The Wake, Issue 8, Spring 2013

The

Interview

The Wake talks to President Kaler and he answers your questions p. 5

vol. 12 | issue 8 january 28 - february 11

ADVERTISE HERE

ADVERTISE HERE

ADVERTISE HERE CHEAP RATES, THOUSANDS OF READERS CONTACT OFFICE@WAKEMAG.ORG

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Ok, it’s a little for us too. Our staff got to do a lot of incredible things during the production of this issue. We had the chance to interview President Kaler and ask him questions submitted by students. We met up with the best young artists in the Twin Cities for a photo shoot at the amazing, 100% recommended Aria building in Minneapolis’ Warehouse District.

There’s nothing like eating donuts and telling stories with as random a collective as that—check out our Youtube page for a behind-the-scenes look at that feature.

I’m in love with this issue, so much so that our staff and I took an extra day to format it so we could print most of it in full color. If you’ve read The Wake before, you know that only the front and back covers and the feature are in full color normally—so BOOM. We’re changing it up here and it’s all for YOU, THE READERS.

That brings me to my next point: The Wake is going all out this semester. We’re expanding faster than London in the Victorian Era. So go stalk us in the social media world (F: / TheWakeMagazine, Tw: @The_Wake, www.wake-mag. tumblr.com) to get updates on all of our new endeavors this semester. More importantly than that though—go pick up a physical copy of The Wake. We distribute to buildings all around campus, in Dinkytown, and on West Bank, so there’s no one out there who shouldn’t be able to find one of our newsstands.

This may be my last “Letter from the Editor” for a while since our other higher-level staff will be taking turns writing these

Editorial

Production Manager

Alex Lauer

Sean Quinn

Managing Editor

Graphic Designers

Alyssa Bluhm

Cities Editor ©2009 The Wake Student Magazine.

All rights reserved.

Established in 2002, The Wake is a fortnightly independent magazine and registered student organization produced by and for the students of the University of Minnesota.

The Wake Student Magazine 126 Coffman Memorial Union 300 Washington Avenue SE

Production

Editor-in-Chief

Sara Glesne

Sean Quinn, Katie Schalow, Taylor Wichrowski, Sondra Vine

Art Director Dan Forke

Voices Editor Justin Miller

Social Media Manager Tara Mrachek

Sound & Vision Editor

Web Editor

Zach McCormick

Sam Gordon

Obituaries Editor Kelsey Schwartz

Minneapolis, MN 55455

this semester, so let me leave you with a quote. This has less to do with the new issue and more to do with the constant talk about the death of magazines/books/poetry/the written word that I’ve been hearing lately:

“Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them! They seemed to be able to give a plastic form to formless things, and to have a music of their own as sweet as that of viol or of lute. Mere words! Was there anything so real as words?”

-Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Alex Lauer Editor-in-Chief

12:8

Business Business Manager Chee Xiong

Advertising Manager Matthew Cermak

Advisory Board James DeLong, Kevin Dunn, Courtney Lewis, Eric Price, Morgan Mae Schultz, Kay Steiger, Mark Wisser

Staff Writers Tommy Finney, Tyler Lauer, Logan Wroge

www.wakemag.org The Wake was founded by Chris Ruen and James DeLong.

The Wake is published with support from Campus Progress/Center for American Progress (online at www.campusprogress.org).

This Issue Cover Artist

What We're Glad We Forgot About p. 4

Kara Hakanson

Interview with President Kaler p. 5

Photographers Kara Hakanson, Ava Wichmann

DISCLAIMER the purpose of the Wake is to provide a forum in which students can voice their opinions. opinions expressed in the magazine are not representative of the publication or university as a whole. to join the conversation email alauer@ wakemag.org.

Whats Inside?

Illustrators John Barnett, Jon Dedecker, Sam Lindsay, Sean Quinn, Justin Sengly

Contributing Writers Alyssa Bluhm, Sara Glesne, Beth Ireland, Alex Lauer, Tyler Lauer, Zach McCormick, Justin Miller, Logan Wroge,

Don't Forget 2012 p. 9 Where's Pussy Riot? p. 9 James Holmes is Dead p. 10 Mitt Romney p. 11 Kony p. 11 Twin Cities' Greatest Young Artists p. 12 Upcoming Events Calender p. 18

Voices

THINGS WE’RE GLAD WE FORGOT ABOUT FROM 2012 S n o o p L i on • T he M a ya n a p o ca l y p s e • H one y B o o B o o • S n o o k i a n d J wow w b o t h ha v i n g b a b ie s • G a ng n a m S t y le • B a t t le s h i p ( the mov i e ) • T h o s e Ka te M i dd le to n a n d P r i n ce H a r r y p ic t u re s • “ F i s ca l C l i f f ” • C h r i s B row n ’ s we i rd n e c k ta t to o • Ro m n e y ’ s “ b i nde r s f u l l o f wome n ” com me n t • Ak i n ’ s “ le g i t i m a te ra p e ” co m m e n t • B i rd Po op Fac ia l s ( N Y Ti me s a r t ic le ) • B a t h s a l t s zom b i e s • C o t ta g e Vi e w D r i ve I n s o ld to b u i ld a Wa l - M a r t tha t no one ne e d s • N e w B oy z h e a d l i n i n g S p r i n g J a m • D o u b le Ta ke ’ s “ H o t P roble m s ” • “ Ta n n i ng M om ” • Pe o p le p re te n d i n g t h e y love d Tw i n k i e s fo r a m i n u te • “ M a n , I ha ve n ’ t done tha t for a M I N U T E ” • C l i n t E a s t wo o d lo s e s h i s m i nd , ta l k s to c ha i r • N a p ole on D y na m i te a n i m a te d s e r i e s • C h r i s B row n s t i l l t r y i n g to m a ke m u s ic • N ic ke l b ac k g u y a nd Av r i l La v i g n e g e t t i n g e n g a g e d

Do you write poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or non-genre work? Do you draw comics? Do you create art that you want to show but have no platform to show it?

Submit it to be featured in our Obituaries section!

Email KSchwartz@wakemag.org with submissions or questions.

4.

january 07 - february 11

Stalk Us!

Facebook: /TheWakeMagazine Twitter: @The_Wake Tumblr: www.wake-mag.tumblr.com

The Interview

The Wake talks with University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler about everything from state funding and tuition to the administrative budget, as well as the questions you’ve submitted.

www.wakemag.org

5.

Feature The Wake Student Magazine had the privilege and opportunity to sit down our university’s own President Eric Kaler over winter break and have a discussion about some of the biggest issues facing the U and higher education in general. Now it’s not every day that U students get to chit chat with the head honcho so we tapped into our readership to see what you guys wanted to ask the president.

We got a lot of great questions and had a quality conversation with President Kaler. The timing of the interview couldn’t have been better either. It happened amid a whirlwind of articles, editorials, and anger accusing the U of M of a bloated administrative budget. The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Star Tribune, and many other publications all were involved in the conversation and The Wake got right in the middle of the discussion.

