The Wake, Issue 3, Fall 2016

fortnightly student magazine

volume 16 — issue 3

minimum wage in MPLS

p. 5

Q&A: jessica staveley-taylor of the staves

p. 16

locker room talk

p. 11

“politicizing beyoncé”

p. 20

election day 2016

p. 12

‘tis the sugar season - mad lib

p. 22

want your ad here? cheap rates. thousands of readers. con tact Effi e Mog us u at emog u su @wakem ag .org

VOLUME 16, ISSUE 3 minimum wage in MPLS

p. 5

minnesota lynx

p. 6

a solution to air pollution?

p. 8

locker room talk

p. 11

paris agreement

p. 12

election day 2016

p. 13

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Moving from the editorial side as the online editor to the production side this year as the executive director has brought many new changes. Obviously.

The shift meant a goodbye to editor meetings and a hello to PR ones. It meant planning social media posts instead of article pitches. It’s been seeing so much of the behind-the-scenes of what makes The Wake run.

Q&A: jessica staveley-taylor

p. 16

art for birds

p. 19

“politicizing beyoncé”

p. 20

the chameleon

p. 21

I can’t tell you how many countless emails I’ve sent to my staff at odd hours and how much time they’ve devoted to keep The Wake running smoothly.

‘tis the sugar season - mad lib

p. 22

And why?

3 reviews

p. 23

Because we want your voice to be heard on campus while keeping you informed about all that’s happening.

We want to tell you about what community and student groups are doing to raise awareness this crazy election season, what the possible effects of $15 minimum wage are, and one take on satire’s place in politics.

So kick back, relax, and enjoy the issue.

©2016 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 students at the University of Minnesota.

This year, we hosted our largest Wake Up With The Wake yet (143 bagels, five gallons of coffee, and the band AYVAH) and coordinated five other outreach events and activities fairs. We combed over our budget to make sure every cent was well spent. Plus, our amazing creative team solidified new branding and created event flyers on top of all of the work of making every issue look good.

See you at our Blaze Pizza fundraiser on Nov. 7!

Lianna Matt Executive Director

The Wake was founded by Chrin Ruen & James DeLong.

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 avanabbema@wakemag.org.

The Wake Student Magazine 126 Coffman Memorial Union 300 Washington Avenue SE Minneapolis, MN 55455

EDITORIAL:

www.wakemag.org

facebook.com/thewakemagazine

@the_wake

PRODUCTION:

THIS ISSUE:

Editor-in-Chief

Alex Van Abbema

Executive Director

Lianna Matt

Photographers

Managing Editor

Abby Richardson

Creative Director

Kate Doyle

Mariah Crabb, Xavier Wang

Cities Editor

Erik Newland

Art Director

Taylor Daniels

Voices Editor

Emma Klingler

Designers

Andrew Tomten

Sound & Vision Editors

Olivia Heuskinveld

Kellen Renstrom

Shawnna Stennes

Olivia Novotny

Online editor

Carson Kaskel

Finance Manager

Chris Bernatz

Copy editor

Alex Wittenberg

PR/Ad Manager

Effie Mogusu

Laura Beier

Social Media

Holly Wilson

Chelsea Reynolds

Web development

Laurel Tieman

Faculty Advisor

Julia Holmes Editorial Interns Avery Boehm, Bella Dally-Steele, Claire Becker, Emily Martens, Gabby Granada, Hannah Kloos, Helena Mueller, Isabella Murray, John Blocher, Liv Martin, Sammy Brown,

@thewakemagazine

Production Interns Brooke Herbert, Grace Steward, Rakshit Kalra Art & Design Interns Cameron Smith, Emily Hill, Helen Teague, Lindy Wirth, Katie Heywood, Megan Smith, Xavier Wang, Weiying Zhu

Illustrators Andrew Tomten, Cameron Smith, Emily Hill, Graham Tolbert, Helen Teague, Katie Heywood, Lindy Wirth, Olivia Novotny, Taylor Daniels, Weiying Zhu Back Cover Megan Smith Contributing Writers Abel Mehari, Alex Van Abbema, Avery Boehm, Bella Dally-Steele, Callum Leemkuil-Schuerman, Chelsea Visser, Claire Becker, Claudia Althoen, Cody Perakslis, Colin Miller, Emma Klingler, Emma Martens, Gabby Granada, Helena Mueller, Holly Wilson, Jack Hedlund-Fay, Jacob Van Blarcom, Karl Witkowiak, Lianna Matt, Liv Martin, Liv Riggins, Madeline Lerche, Olivia Heusinkveld, Sammy Brown

WINK ! ONE-PAGE MAGAZINE O LI V I A N OVOT N Y

A RECIPE FOR A

BY LIANNA MATT 1. Mix 1 ½ cups work, 2 cups homework, and 1 cup honey from your hunny who keeps you sane (alternative source: best friend).

2. Pour in the pre-made student mix of senior slide apathy, overwhelmed feelings, panicked motivation, and a struggle to control. Don’t worry; your local university bookstore is sure to have it.

3. Mix until it has a dough-like consistency, then knead it, using 1/2 cup sleep if necessary to keep from sticking. Be warned that the extra sleep usually causes feelings of regret and missed morning classes.

4. Add whatever is left in the pantry (hopefully some protein, vitamins, or minerals?), add liberal dashes of doughnut cravings, and mold everything into 2-inch dough balls.

5.

Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. Frost with friend outings, comforting phone calls to parents, and Netflix nights because, hey, something has to make it sweet.

coming out this November in no particular order…

Who would you rather write in on election day?

BY OLIVIA HEUSINKVELD 1. Doctor Strange (November 4th): A new Marvel movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch, enough said.

2. Trolls (November 4th): As silly as this movie looks, the starstudded cast will likely pull you to the theatre regardless.

3. Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them (November 18th):

More stories from the Harry Potter universe? YES PLEASE.

4. Moana (November 23rd): A movie for anyone with

hope that Disney can one day live down its very racist past and move forward towards accurate and fair cultural representation for all.

5. The Ivory Game (November 4th): In the mood to get really

mad at how horrible humans are to the natural world around them? If so, this documentary is for you.

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T H E WA K E

CITIES

Controversy Over the $15 Minimum Wage in Minneapolis Roy Wilkins Center finds effects of minimum wage raise beneficial, others are skeptical

BY MADELINE LERCHE

The Roy Wilkins Center’s research provides a foundation to discuss possible solutions to issues concerning race and inequality. This research empowers its students, policy makers and community members to search for ways to promote prosperity for everyone in the community. Its latest research simulated minimum wage increase of $12- and $15-anhour for Minneapolis. The study was met with mixed responses.

The study analyzed the effects of the proposed policy first by understanding the current demographic of those making minimum wage. The research team reported that half of the individuals are people of color. Those making minimum wage often have some college education, are over the age of 25, and work at least 35 hours a week. It has also been found that households with minimum wage earners are less likely to be able to meet their weekly food needs.

Advocates of the increase see this as an opportunity to increase the spending power within this sector of the population. With the proposed plan, those households with minimum wage earners would likely spend $27 more every week towards food, also bringing down food insecurity to 4 to 7 percent. By having more money in pocket, they believe it will boost the economy. Supporters believe that the increase in the minimum wage would help ease racial and economic disparities.

Opponents, on the other hand, worry that this increase will affect businesses. Their concern is that businesses will cut back workers’ hours or fire workers to keep up with the increase of food costs and operating costs. Another concern is the relocation of businesses to nearby cities.

With the minimum wage increase taking effect in Minneapolis, and not it’s surrounding suburbs or St. Paul, businesses could potentially choose to move elsewhere to compete with businesses outside of Minneapolis.

The food service industry would be affected the most. To offset the expected 5 percent increase in food costs and increase in wages, menu prices would also have to increase. According to the report, a $25 meal would increase by about $1.25. Other industries that would be affected include retail, non-hospital health and administrative support.

O C T 31 –NOV 1 3

The effects of an increase in minimum wage can be better understood by analyzing how it has panned out in other cities. A group of University of Washington researchers have been analyzing the effects of the minimum wage increase in Seattle. Jacob Vigdor, a professor at the University of Washington and one of the researches, said that, “The basic takeaway from our report was that minimum wage doesn’t appear to be doing a whole lot of harm but it’s also not doing a whole lot of good either.” It is unclear how it will change once the full $15 takes effect.

Similarly, Santa Fe raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $8.50 an hour in 2003. After looking at the wage increase now, the impact was unclear. The effectiveness of increasing the minimum wage is masked by many different factors.

It is hard to stipulate just how certain policy changes will affect specific cities. Every city has different policies already in place, such as Minneapolis’ new mandatory employee sick leave, which affects how the increase in minimum wage will be received. Although an increase in minimum wage may not drastically affect Seattle or Santa Fe, these results do not necessarily reflect the result it could have here in Minneapolis.

