The Wake

As a lifetime city rat, I’ve never had much interest in the way my food was produced. As a “foodie” (although I do hate that word), however, I’m supposed to know my locally sourced free-range organic grass-fed cow’s milking cycle like clockwork, lest my hard-earned street cred be revoked. So I, as broke college student, must balance my lofty ideals with the cold reality of my checking account when going for weekly groceries. So when I heard that, during a certain allotted time on Wednesday afternoons, a small room would open in the Andrew Boss Lab of Meat Science (I know, I thought the name was cool too) and I would be able to purchase my sweet, life-sustaining Feta cheese at a fraction of the price of a Co-Op’s, I understandably jumped at the opportunity.

The …

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New bike trails, more public gardens, higher emission standards, cleaner air, lakes and drinking water. These are just a few of the aspects Minneapolis Greenprint looks at, evaluates and fixes. Minneapolis Greenprint is a project run by the city of Minneapolis to improve and evaluate environmental conditions in the city and to continue to promote green energy. On April 5, Greenprint released its 2010 environmental report at city hall, which outlines through stats and graphs how the city has improved and tried to improve the city in a green fashion over 2009 and the last five years.

“Our environmental efforts go beyond the borders of this city,” says Greenprint project coordinator June Mathiowetz. Mathiowetz says the project started five years …

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Whenever a natural, or not so natural, disaster happens within the city limits, there is usually an outpouring of support for whomever has been affected. But this large amount of support does not always guarantee that the affected people will remain in the same place. As the recent fire in South Minneapolis shows, no area of Minneapolis is safe from “white flight” and the degradation of the neighborhood that follows.

While currently one of the restaurants affected by the fire, Heidi’s, plans to reopen in the near future, no one knows whether it will be in the same location, or some far flung suburb where their insurance settlement will afford them a snazzier location and clientele.

The situation is reminiscent of the …

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By this point in the year most U of M students are probably so full of information from their various classes and the deluge of prior “Awareness Weeks” that the thought of attending any of the events in the Al-Madinah Cultural Center’s Islam Awareness Week probably seems like a chore, which is an utter shame considering that if there’s one culture the average American is woefully ignorant about, it would probably be Islam.

“The idea is to bring about awareness and give students a public face of Islam, rather than the negative portrayal they often see in the media,” Mohammed Hanif, the vice president of Al-Madinah says. Blame can reside with the mainstream media for a distinct lack of nuance in its coverage of Muslims or a variety of other parties, but the fact of …

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Budget cuts have taken their toll on most government initiatives, but few have been hit as hard as those that aid the destitute. In the current fervor of health care reform, Pawlenty aimed to give the General Assistance Medical Care program—a state medical aid initiative serving the most impoverished and needy single adults—a “reform” that was to mesh with his trend of cutting healthcare provisions in favor of lowering taxes.

As of March 23, the GAMC was slated for the ax, due to repeated Pawlenty vetoes on bipartisan- supported Democratic renegotiations of the reform bill. Minnesota Health Care Programs include GAMC, MinnesotaCare, and Medical Assistance that provide aid to those who do not qualify for federal assistance. Minnesota Department of Human Services announced the same day that those who were on the GAMC program would still …

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The Music Education Building at the University was constructed in 1888 and is recognized today as part of the Old Campus Historical District.

Being the second building ever constructed on campus, the building comes with many forms of what the city now determines to be code deficiencies.

The building was first used as a center for the Student Christian Association before hosting a YMCA chapter, Child Welfare and Music Education departments.

After being vacated, the building was placed into a lay-away state in 1997. The building was closed for multiple State Building Code deficiecies, a failing roof system, physical inassecibility, lack of elevator, proximity to the roadway and lead and asbestos-containing materials throughout the building.

The University explored several reuses of the …

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When considering “hip hop”, what is the first idea or image that comes to mind? Perhaps 50 Cent appears, or maybe graffiti along trains, pimp cups, beat-boxers, break dancers, or those sunglasses that Kanye West insists on wearing. But if it is not too bold, perhaps imagine how Minneapolis and St. Paul connect with hip hop culture. Is that a stretch? Perhaps, but From April 9-11, the Weisman Art Museum will serve as a venue of creativity, connection, and empowerment for the Twin Cities’ hip hop community.

