The Wake

November 20th marks the Sixth Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, in which all too many transgendered people are mourned as a result of hate crimes or suicide. One person a month that identifies as transgendered dies due to transgender based hate or prejudice, according to the Web site www.rememberingourdead.org. While we send our thoughts to our transgendered friends, the Day of Remembrance also serves as a wake-up call to raise awareness of, and understanding about this unique community.First, the basics. Transgender, as a definition, is one that is highly debatable. The Web site www.tsroadmap.com provides a very comprehensive inclusive definition: …

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God. The Holidays are so dumb.I mean, I’d rather have someone tie me to a post with some of that rope that’s all “fucked up and shit” (you know the type) and shock me in the eye with a cattle prod, after – and only after (God help you if it isn’t after) – I’ve been doused with an ionized water solution. I’d rather have someone take a compact car and, using a lot of investor money, figure out how to make it fly in space. Then, I’d rather have that same compact car come hurtling down from orbit, only …

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As the director of athletics at the University of Minnesota, I read with interest Alan Iverson’s piece regarding corporate sponsorships of Gopher athletics. I would like to offer a few of my own thoughts on this subject.Interestingly, the very first intercollegiate athletics competition, an 1852 rowing match between Harvard and Yale, was sponsored by James Elki of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad. Although much has changed since that day, to varying degrees, corporate sponsorship has always been a part of intercollegiate athletics. This presence was less obvious prior to 1980 because athletic budgets were much smaller than they are …

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Adolf Hitler was one of history’s truly evil leaders. There is no excuse for the genocide of a race. No amount of sympathy should be given to a man with such malignant views on the world and the diverse races within it. Those who have read Hitler’s autobiography, “Mein Kampf,” have a much better understanding how such an evil can arise in a person. Although this evil exists in many, Hitler brought it to the world’s front door. Hitler accomplished a terrible, yet hugely influential feat. It is hard to imagine that Hitler was able to accomplish this feat considering …

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Under the illuminated trees of stage theatrical lighting the mythical Pixies emerged from a cloud of smoke to play the music of fabulous rock ’n’ roll muses. The Pixies are themselves muses, inspiring ‘90s rock as they inspired the crowd at Roy Wilkins to lift their voices and arms to the glory that is their psychotically melodic indie rock. The band’s breakup in the early ‘90s left a fracture in modern music. But testaments to their influence have been felt in the gushing remarks of Kurt Cobain, all the way to the success of bands like Pavement and Weezer’s. These …

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A tragedy has befallen the Minnesota metal scene. This winter Root Cellar Records will close. Root Cellar specializes in vinyl of all genres and heavy metal CDs. Thanks to the likes of Best Buy being able to undercut the prices of the little guy, and to the ease of stealing… oops, I mean downloading music, after several years the business ceased to be viable. But I do not wish to simply bemoan the loss of a great record store (and my job), but to make this a wake-up call.I urge anyone reading this to realize that when you buy from …

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Dance is such a basic human experience. We dance when music, alcohol or solitude help us overcome our inhibitions. But for all the visceral appeal of movement, the idea of watching people who are skilled at dance perform their work sometimes seems like one of those high-brow cultural experiences that are more likely to inspire yawning than awareness of the animal self. Maybe the rigid movements and predictability of classical ballet have given dance a bad name. Or, conversely, the density and oddity of modern dance just weird people out. In any case, too few people feel comfortable in a …

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Can you have your cupcake and eat it too? This is not a philosophical question.I’m talking about pastry, dammit. And not just any pastry. A childhood favorite; a sinful treasure latching on to your taste buds; an avalanche of sugary goodness down your throat; a one-way, frosting-coated ticket to Perfectionville. Population: you and the cupcake. OK now, don’t freak out. I know I’ve just put your sugar-radar on red alert. “Where are these cupcakes?” is looping through your brain like Fat Boy Slim demanding answers. But luckily for you, I’m a gastronomical guru with the one-word, secret wisdom that will …

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“Concert” might be too strong a word. The Collective Soul event on Wednesday, Nov. 10 was more like a commercial cross-promotion convention. Collective Soul’s one-hour set at the Mall of America was intended to help promote their new album Youth, but instead came off as defiantly entrepreneurial.The post-grunge group, known for having the most number-one rock singles in the 1990s, played mostly old favorites that spanned the band’s entire backlog, from the crush-gush juiced out rock of “Gel” to the starry balladry of “The World I Know.” Hopefully, those in attendance expected such nostalgia. Because the only song the nineties …

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Students might not know it, but when Mom and Dad wrote that big tuition check for this semester, $307.96 of it went to student service fees.Where does this money go and who decides who gets it? According to Minnesota Student Association president Tom Zearley, 90 percent of the money goes to what are considered administrative units. These include Boynton Health Services, Recreational Sports and The Minnesota Daily. Administrative units are essentially guaranteed consistent funding each year, Zearley says.Where the other 10 percent of the cash will go is open for debate, although allocating the money is complicated. “The process is …

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They say if you give them an hour, you’ll get endless rewards. Maybe they come in a smile here or a heartfelt thank you there. Maybe it’s the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes when you know you’ve done something to help someone in need. Or maybe the rewards come in the time spent with someone you care about, no matter what the task at hand. Duffy and DorisNeighbors and friends Duffy Sauer and Doris Mancino experience this each week when they spend an afternoon delivering food to homebound seniors as part of the Northeast Dinner Bell Meals on Wheels …

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The Coca-Cola Corporation is in trouble again, according to an activist group that began a campaign against the company on campus on Friday, Nov. 12. Corporate Accountability International, formerly known as Infact, says Coke is using up quality water for soft drink and bottled water products in poverty-stricken areas of India, which are then left to use the polluted water in rivers for bathing and cooking.Students who share the activist groups’ attitude about Coca-Cola could call in to a hotline and leave a message asking Coke to “Stop stealing water.” The exact total of call-in campaigns has not yet been …

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With finals fast approaching and winter weather creeping I’m bracing myself for what has become a tradition, a crippling cold that sets in about a week before finals and leaves somewhere after New Year’s. It seems the yearly combo of stress, fatigue and the countless viruses flying through the air have always caught me off guard. At its worst, my finals cold lasted more than a month and included a staph infection that manifested itself in the form of a full-body rash (and coincidentally the loss of a potential boyfriend).
Like me, many students get sick during or around …

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I picked a bad year to follow the Gophers around. I picked a bad year to spray-paint my car maroon and gold, and invest the money to get it fixed up three times just so my best friend and I can roll into the tailgating lot, honking the car horn and playing the Minnesota Rouser on a $30 melody maker that I picked a bad year to buy.
I picked a bad year to travel to Michigan: my car broke down. I picked a bad year to travel to Michigan State; it was raining and I lost my glasses. I …

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The six lowest walk down the hall to a different apartment. Once four players are eliminated, the remaining eight will convene at the final table. Alex draws an ace and doesn’t have to walk down the hall. He looks at the players sitting at his table, sizing up the competition, remembering past games he’d played with them. He pays the $5 buy-in, and shuffles his white and blue chips. It’s a Saturday night at the University of Minnesota, and Alex Maleki, a junior in the College of Biological Sciences, is doing what he does many nights: playing Texas Hold’em …

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