This multi-dimensional issue requires a focus on strategic implementation of a policy that will benefit the greatest number of people while maintaining growth. Negotiations over this hotly debated topic will continue with the council members and mayor.

CAM ERON S M ITH

With countless protests and multiple proposals, raising the minimum wage has been a hotly debated topic here in Minnesota. The Minneapolis City Council commissioned the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Resources and Social Justice to research the effects of raising the minimum wage. Their findings back the proposed increase from the current $9.50-an-hour to $12- or $15-an-hour, which they found would help lift 71,000 workers out of poverty.

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THE WAKE

Minnesota Lynx rule Minnesota Sports Women's basketball team has brought multiple championships to Minnesota, but to little fanfare

BY ABEL MEHARI The other problem is the lack of exposure in women’s sports. Lynx forward Maya Moore has been the league’s top star since 2011, yet she feels a sense of disappointment that her hard work has been left unnoticed by casual fans.

The NBA responded to its critics with full-fledged support, indicating in the article that they “believed in the cause of a women’s basketball league and would do so for the foreseeable future.”

In an open essay Moore wrote for the Players Tribune in 2015, she expressed disappointment in the lack of exposure female players were getting while playing basketball.

Over time, the doubters progressed and have learned to accept a women’s basketball league and have given a few commercial slots to help the league grow.

However, the WNBA’s continued presence has still only generated low interest. In 2014, the WNBA-wide attendance averaged 7,578 fans per game, according to Yahoo sports.

“There’s this unnatural break in exposure for the highest level of women’s basketball in the world. Wait, what happened here? That’s a question we as WNBA players ask ourselves. We go from amazing AAU experiences to high school All-American games to the excitement and significant platform of the collegiate level to… this.

All of that visibility to… this. Less coverage,” she wrote in the article.

To further complicate the problems, the league averaged roughly 240,000 viewers for ESPN broadcasts this season. These measures speak to how the league has not developed the necessary popularity to help bring in new fans. The NBA noticed this problem and began airing more games on regular broadcast TV. The NBA recently signed a contract stipulating that ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 will broadcast the league until the 2025 season.

Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, is tackling these issues by allowing ESPN to broadcast every playoff game and by allotting more advertising to the WNBA’s big events like the All-Star game.

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant has been one of the big endorsers of the WNBA and feels that more exposure will help the league, according to an article from USA Today. “A lot of people don’t respect the game. And I think it’s unfair. Those women can play the game of basketball.

If you love the game the way I love it, it doesn’t matter who is shooting the basketball,” Durant said.

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“It’s frustrating on several levels.

We professional female athletes are continuing to grow and evolve, and trying to make an impact on our communities and other young lives — all of those things

we maybe didn’t have time for as student-athletes,” Moore continued. “Now, there are fewer eyeballs to even inspire or influence because the exposure to the players and our game isn’t as great.”

In a long history of heartbreaking moments in Minnesota sports, the huge silver lining in recent years has been the Minnesota Lynx. Since winning their first WNBA championship in 2011, the Lynx have won two more titles in the last five years. This season, the ladies finished with the league’s best record with 28 wins but fell just short in their quest to become the second team in WNBA history to repeat as champions.

Minnesota joined the league in 1998, and played their inaugural season in 1999. Before 2011, the franchise had only made the playoffs twice and held the league’s worst record in 2006.

But with all the recent success for the women’s team, the Lynx have not gathered much popularity from mainstream sports fans. Unlike the Vikings, Timberwolves, Wild and Twins, the Lynx have seen a decent but not a significant fan base at the Target Center.

A RT BY H E L E N TE AU G E

When the NBA backed and promoted the WNBA in 1997, many men’s basketball fans proclaimed that they were having an undesirable product forced down their throats by various partnerships and TV advertisements, according to an article from Yahoo sports.

The issue stems from WNBA’s creation after the 1995 to 1996 NBA season. The NBA board of governors founded the league during the summer of 1996 with just eight teams, which received little fanfare.

There is a lack of interest from basketball fans, mostly men, who do not understand the work ethic of women players. Because of this, there is a gender issue in how males take female athletes for granted.

There is no denying the legacy established by our women basketball players and another championship will only add to the mystique. Unfortunately, their accomplishments may go unnoticed.

OCT 3 1–NOV 13

T H E WA K E

CITIES

//

Social center and community resource hub seeks a new location by 2017 amid rising costs

M A R I A H CR A B B

Rent Isn’t Free for the Minnehaha Free Space

BY LIV RIGGINS The Minnehaha Free Space will be leaving its Minnehaha Avenue location at the end of December, and is seeking contributions to find a new space by January. According to the Minnehaha Free Space’s GoFundMe page, “Help the Free Space Move and Thrive,” a new landlord has increased the space’s rent by 83 percent, well outside the collective’s limited budget.

special events, everyday meeting space for community members and political organizers; a lending library; food, childcare, computers and free printing.

Frequenters of the Minnehaha Free Space share their food, resources, time and skills to support the space’s continued operation, currently open to the public 20 hours per week.

In the first 10 days, $475 of the $10,000 fundraiser goal has been raised. Typically, the Minnehaha Free Space eschews monetary exchange as part of its mission of “actively challenging...all forms of domination and oppression." In its day-to-day operations, the center relies on the contributions of both community members and the Minneapolis Autonomous Radical Space collective, which runs the center, to provide

Collective member and staffer Oliver Semple described the Minnehaha Free Space’s “anti-oppressive” nature, or its avowal of community and tolerance, as one of the organization’s major attractions. Being at the Minnehaha Free Space is “a relief,” Semple said, as it provides an environment of people “with a similar mindset, and just a different way of interacting…than in the more dominant culture.”

With events regularly ranging from hardcore shows, feminist sci-fi book groups, and sewing circles to prisoner letter-writing sessions and raves, the Minnehaha Free Space offers something for -- if not everyone – a wide variety of interests. For those interested in experiencing the Minnehaha Free Space before it moves, there are several upcoming events.

Food Not Bombs will be dispensing meals on Fridays, Minneapolis Autonomous Radical Space will be hosting a free Thanksgiving dinner, and the collective is organizing a craft fair in mid-November. Weekly events will continue as usual, and the space will continue to be open to the public from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Montreal Attempts to Ban Pit Bulls

What this means for the city and the rest of the world

BY EMMA MARTENS

M ARIAH CRAB B

Montreal has sprung to the front of newspapers across the globe. In response to the death of a 55-year-old woman by a dog attack, the city government has attempted to ban new pit bulls. This ban would prohibit any new pit bulls from coming into the city and would require all pit bull owners to obtain documentation for their dog by 2017. However, shortly after it was introduced, Canadian courts started questioning the legality of the ban, and it has been postponed to wait on court decisions. Montreal is coming under fire for this controversial breed-specific legislation (BSL), and it is sparking conversations in other dominant cities.

O C T 31 –NOV 1 3

Montreal is not the first place to attempt BSL. According to the BSL Census, there are hundreds of counties and entire states in the U.S. that currently have some form of legislation against certain dog breeds. Montreal, however, has not yet succeeded in putting this ban in action. The upper courts in Quebec voted to postpone

movement forward on the ban until late November.

Since Montreal is a globally recognized city, there is a precedent that could be set from passing this ban.

If Montreal were to move forward, other cities could follow the example and pit bull bans would be more prevalent than ever. Powerful cities - like Montreal are faced with a larger ethical issue: Is safety really improved by BSLs? While many cities have BSLs, Minneapolis currently does not have any in place. However, safety advocates have talked about potentially pushing the city to put a ban on pit bulls. Just this past April, a Rochester toddler was hospitalized by a pit bull. Minnesota remains a BSL-free state, but officials do not know if or for how much longer this will be true. Montreal has set forth an eerie precedent that has other major cities like Minneapolis questioning what matters more: safety or inclusivity.

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A SOLUTION TO AIR POLLUTION? The Smog Free Tower opens in Beijing, China

BY CLAUDIA ALTHOEN Over 3 million people worldwide die due to ambient, or outdoor, air pollution each year. By 2050, this will increase to 6 million deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Air pollution is the largest environmental risk factor worldwide, according to WHO, but what is being done to alleviate or raise awareness about this serious issue?

Technology could be a solution, but is technology a mask that hides a problem, or is it a beacon that reveals it? Originally a Kickstarter campaign, the Smog Free Project has been making its way around the world, featuring a green tech structure that may have an answer to this conundrum.

The Smog Free Tower, created by Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch inventor and artist, opened in a second location, Beijing, China on Sept. 29, the first being Rotterdam, Netherlands. The inspiration for the project itself came when Roosegaarde traveled to Beijing in 2013 and couldn’t see out his hotel window, and children were kept indoors due to smog levels.

The Smog Free Tower is inspired from the advanced air purifiers that hospitals use.

