The Wake

There are so many injustices being committed in the world today, so many causes on which to hang one’s hat, that it can be hard for the average Wake-reading, peace-loving hippie to know where to direct his or her compassion and action. If our own country’s war and health-care system aren’t enough to worry about, there’s always the Israeli-Palestine conflict or the genocide in Darfur to get anxious about—not to mention the pressing concerns of worldwide food shortages and global warming. Luckily for those activism-minded individuals looking for a sign to wave, there’s China and its myriad sins, now conveniently spotlighted by the forthcoming Beijing Olympics.

All glibness aside, the Chinese government’s human-rights violations aren’t just a cause célèbre to activists like those who gathered in front of Coffman Union on April 16. The rally, …

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In the aftermath of the University of Minnesota workers’ strike, driven, socially-conscious people were left with a bitter taste in their mouths. The U of M chapter of the Experimental College, EXCO, of the Twin Cities has sprouted from this volatile mixture.
EXCO is an organization that helps organize free classes and demonstrates that there is an alternative path to education. The fact that learning can happen outside of an institutionalized context is almost counterintuitive at a time and place where knowledge is power - and that power is going to cost you.

The U of M’s EXCO chapter has “a principal of offering free education to the Twin Cities community,” according to Amy Pason, a U of M grad student who helps organize the U of M EXCO chapter. Anyone can take a class …

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Part I

Part II

Students shuffle into a classroom as the bell rings, slumping into desks and tossing backpacks to the floor. They regard their teacher with mild interest as he begins the lesson. Two boys and a girl trade whispered banter that’s half-teasing and half-flirting. A few seats away, a girl holds a cell phone under her desk and text-messages.

Only the papers hanging on the wall to the students’ left betray this as anything but a typical high school classroom. The words are scratched simply on notebook paper, framed by magazine photos of men with guns and the sorrowful faces of children. “11 years I have not seen Somalia. I want to go to Somalia,” one reads. “My country doesn’t have school and medical…1990 up to now my country …

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Illustration by Lucy Michell

I have always wanted to be a superhero. I am sure I am not alone in this dream. What with Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and Harry Potter out there, there is no chance that I am the only individual that wants to live the dream. But to be honest, my superhero knowledge begins and ends with the few episodes of Power Rangers I have seen and a handful of recent action films. In hopes of achieving my superhero goal, I decided it would be best to find some superheroes. I searched for a sign that would point me in the right direction, either to the bat cave or super-secret lair, but those signs are hard to find. …

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Photo by Erik Helin

I know what you’re thinking: “Erik, what’s adventurous about eggs?” And you’re right to question me. Egg & I isn’t adventurous. But I’m a red-blooded American who happens to love a good breakfast, and Egg & I makes a damn good breakfast.

Located in a massive brick office building on University Ave. near Highway 280, the restaurant doesn’t score too many points when it comes to décor. In fact, if the various booths and tables were taken out and replaced with cubicles and copy machines I don’t think it would be a tough transition.

Their menu isn’t too vast. With the exception of some hot sandwich and burger options, Egg & I serves primarily breakfast items. From the …

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Illustration by Ben Alpert

U.S. Congress defines homelessness in a fairly straightforward way: “Any adult whose primary nighttime residence is a supervised, publicly or privately-operated temporary living accommodation, including emergency shelters, transitional housing, and battered women’s shelters; or whose nighttime residence is not meant for human habitation, such as under bridges or in cars.” This definition also extends to youths.

Since 1991, Wilder Research has conducted a study of homelessness in Minnesota every three years. Their most recent study was published in October 2006 and found that at least 9,200 people were homeless each night in the state.

In summer 2006, Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis began the Campaign to End Homelessness. During a 100-day planning period, county and city …

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Illustration by Lucy Michell

Most college students have difficulty trying to balance their checkbooks. The students in Professors Sean and Meg Emery’s class do a bit more than that. They balance themselves on chairs, ropes, and even a trapeze. One student juggles while a partner sits on his shoulders. Another practices forward rolls and leaps on a mat. Yet another student opens a fan fast as lightning with a flick of his wrist. One student dangles her body on the trapeze. This is Circus Performance class.

“Once people realize that they can learn this, they really have fun with it,” Professor Meg Emery says. Emery says the idea for another circus class at the University of Minnesota came up at a …

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Photo by Alex Amend

There is much to lament – and praise - in the fusion of social networking with online social networking. Like a newspaper in a bathroom stall, or a simple handshake, however, the conquest of digital technology has its limits, and small niches considered “ways of the old” remain, at least for now, stubbornly irreplaceable.

Enter Mayday Bookstore. Founded in 1975 on the corner of Selby and Western in St. Paul, Mayday was originally a Maoist collective. Today, many ideological splits and much collective infighting later, the bookstore has an expanded and refined range of leftist literature in its home of 17 years on the West Bank.

However, what is most significant about Mayday is not simply …

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Splat!

The sound is music to the ears of paintball enthusiasts everywhere. It’s also a sound that can be heard around campus, if you listen closely enough. But that wasn’t the case until recently.

After playing paintball throughout high school and during his first year of college at St. Mary’s, John Thomason transferred to the University of Minnesota and was stunned to find no club team affiliated with the National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA), a league designed specifically for college students.

Thomason decided to take initiative and sought to launch a paintball club team. “Being that the U has such a large student body, I knew I could find enough people to get the club started,” he says.

The paintball club became recognized by the U of M last September and launched with six members; since that …

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I’m not Ukrainian, but I find it very easy to relate to the working-class heritage of Eastern European countries. For over 50 years, Kramarczuk’s in Northeast Minneapolis has exemplified the culinary traditions of their homeland.

Walking into the store, I was immediately struck by the expansive glass display cases containing dozens upon dozens of sausage varieties. From Andouille to Blood and Tongue, almost every imaginable classification of meat is slinked and linked for your pleasure. The rest of the store also flaunts imported European pastries, breads, candies and cheeses.

The restaurant is located in the next room, which also holds the seating area. The long deli counter boasts a plentiful assortment of ethnic European dishes, all modestly priced between $5 and $10.

I was incredibly hungry. Lucky for me, Ukrainian food is designed to quell even the greatest …

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Illustration by Sarah Morean

The increased visibility of women in roles of political leadership – especially Hillary Clinton’s omnipresence as a presidential candidate – made the theme of the 13th annual International Women’s Day Celebration and Workshop on Saturday, March 15th particularly timely. Presented by The Advocates for Human Rights, the event ran under the theme “Women Leading for Gender Justice.” The day was filled with opportunities for women of all backgrounds, ages and races to explore the unique female leadership experience, as it is understood around the world.

This year’s celebration held a special meaning for indigenous women because in September 2007 the U.N. General Assembly voted to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This …

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Mayday Bookstore

Carl Carpenter would like to encourage everyone who thought his article inaccurate due to false accreditation of the Jesus banner and Coffman evangelists, to please go back and read both parts of the article, mindful that it was actually a conscience decision to withhold the true owner of the house and bigots for matter of suspense and format, and hopefully be willing to respond to some content in the article.

Comment taken from wakemag.org:
I have been wondering for some time now what Stephen Glass was up to. Guess he’s studying abroad.

This article further reinforces the growing belief on campus that The Wake and the MN Daily are tabloid rags filled with cartoon stories penned by whiny children.

So President Bush has had a bad policy in Africa? Hmm. Bob Geldolf would disagree with you.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1717934-1,00.html

Religion has ruined …

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