The Wake

In the height of the McCarthy era, beat poet Allen Ginsberg asked, “America, why are your libraries full of tears?” It was intended to be a metaphor for American history books lining library shelves. However, Ginsberg probably couldn’t foresee what his metaphor would mean 50 years later.Since the USA Patriot Act was passed in October 2001, librarians across the country haven’t been telling people to stay quiet with the snap of a ruler. They’ve become one of the country’s most outspoken critics of the act.“Libraries don’t try to stand in the way of law enforcement,” said Eric Celeste, Associate University Librarian for Information Technology. “But I think, personally, and in our organizations like the American Library Association (ALA), we vigorously oppose laws like the Patriot Act, which we think interfere with the kind of free-flow …

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The first Greek organization appeared on campus in 1874, and since then, 38 different fraternities and sororities have settled at the University of Minnesota to invite more into their fold. Today, roughly 1,500 students are members of the Greek community. This might not be significant compared to the 49,400 students who were enrolled at the University last semester, but it does show many people are interested in the Greek community. What are the reasons for people participating in this system? Is there something in particular they are looking for? Anyone can go to the nearest BLOCKBUSTER, rent Animal House or Old School and see what Greek activities are like, right? For some Greeks, the social draw of parties and new friends is exactly what they are looking for. Others look more toward networking and professional …

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Dear SHADEy,
My girlfriend is on the pill but still gets anxious when I cum. What can I do?
Frustrated in FridleyThis question was sent to “Ask SHADEy,” a column found on the Sexual Health Disease and Education (SHADE)’s Web site. SHADE is a student organization at the university that promotes student sexual heath by answering difficult questions and handing out free condoms in residence halls and Greek houses. They also work out of their mobile unit, the notorious “Shaggin’ Wagon.”Sexually active college students risk contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and many other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like herpes, genital warts, chlamydia and gonorrhea, according to a survey conducted by the Center for AIDS Intervention Research.The study concentrates on a college student’s perception of risk for getting HIV. Students often overestimate the risk …

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Long before the sun rises, before the coffee brews in the Courtside Deli, vacuum cleaners hum and Recreation Center staff mill about the empty gym, preparing for another day.While many students are putting the finishing touches on term papers or cramming for tests, several University of Minnesota students and staff gather in the Rec Center lobby, eager to get at the gym equipment. When front-desk attendant Hanna Loberg unlocks the doors at 5:45 a.m., the early birds file in and begin their morning workouts.Rosalyn Washington arrived at the Rec Center about 5:30 a.m. She waited in the lobby, stretching and preparing for her workout. A university employee and master’s degree student, Washington said she starts every weekday at the Rec Center, a schedule she has followed for five years.“In the evening I’m tired,” she …

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Some were supportive, some were appalled but most passersby in front of the Coffman Memorial Union bookstore just stared as they passed an assortment of plastic fetuses, one inch in length, sprawled on a table amongst pro-life/anti-abortion literature as a part of Students for Family Values (SFV) table.SFV President Martin Andrade and three other members of the self-proclaimed non-partisan conservative group set up their pro-life table near the escalator outside the bookstore for about three hours on Nov. 21. The group says it decided to hand out the plastic fetuses to draw attention to their table and to the issues surrounding abortion.“There is the abstract concept that some people have that, ‘well maybe its alive, but you can’t really see it,’” Andrade said, “but when you see that this is how big it is and …

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Every Monday night, men line up outside the Simpson United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. They wrap around the building, one by one, waiting for the weekly lottery. This isn’t the kind of lottery you see on TV with multi-million dollar prizes and oversized checks. This is a lottery sponsored by a coalition of homeless shelters including St. Stephen’s Shelter, Simpson Housing Services and Our Saviour’s Housing. The prize they offer is a 28-night stay in one of the three shelters. On a Monday night in November, 60 men lined up, all hoping for a bed. Only 24 beds were available. Allysen Hoberg, a former University of Minnesota student, is the director of St. Stephen’s Shelter. She said the lottery was once held nightly at St. Stephen’s. However, last May it …

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On November 20, a Thursday night when many college kids were out drinking at the local bars, studying for a test or hanging out with friends, Habitat for Humanity members spent their night sitting on cardboard boxes outside the St. Paul Capitol. Group members participated in “Night Without a Home” in conjunction with Hamline University. By sleeping outside like the homeless, the group hoped to raise awareness on their struggle, shatter stereotypes, and “challenge Minnesota’s legislators and governor to reverse the most harmful cuts made to homeless programs in the 2003 session,” said PR Director Stacy Buehner. The group listened to speakers who worked with shelters to help house homeless in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and speakers who were once homeless and staying in shelters. These two viewpoints gave a broad understanding of what homelessness …

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Least likely phrase heard coming from Tim Pawlenty’s office:
“Man, I gots to be fiscally conservative!”Least likely thing heard in a National Enquirer meeting:
Wait a second – why are we calling him ‘Jacko’?Best way to start a post-winter break conversation:
“OK, so I was at Senor Frogs, right?”Dinkytown establishment most likely to be haunted by the pissed-off ghost of Bob Dylan:
Bobby Z’sLeast popular American value: ABSTINENCELeast popular winter vacation spot: IRAQBest career move for Tom Cruise after The Last Samurai?
Playing the title role in feature film, Chairman MaoBest name for a Christmas tree: PineyLast thing Dinkytown needs more of: Hair salons.
Honorable mention: Asian-food restaurantsBest replacement mascot if Goldy Gopher dies in a freak accident:
Michael MooreBest fictitious drink special:
Four-4-ones!

