Last Monday morning, police in Durham, N.C., reported an industrial spill in which approximately 28,000 gallons of raw sewage overflowed into the streets because of a "grease blockage." Officials, insisting...

In the 1941 film "Sergeant York," Gary Cooper played a Tennessean pacifist-turned-war hero. Based on a true story, GI sniper Alvin York captured a strategic German outpost despite being grossly outnumbered...

Wednesday was but weeks away, but the gullible, ink-stained wretches that constitute the U.S. media appeared to be celebrating Palm Sunday a little early this year. Heralding the opening of "The Passion...

To create a more efficient building construction process, the University's Department of Capital Planning and Project Management might soon undergo a reorganization, a University official told the Board...

If there is a fire, a break-in at a research lab or heat leaking from a hole in the wall somewhere at the University, and if it happens in a "smart" building, a computer program will know about it well...

The University is on track to make wireless Internet access available virtually everywhere on the Twin Cities campuses by 2005, including bathrooms. Although information technology experts from around...

One man's trash can be another man's treasure, or electricity. The University is weighing its options, including a possible grant and research opportunities, regarding a proposed biomass-powered heat and...

Jessica Stoll, a first-year international business student, said she probably spends about two hours every day walking to class. Lately, those hours have been spent in sub-zero temperatures. Stoll, a Wisconsin...

Before Jan. 5, if residents of Sanborn, Minn., had a question about hoof-and-mouth disease, the University could give them an answer in Cottonwood County. Now the people of this southwestern Minnesota...

Recent safety-sweep inspections in several University-area neighborhoods have unearthed thousands of code violations a Minneapolis city official said might displace at least 112 students. The resulting...

Twin Cities banks are starting to target college students, among others, for a new product that looks and functions like a credit card. But the cards come with no billing statements, no over-limit charges...

NROCHESTER, Minn. - o dorms, no student union and the annual talent show is held in the cafeteria. Enrollment is up at the Rochester campus, the University's fifth and newest campus and home to IBM and...

T hanksgiving is one day away and University students are hitting the road - along with 31.1 million other Americans that AAA estimates will travel by car for the holiday. Junior Nick Dooley left for home...

Students hunting for seasonal jobs might have been encouraged by October employment statistics showing increased jobs in nearly every sector. But looks can be deceiving. Several local economists and retail...

With an escort at her side, University sophomore Alexa Trussoni starts her work shift by disappearing into a restroom with a gray marching-drum case and a blue mesh garment bag. Inside the ladies' room...

Would students buy their mandatory $100 textbooks online from a foreign bookseller if they could save $50 - even after shipping and handling charges? U.S. textbook industry leaders think they might and...

When tech start-up Sistina Software hired Ben Marzinski six years ago, the University computer science sophomore was spending so many late hours studying in the school's computer labs that janitors knew...

Most business owners have been reluctant to take a stance on the University clerical workers' strike, but some businesses have shown support for striking workers by posting signs on their windows, allowing...

University police and employees shared more details last week about the alleged harassment of a Minnesota Daily reporter by three police officers. Reporter Koran Addo said he was surrounded and questioned...

The luster of University programs allowing student and faculty visits to Cuba could increase if tougher regulations President George W. Bush proposed Friday are successful. The initiatives - which would...

Longing for a newspaper written in something other than boring old English? Prefer flipping through magazines from right to left rather than from left to right? One solution to this consumer crisis might...

A public opinion poll conducted in Israel by a Jewish alumnus of the University and a Palestinian political scientist found Israelis and Palestinians overwhelmingly support President George W. Bush's "Road...

Nobody knows exactly what sport they play, but the merchandise sales have been brisk. What helps, of course, is the team's name - the Dinkytown Looters. The sarcastic nod to the neighborhood's hockey championship...

Historical scholars often refer to the United States as "the great experiment" - a melting pot combining hundreds of widely disparate societies into one ever-evolving and largely indefinable U.S. culture. Earlier...

By the time Allen Gbatu fled Liberia at age 14, the whine of missiles and machine-gun fire from warring rebel factions kept him up at night. Now an electric engineering student, Gbatu said he yearns for...

An Edina, Minn., couple has donated $5 million to the University to help fund education efforts. Jim and Carmen Campbell, who both graduated from the University in 1964, said in a prepared statement that...

The University's doctoral program ranks 60th in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges" issue released last month. The position was up from 109 last...

Three years ago, University professor Carol Lange needed to find a way to pay a graduate student to help with breast cancer research. So the University suggested she turn to an unlikely medical funding...