The debate has boiled down to two neat sides. There’s the side that claims irresponsible administrative spending is the culprit for soaring tuition. Then there’s the other side that points to the necessities of administrative spending in order to effectively operate large institutions and blames a lack of state funding for consistent tuition raises. There are valid points on both sides. It’s undeniable that that there are unnecessarily huge salaries being paid out to a plethora of administrators at the U. But it’s also undeniable that the Minnesota state legislature has shown a blatantly unenthusiastic interest in seriously providing the U with much needed funds. As easy as it is to point fingers at highly paid administrators and paint them as fat cats with no regard for student problems, that won’t solve anything.

So what’s the prognosis for the U? I believe there is much to be done in regards to trimming the U’s bloated appearance, but there is also much to be done from the student side.

If we want to complain about tuition hikes, entrenched

6.

january 07 - february 11

bureaucracy, and cuts in student services, we should back that up with action. Sit in on the Board of Regents meetings, talk to the MSA, and be proactive in making your voice heard. It’d be foolish to think that the U is going to stop raising tuition without increases in state funding just because we’re mad about it. Take a look at my interview with President Kaler to see just how much weight he’s putting on getting more investment from the state.

A 3.5 percent freeze on tuition increases cannot last forever if we continue to see a lack of support from the state.

If we as students at one of the most expensive schools in the Big Ten don’t want to continue paying exponentially high rates on tuition, we need to show the U administration and our state legislators that we’re not going to allow for budget differences to be dumped onto us. The Wake encourages you to make the trek to St. Paul on February 7th for Support the U day and make a statement that says a high-quality and affordable education is worth investing in.

Reader question from Eric Murphy, University of Minnesota graduate: Do you think students and faculty have an adequate say in the decisions the U makes? If so, can you give an example of how those groups influenced a major decision that the University made? If not, how can the University do a better job of including these voices?

University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler: I think the answer is yes, there’s a pretty robust faculty governance and student governance organization and I meet with those groups on a regular basis. The (Faculty) Senate, I chair actually, and it meets seven times a year. I meet with the student leaders in the MSA group at least once a semester. So I think I get good feedback from them and good interaction.

A couple examples of decisions that were influenced and driven from each case: the decision to have a statue made of Goldy that will be sitting down by Coffman—that came out of a student group. It came up through the student life process and everybody signed off on that…

The Wake: Do you think there are any places that the U could do a better job of making sure we’re including all voices, not just MSA, etc.?

Kaler: There are student reps elected to the Board of

Regents and they sit on the Regents committees and the Regents are eager to hear the point of view. So I think we have a pretty robust system that lets those voices be heard.

The Wake: With an institution this large and with this much money and public funding, do you think there is a high enough level of transparency within the Regents, the administration, and the whole decision-making process at the U? Kaler: Well I’m dedicated to having my administration be as open and transparent as I can. The challenge is sometimes, as you mention, it’s a big and complex institution. So there are lots of decisions made and lots of processes in place and people who are making these kinds of decisions and administering that’s their fulltime job. So if somebody wants to look in and see and understand, they have to be able to invest the time to really understand and analyze what’s going on. We’re going to try to be as open with that as we can. Many of my senior leaders meet with the appropriate senate committees on a regular basis. So I think that’s there. But, again if you want to know what our capital planning process is you go to the Regents meeting and sit through a couple hours of conversation about that.

Sometimes people aren’t able to put in as much time as it takes, but the opportunities are certainly there.

The Wake: Moving on to the state legislature, I know it’s a hot topic right now with recent shifts in the balance of power.

Democrats now hold much more power, there was the One Minnesota legislative conference on campus, there are the repeated cuts in funding­—it’s a key focus now for the U. Reader question from Sophie, 2013: How do you think the changes in the state legislature, especially concerning the outcome of the 2012 elections, will come to affect the budget relationship between the state and the U?

Feature Kaler: I think there are lots of smart legislators and they understand the importance of the University. The challenge is to be sure that they are fully aware of all that we do and the impact that we have on students, innovation, research, on culture and the arts in Minnesota. Our job is to engage them in that conversation and advocate for the university, to talk about the need for access of tuition to be as low as possible. An important contributor to making that happen is an increase in state appropriations. We received this year in state appropriations a little bit less than we received in 1998. And there has been a big cut that we think should be addressed. We’re not asking to go back to the good ole’ days, I don’t think that’s realistic. But some additional investment that would allow us to mitigate tuition increases or eliminates them ideally, that’s something that is important. The change in the parties means that there are

new leaders, new points of view, and we pride ourselves on working across the aisle and having advocates that are in both parties and we’ll continue to do that.

The Wake: Based on your experience so far, what do you think is keeping the state from getting serious about investing in the U? Kaler: I think, frankly, it’s been an impression for a while that if state allocation is reduced, we can raise tuition and make that up. I think that is an important part of that. I don’t think that’s true. We have a tuition that’s about as high as it can be for core middle-class families in Minnesota. It’s a challenge for families to send their students to school and I want that to change. I think the fact is that the other competing elements in the state budget, principally K-12 education and health and human services, are areas that are very large and have very powerful constituencies. There’s a lot of pressure in the budget. There’s a view by some people that public education is actually part of a private good, that the

individual benefits. I think society benefits from it and I think society should make an investment in that education.

Kaler: Next year will be zero. But that depends on whether we get the state funding.

The Wake: Do you think there’s any sort of perception in the legislature that the U is fiscally bloated or wasteful and that’s negatively affecting funding?

The Wake: Do you think you can rely on the state for funding or are we just going to go back to the current increase rates?

Kaler: Yeah, there’s absolutely that impression. It’s a very unfortunate impression and it’s one that I’m trying to change. We’ve been dedicated to operational excellence since I got here 18 months ago. We have people looking very hard at ways to reduce administrative costs, to make our managerial process as lean and efficient as possible.

And we’ve done a lot, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. To put us in a national context, we’re not out of line.

But can we do things better? Absolutely.

Kaler: We’re working hard to get funding from the state, that’s our first priority.

The Wake: What does the U need from the state in this upcoming legislative session?

The Wake: If we didn’t get the state funding and we have the 3.5 percent tuition increase again, why should students accept that when there’s no tangible increase in the quality of education? As a land-grant university where we are supposed to have access to both a high-quality and affordable education, aren’t we essentially footing the bill for the decrease in state funding and high operating and administrative costs?

Kaler: We’re asking for two important elements. One: we’re asking for $14.2 million recurring each year of the biennium (two year budget period). That equals to $42.6 million and if we’re able to get that we’ll be able to hold tuition constant for the biennium. So that’s one.

Second priority is to invest in research that will benefit the people and the businesses of Minnesota. So we have four areas there: food science, water management and environmental impact, robotics—that’s an important industry that’s growing in Minnesot and something called neuro-modulation.

The Wake: Moving more into tuition—as we’ve talked about how state funding cuts are the main driver behind tuition hikes, you’ve also focused on your move to freeze the tuition hikes at 3.5% for this year.

The Wake: So it pretty much all relies on what we’re doing with the state.

Kaler: Yes—the 3.5 percent this year was the lowest it’s been in 12 years and was down from the projected 5 percent increase. So I’m pretty dedicated to reducing your tuition.

