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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University of Minnesota students are facing double-digit tuition and fee increases for the fourth consecutive year, and they’re paying 14 percent more than they did last year. The deficit, which is around $70 million, is mostly due to budget cuts, along with some increases in university expenses. The main expense is a 2.5 percent average increase in all university employee wages, which totals $25 million. Each employee’s increase varied based on which department or college they are employed by, along with how influential the department’s union is, says Chief Financial Office Treasurer Richard “Fitz” Pfutzenreuter. Some reductions in operating and …

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“I once fed an entire Krispy Kreme to a squirrel,” I recall a friend* from my freshman year telling me. “The little guy ran off a few feet then suddenly grabbed his left shoulder. I think he had a heart attack. It traumatized me for a few hours. Then I went to a frat party.”Such a snack could hardly be considered a healthy food choice for people, since the NutritionData Web site says that one Glazed Cruller doughnut contains 240 calories, 14 grams of fat and—for the carb counters out there—26 grams of carbohydrates. It’s …

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Some say that after you’ve lived in the Big Apple for five years you can be considered a true New Yorker. I’m not sure if that’s true because in all honesty, I’ve only had the opportunity to spend five days there. I do think it’s safe to say that those five days changed my whole outlook on life and society. I traveled to New York for a journalism convention — the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual national convention to be exact. I expected to leave with new passion for my developing career, with new insight into …

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When asked what it would take for the University of Minnesota volleyball team to get back to where they were last year, Erin Martin doesn’t hesitate to say, “I think we’re already past it.”
This may seem like a bold statement by the team’s senior outside hitter, who helped lead the team to their first Final Four appearance last fall, but she and her teammates have done everything to back it up so far. They’ve roared to an 11-1 start and captured the No. 1 ranking in the national poll. Of their 11 victories, four have come …

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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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