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While seemingly an unmoving structure, the tower reaches for the sky. Two of the upper panels of the tower bend and rise in the presence of smog, or more specifically, particle pollution. It also has full coverage of 360 degrees, which creates a bubble of clean air. The tower attracts the smoggy air, which contains particulate matter, PM2.5 and PM10. Overall, it manages to capture more than 75 percent of both types, according to Studio Roosegaarde.

Both types of particulate matter are dangerous to human health because they can enter the lungs and bloodstream. The particles can cause irritation, coughing, premature death, heart attacks, among other health problems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and AirNow.org. According to the WHO, the presence of PM2.5 can reduce a population’s life expectancy by 8.6 months, and there is no safe exposure level. PM2.5 and PM10 also cause environmental problems, such as water acidification, soil nutrient depletion, and change ecosystem diversity. They can also damage monuments and other materials.

As mentioned earlier, the tower uses ion technology, meaning that the particles are ionized. Ionization is the process in which neutral atoms or molecules gain a positive or negative charge. Bob Ursem, a researcher at Delft Technology University, collaborated with Roosegaarde in the creation of the tower. Ursem has been researching ion technology for over a decade. Once the particulate matter enters the tower’s chamber through the radial ventilation at the top of the tower, all of the particles are given a positive charge. Since the particles are given a positive charge, no ozone is created. The particles then become attached to an electrode in the tower, which prevents the particles from entering the outside air again.

Finally, clean air is released through the vents of the lower half of the tower.

“OVER 92 PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION LIVES IN AREAS THAT DON’T MEET WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S AIR QUALITY GUIDELINES.”

Further plans for the project include building more towers and traveling to other cities in China, and around the world to other cities such as Paris, Los Angeles and Mexico City to demonstrate the tower. The Smog Free Tower undoubtedly is changing the lives of those breathing polluted air. After all, over 92 percent of the world’s population lives in areas that don’t meet WHO’s air quality guidelines.

At its center, the tower raises our awareness that air quality is so poor that the air actually needs to be purified. While the Smog Free Tower brings awareness to a crucial issue, and hopefully change in the long run, it may just be an intermediate step to the ultimate solution. The final solution depends on us.

WE IY ING Z HU

The tower is about 23 feet high, runs on green wind energy, uses ion technology, and can clean 30,000 cubic meters of air every hour. In other words, it’s the world’s largest air purifier. At night, the tower glows because of its LED lighting. The smog particles that are collected by the tower are compressed and made into rings and cufflinks. As of Oct. 17, enough smog has been collected that ring orders are once again being taken. Each ring bought equates to 1,000 cubic meters of clean air.

THE WAKE

OCT 3 1–NOV 13

VOICES

KAT I E H E YWO O D

T H E WA K E

A Congratulatory Letter to President Putin

ART ( L E FT ) BY E M I LY H I L L

BY AVERY BOEHM

#NotAllClowns Raising Awareness for the Good Clowns of America

BY CLAIRE BECKER 2016 has not been kind to us. We’ve lost Prince, Bowie and Alan Rickman; hurricane Matthew hit our coast; gators are killing kids in the happiest place on earth; world politics have gone off the rails; and now, to top it all off, killer clowns are stabbing people across the nation. However, in times of trouble, we need to remember to look to the true American heroes—no matter how ironic it may seem. These unlikely, unsung heroes are, you didn’t guess it: clowns.

All right, I know I just said clowns were stabbing people, but hear me out: Some clowns aren’t. Local celebrity clown, Krusty the Clown, says: “Yeah man, I feel like there’s just a lot of anti-clown sentiment right now. It sucks because like, I for sure haven’t stabbed anybody, like, ever haha. I haven’t ever even seen one of them knife things haha. What’s ‘stab’ even mean, when you think about it.” Buster then sprayed his interviewer in the face with water from a strategically placed flower on his chest.

“Haha,” he reiterated.

Many benevolent clowns have even been spotted doing good deeds in their communities. For example, local clown, Hubert von Humorous, recently donated over 300 false noses and exactly 73 pairs of comically oversized shoes to the Salvation Army. Likewise, long-time clowner, Ken (Funny) Bone, has been known to wander about the University of Minnesota campus kindly alerting people when their flies are down. Truly a good Samaritan.

The irony of the situation lies here: In the garbage year that is 2016, we could all really use a good laugh. And who provides laughs to the needy public? Clowns. So next time you see a clown, just give it the benefit of the doubt. It most likely won’t stab you, and in the case that it doesn’t, you’ll probably get a great laugh out of the encounter!

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Congratulations are in order after President Vladimir Putin was honored with the Hugo Chávez Prize for Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples.

Dear President Vladimir Putin, The Wake would like to formally recognize Russian President Vladimir Putin for his admirable efforts toward peace in the world. Because of these efforts, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro awarded the Hugo Chávez Prize for Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples to President Putin. Featured below are some of the president’s most gleaming achievements in his struggle for peace.

President Putin fought to influence the politics of Crimea, ensuring the betterment of its society. Russian soldiers invaded the region, and eventually Russia gained operational control over the Ukrainian peninsula, forcibly spoon-feeding President Putin’s revolutionary ideals to the once free region. Putin has continued to sustain his authority over the region for three glorious years.

In 2012, President Putin put a standing ban on U.S. citizens adopting Russian children, keeping them out of the wretched hands of loving parents. Putin also signed a law banning any single parent or couple who is from a nation that supports marriage equality from adopting Russian children, yet another move to safeguard impressionable children from parents who would love and care for them.

In early October, President Putin withdrew from a monumental nuclear security agreement with the U.S. that would help diminish the longstanding tension between the countries. The agreement required both nations to dispose of stockpiles of plutonium, a material used in making some nuclear weapons. With peace in mind, President Putin politely declined from the offer of international security.

In September, President Putin and the Russian government were blamed for the bombing of humanitarian aid trucks and for the killing 20 innocent people in Aleppo, Syria in an effort to generously relieve the ravaged nation of aid it desperately needed.

The attack, which some consider a war crime, ended a multiple day cease-fire.

If the listed achievements above weren’t inspiring enough, President Putin stole Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring in 2005. Shocked by absolute gratitude, Kraft didn’t know how to respond. The ring was never returned to the New England Patriots owner.

In conclusion, thank you President Putin for your contributions to peace in our world.

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THE WAKE

TAYLO R DA N I E L S

Santos Awarded Nobel After Colombia Narrowly Misses True Peace A Comprehensive Look at las FARC and the Failed Peace Deal

BY BELLA DALLY-STEELE Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received his first Nobel Peace Prize this month, just days after his referendum intended to strike a peace treaty with the Colombian terrorist group, las FARC, was voted down with a margin of less than 1 percent. Colombia has been engaged a civil war with las FARC and related terrorist groups for 52 years, the longest running civil war in modern international history. The public has received Santos’ Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for his efforts towards ending the bloody conflict, in various ways.

Many believe that Santos’ efforts to broker a peace deal are well-deserving of the prize, while others argue that his famous deal toes a line that should not be crossed: negotiating with terrorists. Another mindset argues that, while Santos’ Nobel Prize will temporarily draw much-needed attention to Colombia’s conflict, the prize will later hurt the country by giving the false impression that peace was actually achieved. In order to understand why Santos’ Nobel is under so much scrutiny, however, one must take a look at the history of las FARC, the failed peace deal, and the opposition parties involved.

In 1964, the Colombian Communist Party (PCC) formed las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia (las FARC) with the intention of convincing the Colombian government to address the needs of the country’s impoverished rural population. However, what started out as a minor extremist faction soon escalated into a fullblown terrorist group when, at odds with the Colombian government, las FARC began kidnapping elite persons for ransom in order to fund their growing guerrilla army.

Later, las FARC turned to drug trafficking for funds.

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Today, over 7,000 Colombian citizens have been engulfed into las FARC, either by bloodline or kidnapping, while the group peaked in size in 2007 at nearly 18,000 members. Over these 52 years, las FARC has killed an unknown number of people. In the wake of las FARC, various other terrorist groups have formed, including militant groups along the lines of Death the Kidnappers (MAS) and United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

“Such a macabre history could easily lead one to believe that a peace deal with las FARC would be against human rights and morality.”

(AUC), which have killed large numbers of innocents who they masquerade as las FARC members in order to raise morale and collect rewards.

Such a macabre history could easily lead one to believe that a peace deal with las FARC would be against human rights and morality. However, in light of las FARC’s incredible power and the human casualties that they have amassed throughout the years, the line becomes blurry, as it is clear that continued war is not in the country’s best interest. What’s more, one must keep in mind that most of the members of las FARC were indoctrinated into the group either by upbringing or kidnapping; while the war crimes they have committed

were conscious choices, their initial allegiance was not.

One of the most influential political actors in the country, ex-President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, was a major opponent of the deal. His campaign against the treaty was perhaps the deciding factor in the veto; he cited leniency on war criminals as his leading qualm with the treaty.

