The Wake

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 collaborative arts events, developing a forum for art creation and discussion at the university. Collaboration is the driving force behind the Arts Quarter Collective’s work, as is building a community for artists. “It offers an …

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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 of enforcement and varying penalties.Stub & Herb’sBy Grant Boelter“It smells like pipe from half a block down,” exclaimed a patron of Stub & Herb’s on the eve of the citywide smoking ban.An …

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It’s happened to almost all of us. It’s the week before spring and you’re faced with spending next week in your parents’ basement or bumming around a dead campus. Odds are money is running low, you didn’t have time to come up with a plan, or your idiot friend decided now would be a good time to tell you that he forgot to call and confirm your spot on the plane. At this point the only logical answer seems to be to throw in the towel, crank the thermostat to 90 degrees and rent The Real Cancun. Don’t do it. Heat doesn’t come cheap these days and that rental will permanently set you back about 100 cool points. Break the piggy bank, call the buddies and fuel up the ‘93 Escort. Still lost? Here are …

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Editor’s note: Click here to listen to an audio clip of Welti discussing youth and politics.Andy Welti was preoccupied with the American flag this morning. The 24-year-old is a part of the Committee on Government Operations and Veterans’ Affairs, which will vote on a resolution that would urge Congress to “prohibit physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”Welti made frantic calls to veterans in his home district to get a feel for how he should vote. As a first-term legislator at the Minnesota House of Representatives, Welti wants to make sure he accurately represents his constituents.“Personally I feel it’s freedom of speech. The Supreme Court has already ruled on it. When are we going to allow this issue to rest?” Welti asks. “We should be focusing on the budget. We …

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Kristin O’Quinn knows what it is like to be stressed out. A senior majoring in human resources and development, O’Quinn tries to maintain a GPA above 3.0 and has made the dean’s list for the last three years every semester except one. O’Quinn is also the parent of a lively 3 -year-old boy. Balancing school with family is a constant struggle for O’Quinn. Days start at 6:00 a.m. and do not wind down until 10 p.m. if O’Quinn can get her son to sleep on time. “Time management is critical,” O’Quinn says. Guilt is a constant factor in O’Quinn’s life, but when schoolwork gets in the way of spending time with her son, she reminds herself that she is doing something productive for herself and for her son.“I have a breakdown once a semester, but …

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There’s a chance you received a phone call this winter from Minneapolis’s or St. Paul’s new automated snow emergency calling service, but according to a Minneapolis Public Works Department report submitted to Minneapolis City Council on March 22, the chances are slight.The phone service is the latest attempt by Minneapolis and St. Paul to proactively reach citizens thus lowering ticketing, towing and ultimately to clear the streets faster during snow emergencies, says Mike Kennedy, director of Minneapolis Field Services.A new service this winterMinneapolis and St. Paul use many methods of reaching the public in a snow emergency. Both cities post information on their Web sites, broadcast information on local channels, inform the media and send email notices, Kennedy says. “[The automated phone service] is just another weapon in our arsenal, another tool in our …

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Because of freedom of speech, a Palestinian woman who has lived in the United States since 1996 was able to discuss an unpopular viewpoint — the result of gradual and persistent Zionist victimization of Palestinians in Israel.Isra’ Muzaffer, a second year university PhD student, stood before a group of more than 30 intellectuals on Feb. 11 in Heller Hall. She stood up for what she believes is “ethnic cleansing” in Israel. She outlined the unofficial plan by the Israeli government to build a wall twice as high and three times as long as the Berlin wall. The wall will to slice up the West Bank, making Palestinians segmented in a land they have lived in since the seventh century.In a question and answer section of the lecture, Muzaffer clarified the fact that it is difficult …

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Growing up, I knew one ghost. He was green, chubby and he visited every Saturday morning. He was a friendly ghost and got to hang out with a bunch of guys who made their living searching for other, less friendly ghosts. These guys called themselves Ghost Busters and Slimer was their squishy sidekick. Though they may be a far cry from the goofy Ghost Busters, the university has their own group dedicated to searching for spiritual beings. Their name is a little more serious too.The Paranormal Research Team (PRT) became an official student group back in November, but they have been looking for ghosts for a lot longer than that. “Our goal is to examine hauntings from an unbiased point of view and methodically investigate unexplained phenomenon,” PRT wrote on the student activities Web site. …