Kaler: Well, you certainly are­—if the state continues to disinvest in the U, then in fact yes, we are asking students to pay. That’s unambiguously true. The cost of operating the University is something that is of critical importance to me. We have people working every day to make those costs smaller. But again within a national context, despite what you will read in the newspaper, we are not out of line with our administrative costs.

The Wake:What do you mean by that in a national context? continued on page 8

www.wakemag.org

7.

Feature Kaler: Well if you look at the 72 most research-intensive institutions, our administrative costs are reported to be 9 percent of our total budget. The administrative costs at Penn State are 9 percent of their total budget. So are they at Rutgers. Are there institutions that are less than that? There are. And I want us to be one of those. Are there institutions that are larger than that? Yes there are.

The Wake: Moving into the debate around the recent Wall Street Journal and Washington Post articles, as well as your rebuttal in the Star Tribune, here’s one reader’s question: Jerod, 2014: Criticisms concerning public universities and their fiscal responsibility over the past few years have been popping up in the media. Most alarmingly this university has come under inspection. An article initially published in the Wall Street Journal criticizes the U for an enormous administrative budget; coupled with discussion of making serious cuts to student services, decreases to the amount of degree options, and rising tuition. What adjustments, if any, do you have in store to address national criticism concerning the U’s administration?

Kaler: That’s the third time to answer that particular question, but clearly we are focusing on operational excellence and looking at operational costs. But it’s also important to put our overall administrative costs in perspective. As I said, the data shows we spend 9 percent and many other institutions like ours spend 9 percent.

The WSJ article was clearly trying to link administrative costs to tuition and neglecting the fact that the state is providing us $140 million less this year than they did in 2008. I don’t know how you can talk about tuition costs without talking about state disinvestment. And in an attempt to argue that tuition increases are driven by administrative costs only to me doesn’t have validity. Can we be more efficient? Yes. Do we need to recognize that state support is probably not going to previous levels?

Yes. So we need to be able to move to that new kind of reality. And we’re working on that very hard.

The Wake: Can you talk about specifics?

Kaler: Sure. We’ve eliminated the Bursar’s Office and the Office of Academic Administration which saved $2.2 million.

We migrated our e-mail to Google which provides us a $15 million benefit. We are doing energy efficiency that’s saving millions of dollars. We’ve consolidated the libraries on the St. Paul campus. The list will go on and on and we’ll continue to work hard to find those ways.

The Wake: A constant theme that a lot of people have been repeating, and not to ignore the hard work and tough decisions that administrators face here, but when tuition is steadily rising and student debt is a huge problem, how does the U justify that there are over 80 administrators making over $200,000, including your $650,000 salary?

8.

january 07 - february 11

Kaler: I make $610,000. And the actual number—that number is not quite true I don’t have that number with me but we’ll get back to you with the percentage.

It’s about 74 percent of those people are distributed in

Room and board is the lowest in the Big Ten here.

Tuition in Minnesota has typically been in the second decile, between 10 and 20 percent, of the institutions that we compare with. That was true 15 years ago and that’s true now.

Kaler’s staff clarified after the interview that, of the 353 U of M (system-wide) employees making $200k+, 74 percent (262) are faculty and 10 percent (35) are administrative.

The Wake: Where’s the line between meeting student service needs, faculty and administration, and ensuring that the U still offers affordable yet high-quality education?

U of M Tuition Rates 2007-08 $9,661 2008-09 $10,754 2009-10 $11,417 2010-11 $12,203 2011-12 $13,060 2012-13 $13,524

Kaler: I think that’s the balancing point that we’re trying to get. Historically, with state support, we can have low tuition and provide that kind of education. State support goes away, tuition goes up, the balance point of academic excellence and tuition is harder to find. My goal is not to provide you the cheapest possible education. My goal is to provide you a high-value education so that you get an excellent education at an affordable price.

academic units. Those would represent senior faculty, particularly in the medical and business school who have those kinds of salaries. And those salaries are market value.

Those people could go to other universities and get paid that same amount of money. The same is true for administrators.

If you look at our administrative pay against the Big Ten equivalents, we are typically at or below the median, with a few people above. The president of Ohio State makes about $2 million. The president of Michigan makes over $1 million.

The Penn State president makes $600,000 a year. I make $610,000 a year.

The Wake: If we’re making those comparisons, tuition is also one of the highest in the Big Ten here at the U… Kaler: Tuition here is $13,000 a year but I think it’s third or fourth in the Big Ten.

Kaler’s staff clarified his statement; the U of M is the 3rd highest public tuition rate in the Big 10.

2012-2013 Big 10 Tuition Rates 1. University of Nebraska $7,984 2. University of Iowa $8,057 3. Purdue University $9,900 4. Indiana University $10,034 5. Ohio State University $10,034 6. University of Wisconsin $10,379 7. University of Michigan $12,994 8. Michigan State University $13,264 9. University of Minnesota $13,524 10. University of Illinois $14,960 11. Penn State University $16,444 12. Northwestern University $43,779

The Wake: But as a land-grant university where we should be receiving affordable education, even if it may be seen as affordable in the context of the Big Ten or nationally, shouldn’t we be trying to push against the rising costs of tuition and the trend of student debt? Shouldn’t we be on the forefront of that?

Kaler: Absolutely. I would suggest that you join me on Support the U Day in St. Paul and talk to legislative leaders about the impact. The story that you would have about why tuition, why student debt is a burden, is important, they need to hear that from you and your readers. I get it.

The Wake: As far as your overall presidency, what are your specific goals that you want to accomplish?

Kaler: I want to provide affordability, access, and excellence. I’m dedicated to making our business operations run as efficiently as possible so that the dollars that the students pay and the state contributes go into our intellectual research and educational service. That’s number one. Number two; I want those missions to be excellent. I do not want to be known as somebody who created a low-cost version of the university that’s not very good. An affordable education that’s excellent.

That’s my target.

Voices

DON’T FORGET 2012 It’s the new year, you’ve made resolutions, and we all have moments from 2012 we’d rather forget—but there are some things we all forgot too quickly.

Where is Pussy Riot?

The feminist punk band drew global attention last summer, but has since fallen out of public consciousness

liganism motivated by religious hatred” and quickly became a face for many of the values that they fought to spread in the first place; namely, freedom of expression. The three women faced excessive jail time – upwards of seven years of prison apiece – for their barely-one-minute demonstration, starting a worldwide conversation about human rights. In August, Alyokhina, Samutsevich, and Tolokonnikova were all sentenced to two years in prison, causing a short media fervor. “Free Pussy Riot” trended on Twitter, and for a moment, everybody cared.

After that, it fell out of general public consciousness, even though one of the women was freed in October. Samutsev-

by beth ireland

“Free Pussy Riot” was a cultural catchphrase last summer, but where are the women now? Have they been freed? Does anybody care? A quick look at Google Trends shows that searches for “Pussy Riot” peaked in late August, when three members of the Russian feminist punk band were sentenced to jail time. Following that week, interest took a nosedive – even though Pussy Riot’s plight was far from over.

“Free Pussy Riot” trended on Twitter, and for a moment, everybody cared.