Several University of Minnesota students marched with tens of thousands of activists in Washington Saturday against the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq.“Students realize that the war is destructive to them in every way possible,” said Caneisha Mills, a Howard University student who helped organize the event.Mills said that money spent on Iraq should instead go to keep rising college tuition rates down, fund health care, create jobs and promote child care.Police estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 students, veterans, youth and seniors attended the event, organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism and United for Peace and Justice, anti-war coalitions. Organizers said as many as 100,000 showed up.Josh Beck-Esmay, a University junior, rode a bus chartered by the Anti-War Committee to the protest. He said he feels that American foreign policy aims …

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The University of Minnesota is playing favorites instead of sharing its wealth with folks at the bottom, said some Twin Cities students in late October.The accusation comes as the school absorbs a 15% cut to its overall budget. Now it plans to find almost $319 million in revenues and cuts in the next biennium to balance its ledgers.“I don’t believe that we can balance this budget unless everybody pulls on the oar,” said University President Robert Bruininks to a group of students.Student tuitions and fees are expected to go up by more than $139 million in fiscal years 2004 and 2005, almost half of all system’s cuts, according to a report issued to the Board of Regents in October.Other sacrifices will come from faculty and staff, institutional revenues and program expenses, the report said.With this …

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The Mafia Club doesn’t sit around in three-piece suits. Its members don’t tote around guns, rope or wire, either. They do kill people though–figuratively speaking.The Mafia Club is a group of students, currently all Frontier Hall freshmen, who gather in Coffman room 305 every Wednesday from 8-10pm to play the party game “Mafia.” The game is best played with eight or more people. Players are labeled as mafia, civilian, police officer, or as a moderator nicknamed “God.” During the game, only the mafia knows the other mafia members. The rest of the players only know their character’s identity. The game takes place during “day,” when the civilians try to eliminate mafia members by choosing a person to kill the next day. But at “night,” when the civilians close their eyes, the Mafia wake up, choose …

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Lauren Aurelius, Maggie Boeck and Rachel Willems, seniors at the ‘U,’ have been friends since their freshman year in Territorial Hall. Aurelius, Boeck and Willems live with four more of their close friends in a cozy upstairs complex on 6th Street in Dinkytown. So far, they say it has been a great experience having seven friends under one roof, but that might change.Due to the recent “housing sweep” by the Minneapolis City Inspections Department, the tight-knit group of seven might be two less if the city has its way.“(According to city zoning), we are over-occupying this house,” Aurelius said. “There are seven bedrooms in this house, but only five people are supposed to live here.”The friends settled on the house last April when they saw the listing advertised in the Minnesota Daily as a seven-bedroom …

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The ‘U’ campus is full of shady legends: one in five students claims to live in Bob Dylan’s old apartment; a labyrinth of steam tunnels supposedly runs underneath campus; and, of course, rumors of ghosts and haunted houses run through the student body like a streaking frat boy on Thirsty Thursday.Hadley Anderson believes in ghost stories, though. In fact, she lived with a ghost for a semester. And she swears she’s not crazy.Anderson, a senior studying French and global studies, first met the ghost last semester. Soon after moving into her Dinkytown apartment in January, she started hearing some strange things.”I would hear these noises like someone was walking around upstairs,” Anderson said. “But no one else was home.” The two-bedroom apartment, which she shared with another girl, was on the top level of …

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The clerical workers on campus are not striking alone. Across the country, 98,000 workers are involved in labor disputes over health coverage, according to Ken Jacobs at the University of California Los Angeles’ Institute for Labor and Employment. According to a report issued by the nonpartisan Washington-based Center for Studying Health System Change, health insurance premiums have gone up more than 10% each of the past three years. This fact, combined with the cyclical economic downturn, has caused employers to shift costs aggressively to employees. Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said that he is concerned the shift in the burden of health costs onto the backs of employees, combined with layoffs and cuts to programs like Medicaid, will cause many Americans to join the ranks of the uninsured. This year, the University of …

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I think I’ve figured out why people drink: there’s a lot to hate about this world.’Hate’ sounds a little bleak. Maybe it’s better to say there’s a lot to hide from. Drinking’s just an acceptable way to escape from the more pressing life issues. And it’s excusable. Think about it: if something doesn’t get done, saying “I was going to mow the lawn, but then we started drinking…” is somehow more excusable than a simple “I didn’t feel like mowing.” Why is that?I thought about that while we toured the West Bank bars a few nights after my 21st birthday. As I passed through those saloon doors that once contained so much mystery, I couldn’t imagine how one liquid could bring together so many different people in such a small part of the city. What …

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