Similarly, most citizens who vetoed the peace deal did so because they perceived the deal to be too lenient toward the terrorists. The two most despised clauses included an agreement to cede 10 of Colombia’s 102 congressional seats to las FARC and an “effective privation of liberty” for war criminals (a vague term meaning lower level crimes would be met with “effective restriction of liberty” rather than prison). Although Uribe congratulated Santos on his Nobel, it is doubtful that he and his fellow ‘No’ campaigners agree with the Nobel Foundation’s choice to award his opponent for his efforts.

In theory, Santos’s Nobel should signal to Colombian citizens that their president’s actions were admirable, hopefully encouraging compliance with any future peace deals (although las FARC has made clear that they do not intend to renegotiate, at least not anytime soon). But in practice, Santos’s peace prize appears to be a Band-Aid on a gaping wound: well-intended but insufficient. While Santos’s prize will undoubtedly inspire him and succeeding presidents to continue to work towards peace with las FARC, it also serves as a bleak symbol of what might have been--a prize clearly intended to be awarded to a newly peaceful Colombia that has instead chosen to return to war.

OCT 3 1–NOV 13

M A RI A H C RA BB

T H E WA K E

VOICES

LOCKER ROOM TALK:

Why ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ Isn’t an Excuse Just because something is normalized doesn’t mean it’s justified

BY GABBY GRANADA I look around my college campus, my lecture halls, even my own apartment and see the faces of women filled with rage, but mostly exhaustion.

In light of Trump’s sexually predatory comments, the overwhelming consensus of our nation is that no one is really surprised by his behavior. The most troubling facet of this issue isn’t the fact that his comments failed to shock people, it’s that many aren’t all that concerned.

The political analysis website FiveThirtyEight reported that after Trump’s lewd comments leaked, 74 percent of the Republican Party—women included—said they are still voting for him. However, only 39 percent of the Republican Party believes that Trump truly respects women. Perhaps this is directly correlated to the fact that FiveThirtyEight’s research found Republican women are first and foremost concerned with the state of our nation’s economy, followed by terrorism. Respect for women doesn’t make that short list, either.

At Southern New Hampshire University, First Lady Michelle Obama strayed from her usual campaign spiel to respond to Trump’s “locker room banter” as a matter of the heart.

The recent hashtag #WomenWhoVoteTrump trended throughout social media, giving Pro-Trump women a chance to defend their controversial candidate choice.

“[What Donald said] is cruel. It’s frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It’s that feeling of terror and violation that too many women have felt when someone has grabbed them, or forced himself on them and they’ve said no but he didn’t listen – something that we know happens on college campuses and countless other places every single day… This isn’t about politics; it’s about basic human decency.”

At a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, one wife, mother and Trump supporter assured Jordan Klepper from The Daily Show, “It’s locker room talk. That’s just what boys do.”

“#WomenWhoVoteTrump aren’t manipulated into voting with their emotions, instead they pay attention to policy.”

– @CassandraRules

Trump tweeted in his defense, “I’m not proud of my locker room talk. But this world has serious problems.

We need serious leaders.”

Pointing out instances in which similar kinds of lewd behavior are normalized in no way makes them more acceptable or justifiable. It simply reveals how little progress has been made towards equality and respect for women.

“#WomenWhoVoteTrump aren’t weak, perpetual victims like those on the left.” -- @andieiamwhoiam

He’s absolutely right. Our country deserves a serious leader, one who understands the severe repercussions shoving off sexual assault as a non-issue can have on a nation. It’s a dangerous generalization to use “locker room talk” as a blanket term for sexual assault, and it demeans both men and women.

“I know how some men talk, and that’s how I saw it… sometimes I say I have two boys at home, I have my young son and I have my husband,” Melania Trump said defending her husband’s comments to CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

However, these women’s perplexing and seemingly contradictory views are not unique. My own fiercely caring and unwaveringly kind mother believes that while Trump’s comments were incredibly inappropriate, a presidential candidate has “far more important things to focus on.” Hearing those words come out of her mouth serves as a jarring reminder that I, like so many others, come from a lineage of women who were taught that prioritizing what’s important for our nation means putting your own body and self-worth at the bottom of that list.

O C T 31 –NOV 1 3

The hashtag #WomenWhoVoteTrump inadvertently shines a spotlight on the detrimental ways this presidential race has pitted women in this country against one another. It’s incredibly disheartening to think that, in a 2016 presidential election, the topic of sexual assault has morphed into a partisan issue.

The notion that women are weak if they take a stand and admit they’re fed up with being treated unequally is preposterous. Silence does not equate to strength, especially under these circumstances.

A myriad of men and women have since then spoken out against Trump’s comments.

Michelle Obama urged in her speech, “The men that you and I know don’t treat women this way… This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. This is intolerable.

It doesn’t matter what party you belong to. Democrat.

Republican. Independent. No woman deserves to be treated this way.”

If our society continues to excuse this abhorrent behavior and pass off sexually predatory remarks as ‘boys will be boys,’ America won’t be on its way to being great again—we’ll be hopelessly regressing.

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VO IC ES

THE WAKE

Co u

nt

It’

e h t s

ght tha u o h T t

s What the Paris Agreement Means

BY CODY PERAKSLIS

This isn’t the first attempt to get the world to combat environmental damage. A 2009 summit in Copenhagen to reduce the deleterious dangers of climate change selfdestructed. Now, an increased urgency is lighting a fire under the governments of the world. China faced harsh internal criticism for its high levels of pollution, especially smog. President Obama demonstrated his support for carbon reduction when he released the first U.S. climate change policy last year.

The Paris Agreement creates a system of intergovernmental peer pressure. The system it establishes pushes countries to create their own plans to cut carbon emissions and to restructure the plan every five years starting 2020 to tighten the cuts. The peer pressure comes with the public review process every five years starting 2023. The agreement doesn’t impose strict controls over how much a country has to reduce carbon emissions because such measures would dissuade countries from joining. For the U.S., an agreement with these measures would’ve required approval from the Republican-controlled Senate, which was unlikely.

On Oct. 5, the agreement reached its threshold of members, and it will come into effect on Nov. 4 this year. Currently, 81 countries out of the 197 present have ratified the agreement.

With many major carbon-producing countries like the U.S. and China behind the plan, it has the possibility of making

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huge changes. However, the impact will likely not be as great or immediate as hoped.

The plan calls to keep global heating below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and intends to keep it below 1.5 degrees C. However, even with the expected cuts, many believe global heating will be 3 degrees C. These numbers don’t sound very large, but on the scale of the entire planet, these small numbers produce changes that accumulate. We so completely rely upon our world that these changes could bring devastation with them.

Combatting carbon emissions requires change, and change is expensive. A nation won’t take action unless it sees that the benefits outweigh the costs. Although moving towards more reliable energy sources is more expensive now, once such systems have been established they will pay for themselves, even ignoring the benefit to the planet.

ART BY TAY LO R DAN I E L S

The Paris Agreement will soon come into force. The world finally decided to address climate change internationally.

Climate change is a contentious political issue. Regardless of whether one believes that climate change is man-made, it is agreed that pumping inordinate amounts of carbon into the atmosphere isn’t helping maintain our ecosystem’s balance. Climate change will impact our own and future generations. Scientific studies have confirmed the early impacts of climate change across the planet. Unfortunately, the impacts of climate change, or any environmental damage, aren’t immediately felt. This delay between action and reaction allows individuals, businesses and governments to dissociate themselves with the ramifications.

The Paris Agreement is the first major step of the world taking collective responsibility for the planet.

The Paris Agreement marks a transition in the way that environment protection is treated worldwide. The writers of the agreement were optimistic, but that is a good thing. If the agreement never reaches the high marks it sets, it’s still a success. The agreement isn’t strict enough to maintain itself without the full support of each country behind it. However, the agreement incentivizes countries to compete in reducing carbon emissions, and as any good capitalist would know, competition leads to progress.

One point of contention is how larger countries will assist smaller countries. It has been proposed that larger countries will supply $100 billion to support smaller countries with the transition by 2020. The agreement recognizes that some countries are not in the position to cut emissions as much as others and that all countries should do however much they can.

The legacy of the Paris Agreement won’t be the agreement itself. The legacy will be the transition it represents. Many countries are showing an unprecedented willingness to address the issue of climate change. Even if the agreement simply states, “We will try to cut carbon emissions,” as long as the countries are behind it, the outcome would be the same: a cleaner world.

OCT 3 1–NOV 13

FEATUR E

ART BY AN D R E W TO MT E N

T H E WA K E

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F E AT URE

THE WAKE

With the unrelenting news coverage, talk, and, of course, the memes, this year’s controversial election has lodged itself into the minds of college studentaround the country. But how many students will actually go out and vote on Nov. 8? Voter turnout has never been strong for the youngest sector of voters. There have been some low points nationally, as only 17.1 of 18-24 year-olds voted in 2014, and 41.2 percent of those in the same age range casted ballots in the 2012 presidential election.

