This term 21 and older students might be enjoying a beer after their classes on Taylor’s porch in the spring sunshine, but what do you do when you’re not quite there yet? The weather is getting warmer and the sun is staying out later. This means more activities are available for everyone. Eugene offers an abundance of fun day and nighttime activities for minors, but here are just a few.

On a nice day, being stuck in class can make you anxious to get out and enjoy the nice weather. Since the sun will still be up (hopefully) by the time you get out of class, hiking Spencer’s Butte can be enjoyable and fun.

“I love hiking Spencer’s Butte at sunset because there is really no other place in Eugene to see the beautiful sunset,” senior Taylor Peskin said. “We also hike it to commemorate people we love.”

The hike is a perfect way to enjoy the Pacific Northwest spring weather and the breathtaking view at the top makes it all worth it.

If you don’t feel like hiking, bowling at Southtowne Lanes will always be a good time. Gather a group of friends and rent out a lane. The cost of a lane is fairly cheap when you split it with a group.

“So you may not think there is a lot to do when you’re not 21, but last year I found out there are a lot of activities to do on both weekends and week nights in Eugene,” said Emily Sutton, a senior who was the last to turn 21 in her group of friends. “Plus, you feel a lot better in the morning than them.”

And who doesn’t like dressing up and roller skating? Organize a night for you and your group of friends to dress up ’80s style and go to Skate World. The skating rink plays great music while you skate. It is the perfect place to have some fun on a night when you don’t know what to do.

“Me and my friends have had so many fun nights there and have shared many laughs,” senior Courtney Conaway said.

If you’re looking for even more of a party atmosphere, check out upcoming events at WOW Hall. Many different bands and singers come throughout the term to perform. You never know, you could develop a newfound love for a band you have never heard of before that night.

Just because you are not 21 yet does not mean you have to miss out on the fun. Look up different events that are going on or new places to go. There are plenty of fun alternatives to the bars and drinking that you can enjoy.

It’s almost time to put those rain jackets and sweatshirts away.

Spring is in the air and the weather is finally getting warmer. You never thought you’d pull out shorts and a tank top after the brutal winter we had, but get ready for some warm, beautiful weather this spring.

Some of the best items to have in your closet are summery sundresses. You can never go wrong with having too many. As they are a warm weather classic, you can find them at almost any store that sells women’s clothes. Keeping several dresses in your wardrobe will allow you to have a variety of spring or summer looks, rather than being in just regular shorts and a t-shirt each day.

“Sundresses in the springtime are fun to wear because they are so easy to accessorize and super comfortable,” senior Mackenzie Warner said.

Rompers are also making a comeback. Whether it’s short or long, a romper will give you a trendy look that you can rely on when the weather is nice. You can wear a short romper during the day, and switch it up to wearing a long romper at night. You can wear them plain or dress them up with jewelry, either will give you a look that will be popular this spring season.

Senior Molly Zager enjoys following the latest fashion trends.

“Rompers are a fun fashion forward clothing article and are perfect for the spring because not only are they fun, but they’re easy to wear,” Zager said.

Another trend making an appearance this spring is crochet. Add a sweater, shorts or a shirt and this casual texturized trend is one that can be added to your everyday outfit to upgrade your look.

“Crochet is a comfortable look that can dress up or dress down your outfit,” UO senior Allie Masterson said. “I have a lot of crochet clothes that I’m planning on wearing this spring term.”

Spring is here and it’s time to take out those cute clothes. You don’t have to hide in layers of warm clothes anymore. Wear any of these items this spring and dress to impress and look your best.

Located at 400 Blair Blvd. stands what looks like a home, but is known as Papa’s Soul Food Kitchen and BBQ. Starting out from a food truck, Papa, the owner, was able to make his dream come true and turn his food truck into a restaurant. The popular restaurant has brought in many customers due to the delicious BBQ, soul food and Cajun menu. Papa was inspired by southern food to open up his restaurant in the Pacific Northwest.

The classic soul food dishes are recipes that Papa’s mom made for him, as well as the recipes that he picked up from his experiences living in the South. They serve anything from their popular fried chicken to their special fried catfish. There are numerous sides that you can choose from to create the perfect meal.

