The Wake

Governor Tim Pawlenty’s recent shift to the center may cost him some votes from hard-line Republicans Nov. 7, but he’ll likely earn those back by convincing swing voters that his new middle-ground proposals are truly what Minnesota has been waiting for. Just this summer, Pawlenty has proposed major reforms to higher education to provide free tuition to students who meet certain requirements, suggested regulation of contracts between oil companies and gas stations to boost the use of ethanol while supporting a plan to make cars ethanol-friendly and called for a ban on prescription drug advertising. Many think that Pawlenty’s recent proposals have been merely a campaign ploy to lure moderate voters. “This is intensely practical, vote-driven behavior,” Peter Hutchinson, the Independence Party’s gubernatorial candidate, told the Star Tribune. In other words, Pawlenty may be just …

Read more →

Tucked away on the West Bank, veiled in Wilson Library on the fourth floor, hidden back in the James Ford Bell Library and guarded under glass is this semester’s exhibit, “Creating the First Global Empire: Portuguese Exploration and Expansion in the Early Modern World.” The exhibit displays original treasures from the early days of sea exploration and cartography.The exhibit opened Sept. 5 and showcases original maps, rare books and manuscripts from the 15th, 16th and 17th century escapades which led the Portuguese in expansion of the first global empire – spreading from the Atlantic, to Africa and the Indian Ocean Basin, eventually extending from Brazil to Japan. Though the exhibit’s visitors won’t receive much of a history lesson on early seafaring exploration, the experience is worthwhile. Manuscripts and books documenting the maritime adventures are on …

Read more →

Once upon a time (in mid-August) in a far, far away place (Rosemount) the University gave away free corn on the cob, lemonade and tastes of local wine to all. The setting: a mysterious 7,500 acre park 30 miles from the St. Paul Campus, dubbed UMORE, or University of Minnesota Outreach, Research and Education Park.The park’s forte is agricultural field research, and “3,500 acres have been devoted to agricultural research for the last 55 years,” says Jim Rowe, assistant director of operations for UMore. On August 17, UMore looked beyond those 55 years, hosting its third annual open house – sharing the past, present and future of the largest publicly owned research and educational facility in the United States at an urban-rural interface.“It is an effort to show our neighboring community some of the …

Read more →

Envision yourself immersed in a rural African town while working at an orphanage. Or maybe learning how to speak Spanish in South America while taking in the culture. Can you see yourself interning for a human rights organization in Australia? The world is a huge place and no doubt there are places abound to explore and experience. It’s not impossible to seek adventure all over the globe thanks to study, work and volunteer abroad programs, which many college students participate in every year. The opportunity to study abroad while doing university study is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Imagine stepping off an airplane into a completely new city and suddenly being surrounded by a language that is unknown to you. This is the beginning of a great quest for global understanding. There is a plethora of …

Read more →

Gubernatorial candidate Becky Lourey’s Aug. 23 discussion on fiscal policy was essential to convince voters she can finance her sweeping proposals to health care, education and transportation. Her plans are progressive and well-thought out, but require some major overhauls to our current systems, especially the health care industry. If Lourey wants Democrats to pass over Attorney General Mike Hatch and vote for her instead, she’s going to have to convince a lot of people before the Sept. 12 primary that her policies can work without a huge increase in taxes and that her programs are worth the increase. “We live in a great democracy, but it isn’t an absolutely perfect democracy,” Lourey said during the discussion. “Minnesota has a long and proud tradition of nurturing success for all its citizens,” she continued later. But “for …

Read more →

September starts a new school year and brings a new batch of freshman to the university. Among the new kids on the block, there is a group of students that can fall through the cracks and enter quietly into the system—transfer students. These students have previously attended at least one other college in their lifetime and enter the U of M with experience. Students transfer for many reasons. Some start out at smaller colleges and then move onto larger universities. This is because smaller colleges are less costly than larger universities and other responsibilities such as families, jobs and other time constraints can get in the way of going to a four-year university. Students also are not sure of what they want to major in and take general classes to save money before heading into …

Read more →

In what could very well be considered a cruelly inhumane joke on the part of UofM Housing and Residential Life, every year thousands of helpless incoming freshmen are thrust into the psychotic roommates, horrible music, abysmal food, and binge drinking-fueled vomiting. Join us for a dorm-by-dorm analysis of the good, the bad, and the ugly of living in the university’s much-maligned student housing.Bailey
By Amy Fink
If you prefer the quiet life and having big, strong horse legs, Bailey is the residence for you. Located atop a hill on the west edge of the St. Paul campus, Bailey is home to those on the small, more private campus at the far end of the University Transitway. The lower lounge has a kitchen, vending machine, pool table and pingpong table, but don’t expect the equipment …

Read more →

By now you’re well versed in the stats: The U of M faculty teaches 60,000 students on two campuses, some of whom have formed groups of five, coughed up 20 bucks, and started one of the 600-plus student groups registered during the 2005-06 school year. These grandiose figures may reassure overwrought parents that their children will be able to find a niche on our sprawling campuses, but they do nothing to reflect the true cultural wealth of the U’s student groups. From the Medieval Combat Society (re-enact your favorite battles from history class with foam-padded weapons!) to Keshet (targeted at queer Jewish folk) and the Theater of the Relatively Talentless (a medley of law students who sing and dance in the school’s annual musical), there’s an organization for even the most obscure interest.AB Kilombo Capoeira…