We take a look at the Minnesota Student Association and the student group Women for Political Change who have been working to get more voters involved on campus, and to get students at the U excited for this year’s political season.

POLITICAL CHANGE

puts passion back into politics

P H OTO S BY X AV I E R WAN G

WOMEN

BY HOLLY WILSON The relatively new student group changes the way students interact with politics on campus

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Young people are often represented as apathetic to voting, and not engaging with the political system. With this election especially, it would be easy to fall into this category. This election is tiring. Student group, Women for Political Change (WFPC) is doing the work that proves young people care about politics, and shows how young people are more than capable of affecting change they want to see in their government and community.

Women in American politics often have to carve out and demand their place in the political system that is dominated by men, and WFPC was formed because of this pattern. “We want to give everyone the chance to create their own destiny with their time here. We made this group because it didn’t exist for us,” said Sonia Neculescu, communications director of WFPC. Women for Political Change is only 1-year-old, but is already impacting campus and the surrounding community with their work. They have dedicated themselves to empowering womyn, femmes, and allies to affect positive change through politics. “We want to create a safe space for getting involved in politics,” said Olivia Hanson, vice president of WFPC. The group isn’t dedicated to solely political events either. Recently they had a garage sale and art benefit

to support Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and donated proceeds from both to the Tubman Center.

“We’re experimenting to see how we can make the biggest impact,” said Sonia Neculescu, communications director of WFPC, on their community involvement.

Throughout this campaign season, WFPC has worked to excite students about local elections that will have a large impact on future policy. They have made strides to connect local politicians with students at the University, particularly women, with their event series, Empowered Women Empowering Women.

“We’re making sure everyone is informed about progressive women candidates or people that support women, and we’re doing this to make sure young people have the resources to be informed voters and connect with candidates,” said Felicia Philibert, president of WFPC. WFPC has seen the power of connecting with politicians firsthand as they found a mentor in local politician, Ilhan Omar. “Ilhan did a really do a good job at empowering other people to step up in the community. Ilhan found us and reached out to us, and now we’re confident to reach out to others for the group,” Hanson said.

WFPC is showing young people care about the present and their futures, and the strength of their voice is only growing.

OCT 3 1–NOV 13

T H E WA K E

FEATUR E

GO VOTE,

MSA President Abeer Syedah talks student election concerns

BY EMMA KLINGLER

This summer’s Big Ten conference saw the meeting of student leaders from universities all over the country.

One of the hot issues for discussion: how to get students to vote. This being a major election year, the representatives from the schools’ student governments weighed their options for increasing registration and student interest. With the help of TurboVote, an online resource for voters all over the country, the universities established a Big Ten voter registration competition.

Minnesota Student Association (MSA) President Abeer Syedah has good news about the effect of strategies on campus to get voters registered.

“We are slaying,” Syedah said in regards to the competition, “The runner up to us right now is Iowa, and they’re a full half behind us.”

If Syedah is proud of the standings, it is not without warrant. MSA has made voter registration and turnout a key issue of the fall semester. They have reached out to students by email, through social media campaigns, and in person at events such as September’s Voterpalooza.

Between MSA and the other students on campus helping to promote TurboVote, our campus has registered a total of 8,000 people.

The success of these efforts is all the more impressive given the attitude of many students surrounding the presidential election. Despite its dominance in news coverage, many people are sick of hearing about Trump and Clinton.

“I’ve definitely found it really interesting how much shared solidarity [there is] around a frustrated sigh about the presidential election,” Syedah said.

To combat the apathy and distress, Syedah and MSA have focused their discussions with students on the importance of the other elections taking place.

In her conversations with students, she said that many who have traditionally affiliated with a political party are concerned with their party’s choice of candidate.

They feel confused and afraid that their party no longer speaks for their beliefs.

“Every vote matters. This isn’t about the presidential election. This is about everyone else that’s on the ticket,” Syedah said, adding, “There are normal people…who are completely palatable human beings who are running for office in our areas.”

“There has been a very genuine and honest concern about just the state of politics as a whole,” Syedah said.

She cited the abnormally large amount of people who just don’t care about the result enough to feel it is worth registering to vote. Even more distressing is the amount of people who feel disenfranchised by their voting options.

She explained that redirecting attention to these lower ballot candidates has helped to mitigate the concerns students have about feeling disconnected from their party and the political process because of the presidential race.

Syedah herself has to deal with this concern. In a Facebook post in early October, she stated her feelings about the presidential race: “The current major party nominees for President of the United States are both individuals whose candidacy is a direct attack on me and members of my family and community.”

“Politics are personal, and I am willing to defend that statement against anyone who believes otherwise,” Syedah said about her post. “The rhetoric adopted by parties and people is something that has a direct and constant influence on our lives.”

“It did work in my experience to remind people,” Syedah said, “Every time your tuition goes up, that’s related to bonding and budgetary requests from the university to the legislature.”

MSA intends to continue their efforts to get voters registered and to the booths by targeting residence halls, getting students to vote early, and pushing professors to be lenient on absences due to voting.

“Election day is not an excused absence because you can vote early,” Syedah said, who herself disagrees with the policy. “I think election day should be a federal holiday… we are one of the only democracies in the world that doesn’t do that.”

Midterm Elections

Presidential Elections

Percentage of 18-24 year olds casting ballots in midterm election years

Percentage of 18-24 year olds casting ballots in presidential election years FACT S A ND STAT IST ICS F ROM CIVICYOU TH .OR G

60

30

55 25 50

20

45

40 15

35

‘74

‘78

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‘82

‘86

‘90

‘94

‘98

‘02

‘06

‘10

‘14

‘72

‘76

‘80

‘84

‘88

‘92

‘96

‘00

‘04

‘08

‘12

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THE WAKE GRA H A M TO LBE RT

Q & A

of THE STAVES

BY ALEX VAN ABBEMA The Staves are an acoustic folk rock group hailing from Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Releasing their first EP in 2011, they’ve since toured with Bon Iver, Florence and the Machine, and The Civil Wars. 2016 brought them back overseas, taking their globally acclaimed album “If I Was” on a headline tour of North America. Jessica Staveley-Taylor is one of three sisters in the group, who will be performing at the Fitzgerald Theatre in Minneapolis on Nov. 1.

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OCT 3 1 – NOV 13

The Wake: It sounds like you guys have been living in Minneapolis for the past several months, welcome!

How was that decision made and how have you guys been liking it here?

Jessica Staveley-Taylor: Well we have been working a lot in this part of the country, it started when we made our album in Eau Claire with Justin Vernon. We ended up spending so much time traveling from England to Eau Claire to record that we ended up making loads of good friends with people from Eau Claire and Minneapolis. We had a conversation with our manager at the end of the year last year about touring the U.S.– we hadn’t toured here for about three years–we were like, what’re we gonna do, everyone in America has forgotten about us! So we just came up with this idea of relocating for a little bit and actually live in America to really give us a chance to do loads of shows and to record more out here. We ended up thinking that Minneapolis is a good location for us to be because we already knew a bunch of people. And there’s a good vibe here, I think it’s really relaxed. : Tell us about the history of the Staves sisters. How long have you been writing together?

JS: We’ve always said it’s kind of hard to define how long we’ve been doing it because we’ve known each other all our lives and we always sang together.

We never really knew what to do with it, it was like something we did for fun at home. I don’t think any of us dreamed it would be our career. It was kind of a slow process I think, we all went off and did different things and studied at University, things like that, it was always something that would bring us together when we were together. We’d start off doing covers and we did stuff by the Beatles and Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. Then I started learning guitar and gradually we started writing our own songs. It was around then that I think it became more serious and we kind of found our identity, like, I think we could be a band. : For your Midwest shows coming up in early November, you guys are taking contest submissions to find local support bands. Tell us about the inspiration behind this!

JS: So we were thinking of people to open the show, and often you get a band that you don’t know that is kind of suggested to you by your manager or your booking agent–and there’s nothing wrong with that.

We’ve met loads of great people on the road that way.

We just thought it would be weird to do a bunch of Midwestern shows in Wisconsin or Minnesota with a band from L.A. that has nothing to do with the area. So we just wanted to kind of reach out to local people. For us, it’s really exciting to get to hear more music from this area because this is the area we’re living in. Also, we’ve been a support band and we know what it’s like, it can be really hard to get shows when you’re a local band and to get exposure. We thought it would be a cool way for us to discover new music and give a band an opportunity. And, I don’t know, some bands might

O C T 31 – NOV 1 3

Q & A

be more established than others, some bands might be just starting out. We thought we’d just open it up and see who’s interested. We’ve had a lot of responses so far as well! I think it’s gonna take us quite a long time to go through the many people that have responded. We get to be like Simon Cowell on the X-Factor. : The Staves performed at both Eaux Claires Festivals in Wisconsin these past summers. What was it like to be enveloped by an icon like Justin Vernon and how did it feel to be thrown into his fan base at the first festival?

