are “all inclusive” and do not charge for alcoholic beverages. Avoid taking trips where alcohol is readily available.
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• Have an exit strategy – Wherever you vacation, chances are you will encounter a tempting situation. Have a plan in place to remove yourself from these situations like excusing yourself to your hotel room, going on a walk or finding a local support group.
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• Stick to your daily routine – Breaking out of your normal routine can often lead to lapses in judgment. Stick to your daily routine of exercise, diet and any other normal practices as much as possible in order to avoid tempting situations.

Excerpts from blog at PRWEB: March 18, 2013

To Share or NOT To Share

There are many decisions USC students make over the course of a school year.  Clearly, you have to choose your classes and determine your scholastic goals.  Some decisions are less pressing, such as whether to eat gluten-free or whether to visit the beautiful Los Angeles beaches more.  Not many decisions have the sticking power of a college roommate.

Now, there are usually ways out of a bad roommate situation.  For example, at Trojan Buildings you are allowed to find a person to sublet.  It is better, no doubt, to answer this question for yourself BEFORE you call the movers.  What situation will give you more peace of mind?

Pros of having your own place to yourself:

1. Privacy.  You have the whole apartment to yourself!
2. You can do what you like.  You don’t have to worry about another’s schedule or preferences.
3. No roommate to take/use your stuff/eat your food.
4. No problems sleeping because your roommate is partying (or worse) when you need sleep or quiet.
5. No haggling over the TV.
6. It’s probably going to be easier to concentrate on your studies.
7. You have to opportunity to really grow and learn to care for yourself and your own surroundings.

Pros of having a roommate:

1.      Someone to talk to and share your university experience with.

2.      Financial help with rent and/or utilities.

3.      You could make a lifelong friend.  (My mom is still best friends with her college roommate!)

4.      Possible help with homework.

5.      Someone there in case of lock-outs or emergencies.

6.      You can learn to share and adjust to others.

7.      You can be exposed to new foods/ideas/philosophies.

Tell us about your experiences.  Have you made a friend for life?  Did you make any amazing discoveries about yourself or others?  Are you the “live alone and like it” type?

*No real names, please.  Be nice.

New Health Center for USC Students

Hello Trojan Buildings' Residents!  

We really want you all to be happy and healthy during your time at the University of Southern California.  Here is some information about the new Student Health Center which is provided by the university to serve you while here in Los Angeles.  

excerpts from "New health center opens doors" by Anika Crone of the Daily Trojan, 1/16/13

The USC Engemann Student Health Center, which stands more than double the size of the old center, opened Jan. 4 to accommodate the needs of the growing USC student population. 

Administrators said the center’s new features make it more productive. All of the programs that the student health center offers are centralized, with the counseling office moved to the health center. There is also a state-of-the-art call center, which responds to students’ calls more efficiently, as well as three times the number of exam rooms. Additionally, the center also features a student educational resource room.  The health center also has a 24-hour nurse hotline that covers everything from mental health calls to simple scrapes. The center also has a pharmacy on its lower level.  The health center moved from its previous location on 34th Street to 1031 W. 34th St., next to Fluor Tower, because of its larger size.

Many students said they are happy with the new health center because they felt certain aspects of the old health center was inadequate for their needs.  “The only thing that needed improvement was wait time. Even when I made an appointment, it took forever for me to see a doctor,” said Candice Coll, a freshman majoring in psychology.

Melissa Bonner, a freshman majoring in neuroscience, said she has already noticed improvements.  “It was much easier to check in and see my doctor,” Bonner said. “It’s more spacious and it will allow for more patients to come and its much more aesthetically pleasing.”

The new center is 105,000 square feet and six stories tall, while the old one was two stories tall, built in 1951 and required some services to be housed elsewhere because of a lack of space.  The old location of the student health center will be used to house the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, set to open in spring 2014.

USC donors and faculty have high hopes that the new health center will increase productivity for the growing USC University Park Campus.

Suggestions for New Year's Resolutions?

Excerpts from “Advice for All on New Year’s Day” by Ann Landers

* Call up a forgotten friend.  Drop an old grudge and replace it with some pleasant memories.

* Vow not to make a promise you don’t think you can keep.

* Pay a debt.

* Free yourself of envy and malice.

* Make a genuine effort to stay in closer touch with family and good friends.

* Think things through.  Forgive an injustice. Listen more. Be kind.

* Apologize when you realize you are wrong.  An apology never diminishes a person- it elevates them.

* Try to understand a point of view that is different from your own.  Few things are 100 percent one way or another.

* Examine the demands you make on others.

* Lighten up.  When you feel like blowing your top, ask yourself, “Will it matter a week from today?”

* Laugh the loudest when the joke is on you.

* Avoid pessimists.  They drag you down and contribute nothing.

* Express your gratitude.  Give credit when it’s due- and even when it isn’t.  It will make you look good.

* When courage is needed, ask yourself, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

* Take better care of yourself. Remember, you’re all you’ve got.  Pass up that second helping- you really don’t need it.  Vow to eat more sensibly- you’ll feel better and look better, too.

* Give yourself a reality check.  Phoniness is transparent, and it is tiresome.  Take pleasure in beauty and the wonders of nature. 

* If you have love in your life, consider yourself blessed, and vow to make this the best year ever!

Some History Attached to Ellendale Place…

Dr. Walter Lindley, a Physician and Surgeon in Los Angeles, was born in Monrovia, Indiana, January 13, 1852. His father was Milton Lindley, distinguished in the history of Los Angeles, and founder of Ellendale Place.  Milton purchased forty acres of land adjoining the western limits of the city and made his home there until 1882.  After he sold his land that he had used for fruit orchards it was transformed into Ellendale Place, “one of the handsome residence sections of Los Angeles.”

Dr. Walter Lindley came to Los Angeles to practice medicine and was one of the greatest constructive factors in the modernizing of the city.  As Health Officer of Los Angeles, member of the Board of Education and Superintendent of the County Hospital of Los Angeles in the days when the city was emerging from the conditions of a Mexican pueblo, Dr. Lindley did much for the future of the place.  Dr. Lindley was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Orphans' Home, the Los Angeles Humane Society and the College of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

His greatest work, however, is the founding of the California Hospital in 1887.  Dr. Lindley conceived of a hospital owned and operated solely by physicians. The physicians in Lindley's building were "carriage trade" and were affiliated with the University of Southern California Medical School. The first physician-owned and operated hospital in Los Angeles was erected at 1414 S. Hope Street and was the first building in California especially invented for medical purposes - a project that Walter Lindley supervised at every stage of its design and construction.

Following the founding of the hospital, he organized the College Training School for Nurses, the first of its kind established in Southern California. He was also the President of the California State Board of Medical Examiners and ex-President of the State Medical Society.  Dr. Lindley was also a member of the California, University and Union League Clubs, the Los Angeles Humane Society and the Historical Society of Los Angeles. 

In other connections to USC, his Aunts were founders of USC’s Kappa Alpha Theta and his Grandson was a founder of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.