“I think a lot of people come here focused on one thing,” said Cliff “Redbone” Davis, the executive chef and manager at Papa’s Soul Food. “Sometimes, it is hard to sway people away from what they come here for.”

Not only is the food excellent but the restaurant atmosphere is just as enjoyable. Local artists perform live music on the weekends at Papa’s. This fun atmosphere attracts a variety of people to enjoy the live music, as well as the awesome food.

“My favorite part of Papa’s Soul Food is the atmosphere,” senior Samantha Ridout said. “Picture your family’s backyard BBQ on a warm, spring evening and pair it with authentic, delicious southern food and you’ve got a taste of home right in the heart of the Whitaker.”

When you think of soul food, you think of BBQ and different types of delicious, flavored meat. According to their website, it explains they have a small list of vegetarian options. This list also includes asterisks for items that are made completely without animal products, particularly for vegans.

The menu items have been tweaked and developed to perfection over the years. Papa’s Soul Food has attracted locals, travelers and BBQ enthusiasts and will continue to do so with their authentic southern comfort food.

Prince Puckler’s Gourmet Ice Cream opened on the corner of 19th Avenue and Agate Street in 1975. This savory ice cream is rich and creamy and makes customers come back for more. They sell everything from scoops of ice cream, malts, pies, sundaes, frozen yogurts and frozen bananas that will satisfy any sweet tooth you have.

This ice cream parlor (1605 E. 19th Ave.) has 49 flavors ready to be served at all times. It also have seasonal flavors, which attract customers during different times of the year. No matter what the weather forecast is, customers buy the ice cream constantly throughout the day.

“In the summer, this is my hangout,” said customer Ken David. “I’ve been coming here for, let’s just say, a number of years.”

David was visiting Prince Puckler’s for his second time during the day because, he says, he needed to have some frozen yogurt after his malt earlier in the day.

It’s no surprise that students voted Prince Puckler’s as the best location to get ice cream.

“My favorite ice cream is the peach and coconut flavors that they have in the springtime,” senior Kristin MacDougald says. “I love getting them in a waffle cone because it reminds me of the summertime.”

A successful ice cream shop has to stand out from its competition. The workers at Prince Puckler’s can name a lot of reasons why they think they were able to come out on top for the best ice cream in the campus area.

“I think we won the ‘Best Of’ for ice cream because it’s homemade ice cream, we use local ingredients, we have a wide variety of flavors and we’re open until 11 at night,” shop manager Anita Schendel said. “We also have a friendly staff, so we can help anyone that comes in here.”

Prince Puckler’s will continue to work to be the Best of Campus each year and provide its gourmet goodies for students and non-students alike. After all, if President Obama can’t resist the shop’s mint chocolate chip, what makes you think you can?

Safe Ride has provided the safest way to get from place to place in the campus area for almost 30 years. Students and faculty rely on this service daily for a ride home from work, the library or a ride home from a party.

With Safe Ride, you don’t have to worry about the long, questionable walk home from the opposite side of campus. This shuttle service is expanding to create more rides for people who need them. With more than 40 volunteers and a full staff of 20, there are sometimes up to four vans out in one night. Safe Ride works to minimize the types of crimes you’ll read about in Campus Crime Alerts with the number of rides the service gives each night.

“There are a lot of issues that are becoming more known revolving around sexual assault and other safety issues,” Safe Ride Education Coordinator Carolina Reid said. “And I think people are starting to recognize those things and really appreciate the service.”

Students or faculty who wish to use the service can call anytime during the day or night to set up an appointment. It is better if you call earlier to receive the time you want, but they will try their best to arrange a ride as close as possible to the time you need it. Once you have scheduled a ride, you won’t have to worry about walking home by yourself or feeling unsafe.

“I love not having to look over my shoulder every five minutes when I’m going home from work late at night,” senior Katie Parr said. “I can always rely on Safe Ride.”

The drivers and volunteers work until midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends and are known to be friendly and helpful. They work or volunteer their time to help keep you out of risky and dangerous situations.

“I love Safe Ride. I use it all the time,” junior Christine Orr said. “I think what I like most is how friendly the drivers are and how helpful it is to have a way to get home safely.”