JS: It was amazing. We were there this summer and last summer, it’s a really amazing festival, it’s unlike any other. I think it’s because Justin is so involved in it and selecting the bands to play. Because there’s so much care and attention paid to it, it creates a really great vibe. And I must say a massive part of it is the audience, I think everyone goes there with a really open mind, they’re up for trying new music and getting turned on to bands they didn’t know about before. Whereas the bigger commercial festivals, there’s a completely different mindset when you go. People just go to get wasted and watch huge bands on a huge stage. [Eaux Claires] is a completely different festival experience for the band and for the audience. For us, when we played last year, that was another reason why we wanted to move out here. We hadn’t played a show in the United States in so long and we played on the main stage, we played our new album that we made in Eau Claire, and the reaction from the audience was so great. It felt kind of like a home gig. It just made us think, like, we wanted to go where the love is. We felt there was a really strong connection with Eau Claire and with this part of the country. : Justin Vernon produced your latest album “If I Was” last year. What has been your favorite part about working with Justin?

JS: There have been so many different parts that have been great, it’s hard to say. Well, first, we made a great friend out of him, but also I think it was the most fun I’ve had in a studio. I think he really brought the best out of us and he created an environment where we were really able to express ourselves and feel safe in.

It’s really important when you’re making music to be comfortable. We’ve had experiences where we were not as comfortable, and it can be hard with what you’re doing when you maybe don’t trust the people you’re working with or you’re having doubts about yourself.

There was none of that there. It’s kind of like when you meet someone that you like, it’s just easy straight away, you get along really well. It was kind of like that, but musically, good chemistry from the get-go.

: Your most recent release, the “Sleeping in a Car” EP, feels like it has more of an ambient influence than your previous albums. How have you experienced the music of The Staves evolving?

JS: It’s hard to tell when you’re the one doing it.

Sometimes other people are better equipped to judge your music because they’re actually on the outside looking at it. That EP we did play around more with electronic ambient sounds, and that’s something we really love. The root of our music has always been our voices, our harmonies. So it’s really fun when you get to play around with that and use them in different ways as part of the arrangement not just as the main voice with the lyrics. On the song “Sleeping in the Car” we used autotune on some of our voices in the background and loads of distortion, they sounded like synths. I think because it wasn’t an album, just a three-track EP, we felt like we could kind of do what we want. We didn’t have to try to fit in some kind of format, you know? : Your musical aesthetic really creates so much peace and fresh air. Do you guys ever desire to express yourselves with a drastically different sound?

JS: Yeah I mean, the cool thing about music is that there are an infinite number of possibilities with what you can do, and I find that really exciting. It can be overwhelming sometimes cause there’s so much you can do and it can be hard to actually figure out what you are in music.

Like, are we a rock band, are we an indie band, are we a folk band, what are we? We’ve always tried to make the music that feels natural to us. But, having said that, it’s really great to push yourself and play with different sounds. So yeah, there aren’t any grand plans for us to become a metal band, but you never know! I think you have to follow your inspiration. We actually performed this year with a group called yMusic, a classical sextet, and we wrote this new piece of music with them. That was the first time we had ever stepped into a more orchestral world. It was so so amazing, we learned so much. That’s been a real highlight this year, expanding our horizons a bit. I think we’re gonna go into the studio with those guys and record some stuff and see what comes out of it. Maybe we’ll be on tour with an orchestra soon, who knows!

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T H E WA K E

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S O UND & V I S I O N

THE WAKE

TO SATIRIZE IS TO SKEWER

TAYLO R DAN I E L S

Necessity for change in the late night mocking model

BY EMMA KLINGLER

Frustrations about this election season are running high, and late night satire shows are struggling to maneuver the many comments and slip-ups of the candidates in a way that is satisfying to viewers. It isn’t that we don’t want to make jokes about this election; on the contrary, humor feels absolutely necessary at times as a coping mechanism for the hateful rhetoric. But the demands of that humor have evolved.

Social media has contributed to the change. During the debates, people live-tweet every second, factcheck every false statement, and make many, many jokes. From variations on the old appearance critiques to savvy commentary on hypocritical claims, tweeters are spewing political humor and signing it with the #debatenight. These days, late night comedians are lucky if there are any jabs left to grab after the Twitter trolls have had their way with the candidates. As a result, jokes about Trump’s hair and Hillary’s pandering come across as lazy and worn out.

average American. Whether or not he practices what he preaches, Trump as a candidate has made himself out to be a representation of the “political outsider:” the voice of the disillusioned masses. He plays up the contrast between himself and his opponent, showing Clinton to be the heir to the Washington throne. With this distancing comes a brash attitude and refusal to be politically correct. Essentially, Trump’s outrageous statements are not gaffs; they are what his supporters most admire.

“To be affable or bemused

by the candidates is to forget the anxiety and anger that many people are feeling as the campaign continues.”

Satire is and has always been in direct opposition to institutions. It functions best, and indeed exclusively, when it is aimed at individuals and systems of power.

The commentary it provides through ridiculing inequalities and inconsistencies in these power structures helps to expose their flaws. Over time, in its own humble way, satire can even contribute to changing perspectives.

This dynamic has put satirists in a tough spot; while Trump appears to be the greatest target because of the absurdity of his campaign, too much satire directed at him inevitably appears to defend the political royalty.

A number of comedians fell into this trap, particularly early in the election season. Instead of criticisms of Trump’s policy and his access to the candidacy through wealth, the majority of slights were directed at his appearance and inflammatory speech.

This is why traditional satire seems unfit for this particular campaign cycle. Trump has beaten satire to the punch. His campaign rhetoric revolves around tearing down the political elite and speaking for the

None of this is to say that satire has failed this election season. On the contrary, there have been a large number of pieces that have gone viral in which comedians and late night hosts have found their

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own unique ways to dig into the candidates. Newer shows have come to favor the “deep dive” approach rather than the traditional survey of the news. John Oliver, Samantha Bee, and Seth Meyers are the most consistent examples of this style, opting to risk a lengthy set-up in order to really get at the heart and humor of the issues. Meyer’s weeknight show necessarily does this in smaller segments which he has appropriately termed, “A Closer Look.” Bee and Oliver, being weekly programs, have the time needed to develop more drawn out pieces.

Effective satire this election season has additionally taken on a new tone. To be affable or bemused by the candidates is to forget the anxiety and anger that many people are feeling as the campaign continues.

Satire, in turn, has had to shift to a position of outrage and frustration in order to match the feelings of viewers. None accomplish this better than Bee, whose angry takedowns of sexists and bigots have been the signature of her show. In a recent segment, she even went after fellow late night host Jimmy Fallon for indulging Trump when he visited his program, saying “Aw, Trump can be a total sweetheart with someone who has no reason to be terrified of him.”

Our late night satire shows are not going anywhere.

Those that follow the news will always crave a way to break it down that is both funny and illuminating. But satirists must strive to remain on the side of ordinary people. In order to effectively skewer the elites, they need to listen to the Twitter trolls, do some research, and not be afraid to bite.

OCT 3 1 – NOV 13

T H E WA K E

S OUND & VIS ION

Why we need to hear about celebrities’ personal lives

BY CHELSEA VISSER

ART ( L E FT ) BY H E L E N T E AG U E

We all have people we look up to, because they’re smart or interesting or capable.

Although we don’t like to admit it, sometimes we really look up to celebrities.

There’s been this trend lately with the rise of social media where celebrities talk about things in their personal lives like their sexualities, or their struggles with mental illness.

Some people are dismissive of these comments by celebrities, saying that these things don’t matter, because we’re all human, right?

I promise you, it matters.

I’m a queer girl with depression and anxiety. That’s a part of me. That’s the life I live.

I’ve spent most of my life being uncomfortable with myself, and it’s only lately that I feel comfortable speaking out about these things.

Growing up, it’s really easy to feel alone. Having mental health problems isn’t something that’s talked about. It’s something to feel ashamed of.

But then your little sister sees Kristen Bell on TV, telling the interviewer that she takes meds to manage her depression just like her. Your anxiety-prone roommate sees Chris Evans, Captain America himself, talking about the fact that he has panic attacks sometimes. Your best friend sees Kristen Stewart dating girls but refusing to define her sexuality. Seeing people that look like you, that feel like you, that love like you-it changes everything.

Maybe it isn’t news in the factual sense, but what we are talking about can still be life-changing. When Demi Lovato talks about struggling with her self-image, people take notice. When football players open up about their sexualities, boys learn that they can still be masculine, even if they love other boys.

We look to the people being honest about their lives and their loves, and sometimes, that gives us the strength to grow.

