The Wake

As you’re walking across campus take a look around you. Among the multi-million dollar buildings sustained by poor college students, you’re bound to find one or two lined along the sidewalks or clustered on the mall. And while many of you are thinking of those bushy-tailed rodents, I’m referring to something a bit more unnoticeable.Trees make up only a small part of the University of Minnesota campus and yet they add so much to the university atmosphere. Their beauty stands through the seasons and they have seen students come and go for decades. But some trees are meeting an early …

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Fall is the time of year when nature takes a dramatic turn, shifting from life to death. Words like “leaves,” “football,” and “school” creep into our vocabulary; crisp, cool mornings chased by warm, sunny afternoons become the norm. Fall is the time of year when you change clothes multiple times a day: from pants to shorts, and back to pants again, all the while not sure what to do with the sweater you’re carrying around in case it gets cold. Maybe the largest burden (or gift, depending on your perspective) that fall brings is the start of school. …

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I arrive with scores of other people thick iron gates that seem more suited for a dairy farm than this family-friendly google-plex. Overhead, a small plane chartered by the Minnesota Republican Party circles low over the crowd towing a sign that announces this is not an ordinary Thursday; it’s in fact John Kerry flip-flop day. Leaving the habit trail walkway I took from the parking lot, I am immediately barraged with a variety of loud corporate logos emblazoned on the tops of tents and the sides of trucks. From McDonald’s to SPAM to a giant Pepto-Bismol-colored CoverGirl truck …

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A light rail line aiming to relieve an overstressed metropolitan traffic region should have been met with open arms. After numerous setbacks and a long construction process, it is still unknown, however, whether the Twin Cities will have a viable form of public transportation.With things already running behind schedule, the Hiawatha Light Rail Line’s grand opening was pushed back three months from its target date of April 3, mainly because of issues surrounding a 46-day transit worker strike. Ridership exceeded expectations during the first two months, partially due to events along the line such as Twins games. The …

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The members of Aerosmith are still alive. But apparently, the leather-faced Quinquagenarians have happened upon hard times. Steven Tyler is narrating a walking cell phone tour of Boston (WALK THIS WAYYYYY . . . to the Boston Harbor!) while Joe Perry is passing his time promoting his line of BBQ sauce on the Emeril Live! cooking show. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad - hopefully this will keep them busy enough to stay away from the Super Bowl this year.In other news . . . Ashlee Simpson is like, so totally awesome! Don’t be fooled; she’s punk to …

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I hate to break it to you, but the freedom of summer has officially ended. Along with the end of freedom comes the end of warm weather.Don’t despair. There is hope. You can do something to soak up the last month or so of lukewarm weather.People watch.If you’ve never tried it, I encourage it. People watching not only passes the time, but also strikes the imagination and gives you the opportunity to really notice your surroundings. Not to mention, it is one of the easiest and laziest ways to socialize.I went in search of the three best places to people …

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Parking ramps really aren’t very photogenic. They don’t like posing for pictures. Yet, they managed to make an exception for Matt McCauley, a gradate student at the University of Minnesota. McCauley’s photography show entitled “Ramps,” now at Coffman Art Gallery, is a concept show focusing on the utilitarian beauty of these car-carrying buildings. The show, running through September, features a part of the urban landscape we witness almost everyday and that is considered – well, rather ugly. It was a brave move to make something most people try to ignore the focus of a photography show. Graffiti, grime, cement and …

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I attended “The Mean Sisters Variety Show” at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theatre with no premeditations or preconceived notions whatsoever. I received an e-mail, acted on impulse and on August 26 went with my proverbial balls to the wall and left completely and hilariously satisfied. The Mean Sisters, individually known as Sadie Bowman, Rita Boersma and Laura Reese are all alumni of the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Reese, with the help of Bowman, created this theatrical madness at the Fringe Festival, in a project called “Mean Sisters; the Puberty Project.” Last winter, Reese and Bowman wrote a play about …

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Like most postmodern “The” bands, The Libertines retrospectively rehash a previous musical movement. The London band’s Clash-esque melodies are clever and purposeful on their self-titled second album. But it is no wonder, The Libertines were taken under the wing of Mick Jones, the guitarist and songwriter for The Clash (not to be confused with the Mick Jones of Foreigner). This sophomore effort is a mixed-medium album with splashes of Far East influence (The Ha Ha Wall), 1950s pop (Narcissist and What Katie Did) and Doors-inspired excess (Road To Ruin). Despite this genre-jumping, the album stays at the same tempo for …

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Offender, brother, inmate, lover, convict, scholar, prisoner, father, murderer, college graduate, drug dealer, painter, gang member, husband . . . Check a box, many boxes. Frame them, name them, ignore them, try to train them. Soon it is clear - these men can’t be held down. They are the Stillwater Poetry Group (SPG), word warriors who meet Tuesday nights inside prison walls. Lit 3 quickly fills with men of varying ages, races, ethnicities, religions, gang affiliations, ideologies, and cell blocks; differences weigh heavily; you can feel it in the air. Still, they run inside, jump into seats, pencils …

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I never thought that I would find myself eating lunch in a parked car along University Avenue by choice. But then again, I had never really thought about eating at Porky’s.The 50s-style drive-in restaurant located at the intersection of University and Fairview avenues features a common theme: grease. This does not pertain only to the items on the menu. The place is an automotive apex straight outta’ “Happy Days”; a haven for grease monkeys and malt-guzzlers alike.Oddly however, my comrade-in-cuisine (my roommate) and I soon discovered that we could not order our food from the phones next to the …

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Grunge died ten years ago. Which is why Death Cab for Cutie, current Seattlelite sensations, sound nothing like it. Though the band – Ben Gibbard, guitar and vocals; Chris Walla, guitar; Nick Harmer, bass; and Michael Schoor –hails from the slate-gray birthplace of bleach and bi-polar frontmen, they’ve taken a decidedly different approach to music from their clinically-depressed cousins. Making a stripped-down Pet Sounds on anti-depressants sound good, Death Cab’s music has sutured the broken hearts of overwhelmed emotional teenagers everywhere; kids who just can’t seem to stop wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Recently, with the release …

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This fall many college students have a chance to vote in a presidential election for the first time. But will they be voting here at the “U”? A national poll by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that 62 percent of college students say they will “definitely” vote this November. The last two presidential elections have each brought in almost 18 million young voters, fewer than in previous years, according to the US Census. Some campus political groups, such as Students for Bush, are waiting until school gets started before they really get their campaigns underway. Marty Andrade, president of …

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Nightlife will be a lot less hazy around campus this. Beginning on March 31, 2005, smoking will be forbidden in bars, restaurants, pool halls and bowling alleys in Minneapolis. The St. Paul City Council is working with Mayor Randy Kelly on a similar ban.Many smokers are feeling left out in the cold by the smoking bans. Barb Devos, a supervisor and server at Bar Abilene in Uptown,said shebelieves there could be a more reasonable approach.“The ban takes away from the freedom of what we want to do,” Devos said. “When you go to a bar at night you should expect …

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Stereotype. It’s almost a four-letter word, so dreaded in our politically correct culture. Yet somehow everyone has one. There’s the computer major who likes to play Dungeons and Dragons. The self-righteous journalism student convinced their pen will uncover the next Watergate. The rich frat boy with a closet full of plaid shirts, white hats, and custom-made beer bongs. The sorority girl swathed in pearls, spending Daddy’s money to buy her friends. I recently had the chance to challenge these last two stereotypes by sitting down with some University of Minnesota students involved in the Greek community and proud …

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