“From Vices to Verses: A New Era of Hip Hop and Action” is a three-day conference organized by the University of Minnesota student group Voices Merging, along with the Cypher Coalition, Substance, and numerous supporters from the Twin Cities, that is bringing some …

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Mutterings abound amongst students and faculty about how this year seems different from prior years at the U of M. Among other hot-button issues, one of the big dilemmas affecting the atmosphere at the U is the far-too-noticeable increase in crime. College campuses and students are prime targets for petty crimes, mainly involving theft, and this past year the U has fallen victim to some disturbing crimes, most involving the threat and/or actual usage of severe physical violence. The U of M campus hosts the needs of about 50,000 students and 3,000 faculty and staff members. Everyone deserves to feel safe on campus, but how can anyone when one faculty member was robbed one afternoon in broad daylight in her office? Why is the U falling victim to such crimes, and what precautions can …

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The first hints of nicer weather in the current season make us Minnesotans do very strange things. There’s a special brand of optimism that we’re imbued with, a mild delusion that persuades us that temperatures that are barely above freezing qualify as “sweatshirt weather” provided the sun is up. Some brave souls were even spotted jogging in shorts during last week’s “warm snap” (quotes added because most of the country considers temperatures in the mid thirties to be incredibly cold). Perhaps some of this spring fever is making its way to the capitol over in St. Paul, because a surprising contingent of state senators have recently announced their transition to the greener pastures of civilian life. Chief among them are …

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This winter, Minneapolitans were subjected to the usual snowstorms and their requisite snow emergencies. But residents were in for a surprise when it came to snow removal rules: a total even-side parking ban for the second half of the snow season, ostensibly implemented because emergency vehicles were having trouble navigating narrowed streets.

Whenever the city does something annoying, it’s tempting to blame it on some sort of nefarious plot, ulterior motive or government screw-up. When the snow starts piling up on the roads, a whole slew of angry speculations directed at our fair cities public services come to mind. Sometimes such complaints and innuendos are warranted, and sometimes they’re not. Here, we examine some of the most common accusations and try to get to the bottom of the issue, with a little help from Mike …

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Once again, the election cycle is starting to turn on, its rusty gears sputtering and whirring to life even earlier than usual, as more and more candidates for political office are declaring their intention to run, dropping out of the race or simply saying nothing. Since the political machine is already underway, the issues politicians must address have taken shape, the big questions on a state and national level are already being asked and dodged with aplomb by both media and politician. Thankfully, the American public will begin to weed out the fringe politicians who either preach a bizarre, negative platform or those politicians who simply aren’t aware of what issues aren’t affecting the population.

That doesn’t stop some…interesting people from running, considering running or even pretending to run for political office. Here at the Wake, …

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As spring semester gets underway, plans are being put together for this year’s installment of the University of Minnesota’s annual Spring Jam event, albeit with more tension and preparation this time around. The now-infamous Spring Jam 2009 proceeded as usual until riots broke out late Saturday, April 25, and continued into the next day. About 500 students took to the streets in Dinkytown on the 1300 and 1400 blocks of 7th Ave. Revelers set several fires, trashed houses and cars, and disrupted traffic throughout the area, resulting in a riot squad of more than 70 police officers descending on the neighborhood, tear gas, rubber bullets and all. Eventually order was restored and no one was seriously injured. Needless to say, Spring Jam is going to be a lot different this year.

Blame for the riots has …

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The State Legislature, which reconvened February 4, wants to change the way the state budget is balanced. Any bills that increase the deficit will be discarded immediately. Not only are they looking for bills to help solve the state budget, but they are also asking the people of Minnesota for ideas on how to solve the budget crisis.

In a move rarely seen before, the State Legislature will be taking up to six of the best reform and redesign ideas submitted by state residents and put them into a Citizen Redesign Bill that will receive a hearing before a committee of the House of Representatives. This will be a way for the people of Minnesota to have more of a direct impact on what happens with our tax money.

In order to …

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As of press time, the Minneapolis City Council’s new “social host ordinance” simply awaits approval from Mayor R.T. Rybak to make it a misdemeanor to host gatherings where underage persons possess or consume alcohol. Whether that threat will actually affect the habits and safety of underage drinkers remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, however. Most students hate the idea.

“It’s not fair to anyone to make it so you are responsible for someone else’s choices,” Shana Conklin, a first-year law student, says. The potential $1,000 fine or 90-day jail sentence for violating the ordinance, she says, is “ridiculous.” “The city’s just trying to raise money because it’s in a budget crisis,” Conklin says.

The Minnesota Student Association, the university’s …

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