Pussy Riot is an anonymous Russian feminist performance group known for flash-performing in brightly colored balaclavas. Pussy Riot first garnered significant global attention when Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were arrested following one such guerilla performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The performance, titled “Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away,” was about 40 seconds long but has since gained thousands of views on Youtube.

ich was released when a new lawyer successfully argued that she had been kicked out of the church before she could even participate in the demonstration. In an interview with The Guardian, Samutsevich revealed that during Pussy Riot’s trial, the women’s right to defense was violated. “The trial was built in such a way that we couldn’t defend ourselves,” she said.

The three women were arrested without bail and without a set trial date in early March 2012. They were charged with “hoo-

Though Samutsevich was freed, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova remain in jail. Alyokhina was sent to a penal colony in Mordovia,

SAMUAL LINDSAY

where she spent much of her time sewing in the on-site factory.

But in November, she requested to be put in solitary confinement after receiving death threats from fellow prisoners.

Tolokonnikova is currently at a separate penal colony in Mordovia. In December, she petitioned to have her punishment postponed so that she could take care of her 5-yearold son until he turns fourteen. Her request was denied.

Alyokhina also has a 5-year-old child and has petitioned a similar request, but no date has yet been set for a hearing.

Pussy Riot began as an attempt to draw attention to problems that exist in Russia. They felt that democracy, gender equality, and freedom of expression were under threat.

The performance that sent them to jail called for a need to uphold human rights under Putin, who they feel exercises an oppressive regime.

Ironically, it was their arrest and subsequent incarceration that exposed to the world that these are indeed problems in Russia. Two years jail time for a punk, anti-government performance? It’s unheard of here in America, where freedom of speech is a fundamental right. Many artists, politicians, and civilians reached out to the women’s cause and petitioned for them to be freed. It’s unfortunate that because direct results didn’t appear immediately, interest steeply declined. These women are still unfairly incarcerated.

However, just a few days ago, a film just debuted at Sundance titled Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, hailed by The Daily Beast as “Sundance’s best documentary.” Filmmakers Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin chronicled the rise and struggle of the shocking riot-grrl group, which they identify as a “wake-up call” for Russia.

In a recent interview, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova said that they have no regrets regarding their actions; nor should they. Pussy Riot is not free yet, but with any luck Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer will renew interest in the women and the problems in Russia that their struggles have exposed.

Although, it shouldn’t take a Twitter trend or acclaimed documentary to force us to care.

www.wakemag.org

9.

Voices

James Holmes Is a Dead Man

A Guide to Recognizing Our Problems by tyler Lauer

James Holmes is a dead man. There is no way around it now.

Sure, our sophisticated, ultra-humanizing due processes seems to provide some semblance of fair judgment to the whole thing but wouldn’t it have been better to just hang him in the square at noon, grieve for the victims, and be done with it?

There are three outcomes to this story: institutionalization, life in prison without parole, and the death penalty.

You know the beginning: a man walks into a bar except the bar is a movie theater, he shoots a bunch of people, and there’s no punch line. Unless you count gun advocates who still don’t see a reason to enforce tighter gun laws, claiming it’s a countrywide overreaction, even after the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

In a multiplex in Aurora, Colorado on July 20th, 2012, a man named James Holmes brought a printed piece of paper confirming his seat at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

He had purchased the ticket some two weeks in advance.

Sometime during the night he propped open a door leading to the parking lot, went out to his car, and donned body armor, a pistol, tear gas, knives, a shotgun, and an AR-15 rifle. Some say when he walked to the front of the theater he pronounced “I am the Joker” before he opened fire on the crowd. Twelve died. Thirteen, if you count the unborn child of a woman who suffered a miscarriage a week after the attack.

This is all alleged, since he hasn’t been tried officially and is innocent until proven guilty. In January he was declared fit to stand trial on all accounts and will have to enter a plea in March, 2013.

So why did we forget about him? It’s because this isn’t about him.

It’s about what happened. It’s about the idea of it. Only the family and friends of the victims and those involved can know it personally. The trouble is that in this day and age, we all want to know the little details. We want to know who was killed. What were their ages? We want to know their stories. We want to know why he dyed his hair orange. We want to know why some girl is talking to the press saying how she thinks Holmes is hot.

10.

january 07 - february 11

Personalizing a news story can go a long way, but words can only do so much. It’s terrible to imagine our own family members being killed in a similar incident, but the permanence of gun violence is unimaginable until confronted with it. In our detachment we have moved on to what happened at Sandy Hook. It was a bigger and badder idea. It’s kind of like a new gadget. We aren’t personally involved with it per se, but we all want to be part of the conversation. The problem with new gadgets and gun violence being similar in their conversations is that one is a modern convenience and one steals people from the earth before their time. I guess texting and driving does that too, but that’s a different conversation.

Having a situation like Aurora end up being eclipsed by Sandy Hook is troubling to say the least. Sure, the funds gathered to help the families of Aurora is well and good and the people making paper snowflakes to decorate the Sandy Hook children’s new school is commendable, but are we failing to see the bigger picture?

New gun laws are being talked about on a national scale. I’ll admit that. On January 24th, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California formally introduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, a bill that would improve upon the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004. This new bill would outlaw 157 specific firearms including semiautomatic rifles and pistols with detachable magazines and at least one military feature, up from the 2-characteristic test in the 1994 bill. High capacity feeding devices, those holding more than 10 rounds, would also be outlawed under this new bill. The grandfathering of guns would still be allowed and those who already own these weapons can keep them, the point being that, since this new bill would hypothetically never expire, these guns would end up becoming somewhat extinct in our society.

That being said, I won’t admit that my hope for this bill goes so far as to become belief that it will actually pass. We see gun advocates arming themselves in droves, literally and figuratively, in opposition of this bill. Advocates for more appropriate gun legislation must be just as vocal if we believe this is the real problem. If you take statements from the NRA into account, maybe we can have all the guns we want and are instead facing a situation where we just have to weed the crazies out of our society.

JON DEDECKER

Most victims of the shootings and those intimately affected are ready to advocate for stricter gun laws (aside from the crazies proposing armed guards and armed teachers at every elementary school). Do we all have to be affected on a personal level by a shooting to think rationally? Do we all have to lose a child or parent to a mentally ill, or simply sadistic, person with an “assault” weapon before we allow stricter background checks and the outlawing of “assault” weapons?

No, hanging James Holmes in the town square at noon would not be the answer to our problems. What our lengthy due processes have allowed for is for these topics to stay in the news.

Granted, most people fall out of love with the content and move on to “Selena Gomez Almost Unrecognizable Without Makeup” and other such “news” stories, but we can’t move on. Anyone could potentially be affected by gun violence. Are there more pressing problems in the world? Depends of your viewpoint. If your child, parent, sibling, or lover was killed by an assault rifle bought legally, one of many mowed down by a weapon engineered to kill the most amount of people as efficiently as possible, would you be at peace with the sentencing of the killer? Would you simply “overreact”? Is this just a part of the new world we are living in?

Voices

An Open Letter to Mitt Romney Keep on trucking, you old goat. by alyssa bluhm

Oh hey there, Mitt.

