Freshmen traditionally play the lost and confused students on campus. But they have company this year as even seniors try to navigate the new semester-based system. The 130-year-old University goes through...

Unusual combinations sometimes go surprisingly well together: peanut butter and jelly; men and women; even corn and Bacillus thuringiensis. Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly called Bt, is a naturally occurring...

Jean-Nickolaus Tretter collects gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender materials. He started doing it 20 years ago and now owns more than 3,000 local, national and international items. Books, political...

Israel celebrated its 51st birthday Wednesday. While people in the homeland celebrated with rock concerts and all-day parties, members of the University's Jewish community listened to Hebrew folk songs...

Three men clad in bright colors sit on the stage and harmonize their voices into a single phrase: "Welcome to African Nite." They repeat the chant over and over in different tones as audience members sway...

Ron Jones went to college for drafting before taking a job as a welder and later as a truck driver. He had a livable wage and a nice home. Then the seizures started. Since March last year, Jones has lived...

University degree programs require several prerequisites for graduation: composition, math and science. Next on the list could be community service. It might happen in California, and the concept isn't...

Until the crisis in Yugoslavia broke out, many people couldn't point to Kosovo on a map. "I knew Kosovo was in Eastern Europe, but I didn't really know in particular where it was," said Justin Holt, a...

Among the many reasons students take college courses, graduation isn't always on the top of that list. "I'll be here forever," said Jon Padden, a University Institute of Technology sophomore pursuing degrees...

A 7-year-old Serbian boy named Bogdan recently sent an e-mail to his friends who live in the United States: "Dear Zare and Andrija, I have just spent 24 hours in the basement. You should congratulate us....

A collaborative decision by University officials and a host of other agencies will coat the interior walls of the new $35 million University Gateway center with used paint. Designers are not running low...

Northrop Auditorium turned 21 years old in 1940, but could never have alcohol. State legislators took a step to change this Tuesday. The House of Representatives passed the Omnibus Liquor Bill by a vote...

The reign of evil ended Thursday when students rallied around junior Marshall Goodman as he set aglow the feared Rodent Towing truck. Rodent Towing Company, the famed nemesis of poor, earnest students...

In one year, Stadium Village gained four fast food restaurants: McDonald's, Taco Bell and a Dairy Queen/Orange Julius. All are in the same building. Despite nearby competition from Arby's/Sbarro and Stub...

Imagine Internet software that performs parenting functions: monitoring what children are allowed to see, learn and explore. Imagine this parent is manufactured by a private corporation with its own capitalist...

Calling today's employment seekers the "plastic silverware of the corporate job market," business writer Ron Lieber suggests starting your own business. Lieber spoke to more than 300 people Tuesday at...

Sub-Zero restaurant has a new weapon to even the odds against local competition -- beer. Business has been slow since the establishment opened in June. Owners Alex Davis, Gary Davis and Jim Helvig attribute...

After spending five years and thousands of dollars on a University education, Eric Strauss finally worked his way up to Chief Carrot Peeler. It's not a hard luck story. Chief Carrot Peeler is actually...

The Gopher Hole closed its doors in March because of problems with alcohol and mainly underage drinkers. If Sub-Zero, the building's new tenants, close their doors soon, it will be from lack of alcohol. When...

Behind the facade of an innocent-looking cafe lurks the markings of one very hip Dinkytown music scene. Bon Appetit Mediterranean restaurant appears quite normal at first glance: bright, colorful decor,...

A surge of Republicans flooded the State Office Building in St. Paul on Monday morning to file for candidacy, headed by gubernatorial candidate Norm Coleman. Minnesotan Republican candidates showed their...

With a chain saw clipped to his climbing belt, University gardener Joe McIntosh swings from limb to limb of damaged trees, cutting them down one branch at a time. Early summer storms ravaged Twin Cities...

When the Twin Cities needed to reduce the Canada goose population, city officials turned to University goose researcher Jim Cooper. Since beginning a controversial program that puts adult geese on the...

Dusty, moldy, old and in-the-way junk -- 800 tons of it -- is out of University buildings and into recycling centers. Some of the more interesting items they found sit on display at Morrill Hall. University...