Read more →

Rumors circulated for years that the University has considered getting rid of it’s sponsorship with the Coca-Cola Company because of human rights violations by the company. But new evidence about the university president’s addiction to the fizzy intoxicating drink suggests that this day may never come. Despite claims that he considered getting rid of the Coke sponsorship, University President Bob Bruininks recently told an unidentified source that the U could never get rid of it’s dependency on Coke dollars, mostly because the prez is too addicted himself. “Why do you think we have Coke instead of Pepsi?” he reportedly told our source. When we contacted Bruininks to see whether or not this is true, he would only confirm the information by the empty Diet Coke cans surrounding his desk. “I have to run to the …

Read more →

In a shocking turn of events Friday, The Wake was granted full operational funding from the university for the 2006-2007 academic year. After the Student Fees Service Committee shorted The Wake more than $30,000 of their requested fees earlier this semester, the Strategic Positioning Research Task Force budgeted unlimited financial support for the student-run magazine.The blank check does have a catch, though. “Its not like they gave them the money out of the goodness of their goddamned hearts,” says Vice Provost for Student Affairs Jerry Rineheart, who intervened to approve The Wake’s fees last spring but declined to do so this time around. The Research Task Force granted unrestricted funds to The Wake conditionally—the magazine has agreed to allow university researchers to study its production, as well as the staff’s academic and personal lives, up …

Read more →

Minneapolis MN—More than a hundred Christian missionaries from across the nation have migrated to the University of Minnesota for the annual “Preaching to the Pagans” conversion convention. This two-day event spotlights the yearly exodus of students from the university for the summer and the need for swift action to save their lost souls from living another 3 months away from the divine spirit of God. Reverend Jeremiah Wakefield, Texan evangelist and director of “Preaching to the Pagans” explains the importance of reaching out to impressionable young students. “The youth’s minds are being filled up with the liberal garbage about tolerance of other religions, peace, equality, and free love. What they really need to be taught is the good word of Jesus Christ, and God willing, we’ll covert every one of these hippies into upstanding Christian …

Read more →

Brit Snodgrass rapped his maroon and gold robe tighter around his body against the evening spring chill that had settled on the East River Flats. “This may have been the very same robe that He wore when He accepted His almighty position,” Snodgrass said, the firelight from the torches that dotted the valley reflecting in his thick, black-rimmed glasses. Snodgrass, of course was referring to the Almighty Robert H. Bruinincks, President of the University of Minnesota. (Editors note: Snodgrass agreed to the interview only if we promised to capitolize all references to the President). In the torch-lit field behind Coffman, members of the “Friends Loving an Unadulterated Bobby Bruinincks” student group (FLUBB) gathered to “worship this man who may not be a man at all,” said one group member, “but a bureaucratic being,” he adds …

Read more →

In the midst of the brutal Minnesota winter, most freezing pedestrians would hardly consider the grey and barren University of Minnesota campus to be particularly beautiful. But as the weather has grown warmer and the days sunnier and longer, campus has slowly shed its wintery grit and grime to reveal green grass and blooming flowers. While the university’s grounds and buildings (many of them, anyway) could be considered quite pretty on bright spring day, it takes a considerable amount of work to keep them that way.On April 20, the university celebrated its annual Beautiful U Day, even though the weather wasn’t quite so gorgeous. Despite the rain, volunteers turned out to partake in a little spring cleaning and gardening, including picking up trash, planting flowers and tidying up buildings. “We still had hundreds and hundreds …

Read more →

Hybrid cars, compact fluorescent light bulbs, Green Routes, organic fruits and veggies, recycling, fair trade, pesticide-free household and hygiene products, local agriculture, biking, hemp clothing, free-range chicken and eggs, windpower, soy milk, public transportation and more. These are just a few components of adopting a sustainable lifestyle—if you can make sense of the environmentally-friendly barrage. Sound like a lot to deal with? That’s where the Living Green Expo comes in.The fifth annual Living Green Expo, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days at the Grandstand building at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds, is sponsored by a variety of local environmental groups, non-profit organizations, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other local businesses such as Target, 3M and Twin Cities Natural Food Co-Ops. The …

Read more →

Outside, puddles slowly evaporate from the desolate wreckage that is the Lake Street reconstruction project. But inside the Heart of the Beast Theater on East Lake and 15th Avenue, community members of all ages and cultures are hard at work, preparing the pieces that will make up the 32nd Annual May Day Parade and Festival.The Heart of the Beast May Day Festival began in 1974 with a small group of artists, but has grown to include 17 full-time artists and hundreds of community volunteers, and has attracted over 50,000 spectators to Powderhorn Park in the past. The planning process for the parade begins early at two community brainstorming sessions in February and March. For the last 23 years, the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater has hosted the public meetings, which determine the …

Read more →