JOHN BARNETT

I hear you’ve been having a tough time since losing the election last November, but from what I’ve seen on Gossip Girl (read: the Huffington Post), I think you’re handling it very gracefully.

So let’s recap: one of your first public appearances after losing the election was with your wife at a showing of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2. I would love to give you the benefit of the doubt that Ann is the one whose inner 13-year-old girl couldn’t wait to discretely rent it on Netflix, but I won’t. I know it was you, and that’s okay.

The truth is, so many people feel better about themselves after watching horrible actors flesh out an even more horrible screenplay. I’m actually surprised that this was your coping method; it’s good to know that beating inside your tight-laced, overgrown-prep-school-boy exterior is an

actual human heart. And when a Redditor caught you filling up your car at a gas station a couple days later, most people took your haggardness as the first documented evidence of your descent into post-election depression. I know that you were actually still upset over Edward and Bella’s love story that day, but it’s okay, Mitt. Your secret is safe with me.

Kony, Who’s That Again?

That same week (boy, were you busy), you went to Disneyland, which the Internet found pretty exciting. I have to admit: you do look way more photogenic than most people on roller coasters. Granted, Disney’s roller coasters only go as fast as a stampede of sloths, but still. I was surprised, though, that you didn’t just stay there forever.

What’s the one thing that would be cooler than living at the White House? Living at Disneyland, of course! It’s a good thing that Disneyland is open all the time—you still have a chance to one-up Obama.

by logan wroge

Speaking of one-upping Obama, how cool would your inauguration ceremony have been?! I bet you wouldn’t have allowed some random celebrity with a mediocre singing voice to lip-synch the national anthem. You probably would have had scientists bring Michael Jackson back to life just so he could moonwalk all over the Capitol and sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Had people known about your plan to reincarnate MJ, you could have easily won the election, I’m sure of it.

James Taylor still would have been there, though, because everybody likes James Taylor.

But this is all working out in your favor anyway, since your Republican friends are definitely going to convince Obama to resign because of Beyoncé’s performance at the inauguration. After all, the quality of the musicians at the ceremony directly impacts the quality of the president. We can’t have our president lip-synch his way through the next four years!

Anyway, good luck on the path to irrelevancy, Mitt. It was nice having you around, but since you’re not involved in politics for the time being, we’ll all return to hating Michele Bachmann. If you ever feel lonely (and your 30+ children just aren’t cutting it), you’ll always have a home here at The Wake.

The hated yet forgotten Ugandan warlord

JUSTIN SENGLY

Its 2013, which means we survived the famed December 21st apocalypse. Congratulations. But to millions around the world and the activist organization Invisible Children, there’s one man that wasn’t supposed to make it to this year: Joseph Kony. This may be a familiar name to most, but for those who weren’t on Facebook or Twitter for all of last March, Kony is a Ugandan warlord who has been commanding his rebel forces for over 20 years. He was convicted for crimes against humanity in 2005 due to his practice of abducting children and turning them into soldiers. Invisible Children set a deadline for Joseph Kony’s capture, death, or subsequent loss of power at the end of 2012.

Last March, the organization released a 30-minute documentary that went viral in a matter of days, thanks to social networks.

The video ignited a flame of activism in millions of young adults. Unfortunately, that flame flickered for a few weeks and

was almost snuffed out by the time Invisible Children’s action day hit. On April 20th, the country was supposed to be ‘covered’ in Kony propaganda, informing the general public about the campaign and rallying supporters.

Instead, most people here were distracted with Spring Jam or a certain unofficial holiday.

At the start, this revolutionary approach to global reform and activism had a lot of young people, including myself, feeling like George Bush on USS Abraham with the giant ‘Mission Accomplished’ sign in the background. It was a false and undeserved sense of victory. We were ready to tackle the next warlord with our digital voices, but change requires action. Unable to rally the supporters back, Invisible Children’s campaign disappeared and by September more people cared about Psy than Joseph Kony.

This is when we sadly saw the true colors of our generation. Growing up in the digital age has caused many young people to have short attention spans. I’m guilty of Stumbling, listening to Pandora, and people-watching even while the writing of this article. Rather than stopping Kony, the campaign revealed the downfalls of going viral. The emotions the documentary inspired were short-lived and replaced by the next big thing. Nine months of concentration is a lot to demand of an audience that is used to 20-second clips and memes. Invisible Children should have realized that one video was not going to be enough to keep supporters. Their lack of something ‘new’ became their Achilles heel.

It’s the New Year and Joseph Kony is still on the run, but important news has surfaced.

Kony’s head bodyguard was recently killed

by Ugandan forces. Officials are hopeful that the weakening of his following will soon lead to his capture. This development would be big news had it occurred last March, but Kony and his atrocities have become forgotten among the general public. While I was never passionate about the campaign, I encourage those who were to keep supporting it. Determination can prevail and his capture will come. We as a generation need to realize our faults and commit to ideas, goals, and dreams that inspire change. Our action is needed, for it is our hands that will shape the future.

www.wakemag.org

11.

TWIN CITIES’

GREATEST These are the best young artists living and working in the Twin Cities right now. Get to know them now, because they’re going to blow up in 2013.

photos by Ava Wichmann special thanks to Aria // www.ariampls.com

12.

january 07 - february 11

Sound & Vision | Cities Musician | Age: 24 | @BenJamesKelly Q: What current projects are you working on?

A: Well first, I do professional work as a bass player full time as my job. Through that I play in a lot of different bands. All those projects have separate gigs. I’m the bass player on five records that will be released this year. One is “Take Time” by Jack McNally. He’s the owner of McNally Smith, where I went to school. I’m recording on John Mark Nelson’s new record which is called “The Moon and The Stars.” Then I’m recording with my band Sexy Delicious. “Too Hot to Bother” is the name of that record. That’s three, the—Black Blondie, I don’t think we have a name for that record yet. That’s gonna get released some time this year. And another with a gal named Leah Tousignant. So, those are some of the records that are being released, and besides that I have all kinds of gigs.

But the main thing I do is called Coffee Pot Productions with my partner Adam Conrad. Him and I did a musical and an original record last year and this year we’re working on a second musical and another run of the musical we did last year. Then we’re also doing work on two other projects, a new film score for a local filmmaker named Kevin Horn. He made a few films last year, one of which we scored was called “Panhandler.”

We have done some other things like string arrangements with pop singers. Adam and I also co-run and gig with Improvestra which is anywhere from 15 to 25

musicians all improv-based with a conductor. That’s kind of a good summary of 2013.

Q: Are you keeping that production in the Twin Cities?

A: That’s the plan. We’ve had some insight, as it’s a unique style production where it’s art installation based theater. So what we do is build the whole show.

We rented a 7,000 square foot warehouse and then we acted as tour guides. Instead of having actors, we had local artists like a muralist painter, a filmmaker, a ballet dancer. They use their art as an avant-garde portrayal of the story. It was all scored live be a 20-piece orchestra and it was all hidden in the building so you never saw the characters of the band.

Q: How did you get into playing music? What instruments do you play, beyond bass?

A: I play piano and guitar. I used to teach guitar, but I only play piano. I don’t gig with it, but I do write all my music on piano and keyboard. I started playing electric bass when I was 14. In high school I played in a heavy metal band with my older brother, just as I was growing up.