After months of accusations and investigations, College of Veterinary Medicine professor Robert Morrison will step down as director of the University's Swine Center on July 1. Throughout the year, New...

What began as a routine day turned into a tale of bewilderment and total disbelief for two University students Friday. Jon Redman and Adam Meyler did their usual wake-and-bake Friday morning before classes....

Disability Services wanted its students to bridge the gap between academia and the work place. The Office of Special Learning Opportunities looked to branch out to students with disabilities. Together...

A few extra seeds in the garden have the power to feed those less fortunate. Plant a Row for the Hungry is a program asking professional and hobby gardeners to plant an extra row of produce each season. As...

Every time a toilet in Milwaukee flushes, the University's lawns get a little greener. An organic fertilizer made from sewage water is getting its first trial at the University this spring and summer....

Joking about getting suckered into hard labor, several University students spent Monday afternoon planting trees in the hot sun. Members of the Student Society of Arboriculture bedded four more trees...

Some say he inspired a wave of vegetarianism unparalleled by previous efforts; others find his theories miscalculated and erroneous. An upcoming lecture might help clarify some of the conflict. John Robbins,...

While balancing on a rocky cliff at the Mississippi River bluffs, University students learned how their footholds formed from where an ocean once flowed. Students taking Geology 1001 stretched their legs...

Already victim to urban sprawl and commercial exploitation, the Blanding's Turtle faces an intensified population decline unless scientists find a way to intervene. A two-day conference Thursday and Friday,...

In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the locals take water quality seriously. Local experts are addressing the state's water purity rating at the sixth biennial Minnesota Water Conference. This year's focus is...

Amidst squawks, squeaks and howls, veterinarians and volunteers tend to the cries of baby animals injured from falls or left without mothers. Spring is a busy time for the University's Wildlife Rehabilitation...

Students and community members flooded Blegen Hall Saturday to learn about the history of urban sprawl and its potential future effects. About 100 people attended "The Costs of Sprawl," which offered...

The St. Paul campus just got a bit greener. A group of University students and staff members planted the first in a long line of trees on the campus Friday in celebration of Arbor Day. The ceremonial...

Transit Police found a man dead Saturday in a bus shelter at University and 26th avenues southeast. Responding to a call from a westbound Route 16 bus driver, Transit Police arrived to see the man lying...

Earth Day descends upon the University bearing the same message instilled 28 years ago on its inception: Take care of the planet. But a lot has changed in three decades. The depletion of the ozone layer...

Fighting ATM fees and advocating cheaper housing will be the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group's two top agenda items next year, members decided Sunday. An assembly of about 35 -- some students...

Recycling, conserving energy, riding bicycles -- these are all ways students can help carry out the messages of Earth Week throughout the year. A 28-year tradition, Earth Day has blossomed into a full-week...

A wolf enthusiast drew packs of people into the St. Paul Student Center Monday night. David Mech, a world-renowned expert on wolves, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 about the wolf's upcoming change...

Editor's note: About 50,000 students, staff, faculty members and visitors converge on the University's Twin Cities campus everyday. In the midst of this sea of people, it's easy to think of the strangers...

Food safety week has come and gone, but food officials say food awareness must remain. And they hope a proposed revision of state health codes from the Minnesota Department of Health to protect food safety...

Every Monday a group of elders file into a room at Coffman Union to talk the straight dope. The University's ElderLearning Institute, a community program for people of retirement age, sponsors a new class...

New Prairie Township community members are squealing on a top official in the University's Swine Center for what they call conflict of interest. They accuse Robert Morrison, University professor and director...

If commuters had to wait 36 hours to get through a toll booth on the highway, road rage would be the norm. But that's how long some barge workers wait to get through the locks and dams on the Mississippi...

Northern marshes are being turned into empty, desecrated mud flat wastelands. The culprit? Snow geese. These marshes are the breeding ground for snow geese. Once destroyed, some fear the species will...

Was she born with them? Are they fakes? Or could it be something else? Something like -- the Wonder Bra. Modern miracle of the 1990s, the Wonder Bra has found its way under America's blouse and America...

