The Wake

At first, when Gil Schwartz went vegetarian as a seventh-grader he didn’t really understand why. Later, when he got involved with animal rights issues as a junior in high school he became a vegan. Schwartz decided to become vegan because he saw how animals were treated on factory farms. Now as a member of Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) and president of Minnesota Student Animal Rights Alliance, Schwartz actively campaigns for animal rights.“Animals are raised in wretched conditions,” Schwartz says.While he is not fundamentally against eating meat, Schwartz says he believes humans no longer need to rely on animals for survival. He drew a distinction between earlier cultures’ meat eating habits, like American Indians, and modern-day factory farms. Schwartz added that there is a huge myth that farm animals are raised humanely.In an effort to …

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The Progressive Student Action Coalition comprises of many campus chapters, including Jewish Progressive Students, The Young Voter Project and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, joined forces to hold Progressive Student Action Day on Monday, October 11 at Coffman Union. The event helped students become more involved in the political process by registering them to vote. Progressive Student Action Day was the result of student groups concentrating their efforts to get out the vote and make students aware of progressive causes that each student group advocates. “It has worked out really well. We just decided to work together on this and we have shared responsibilities,” says Sarah Kramer, a member of Jewish Progressive Students and one of the chief organizers of this event.Student group members and volunteers spent the beginning of …

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Names rung out in solemn, clear voices, cutting through the chilly air of early fall on the Northrop Plaza at 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 29.Over a 24-hour period, each volunteer took approximately 15 minutes to read a section of a book that held the names of an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 1,000 Americans killed since the beginning of the war. The event was sponsored by Faculty Against War. David Bernstein coordinated the efforts of 92 volunteers, 60 to 65 of whom were faculty members. “We want to put a human face back on the suffering,” says Bernstein, a staff member in the university’s theater arts and dance department. Since the June 28 sovereignty hand-over that took place in Iraq, news about deaths have slipped off the front page, Bernstein …

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We find ourselves trapped in the heat of election season once again. So many issues are being discussed and debated that they all blend into one grand argument. However, have you given any thought to human rights lately? Have you heard anyone talking about this hot topic? Has it even been an issue to discuss, since the Nazi internment camps, the horrors of Rwanda or the humiliating incidents of Abu Ghraib? It is an important issue that continues to present itself.In the post 9/11 society we now live in, our country has been forced to re-evaluate its stance on human rights. After the events at Abu Ghraib prison and other places such as Guantanamo Bay, where U.S. soldiers allegedly abused British Muslim prisoners, the U.S. government made the decision to close itself off from the …

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So, school’s started and you’re finally getting settled into that great new apartment. One problem—you have no furniture. There aren’t many college students that can run right down to Gabberts to gobble up all the latest in home furnishing fashion. So what are our options? The cheap and chic home furnishing market became more than just the offerings of your local Target store this summer with the much-anticipated opening of Minnesota’s first Ikea. Those pesky trips to Chicago (previously the nearest location) are no longer necessary in order to obtain the fabulous Scandinavian flat-packaged items you’ve been drooling over in the catalogue. But even Ikea is beyond many of our budgets when it comes to furnishing an entire apartment. Sure, I can afford $3.99 for a 12-pack of wine glasses, but the dark brown Värnamo …

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University of Minnesota students are facing double-digit tuition and fee increases for the fourth consecutive year, and they’re paying 14 percent more than they did last year. The deficit, which is around $70 million, is mostly due to budget cuts, along with some increases in university expenses. The main expense is a 2.5 percent average increase in all university employee wages, which totals $25 million. Each employee’s increase varied based on which department or college they are employed by, along with how influential the department’s union is, says Chief Financial Office Treasurer Richard “Fitz” Pfutzenreuter. Some reductions in operating and administrative cost are used to counteract the deficit, but the students pick up the $51 million that’s left over. This seems like a large portion of the overall deficit, but Pfutzenreuter says it’s due to …

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“I once fed an entire Krispy Kreme to a squirrel,” I recall a friend* from my freshman year telling me. “The little guy ran off a few feet then suddenly grabbed his left shoulder. I think he had a heart attack. It traumatized me for a few hours. Then I went to a frat party.”Such a snack could hardly be considered a healthy food choice for people, since the NutritionData Web site says that one Glazed Cruller doughnut contains 240 calories, 14 grams of fat and—for the carb counters out there—26 grams of carbohydrates. It’s roughly the equivalent of fat on a stick without the nutritious fiber of the stick.“I once saw a squirrel so chunky that his fat rolls—not his fur, his fat rolls—were rippling in the wind,” one …