The big thing for me was always jazz. I really wanted to play jazz so then I started playing upright bass and a lot of punk music, a lot of R&B. I was really excited about new sounds. I decided in high school that I wanted to go to school for music. I went to Anoka Ramsey Community College. I’ve been playing gigs since I was 15. So all through high school I was playing gigs.

BENJAMIN JAMES KELLY

Illustrator | Age: 24 | @alockstadt www.allegralockstadt.com | www.yeahokaysure.com Q: What are you involved with right now?

A: Several great freelance illustration projects and ongoing illustration work for Rookie (an awesome online magazine which is geared towards teenage girls). I also occasionally work on and off in MCAD’s gallery department aiding in gallery installation alongside a killer install team and awesome gallery director. The install position is very refreshing for me because it’s not very computer based and I get to use my hands and my brain in a very psychical and spacial way to solve art installation problems. I also love that I get to meet with other artists and learn about their creative processes and their work.

Aside from client driven freelance work and working for MCAD, I also try to make and find time for my personal work and projects, yet these are always developing at quiet, glacial, and meditative pace.

ALLEGRA LOCKSTADT

Q: You’ve done illustrations for Rookie Mag which is super cool and you seem super pumped about. Is there another publication or writer that you have always wanted to work with?

A: Yes, working for Rookie has been super amazing and unbelievably cool-it has been an amazing opportunity that I am grateful for and the staff is just phenomenal to work with.

Everyone who contributes is very passionate and extremely driven.

There are other authors, publications, and projects that I do dream about working with, however, I try to keep my steering and direction somewhat loose since I love being surprised with unexpected projects. And although I welcome unexpected projects, I do try to seek out work that can challenges my abilities, allow me to learn, and also can offer this same unexpected and surprising experience. Lately, I’m finding that illustrating short stories and creative editorial pieces has been very fun and different for me.

Q: What are your plans for 2013? What do you hope to accomplish?

A: I always want to try to be better at doing something new and spontaneous-like travel or taking on projects that have formats that are completely new to me. Most of my goals also exist in order to motivate me into get things done professionally. Things like having the goal to update my website at least 2 to 3 times a year, or like trying to actively and thoroughly track my budget, resources, and income from projects in order to see how and where things can improve and grow (especially after becoming more familiar with other creatives who have done this). I also want to be better about challenging myself with generating work that is very self initiated and a little more personal instead of focusing solely on client work.

Sound & Vision Cities

TAYLOR MADRIGAL

work on music. Scoundrel Nation has a project coming out in April.

Bobby and Muja Messiah’s project coming in March I believe. Chantz and 80 have a project done, and Chantz has another project done too.

Producer | Age: 22 | @TaylorMadrigal Facebook: /AudioPerm www.audioperm.com

Q:You’re known for being Audio Perm’s hustler-in-chief. What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever had to do to get people to buy an album or come to your show?

Q: How and when did Audio Perm start?

A: Audio Perm was pretty much started through Hope Community.

Me and Julian kicked it there, along with Bobby, Yakub, most of Audio Perm. Yakub had entered in a production battle I had organized, which was done over Facebook, and one of his beats was called “Audio Perm” and I saw that and was immediately drawn to it. I don’t care if I sound like a dork when I say this but it was kinda like I had a premonition when I saw those words. So I took the idea to Julian, and he was pretty much thinking the same thing as I was, “producer crew,” and we went from there. We then brought the idea to Cory, who was also down. Audio Perm started in May of 2009 as a producer crew, which was me, Julian, and Cory, and in 2012 we made the switch over to a full fledged rap crew, and now includes the rappers we perform with—80h20, Chantz Erolin, Unfuh Qwittable (aka Scoundrel Spence), Yakub, Bobby Raps, Dylan LP, and Ramiro X.

LYDIA HOGLUND

Q: What’s one project you’ve definitely got in store for us this year?

A: Kinda hard to say, but I’m definitely making a lot of beats and mostly trying to focus on music for the winter. I want to get an audio perm project together. I just want to be working on music a lot more than I did in 2012.

It was hard because all these other things started coming up like Soundset, all these shows, all this other stuff, it was hard to sit down and focus on my craft. So now I’m glad that we have this time to chill, and I can really put in

Singer-songwriter | Age: 18 | SoundCloud: /Lydia-hoglund @broglund | www.bombadeluz.com Q: Bomba de Luz started as a band when you guys were pretty young, was that your first musical project?

A: Actually, yeah, the first musical project for sure. I had been writing songs but it wasn’t really anything I’d consider a project. That was just my beginning step, and then we started the band.

Q: Does your relatively young age ever serve as a barrier between you and the “adult” music scene?

A: You know, it really used to for sure. I think now that we’ve gotten more attention venues sort of pass it off with a “they’re young, they can bring in a bit of an older audience, let ‘em have their kicks, let ‘em play,” attitude.

It’s really cool. It still does—there are times when we want to stay for a whole show, but it’ll be 21+ and we’ll have to leave immediately after we play. That’s always such a bummer.

Q: Can you credit anyone for inspiring your hustle? Your drive or ambition?

A: I’m gonna name drop, bro. But definitely Stef Alexander (P.O.S) has taught me to “write for yourself and if other people like it, rad.” But don’t do it for anyone else. Maybe write about life and the world and try to make some sort of change if you believe in it, but don’t write for everyone. That’s the coolest thing he’s ever taught me—that it’s my art, and if I like it, then I succeeded. A lot of drive also came from Big Quarters, Sean McPherson of Heiruspecs, and Desdamona, they really pushed me and changed my life by believing in me and helping me so much. I’m forever grateful for them.

14.

january 07 - february

A: Fam—I used to tape a sign to my chest while I was at work at my gas station that said “BUY MY CD. $5” and put a few Audio Perm stickers on it. Worked very well. Also, another time, now, this is probably not something I would do right now, because it’s not really very nice to the people who gotta clean up the city and whatnot, BUT, back in the day, for the first show we ever had, on the night before the show, I took the very last of the fliers I had printed for the show (around 1000) and went to the top of this parking ramp downtown, and me and a few of my homies threw all of them off the side of the ramp onto the street, and jetted. But the dumb part about that was I had put our phone numbers on the back of the flyers, so they called Cory and left an angry voice mail. But yeah. There’s a lot more but I’ll cut it off right there.

Q: What are Audio Perm’s goals for 2013?

A: Just really to put out some super dope music, and get more fans.

‘Bout to smash shit this summer, then go on tour in the fall.

Q: What’s one project you’ve definitely got in store for us this year?

A: Well, it’s a shaky ground right now. It’s a lot of time management and stuff. There will definitely be at least a single from my solo record. I’m currently working on that. I’ve been demoing songs for my project with P.O.S, and we have no clue when that one’s going to come out because it’s going to be a big project we’re taking on. I’ve been writing for that for probably half a year now, making sure I’m happy with everything, and now I’ve moved on to demoing the songs and seeing if he likes them. I think he’s really standing back and letting me do my own thing, which is both scary and really cool that he trusts me with this. Then there’s another Bomba record happening, probably dropping beginning of next year? Something like that? It’s really weird, there are no set dates or plans. So—basically I have no idea. Something from all of those, probably. At least some little things, singles and such. Music videos, probably? Worst answer ever. Sorry dude. I’m pretty unsure of these things.