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“Why would you work for that piece of shit?” It wasn’t exactly a response that Crystal Lachermeier expected to hear from a classmate when she announced that she would be working for the Republican National Committee.As part of fulfilling a requirement for a service-learning class, Lachermeier, a senior at the “U” who is double-majoring in political science and sociology, interned for the RNC last fall. She pointed to this in-class incident as one of a number of times when she felt discriminated against because of her conservative political viewpoints.Lachermeier and many other students face a unique challenge — being in the political minority on campus. While there hasn’t been a study conducted specific to the University of Minnesota, the general consensus between liberals and conservatives alike is that campus leans a little to the left …

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Online dating services reek of the information age. It seems almost impossible that they existed before people were too busy to leave the office for lunch let alone find a lover. Dating services have been around in one form or another (women didn’t always have it so good) for centuries.During the Roman Feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival that celebrated the gods of marriage and religion, the Romans held a date lottery. The women would place love notes into a large vessel and then the men would pick one out. Whomever’s love note the man chose would become the object of his affection.The date of this festival: February 14th. Obviously, Valentine’s Day has come a long way since its inception during early Roman times. Today greeting card companies sell more than $9 million in valentines. …

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When I first decided to attend the University of Minnesota, I remember a friend of mine chuckling at the thought of me becoming a Gopher. A Gopher is, perhaps a slightly unusual mascot, not fierce like a Tiger, not outright ridiculous like a Hokie, (whatever that is), but it is the perfect personification of Minnesota nice. For 74 years, Goldy the Gopher has been the face of the University of Minnesota, and he couldn’t be happier. A die-hard Gopher fan and an athlete himself, Goldy leads an interesting life. From performing at sporting events, to making personal appearances, to practicing his signature dance moves and of course, making time to impress the ladies, Goldy is quite the busy little gopher. As a student athlete whose season never ends, staying in shape year-round is a necessity. …

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Le Cirque Rouge de Gus is a wildly entertaining burlesque and cabaret show that puts on a risque, refined performance. “The show celebrates women, because any woman can do this,” says manager Amy Buchanan. “You don’t have to look like Barbie. Sexy is sexy.” Le Cirque Rouge performs at The Loring Pasta Bar every Saturday night at 10 p.m. The troupe will put on special Valentine’s performances at the new Varsity Theater in Dinkytown on February 11, 12 and 14 at 9 p.m.

Students might not know it, but when Mom and Dad wrote that big tuition check for this semester, $307.96 of it went to student service fees.Where does this money go and who decides who gets it? According to Minnesota Student Association president Tom Zearley, 90 percent of the money goes to what are considered administrative units. These include Boynton Health Services, Recreational Sports and The Minnesota Daily. Administrative units are essentially guaranteed consistent funding each year, Zearley says.Where the other 10 percent of the cash will go is open for debate, although allocating the money is complicated. “The process is not one bit simple, but it safeguards against abuses,” Zearley says. Student groups who feel deserving of a share of the $22.1 million pot generated each semester by student service fees must file an application …

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They say if you give them an hour, you’ll get endless rewards. Maybe they come in a smile here or a heartfelt thank you there. Maybe it’s the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes when you know you’ve done something to help someone in need. Or maybe the rewards come in the time spent with someone you care about, no matter what the task at hand. Duffy and DorisNeighbors and friends Duffy Sauer and Doris Mancino experience this each week when they spend an afternoon delivering food to homebound seniors as part of the Northeast Dinner Bell Meals on Wheels program. I’ve been invited to ride along with the two to find out just what it takes to be a part of this team. Although the two women are old enough to be my grandmothers, …

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The Coca-Cola Corporation is in trouble again, according to an activist group that began a campaign against the company on campus on Friday, Nov. 12. Corporate Accountability International, formerly known as Infact, says Coke is using up quality water for soft drink and bottled water products in poverty-stricken areas of India, which are then left to use the polluted water in rivers for bathing and cooking.Students who share the activist groups’ attitude about Coca-Cola could call in to a hotline and leave a message asking Coke to “Stop stealing water.” The exact total of call-in campaigns has not yet been tabulated, but according to Minneapolis organizer Jacek Pruski, hundreds have called in to protest Coke’s actions across the country.The protests in the United States are joined with efforts from India as well. More than 1,000 …

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