The Wake

Dumpster diving is nothing new. People in dire financial straits have been going through the garbage for years. Though recently, those without money problems are diving in order to minimize trash export and find great deals on items which cost loads of money retail. This “green” trend has been underground for the last several years, but it is slowly coming to the surface through some very thrifty college students. Many have made a lucrative business out of trading their trash and selling high demand items like DVD players and game consoles. “It’s mostly electronics and stuff,” says Sam Tietze, a …

Read more →

If everyone lived like me, we would need 3.82 planets of resources to be sustainable. This is severely disturbing and in fact quite disgusting. I had a very high food footprint compared to the national average, and I think this is because I eat out probably more than the average American. I’m not a vegetarian, I don’t buy organic and natural foods, and I eat at least two large meals a day. If I wanted to decrease my footprint in the most effective way possible, I would definitely have to start with my eating habits. Unfortunately, being a college student …

Read more →

We have all heard the basic ways to save energy, turn off the lights when leaving a room, shut down your computer when you’re not using it, etc.

So, what do you do if you are already a typical energy conserver and you want to do more? As college studenta most of us aren’t ready to buy our first Energy Star washer and dryer or insulate our living spaces; but we still have other options to help reduce the energy we use. Here are five easy ways to do more in the effort waste less.

1. As winter approaches, it …

Read more →

A gaunt, bald figure in a loose-fitting shirt and baggy plaid sweatpants posed in front of a camera with his new guitar. He grinned, in spite of the life-threatening tumor inside his abdomen. The tumor rotted cells throughout his body, absorbing the nutrients from his food and encasing his organs, trying to shut them down. Andrew Kippley, a 15-year-old youth from Farmington, Minnesota, had it tough for a teenager. While most teens his age dealt with high school, Andrew dealt with death itself, trying to prove he was tough enough to beat it twice.

Doctors diagnosed Andrew in May with neuroblastoma, …

Read more →

Rich Americans spend countless hours using the technology to which we’ve so quickly become addicted. The current college-going generation is the first that grew up with electronics for the masses. As toddlers some of us were running around with gameboys in our hands. Now as university
students, it’s rare to find one of us that doesn’t claim our own computer, mp3 player, or cell phone. Personal electronics have become accessible enough for us to use them daily without even knowing their effects on health. Try this: Turn your iPod up to full volume and touch the ear buds together. When I …

Read more →

In today’s technology-driven society, innovations are abounding. The presidential election is just around the corner and people have gotten so swept up in the intoxication of it all that they didn’t stop to think about what “presidentia strategies” really imply. Naturally, technology has become a
significant portal for politicians to use in marketing themselves. Many of you probably know what it means to get an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). These scans “visualize a structure and body” so that physicians can determine differentdetriments or assets to our vitality. Neuroscience has
especially been focusing on research centered around MRIs more …

Read more →

I watched the first vice-presidential debate with a pair of Democrats (please note the difference between Democrats and Liberals; I’m quite fond of one, but annoyed by the other) and - of course - they mocked Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin’s accent throughout the proceedings. Every time
she said one of her Wisconsin-by-way-of-Alaska O’s they would giggle and repeat the sound. Every time she used a folksy phrase, my apartment was filled with titters. This is a problem.

Though politicians’ accents have been discussed for a very long time, the one that is clearest in my mind - and probably yours - …

Read more →

For years the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has had a considerable chokehold on price fluctuation of the oil market. Since its inception in 1960, it has used (and abused) its power as a consortium to intervene with the cycle of supply and demand, sometimes with disastrous effects.

With oil prices currently plummeting, OPEC is scrambling to form a plan of action. After peaking at $147
dollars per barrel in early July, the price of oil has more than halved in just a few months. As businesses make cutbacks or close their doors altogether, demand has dropped significantly below production. …

Read more →

With the American public facing crippling financial and energy crises, you might expect some deep thoughts and tough questions regarding the upcoming election. You might also be wrong. The latest question that seems to be concerning the public about the upcoming presidential election is, “Where can I get those rimless specs?” Sarah Palin’s Kazuo Kawasaki 704s have sold over 9,000 pairs since her debut in St. Paul, issuing a fashion frenzy and creating a pop-culture platform that seems to be stealing the spot light from the more imperative issues of the moment.

The blurring of pop-culture and politics …

Read more →

Her sunglasses, perched atop her cranium, pushed back the matted mass of hair that collected round her forehead. A thick layer of moist film on her face plastered stray clumps of curls here and there, which she wiped away with oil secreting fingers.

It was hot. The thin cotton of her shirt stuck to her skin like cling wrap, so wet with sweat, her decorative bra was visible. The embroidered pink and periwinkle blue flowers pressed through the fabric like an embossed pattern. Her barely there shorts did nothing to alleviate the intense heat that assaulted her system. The …

Read more →

The activist group Substance celebrated Halloween on Saturday with a haunted house in the Dinkytown Oakeshott Institute, based on the events surrounding the Republican National Convention earlier this year. After progressing past the chaotic RNC terror, patrons were greeted with live music from Kill The Vultures, Gay Witch Abortion, Slapping Purses and Tender Meat. The event helped raise money for the RNC 8 and to pay debts incurred from the Ripple Effect concert that took place during the RNC.

The haunted house portion was swarmed with screaming police officers and accosted protesters. In the …

Read more →

Any hack creative writing instructor will tell you that an effective storytelling technique is to start at the end of a story and work backwards. So I’ll tell you this: In 1932, Jonathan Selwyn became the mayor of Deadwood, South Dakota. He was a great man; an honest broker who refused to back down.
He stood up to criminals of all stripes and refused to take injustice sitting down. More than anything, he wasn’t afraid to ask why things were the way they were.

As the election draws near, it’s becoming increasingly rare to hear any questions being asked, not to mention …

Read more →

There’s a reason why Dokapon Kingdom is called “The Friendship Destroying Game.” The latest game from Japanese developer Atlus will cause players to curse, take controllers away from each other and, in some cases, may cause fist fights. It also takes the party game genre into a whole new level of fun.

Think of Dokapon Kingdom as a sort of Mario Party-type RPG. Up to four players battle it out in the Kingdom of Dokapon, saving towns from evil demons and collecting money for the king of Dokapon. Since money makes Dokapon go round, the person who has the most total …

Read more →

“My powers of expression, thoughts so sublime, that never do you justice with reason or rhyme,” smoothly rasps Bob Dylan in the song “Mississippi” from his latest album of unreleased and alternate tracks. Tell Tale Signs is a collection that encompasses Dylan’s music from 1989-2006. This album is very bluesy and very soulful and is full of his expression and thoughts that leave faithful listeners pleading for more.

The two-disc set offers plenty of gems. It starts off with “Mississippi, Version One.” It has a very bluesy vibe combined …

Read more →

Background Information:
Young Widows is a Louisville, Kentucky, three-piece consisting of every member of hardcore band Breather Resist, save the vocalist. They formed in 2005 and put out their first release, the solid but not particularly exciting Settle Down City, in 2006. Said record was primarily noise rock a little bit too
heavily influenced by the Jesus Lizard.

How was this album recorded?
Old Wounds is put together from over 12 hours of tape: producer and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou recorded their live shows for an entire tour, they recorded several sets in their practice space, and they recorded a set at Ballou’s recording …

Read more →