During the cold, wet, Eugene winter nights, it’s sometimes tough to make yourself go out and leave your warm house. You still want to hangout with your friends, but you just don’t want to venture out in the cold Eugene streets. There are many different things that you and your friends can do. It is just hard to decide and agree on one thing.

One thing you can do is invite your friends over and host a baking party. Obviously baking isn’t the only option here. Everyone can have a cocktail or two, or four, while baking or even while waiting for everything to bake.

Every person who attends the baking party can bring a recipe and you can go through them all and select a few. There are numerous pastries and desserts you and your friends could make on a night where you would rather stay inside.

You can choose anything from classic chocolate chip cookies, pies, brownies, lemon bars or even macaroons. Maybe someone will bring over a family recipe that they know is fantastic to share with everyone.

Each person at your get together could have a specific job for one of the baked items in order to bake them around the same time. Your kitchen might get a little tight, but everyone will have a fun time together. This will also allow you and your friends to eat and try everything faster than waiting for one thing at a time.

Waiting for everything to bake could be fun. Turn the baking party into a drinking party and play some of your favorite drinking games. There are many drinking games that could be played, some old and some new. Just make sure you don’t forget about what is baking in the oven.

What better thing to munch on after drinking with your friends than the desserts that were baking? Maybe everyone drank a little too much, but that’s okay because the best drunchies are some warm and delicious baked goods.

Winter is a great time to stay in on a random night with all of your friends and do something fun. Eating and drinking is the perfect combination for these type of nights. Whether the baked goods turned out successful or not, baking with friends can lead to a memorable extravaganza.

Oregon has some of the best places to go have fun in the snow. Whether you want to spend the day just playing in the white stuff, snowboarding, skiing or tubing, there are a variety of places that await you. Mountain resorts in Oregon include Mt. Bachelor, Hoodoo, Mt. Ashland, Mt. Hood, Willamette Pass Resort and Timberline.

The closest mountain to Eugene is Willamette Pass. A daily ticket is much cheaper at Willamette than other resorts, priced at $49. The options of purchasing hourly tickets are available, which is $13 an hour. There is a two-hour minimum to purchase a ticket hourly. Willamette Resort has a cheaper season pass options for students. The student gold season pass is listed at $399, where regular adult gold season passes are $499. The mountain offers snow tubing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends only.

Another popular place to go snowboarding or skiing is Mt. Bachelor. It’s about a two-hour drive from Eugene, but it is a fun mountain to ski or snowboard. A full day pass goes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and runs $79 for an adult. There is also a late pass option, which is from noon to 4 p.m. and costs $67 for an adult. Season passes are also available, which you could use to ski or snowboard every day during the winter. The season is tentatively planned for Nov. 23 through May 25, 2014 with no restriction dates. The price for a winter pass is anywhere from $849 to $1,049, depending on when it is purchased. Additionally, anyone can buy midweek winter season passes, which allows you to ski during the weekdays.

Each mountain has a rental service center where rental equipment is available. At Willamette Pass, the prices are fairly similar to both renting ski and snowboard equipment. Guests can rent both a board and boots for $26. If you already have a board but need boots, they will rent boots for $15. If you need to rent a board and already have snowboard boots, the board will cost $22 for the day.

During winter term, the University of Oregon’s Outdoor Program organizes trips to different mountain resorts for the day, which allows students to get a ride. This is a great opportunity for groups of friends to take a bus to the resort and ski or snowboard for the day.

Follow Katie Yovin on Twitter @katieyovin

The holiday season is the best time to get friends and family together to throw a party. Get people more excited for the get-together by picking a fun theme to go with it. There are hundreds of entertaining themes to choose from.

The most popular, the ugly Christmas sweater theme, has always been a hit and it is so fun to see what people come up with. If you have not acquired an ugly sweater from your mom, dad, aunt, grandma or anyone else in your family, hit up a local thrift shop. They usually have tons of different ones that would fit this theme perfectly.

“I wear the same ugly sweater every year. It has actual jingle bells on it and I jingle wherever I walk. It is hilarious,” University of Oregon senior Samantha Ridout said. The perfect Christmas sweaters are the ones with the puff paint snowmen and the mistletoe-patterned turtlenecks. Remember, the uglier the sweater, the better.