W: As a songwriter-what does an ideal song do? Make people shut up?

Sing along? Think? Get chills?

The ideal song just moves you. It doesn’t matter what it really sounds like it just has to move you. I think that’s different for everyone. When people are really moved they shut up and get the chills and think.

BONUS QUESTION: If Bomba had to replace Central’s High School basketball team for a night, which position would you play? Who’d be the “fifth man”?

A: Dude, I am absolutely the worst person at sports in the history of man. It’s actually ridiculous. I’d probably just be a cheerleader and break all my leg bones trying to do the splits or something. The fifth man would be—oh my gawh, what a hard question—Mark Mallman. Yeah, definitely Mark Mallman.

Sound & Vision Cities it makes me really happy to do it. I think there’s a lot of value in putting energy into multiple outlets at a time.

LEWIS MUNDT Poet | Age: 23 | Facebook /BeardPoetry @BeardPoetry Q: What are you involved with right now?

A: I’m a cook at Maeve’s Café five nights a week. I’m a receptionist one night a week at Fluid Ink Tattoos in St. Paul. I created and host Mild Monday Open Mic on Mondays twice a month at Groundswell Coffee.

I’m in my 3rd season coordinating and coaching the Hamline University Poetry Slam team. I’ve been a seasonal intern at the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth for the past four years, helping teach physics and theater. I’m one half of Sharkhooks, the other half being Cristopher Gibson, which is a performance/publication collective. I also do Beard Poetry, which was just my chapbooks, but I just released a chapbook called “THE LOVE HYPOTHETIC” by Anna Binkovitz. I run the merch table at the St. Paul Soap Boxing Poetry Slam. Then I also am a spoken word performer and I’m trying to tour.

I mean, it’d be super easy for me to go get a bank job. I might have to shave and cover my tattoos, but I could get a full-time bank job, pay my rent, write on the side, and start to pay back my student loans. But I think if I can make these things work and engage with the community more—whether that’s performing or cooking them sandwiches—I will feel more fulfilled, and the kind of things I want to do in the world are more accessible through those.

Q: You have a tattoo that says, “Real Talk.” Does that by any chance have to do with the R. Kelly song?

A: [laughs] No. But yes. But no, not really.

Absolutely—no.

“Real Talk” has become my life’s mantra and mission in the past year. It’s about honesty with the self, it’s about honesty with other people, and it’s about verbal and action integrity. It’s about making the world a less deceptive place to be in. But no, not R. Kelly.

Q: Why do all of this?

A: Part of it being, sadly, it’s because I just don’t know how to not work my ass off. I think that’s a big part of it. Another part of it is that I’m stimulated by being very busy and always having projects going, and

Actor | Age: 24 | www.TylerMichaels.com Q: What are you involved with right now? Where can people see you perform?

A: Currently I am in Bye Bye Birdie out at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters which runs until March 30th. I am also one fifth of Bearded Men Improv.

We perform every Friday night at 10:30pm at HUGE Theater. Off stage, I recently started coaching speech at Wayzata High school, as well as teaching a few improv classes around the cities. I am also an on-camera talent at Nuts ltd.

Q: What keeps you here in the Twin Cities instead of trying to make it work as an actor in a bigger city like NY or LA? A: Simply: I love it here. The theater community is full of the nicest and most creative artists I know of. It’s not cutthroat here (I’ve never been in the LA or NY scene but I hear that’s how it is); it is warm and kind and supportive. I am able to focus on the projects that I want to create. I don’t think I’d be able to do that as easily in a bigger city. I think I’ll give it a try in New York eventually, but for now I am comfy here.

Q: What was it like working with students from the U during Spring Awakening last year?

A: The U students were amazing. I immediately grew attached to all of them through our process. And damn, are they talented! We had such a great time working on the show. It was great to have the young roles in the show be age appropriate too. It made the production so much more volatile.

Q: What was playing Bat Boy Like? Not a part many people get to play…

A: Playing Bat Boy was one of my favorite on stage experiences ever. It was such a physical role—crawling around, jumping from cages, making horribly ridiculous noises—I find myself most at home on stage when I can use my body to the extreme. Bat Boy forced me to do that.

TYLER MICHAELS

Q: What is it about improv or the Bearded Men troupe in particular that you are so attached to?

A: With improv I am able to perform in a completely different way than in a scripted play. You are constantly thinking on your feet. You are creating characters you would never have in a play. And you are creating every second you are on stage, that’s my favorite part. No other form of performance allows you to do that. I’ve been with Bearded Men since college when seven of us theater students founded the group. We’ve grown so much as performers and as people together. With the Beards, we have such a good sense of each other on stage and off, we are able to create some really great stories that are both funny and moving.

Q: What are your plans for 2013? What do you hope to accomplish?

A: I’ve got a lot on my plate for the year ahead! I will be sticking around Chanhassen for a while to do Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from April to September. After that I’m set to work with Flying Foot Forum on their Alice in Wonderland Project. The Bearded Men will be premiering a pirate adventure improv set, Beards on the High Seas, in March.

I am also developing a comedic podcast with some of the Bearded Men that will hopefully have a summer release date.

All in all, I am hoping to continue and expand my on-stage presence in the cities while beginning to develop some of my own personal projects that have been swirling around in my head for a while.

www.wakemag.org

15.

BOBBI DAZZLE Drag Queen | Age: 24 Q: How was Bobbi Dazzle as an identity born?

A: Quite simply actually. Back when I worked at the Mall of America one of my favorite hobbies was to browse Sephora, a makeup store. This was back in 2010. And Urban Decay had just released a new eye shadow and it was called Bobbi Dazzle. I was just browsing the aisles and ran into Bobbi Dazzle, which was a nude and shimmery color. And I was like, hey, that’s just like me! So I started going by that and it caught on really fast. It was awesome.

Q: What do you have planned for the next year?

A: We definitely hope to throw more drag workshops. We want to bring in more performers from around the community in the Twin Cities to give their take on drag, what that means to them.

HEIDI BOHNENKAMP

MOLLY DAVY

Let’s see, personally I’m sure I’ll be working on more Pegasus parties. They happen every other month. And with another friend of

Publisher | Age: 23 | Facebook: W O M A N H O U S E zine

mine, I’ve helped create a queer goth dance night called Rectum.

UCHEFOTOGRAPHY

TISH JONES Poet | Age: 25 | Facebook: /TishJonesPoet Q: What are you involved with right now?

A: I am the Founder, Executive, & Artistic Director of a budding nonprofit in the Twin Cities, TruArtSpeaks. My primary focus as the E.D. of TruArtSpeaks is organizing The (K.)N.E.W. MN Youth Slam Series. I host the Soul Sounds Open Mic in Saint Paul, a program of The Saint Paul Almanac. I am a member of S.P.E.A.C. at Hope Community in South Minneapolis. I am an African American and African Studies Major at the University of Minnesota.

