Ninety cherubs poured out of Jones Hall around 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, fire alarms blaring in the background. The culprit: burnt Pop-Tarts in the microwave. Firefighters arrived in minutes and gave the all clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since then, I haven\u2019t used the microwave,\u201d said Lylah Patel of New York who heated the Pop-Tarts.<\/p>\n
Even after the incident, cherubs frequented the microwaves to reheat meals or pop popcorn. For the safety of dormitory residents, cherubs must follow safety instructions.<\/p>\n
Step one: Put the food on a plate.<\/b><\/p>\n
Placing food directly in the microwave can cause it to stick, splatter or heat unevenly. Use microwave-safe containers, not tinfoil.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say have someone on your floor go to Target and buy glass plates,\u201d Patel said. \u201cJust keep them in the kitchen and use them communally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Step two: Heat food in small time increments.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cMicrowave it for 30 seconds, and then take a break and microwave it again for another 30,\u201d Bani Chatha of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said. \u201cDon\u2019t do it all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n
Step three: Keep an eye and ear on the microwave.<\/b><\/p>\n
Sizzling is normal, but stop the microwave if the sounds become too intense. Watch out for smoke. Like the Pop-Tarts, it can set off the fire alarm.<\/p>\n
Sissi Ma of Beijing and Milton, Massachusetts said she uses the microwave for bread.<\/p>\n
\u201cStare at it at all times,\u201d Ma said. \u201cIt\u2019s powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Step four: Open the door and be careful of the heat.<\/b><\/p>\n
Cherubs should make sure the food is cool enough to avoid burns.<\/p>\n
Step five: Remove the food and enjoy!<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Learn to use the microwave, a popular appliance among cherubs for late-night snacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":8035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[445],"class_list":["post-7936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus"],"acf":[],"authors":[{"term_id":445,"user_id":281,"is_guest":0,"slug":"crystalzhu","display_name":"Crystal Zhu","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0b75a3275eb2d4c0f781e6760296db3e2dff35a8708ee6d9713328c2c0304fbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Zhu","first_name":"Crystal","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7936"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10051,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7936\/revisions\/10051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7936"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=7936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}