X AV I E R WA N G

Seeing Ourselves on the Silver Screen Art for Birds New student group has artistic vision for saving our feathery friends from untimely fates

BY JACOB VAN BLARCOM For Olivia Crowell, a senior majoring in bio-products and bio-systems engineering, finding a way to combine her passions for art and the environment came naturally when she learned about the silent epidemic killing our nation’s feathery friends.

Devastated by the fact that nationwide, over 988 million birds meet an untimely fate each year by striking glass windows midflight, Crowell knew that there had to be something done on the University of Minnesota campus to help curtail these tragic fatalities.

Bird-window collisions are quite common due to the illusion that glass produces when it reflects light from open skies or nearby green spaces. When a bird sees a window, they have difficulty perceiving it as a solid surface since it appears to be a passageway that leads through an obstructing building.

Inspiration for this new student group struck last semester in an art class, when a friend complimented a window design Crowell had made–to which she jokingly said, “That’s art for the birds, too.” That single comment, however, had Crowell thinking about how such public art installations could actually be beneficial to birds in helping reduce their deadly window strikes.

Upon further investigation, Crowell discovered that university funding was already in place for her idea due to a similar project that was previously pitched as a part of the Living Lab program through the Office of Sustainability.

“We’re working towards finding a solution that not only helps save birds, but one that looks really beautiful, too,” Crowell said. She explains that the new student group already has a location scoped out on the St. Paul campus for a window display that will be installed this upcoming summer. In addition, the group looks forward to planning migratory bird walks and other events to raise awareness for urban bird safety.

Art for Birds will hold monthly meetings to brainstorm design possibilities and fundraising campaigns that will increase awareness of this phenomenon. In the meantime, Crowell encourages students to report online any incidences of dead or injured birds they come across at the Minnesota Audubon Society website, so they can pinpoint common strike locations.

For more information, or how you can get involved with Art for Birds, check out their Facebook page or contact artbirds@umn.edu.

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THE WAKE

FSAC Hosts “Politicizing Beyoncé” Event A seminar analyzing how Beyoncé’s work relates to race, gender and sexuality

BY LIV MARTIN

People all over the world love Beyoncé’s music, but no one has dissected it more than Professor Kevin Allred, who has made a career out of analyzing Beyoncé’s music and her celebrity. On Thursday, Oct. 13, the Feminist Student Activist Collective (FSAC) hosted an event titled “Politicizing Beyoncé.” Allred, the night’s speaker, has taught a class of the same name at Rutgers University since 2010.

Around 50 people were at the seminar, which took place in The Whole at Coffman Memorial Union. One audience member, Harry Steffenhagen, decided to attend because of his affection for Beyoncé. “I just love her!” he gushed. Another student, Bailey Hutson, was at the seminar to delve deeper into the subject matter.

“I already know that Beyoncé is politicized. I want to find out some more details about how she is politicized,” she said.

Allred continued by analyzing two Beyoncé songs titled “Partition” and “Jealousy.” He said that it is important to be aware of how the separate music videos for “Partition” and “Jealousy” tell one narrative. Focusing on the video for the song “Partition,” Allred explained that even though it can come off as inherently sexual, Beyoncé is actually making a statement against her own sexualization. In the companion video, “Jealousy,” she shows her more authentic, vulnerable side. “Once you understand that the two videos have one storyline, it makes sense,” Allred said. “A lot of people critique the video for ‘Partition’ without really understanding its true meaning.”

“Allred explained that

Beyoncé concocted a marvelous strategy; she downplayed her own blackness at the beginning of her career to gain power and a platform.”

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X AV I E R WAN G

Professor Allred began his talk with the question, “Are any of you Beyoncé fans?” Heads all around the room nodded. “Good,” he said. He was wearing a sweatshirt from Beyoncé’s athletic wear brand, Ivy Park. Allred’s job was, he said, to bring issues to the forefront rather than try to speak from experience. He recognized at the beginning of the seminar that as a white male, he had no jurisdiction to say certain things. “I’m a white guy so I have no knowledge of a black woman’s experience,” he said.

However, Allred was interrupted thirty minutes into his presentation. One black student, who was not participating in the seminar, came up on stage and took the mic. “A white guy is talking about Beyoncé to a group of mostly white people? This is not why Beyoncé made ‘Lemonade’,” she said. Then, the student threw the mic down, which landed on the stage with a loud thud, and she scurried out of the venue. She was, of course, referencing Beyoncé’s latest album, “Lemonade,” which unabashedly embraces black culture much more than her previous albums.

This brief but potent disruption of the seminar created many topics for discussion. Alaina Desalvo, a second year Master’s student and the advisor to FSAC, addressed what had happened after Allred wrapped up his presentation. She understood the student’s reasons for speaking out, but at the same time believes that the only way for white students to grow is to allow them to be a part of a larger conversation about race. “Talking about Beyoncé as a cultural icon is something that is important, especially in a school where white students are the majority,” she said. “Our goal at FSAC is to provide a space where students can feel safe to grow and develop while also being inclusive to everyone, especially those who have been historically alienated.”

When the seminar organizers opened the floor for questions, the topic of Beyoncé’s “blackness” came up and fueled a new conversation. Allred explained that Beyoncé concocted a marvelous strategy; she downplayed her own blackness at the beginning of her career to gain power and a platform. “Beyoncé has broken a lot of rules. Record labels actually don’t like her because she does what she wants to do creatively instead of what they want her to do,” he said. This idea was particularly illuminating for one black female in the crowd, Bailey Hutson. “The fact that she downplayed her blackness to rise to the top so that she could begin making political statements is amazing!” Hutson said.

Gwin Harrison, another audience member, agreed wholeheartedly. “Beyoncé is a person in the industry who can do whatever she wants now,” she said.

Themes of race, gender, and sexuality were at the core of the “Politicizing Beyoncé” seminar. “I think it’s important for white people to talk about race and it’s important for men to talk about feminism,” Allred said. First year student Joe Becker agreed. “These are discussions that everyone needs to be having, so long as they don’t overstep any boundaries.”

OCT 3 1 – NOV 13

On Genre and Style Shifts in Bands and Solo Artists

BY JACK HEDLUND-FAY

O C T 31 – NOV 1 3

KAT I E H E YWO O D

S OUND & VIS ION

The Chameleon Kind

T H E WA K E

The folk rock band, Mumford and Sons, has been receiving flack about their most recent album, “Wilder Mind.” Some of their signature instruments such as the upright bass and the banjo are gone, leading some to call them sellouts. This is surprising since Mumford and Sons appears to have a long career ahead with many potential alterations. While some bands find their niche and stay there, with fans that appreciate exactly what they do, many others experiment with their sound.

Whether in response to changes in the band lineup, shifts in the music scene around them, or a desire to innovate, many musicians acquire a sound that differs greatly what they started with.

Some bands simply can’t find a place in the music scene with their original sound. No Doubt began as a third-wave ska band but scored zero radio hits and gained only a small following. They shifted to ska punk, then to punk, and finally to pop punk before achieving popularity with hit albums such as “Tragic Kingdom” and “Return of Saturn”. By adopting the sound of successful contemporaries—Blink-182, Lit, and Jimmy Eat World—they established themselves in the mainstream.

Likewise, The Beastie Boys went away from their original sound: their first EP, “Polly Wog Stew”, was hardcore punk. The mid- to late-’80s saw the breakups of prominent hardcore bands like Black Flag and Dead Kennedys and bands like Bad Brains and Bad Religion experimenting with other sounds. Their first hip-hop track, “Cooky Puss”, led to a deal with Def Jam records.

While the ‘90s saw a comeback of hardcore, The Beastie Boys had already solidified their popularity with several LPs featuring a hip-hop rap rock sound.

Sometimes the reason a band’s sound changes has less to do with the music scene and instead is about who is in the band. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ first three albums with lead guitarist Hillel Slovak were heavily funk influenced. After his death in 1988, John Frusciante joined for “Mother’s Milk” and “Blood Sex Sugar Magic” with an alternative rock sound—a genre then on the rise—boosting the band’s recognition. But when he was replaced by Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction on “One Hot Minute” it was a commercial flop. Frusciante returned for “Californication” and “By The Way” ushering in another wave of popularity for the band.

He brought more creativity to their music, drawing on his experience with many genres and styles.

Another band that changed substantially as a result of change in the lineup is Genesis. Their early albums, like “Foxtrot”, “Selling England by the Pound”, and “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”, are intellectual and well-crafted progressive rock mainly attributable to Peter Gabriel’s leadership. However, after he left in ‘74, Phil Collins, best known today for slick pop songs and Disney soundtracks, quickly led Genesis in a different direction, infuriating fans of their original sound.