After the disorienting effects of Sept. 11, 2001, eventually subsided, one early policy change that both the right and left seemed to initially agree on was tightening immigration enforcement. The theory...

The problem with live computer-generated music has always been that no matter how great the wacky costumes or accompanying film strip is, you're essentially still paying good money to watch some bookish...

With a friendly attitude that stood in contrast to the weighty topics of his lyrics, Matthew Davis' talents as a singer, songwriter and guitar player appeared limitless. But Davis' gifts were not exclusively...

Good art always requires great sacrifice. Dan Messe, founder of New York-based, alt-country outfit Hem, knows the truth of that adage all too well. Messe recently sold virtually everything he owned in...

Annie Reeves said she does not come to this nightclub often but signed up because she wanted to feel better about herself. "I don't really know much about the surgery, but I do know I want to be a model...

When we, the little people, confront an unthinkable wrong, our neurological systems revert into what is known conversationally as coping mechanisms. Some binge on nachos; others feverishly weed the garden....

Can Christians be punk? The question might evoke an obvious contradiction in terms for most. The Bible specifically prohibits its followers from swearing, cheating on their taxes, disrespecting their elders...

Jeff Hsiao was belting out Chinese pop songs to a group of friends Friday night in what is informally known as a karaoke "box." Hsiao, a mechanical engineering senior from Taiwan, said the small room with...

Democracy is all well and good, but it hardly makes for great rock and roll. Although granting power to the people is inarguably the way to go in terms of large-scale political systems, the best bands,...

You can't always judge a person by your first impression, but you can always appreciate a Marilyn Manson record by knowing which drug he was on when he made it. The sluggish, hazy feel of 1994's "Portrait...

In the 1900s, scientists used sorcery and black magic to read the human mind. Today's scientists say they have found something more reliable - with a basis in science - to unlock the secrets of the mind:...

In its infancy, punk rock, from the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Suicide Commandos on down to the Dead Kennedys, was at least vaguely political. That all changed as various subgenres split off into...

A Minnesota representative has introduced a bill that would make all federally funded research results available to the public free of charge. According to Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn., Americans are essentially...

University officials will spend the next academic year reviewing affirmative action policies to ensure they comply with two rulings issued last week by the U.S. Supreme Court. But University General Counsel...

Look up "walking contradiction" in an unabridged dictionary and you will probably find a picture of these people. Formed in Florida in 1997, head-bangers Poison the Well are on the forefront of what can...

Zombie movies just don't get no respect. Largely dismissed by critics and filmgoers alike as sophomoric "B"-grade gore, the viewing public tragically often overlooks the delicious socio-politico subversive...

The towering metal maroon storage tank, emblazoned with the University's logo - a gold "M" - is sandwiched between two brick walls, buttressed by Douglas fir trees. Decades of students heading to Tate...

The University is considering whether adjunct professors should be held to the same conflict of interest standards as full-time faculty. Currently, only full-time faculty members are required to disclose...

We are pressed up uncomfortably against steel-reinforced wooden barricades, squinting against the sun and dining on foot-long hot dogs, rapidly melting ice cream cones and artificially flavored shaved...

The University will receive millions of dollars for renewable energy research from an unusual source - toxic nuclear waste. Led by the University's College of Biological Sciences and months of legislative...

The West Bank area is a completely different beast compared to other parts of campus. And we like it just fine that way, thank you very much. That is the verdict of West Bank residents based on a casual...

Wedged among a yoga center, a veterinarian's office, a senior citizen gathering spot, an Episcopal Church and a gym on the West Bank campus sits history professor Steven Ruggles' temporary office. On the...

Probably the most amusing thing about cover bands is that none of them refers to themselves as such. "Tribute" is the preferred term. What must possess a fan of a particular band to go to such extreme...

The University's Academic Health Center is reviewing the personnel files of its adjunct professors for possible conflicts of interest. The inquiry was sparked after Dr. Ilo Leppik, an unpaid adjunct pharmacy...

Not so long ago, a glimpse of a bare shoulder or a hint of inner thigh was the absolute height of titillation in this fair land. Times have changed, so that film actresses now look like porn stars and...

Well-heeled downtown Minneapolis denizens sampled from more than 300 wines and munched on dozens of exotic hors d'oeuvres this weekend in a gala designed to raise funds for the University's pediatric department. The...

Birmingham, Ala., is not a city most of us would care to visit, let alone grow up in. Unless you count F. Scott Fitzgerald, the residents are predominantly known for blowing up anyone who rubs them the...

University-area bar patrons and employees are enthused by Gov. Tim Pawlenty's approval of a bill allowing Minnesota bars to serve alcohol until 2 a.m. "We're finally equal with (Wisconsin) on something,"...