Q: You recently posted about TruArtSpeaks on your Facebook page and started the blog, but what more can you tell us about that?

A: TruArtSpeaks is an arts based non profit that I have been developing since 2006. It is a dream of mine that is finally coming to fruition. The mission is as follows: TruArtSpeaks utilizes elements of Hip Hop, Spokenword, and the arts to contest literacy and leadership, supporting a generation of vibrant young voices as they make their claim on the world. We provide a platform for youth to find, develop, study, and share their stories in safe spaces. TruArtSpeaks dares participants to give back and become agents of the change they seek, while remaining students of the culture and histories past.

Q: Where can people see you perform?

A: I host an open mic every week in Saint Paul. The Soul Sounds Open Mic at Golden Thyme Cafe, 921 Selby Avenue from 6-8pm

Q: What are your plans for 2013? What do you hope to accomplish?

A: Honestly, I just want to smile. I plan to enjoy being a student, to stay in the community and continuing being filled by the stories of my people, and to see that MN has a youth slam team representing at BRAVE NEW VOICES summer of 2013.

16.

january 07 - february 11

So we have a couple of Rectum planned events in March. It’s a queer goth dance party where we DJ all vinyl.

Q: So tell me about the history and the inspiration behind Wom-

I don’t perform consistently anywhere—at Pegasus and at various

anhouse, the zine you self-publish.

drag towns. TYSN (Trans Youth Support Network) is putting on a

A: The inspiration came in my first art history class in college.

drag show later next month and I’ll be performing at that one.

Womanhouse is a sort of performance feminist art piece from the 1970s. The first issue was also inspired by a print by this

KALEEM Rapper | Age: 15 | @KaleemTheKing www.TitanAdministration.com/Artists/Kaleem

artist Louise Bourgeois who I really like. She and Womanhouse inspired me to make something feminist, and then also at the same time a of my friends at St. Kate’s were writing amazing things, especially essays for class that were not necessarily recognized by anyone outside of academia. It felt like other people should have access to it. I realized through websites like Tumblr

Q: You have a family history with hip-hop, how old were you when

that people were writing things that didn’t have to be reserved

you first started rapping? Do you remember what your first verse

for just one audience: either peers in school or their professors.

was about?

I wanted to make another space for people to read something

A: 6 years old. My first verse was about knocking wack rappers out

like that. Especially, a safe space where people wouldn’t think I

[laughs].

would give them all these editorial problems. Unless something is totally ridiculous or offensive I’ll publish it.

Q: You’re a lot more skilled then most MCs your age, have any secret training tips you can share?

Q: What are you excited about in 2013?

A: Yes, you never have done your best. There is never a limit you

A: In the near future, we’re going to take both Womanhouse

can reach.

and Banquet to Chicago Zine Fest. That’s really the biggest celebration of self-publishing in North America. There’s Brooklyn

Q: Can you credit anyone for inspiring your hustle? Your drive or

Zine Fest, L.A. Zine Fest, Minneapolis’ too, but Chicago Zine

ambition?

Fest just takes up an entire building in downtown. It’s really well

A: The Twin Cities Hip-Hop scene in general. We need to be heard

organized and there are people from all over the world. So that’s

and I wanna help make some noise.

cool to get everything out and to represent Minneapolis there.

For the rest of the year, I’ll be working on Banquet. Banquet is

Q: What’s one project you’ve definitely got in store for us this year?

also part of Permanent Wave, which is a feminist activist group

A: I’ve got a collaboration project with my dad A.K.A. Mastermind

with spaces already in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, also in the Bay

called Apple Tree dropping on Father’s Day! As far as solo projects

Area and I think in Seattle. We want to start it up in Minneapo-

those are in process as well.

lis. A lot of the stuff I do with Womanhouse is really behind the scenes, so I’ll be trying to do more community work and just

BONUS FUN QUESTION: You dropped a video for “Body Bag” last

trying to be more active to try to get all these different orga-

year. If you had an unlimited video budget, where would you shoot

nizations together in one place so people who wouldn’t have

it? Who would you guest star be?

previously collaborated will be encouraged to.

A: I would on a green screen actually, and my guest star would be Drake.

Obituaries

DESTINY, GRADE 3

AMYA, GRADE 3

FELISIA, GRADE 3

NEVADA, GRADE 3

www.wakemag.org

17.

UPCOMINGEVENTS MONDAY, January 28

MONDAY, February 04

VOICES MERGING PRESENTS:

YO LA TANGO

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX OPEN MIC

$16| 18+ | 7pm | @ First Ave Mainroom

Sign up at 7:30pm | Show 8 - 10pm | @ The Whole WEDNESDAY, February 06 WEDNESDAY, January 30 TRANSMISSION PRESENTS:

LADY GAGA, MADEON, LADY STARLIGHT $$$$ | AA | 6:30pm | @ Xcel Energy Center

CHANGES: ANNUAL BOWIE TRIBUTE FREE | 21+ | 9pm | @ Varsity Theater

THURSDAY, January 31

THURSDAY, February 07 BRIAN LAIDLAW & LYDIA HOGLUND $5 | AA | 9pm | @ Aster Cafe

HOLLOW BOYS, PAINTED SAINTS, and SQUARES $5 | 21+ | 9pm | @ Cause Spirits & Soundbar FRIDAY, February 08 FRIDAY, February 01

GET CRYPHY Five Year Anniversary $8-10 | 18+ | 9pm | @ First Ave Mainroom

RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR (LP RELEASE), PONY TRASH, and SOUTHWIRE $12 | 21+ | 9pm | @ Turf Club

SATURDAY, February 09 BOLLYWOOD, UMAMI, and FORT WILSON RIOT (YESS)

SATURDAY, February 02

$5 | 21+ | 9pm | @ Triple Rock Social Club

THE GOLDEN BUBBLES FREE | 21+ | 10pm | @ 331 CLUB

DREAM SEQUENCE: TEENAGE MOODS, PRISSY CLERKS, NALLO, and GLOSS $8-10 | AA | 7pm | @ Cedar Cultural Center

SUNDAY, February 03 LAST DAY OF WINTER SKATE in downtown ST. PAUL FREE with Ice Skates or $2 rental 11am - 9pm | @ Rice Park

SATURDAY, February 09 HAMLINE UNIVERSITY TEAM SELECTION POETRY SLAM 7pm | @ Bush Student Center Basement (The HUB)

18.

january 07 - february 11

The Bastard

Christmas Presents I didn’t realize

I wanted until I saw other people get them:

Edible gingerbread playhouse

Inflatable unicorn horn for cats

Ryan Gosling coloring book

Sleeping bag body suit

Ice cream sandwich maker

Ostrich pillow

My own personal campfire & teapot

Sewing machine tape dispenser

WaxVac (jk)

Bubble wrap

A PUPPY!

Banana slicer

www.wakemag.org

19.

Want to get involved with the Wake Student Magazine?

2nd meeting of the semester - Monday February 11th @ 8:30 p.m.

Nicholson Hall 125 Email ALauer@wakemag.org with any questions Looking For: writers, photographers, illustrators, videographers, web designers, R. Kelly fans, you