HIV prevention programs are essential not only to fighting the disease early but also to reducing overall medical costs in the future, according to a recent study. Through means of outreach, referral...

The fate of a University cultural event now lies in the hands of the U.S. Department of State. The guest list to the event, planned to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Spanish-American War,...

Stocks in Total Oil Company are finally out of the University's hands after months of protest by the Minnesota Free Burma Coalition -- but the group is not planning a celebration. The University's Office...

When Jennifer Cuff first noticed a fishy smell during choir rehearsal, she thought its presence was unusual. But when she also noticed the lingering odor at home, she realized it was not a freak occurrence. "It...

and Heather Fors Staff Reporters When Coffman Union officials put up a new awning last fall, most people just walked around the supporting poles. However, for a student who is blind and uses memory as...

Lethargy isn't necessarily due to a boring text book, dizziness might not be the result of a beer and lung cancer might not always come from smoking. Even when everything inside a home looks clean, indoor...

Amid political opposition, the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group recently found new and old friends. A group of eight University faculty and staff members, calling themselves Faculty in Support...

The fate of the University's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on the St. Paul campus is not as grave as it had seemed only days ago. With the threat of eviction from campus looming over their shoulders,...

Male humans, fruit flies and worms have something in common. No, not that. According to a recent report from University biologists, all three share a common gene that makes them male. A three-year collaborative...

The University's Social Concerns Committee declined to pass a recommendation Thursday on whether to divest stock from a controversial oil company. Total Oil Co. is a French-based company working in Burma,...

The public will eat with the birds at the invitation of officials from the University's Minnesota Raptor Center. The center is hosting its annual "Brunch with Bald Eagles" on Feb. 21, and this is the...

While other students spent Monday afternoon in the classroom, a landscape architecture class went on a field trip to the Minnesota Zoo. The Landscape Architecture Masters Program is designing a new children's...

In the wake of the 25th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, another abortion clinic was bombed Thursday, leaving University abortion supporters and opponents aghast. New Women, All...

As the Bell Museum of Natural History prepares for a scenic face-lift, University officials and professors are taking part in what they call an innovative teaching concept: letting students plan a major...

Wear comfortable shoes, because two days of hitting the marble floors can take a toll on one's feet. This is just some of the advice two students got before leaving for Washington D.C. on Saturday. The...

and Colleen Winters There's no stopping them. Since the 1995 discovery of deformed frogs in southern Minnesota, these strange green creatures have hopped their way onto newspaper covers and television...

Although a bill that would allow increased motorization in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is up for approval next week, a local attorney remains optimistic about the park's future. Rick Duncan,...

With a growing national interest, it won't be long until Target starts selling hemp products, said Christopher Repinski, owner of a recently opened hemp store in Dinkytown. Tucked away behind the busy...

Cars, lawns and shoes are all susceptible to the havoc road salt can wreak, but some experts say preventative measures can help reduce the damage. In 1996, Americans used 20.1 million tons of road salt,...

Outdoor enthusiasts might get more exposure and accessibility to Minnesota's natural beauty if Gov. Arne Carlson's "Access to the Outdoors" program passes through the Legislature. The plan -- dubbed the...

Through ongoing studies, two University researchers found a way to cleanse a potentially harmful herbicide from water supplies. Banned in seven European countries, atrazine is the number-one herbicide...

Despite the cold temperatures, members of the Minnesota Free Burma Coalition heated up Northrop Mall with a protest against the University's investment in Total Oil Company stock. The coalition is concerned...

By studying organisms the naked eye can barely detect, two University researchers confirmed theories that diversity is important in biological communities. Inspired by questions at a 1993 conference in...

Through letter-writing campaigns and protests, the Minnesota Free Burma Coalition hopes to persuade the University to divest its stocks worth more than $1 million in a company doing business in Burma. Their...

A record-breaking year for Twin Cities area bank robberies came down to the wire as two men pulled off a heist in Dinkytown on New Year's Eve. On Wednesday morning at approximately 9:30 a.m., two black...