Another fun party theme is cookie and gingerbread house decorating. Before the party, make a bunch of gingerbread men and other shaped cookies. Buy different kinds of frosting and toppings and set them out on the table for the guests to use. Go to the local grocery store and buy gingerbread house-making kits. It is especially fun to make gingerbread houses as a team. This could be fun for everyone, especially while enjoying a cocktail or two while making them.

It’s also fun to see other people’s creativity. Send out invitations encouraging guests to dress up as any holiday-themed item. For example, one may dress up as a Christmas tree, a gingerbread man, an ornament or even a present. Let the guests decide what they want to wear and how they will show their creative sides. If they are getting creative with their outfits, the host should make creative drinks that guests can sip on. There are many delicious holiday drinks that a host can concoct.

The holidays are a great time to spend time with friends and family. Throw a themed party and get everyone together during the season. There are many themes that your guests will have fun with and enjoy. Get creative and show your friends a good time.

If you plan on sticking around Eugene during Thanksgiving break, there are many different and fun ways to spend the weekend. Many students leave to go home, but there are people who do stay in Eugene for the holiday due to only having two days off of school.

Get a group of friends together and cook a Thanksgiving meal. What is more fun than testing your skills cooking a turkey and other fun recipes with some of your friends? Make a recipe that your family makes every year and share it with your friends. Senior Kristin MacDougald explained, “I’ve stayed in Eugene for Thanksgiving for the past two years and it is a lot of fun. Whoever is staying goes to one of our houses to hang out and cook all day, then we eat altogether and hang out all night.”

Eugene is a great place to get out of the house and help others in need. On Thanksgiving Day, there are many different volunteer opportunities that anyone can sign up for. For example, in the Whiteaker community, there is a free Thanksgiving dinner where people are able to spend however many hours they want volunteering to feed people who need it most. Last year the Whiteaker neighborhood was able to serve over 2,000 men, women and children who were hungry on Thanksgiving. The community is able to volunteer before, during and after the event.

During the weekend, there are different activities for those staying in Eugene. The Civil War football game against Oregon State is on Friday, Nov. 29. The football game would be a great activity to go to during the weekend. Many students come back to Eugene from wherever they went during the holidays for the game. This game is a lot of fun and represents an age-old rivalry. There is also a men’s basketball game against Pacific at noon in Matthew Knight Arena.

Take the opportunities to make Thanksgiving break the best it can be even though you are staying in Eugene.

When you think of Thanksgiving, you think of the delicious food that you get to eat. Many people make different things for the holiday, but there are thousands of recipes that can be used to make the perfect dinner. When thinking of what to make and bring to your Thanksgiving dinner, it may be overwhelming due to the amount of different dishes you have to choose from.

Everyone has their favorite Thanksgiving dinner foods.

“I love making marshmallow yams because they are really good and it is the only thing I really know how to make,” social sciences major Taylor Peskin said.

It is an easy recipe because it only takes about an hour until they are ready to be served. The recipe is very easy and the yams turn out to be scrumptious. The ingredients include:

3 (15 2/3 ounce) cans of yams
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 (10 ½ ounce) package of miniature marshmallows

Another great and simple Thanksgiving recipe is corn bread. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8-inch pan.  You will need:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
It takes about 45-50 minutes to prepare and make this great corn bread recipe, guaranteed to be a hit at the dinner table.

The dessert course during Thanksgiving is an all-time favorite for many people. From pumpkin pie to warm apple pie, it is absolutely delicious. Depending on the amount of guests that will be at the dinner you are attending, making personal mini apple pies for each guest could be a great idea. The recipe includes:
5 peeled, cored and sliced apples
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 packages of refrigerated pie crust
You could also bring a carton of vanilla ice cream to put on top of these tasty, personal-sized apple pies.

Thinking about what dish you’re bringing to a Thanksgiving dinner can be stressful, especially if you are trying to impress. There are thousands of recipes that you can find if you are looking for that perfect dish. Whether it’s an appetizer, part of the meal or dessert, there are recipes that will definitely turn out to be impressive dishes that are easy to make.