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Some say that after you’ve lived in the Big Apple for five years you can be considered a true New Yorker. I’m not sure if that’s true because in all honesty, I’ve only had the opportunity to spend five days there. I do think it’s safe to say that those five days changed my whole outlook on life and society. I traveled to New York for a journalism convention — the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual national convention to be exact. I expected to leave with new passion for my developing career, with new insight into the changing world of information technology and a heightened awareness of issues that face the media today. Not only did I walk away with all of these things, but also I learned about fast …

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When asked what it would take for the University of Minnesota volleyball team to get back to where they were last year, Erin Martin doesn’t hesitate to say, “I think we’re already past it.”
This may seem like a bold statement by the team’s senior outside hitter, who helped lead the team to their first Final Four appearance last fall, but she and her teammates have done everything to back it up so far. They’ve roared to an 11-1 start and captured the No. 1 ranking in the national poll. Of their 11 victories, four have come against teams ranked in the top 25. Their only loss came in the second match of the season against University of Southern California, ranked No. 1 at the time.The Gophers surged to the …

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As you’re walking across campus take a look around you. Among the multi-million dollar buildings sustained by poor college students, you’re bound to find one or two lined along the sidewalks or clustered on the mall. And while many of you are thinking of those bushy-tailed rodents, I’m referring to something a bit more unnoticeable.Trees make up only a small part of the University of Minnesota campus and yet they add so much to the university atmosphere. Their beauty stands through the seasons and they have seen students come and go for decades. But some trees are meeting an early demise due to an incurable disease known as Dutch Elm. University land care officials says this year has been one of the worst – 30 elm trees were cut down because of the disease and …

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This fall many college students have a chance to vote in a presidential election for the first time. But will they be voting here at the “U”? A national poll by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that 62 percent of college students say they will “definitely” vote this November. The last two presidential elections have each brought in almost 18 million young voters, fewer than in previous years, according to the US Census. Some campus political groups, such as Students for Bush, are waiting until school gets started before they really get their campaigns underway. Marty Andrade, president of the group, says they plan on going door to door in the dorms near the end of September, once most of the students get settled into their routines. Andrade feels that if more young people …

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Nightlife will be a lot less hazy around campus this. Beginning on March 31, 2005, smoking will be forbidden in bars, restaurants, pool halls and bowling alleys in Minneapolis. The St. Paul City Council is working with Mayor Randy Kelly on a similar ban.Many smokers are feeling left out in the cold by the smoking bans. Barb Devos, a supervisor and server at Bar Abilene in Uptown,said shebelieves there could be a more reasonable approach.“The ban takes away from the freedom of what we want to do,” Devos said. “When you go to a bar at night you should expect smoke.” Devos said she thinks that the ban should prohibit smoking during the day but allow patrons to light up at night. She has been a server for eight years and used to smoke. She …

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Stereotype. It’s almost a four-letter word, so dreaded in our politically correct culture. Yet somehow everyone has one. There’s the computer major who likes to play Dungeons and Dragons. The self-righteous journalism student convinced their pen will uncover the next Watergate. The rich frat boy with a closet full of plaid shirts, white hats, and custom-made beer bongs. The sorority girl swathed in pearls, spending Daddy’s money to buy her friends. I recently had the chance to challenge these last two stereotypes by sitting down with some University of Minnesota students involved in the Greek community and proud of it (pearls and white hats were nowhere to be found). Talking with them gave me a chance to take a closer look at what being a Greek means and where my stereotypes come from.Myth …

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The University of Minnesotafootball team earned something it hadn’t had in 35 years: a place among the top 25 ranked teams in the Associated Press preseason poll. Even though the Gophers finished off the list at the 25th spot, they have already demonstrated how they will be climbing the charts all year long.In general, most rankings project this year’s team to end up in fourth place in the Big Ten, which is where they placed last year. This year the conference is extremely competitive and has more teams ranked among the top 25 than any other conference with six teams. En route to their first 10 win season since 1905, the Gophers finished last year with an overall record of 10-3 and a conference record of 5-3.This year’s team will undoubtedly end up with a …

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Fall is here and school is probably the last thing on your mind. Memories of semesters past are distant and few; probably forgotten during that night you blacked out at Sugar Daddy’s night club in central Minnesota. Regardless, many of you may have forgotten the university’s deep-rooted secrets; the hidden nooks and crannies that make this often alien landscape more inviting. Fret no more, kids — school’s in session.The secret behind every good student is a good bathroom in which to “deposit his or her knowledge.” The key to campus bathrooms is privacy. With 50,000 people on campus, it can be kind of difficult to “blast a steam donkey” in peace. If it’s seclusion you seek, check out the fourth floor restrooms immediately inside the Children’s Rehabilitation Building. A locked door and one throne guarantee …

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