The Wake

Two women exchange names and inanities in the room adjacent. They chuckle and giggle; yet I can’t feel their laughter. The table where I sit appears to be oak, finely stained- illuminating the deep and thick grooves of the wood. The smell of coffee and cigarettes permeates through the cafe. The music is drowned only by the clinking and clanking of the glasses in the next room; this nagging white noise. Outside, students amble the streets, zigzagging, exchanging subtle nods and polite observations of the weather. A man sits and sips his coffee, starring aimlessly …

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Fraternities often get a bad rap. When someone is described as a “frat boy,” a few images immediately spring to mind. These usually involve a big, athletic guy holding a beer can who is perhaps not the most intellectual guy on the block. And although the expanse of any non-Greek’s knowledge may be limited to who hosts a better party, behind every kegger there is a group with a rich history and a commitment to communityimprovement. While fraternities for white men have existed since 1776, black fraternities were not formed until the early 1900s. At Cornell …

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West of the Mississippi River and between the bricks and mortar that make our campus lives the art fostered by the West Bank Arts Quarter – home to the innovative student group the Arts Quarter Collective. As one treads the pavement past Anderson Hall and Wilson Library the arts get closer. There, near the edge of the West Bank Campus, the visual and performing arts are housed and separated by walls and university departments. But these physical divisions disappear when the Arts Quarter Collective meets for their unique events. The student group acts as a catalyst for interdisciplinary artwork and …

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On the last day smokers were allowed to light up indoors in Minneapolis, March 30, Wake reporters interviewed the livid, the victorious, and the indifferent.After a series of complex ordinances, individuals in Minneapolis face a $300 fine for exhaling cigarette smoke in bars, restaurants and bowling alleys. The city will issue businesses a $200 citation for the first violation, and the fine will double for each subsequent violation, up to $2,000, according to the city’s Web site.The cities of Bloomington and Golden Valley passed similar bans, as did Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Each county and city may have different methods …

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The snow is melting, the sun is staying out longer, a guy playing Jesus pretends to be crucified then rises from the dead minutes later as a pastor reads passion scripture. It must be spring, which means it’s time to get a few things off my chest.Well, really just one thing, but it gets me so mad that it feels like a few things. I’m talking about Tony Oliva and the hall of fame veterans committee’s inability to dislodge their collective heads from their asses. Once again, Tony O was snubbed from baseball’s hall of fame.How does one get selected …

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Boom! There it goes!New York Yankee Rueben Sierra just belted a Juan Rincon slider 350-plus feet up into the Metrodome’s right field bleachers, thereby inducing a dramatic halt to the Homer Hanky waving of 52,498 Twins faithful.Minnesota fans and players were crushed as, for the second straight season, the vaunted Yankees ended the Twins’ American League pennant and World Series hopes. Many Twins fans wondered…will we ever get past those pesky pinstriped players from New York?Well, there’s definitely a chance, but the 2005 team will have to recover from some key losses and injuries in order to do so. …

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It’s 10:15 p.m. at Ridder Arena. I have to work at my apartment’s front desk at 2 a.m., but I’m not sleeping. I have 100 pages of reading to finish for a class tomorrow, but I’m not doing that either. I’m watching a bunch of college kids slide around on ice, whiffing at a miniature soccer ball with a stick lacking the bristles needed for it be considered a broom, and falling on their asses. WTF?But as the co-rec broomball playoffs start, I have to admit I am entertained. This team is pretty fun to watch because they’re actually good.- …

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