Still others change their sound simply because they want to innovate. Madonna, one of the most chameleon artists ever, constantly experimented with new sounds. Early albums like “Like a Virgin” had a dance-pop sound while later albums like “I’m Breathless” had a distinctly jazz-and-swing-influenced sound and “Ray of Light” had an electro and technopop sound. Beginning as a post-disco artist, she has experimented with rock, pop, electronica, and dance and adapted her singing and songwriting to the different genres and styles she worked in over the years.

Likewise, the Beatles are well known for having many distinct periods in their history. The band began as, ostensibly, a popular music rock-and-roll band akin to many British beat bands appearing throughout the early sixties like The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and The Merseybeats. Over their career, they experimented with psychedelic rock sounds, blues, art rock, and many other genres as they changed and as the world changed around them.

Though some bands find a sound and stick with it (like U2 remaining essentially unchanged after nearly thirty years), most are not set in stone. For a variety of reasons they experiment with new styles or sounds.

If a band’s sound deviates from what made them popular, they’ll either acquire a new niche audience or disappear. If their audience allows, a band can experiment with their sound and create a greater and more inspired variety of music. Perhaps, regardless of whether you like Mumford and Sons without the banjos or not, something new and exciting could be just around the corner, or perhaps they might bring the banjos back. Only time will tell.

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S O UND & V I S I O N

THE WAKE

‘Tis the Sugar Season

BY SAMMY BROWN

Sugar Mad Lib: “The jig is up, term of endearment. Admit it: you ate all of my plural candy .

I can see it all over your part of the body .” My roommate had never been this adjective before, and I could not have been more adjective . I knew he had adjective candy habits, but I hadn’t foreseen the mythical creature he would become upon adverb ending in -ly licking my fingers clean.

“I don’t know what you’re verb ending in -ing about, degrading name ,” I past tense vocal verb , hoping my aggression would distract him as I the wrappers in my adjective hands. past tense verb

After five more minutes of verb ending in -ing , he past tense verb himself together, sniffled a little bit, and said, “I believe you. I’m sorry.” My pal was back. He past tense motion verb over to me with open arms, adjective and I opened mine with a noun on my lips.

“I’m so glad we’re frie—” he stopped mid-sentence and mid-hug as the wrappers fell out of my hands and onto the floor.

He looked down at them, up at me, down again, and back up before verb ending in -ing my face. He past tense motion verb out the door. I didn’t see him for large number + unit of time .

It was on a mode of transportation in country that I finally saw him again. I smiled softly at him with adjective eyes like old friends do. He shook his head, popped some same plural candy into his mouth, and that was the last I ever saw of him.

M A RIA H CR ABB

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A look at modern day poetry

BY HELENA MUELLER Poetry has never been a very lucrative business. In centuries past, poets were supported by the nobility or royalty of a time. They made money by writing positive things about the aristocratic life or by commissioning out their work and writing a poem for a specific person. For example, W.B. Yeats was supported by Lady Gregory in order to continue his work.

However, poetry and the making of it has changed a lot in recent years.

ART ( R I G H T ) BY L I N DY WI RT H

Then, out of a place , he had tears streaming down his part of the body !

“You know same plural candy are the reason I verb . They’re adjective on the outside, but adjective on the inside. What more could you ask for in a candy...in a friend?! HOW COULD YOU!” I wiped the sweat off my part of the body and past tense verb through my teeth, “It was your animal who ate it. I swear on my noun . I’m your adjective friend. You can trust me!”

What It Takes to Make a Rhyme Anytime

With social media continuing to develop into marketing platforms, sites such as Tumblr have become outlets where people can freely post poetry.

This site has opened the doors for people like Leigh Stein to showcase their work and even become a poet laureate after she wrote a poem based on “The Bachelor.” However, these sites offer no direct income. Without the wealthy and influential people supporting the poets, the challenge to support oneself with poetry alone is difficult.

Even with the unsteadiness of a career in poetry, this modern era of spoken word and rap has created different outlets for people who may not have been associated with poetry in the past. Now, people like Minneapolis’ own Guante are able to have their work put on display in more public settings, such as school assemblies or large corporate events.

They are not confined to simply written word. Even then, though, many artists need a supplementary income. Guante teaches on the side, and although his teaching is related to spoken word and compliments his work as an artist, it is still necessary in order for him to be successful on a financial level.

It is difficult to predict the course that modern day poetry will take.

Hopefully, through the new mediums of spoken word and rap, this generation can continue to produce meaningful work regardless of whether that work is in the form of popular rap, or simply a teenager posting their poetry to Tumblr.

OCT 3 1 – NOV 13

S OUND & VIS ION

Revolution Radio

BY KARL WITKOWIAK

Bon Iver

E M I LY H I L L

Green Day

C A M E RO N S M I T H

KAT I E H E YWO O D

T HRE E RE VIE W S

22, A Million

Starting off as a stripped-back punk outlet in the late ‘80s through the ‘90s, and transforming into full-out rock operas in the 2000’s – to say Green Day has a complex progression as a band is an understatement. With their latest release, Green Day take a middle ground with their sound. “Revolution Radio” matches the simplistic but punchy instrumentation of the early days with their bombastic, often political lyrics that the group is typically known for.

As Above, So Below:

Listeners of “Revolution Radio” expect upbeat and pumped-up instrumentation from Green Day– thankfully, this album doesn’t disappoint. “Bang Bang”, “Too Dumb to Die”, and “Bouncing Off the Walls” are easily the most energetic of the songs on this album, with fast-paced guitar and Tre Cool’s drumming being the secret weapon to the band’s raw energy. Even though the music doesn’t diverge too much from the typical pop-punk template, it doesn’t need to.

To call Kanye West a nontraditional and visionary artist would be as egregious of an understatement as saying a Snuggie is just excess Shamwow fabric that absorbs farts and loneliness equally well. His latest tour (named after the same saint as the Twin City he performed in) has further cemented his legacy. With a suspended moving stage and exceptional light work, the whole event exuded the overall gravitas that treads the line between high-concept entertainment and religious awakening.

Lyrically, however, this album isn’t all that special. When it comes to the political tracks, the band doesn’t go too far in depth with their commentary; “Say Goodbye” and “Troubled Times” are good examples of this lack of depth. Where it does gets more interesting are the tracks reminiscing Green Day’s humble beginnings like “Outlaws” and “Ordinary World” (the latter of which is very comparable to “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”).

Fans of Green Day and pop-punk will enjoy this album plenty, even if it isn’t quite to the level of their ‘90s and early 2000’s material. Either way, if you want a fix of great rock/punk music, “Revolution Radio” will get your blood pumping.

O C T 31 –NOV 1 3

Kanye West at Xcel Energy Center

BY COLIN MILLER

The streamlined, two-hour experience was one of much obscurity (three if you count watching people funnel into General Admission in deliberately tattered clothing).

Much of Ye’s time was spent in shadows, save for a soft yellow glow and a sweeping laser ray, as he navigated through his latest album “The Life of Pablo”, as well as years-worth of hits like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Good Life.” Absent were the enigmatic interludes and grandiose stunts of the tragically cancelled “Yeezus” tour, marking West’s shift toward a now-trademark minimalistic aesthetic.

Energy was the word of the night: The frenzy of the GA floor and the electric vibes resonated through Xcel Energy Center. Yeezy rapped and sang with unmatched command, even despite his wife Kim’s recent trauma in Paris. As he closed out the show with “Ultralight Beam”, the feeling of transcendent love lingered in the air, where it will remain until he returns with “Turbo Grafx 16”.

BY CALLUM LEEMKUIL-SCHUERMAN From the ludicrously symbol-heavy album cover to the extremely stylized track names, it’s immediately apparent that “22, A Million,” is a conscious break from Bon Iver’s earlier work. This shift is compounded on the album itself–the sample-heavy, glitchy, electronic sound is a far cry from the stripped down acoustic style that exemplified the Wisconsin band’s breakout album “For Emma, Forever Ago.” “22, A Million” has the strong feeling of someone continually reaching for new materials with which to express their emotional state–by and large it succeeds at being both moving and entertaining.

On this album, Bon Iver’s climactic third, bandleader Justin Vernon follows the tradition of Radiohead’s “Kid A” and Sufjan Stevens’ “Age of Adz” by tying his personal, emotional, and identity issues to a sense of technological anxiety. Over the course of the album, Vernon’s voice is auto-tuned, bit-crushed, sped up, or fragmented in a variety of different ways; the instrumentation follows, seeming similarly disjointed. The album’s production and arrangement does an amazing job of creating a wintry, desolate feel throughout its entirety, particularly in standout tracks like “33 “GOD”” and “22 (OVER S∞∞N).”

Equally impressive, however, is how Bon Iver manages to retain the catchy-yet-haunting songwriting that made “For Emma, Forever Ago” and “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” such compelling albums, even as the band makes a stylistic U-turn. With “22, A Million,” Bon Iver demonstrates and reestablishes their position as one of the decade’s most compelling voices.

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