Once upon a time, a rave did not necessarily always connote a $50 ticket gouge, nipple-twisting security guards and legions of bored 13-year-olds bumming cloves so they can pay $5 for bottled water at...

On first go around, the Stratford 4's "Love & Distortion" comes off as yet another indie release everyone in college radio will go gaga for and the rest of us schmoes will forget without a second thought....

A crusty old punk friend of mine has a theory on chemical abuse that, although I do not completely support it, certainly applies in the case of the Flaming Lips. It goes something like this: Recreational...

Split EPs, be they seven-inches or CDs, are somewhat of a strange bird. Slightly longer than a free sampler you would pocket at the cash register, but still too short to gain an accurate idea of the band's...

Complaints of disability discrimination by seven University students against University bus drivers have led to mandatory sensitivity training and a possible investigation by the bus company's corporate...

Andrew Broder, aka Fog, is as uncompromising as they come. If Broder just happens to be digging 1960s girl pop on a particular night, then he's going to spin a crate of it and he honestly couldn't care...

Minnesota's state forests are in danger because of a proposed change in the National Forest Management Act, former Forest Service deputy director Jim Furnish said during a recent State Capitol press conference. Furnish,...

One fascinating aspect of electronic-based music is that, due to its slavish reliance on computer software, mini-epiphanies of discovery can erupt multiple times over the same development or genre twist...

The nation's ozone levels as a whole shot up 32 percent last year, while Minnesota's air quality improved slightly, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. But in recent weeks, the Minnesota...

Opinions expressed at last weekend's Living Green Expo at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds suggest Minnesota environmentalists are shifting gears to act locally and perhaps think globally later. New state...

If you're going to name your new band after an immense star that reaches, on average, highs in the upper 15 million degrees, it's a must that said band has got a lot of explaining to do right off the bat....

As the Cold War began to thaw in the early 1980s, morally troubling stories surfaced in the mainstream press, causing great controversy among the aging American hippie set. Major record labels such as...

I must have fallen asleep again and missed another meeting. When exactly did hippies infiltrate rap music? I was under the impression that the hip-hop art form was about political discourse, or was at...

Oil and war are intrinsically linked, according to a recent University-sponsored discussion. Approximately 40 students and faculty attended the international policy forum, held Friday at the Humphrey Institute...

Although the majority of Texas residents support their adopted son, President George W. Bush, the capital city of Austin is another story entirely. Last month, Austin city officials passed a nonbinding...

Annual college spring break trips appear largely unaffected by the war in Iraq, according to industry representatives. Although everyone interviewed said it was still too early to tell for certain, airline,...

Kid Dakota, AKA Darren Jackson, is a trooper in every sense of the word. He survived a heroin habit that nearly killed him, saw his debut CD-R EP belatedly picked up by Low's Chair Kicker's Union label,...

Anyone who has ever had the good fortune to spend some time in Europe knows the news coverage over there of America's military forays differs drastically from the jingoistic pap one is subjected to here...

Oil field fires set by retreating Iraqi troops will not significantly affect the U.S. gas supply, according to U.S. energy consortiums. Domestic fuel supplies will continue uninterrupted despite the ongoing...

The Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a case that could affect the application of the Fourth Amendment as well as the state's environmental well-being. Minnesota anglers and attorneys...

Minnesota's first commuter railroad might still go forward, despite a national economic decline and the subsequent reduction of state transportation funds. Northstar Corridor commuter rail line supporters...

U.S. children are getting asthma at more than double the rate of two decades ago, according to a Feb. 24 Environmental Protection Agency report. In Minnesota, scientists and environmentalists said pesticide...

Signs across the Twin Cities proclaim Minnesota's long-awaited $675.4 million light rail project remains "on track." Internal budget squabbles, however, might have temporarily stalled the project. At one...

Few things are more maddening than a pretentious artiste who is nearly as talented as he thinks he is. Firing band mates on the slightest of whims, showing up stumble-down-the-stairs drunk at cocktail...

Local environmentalists contend Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 14 percent cut in state environmental and agriculture spending until 2005 might come at the expense of environmental quality, such as clean water. "Gov....

When the word Viking is mentioned, the vast majority of us immediately conjure up images of Hagar the Horrible comic strips or a professional football team that consistently chokes in the playoffs. At...

With light rail construction possibly running out of money, alternative and cheaper mass transportation solutions have been gaining popularity. One such futuristic idea is personal rapid transit. For many,...

With a struggling national economy and record-breaking state deficits, good budget news has been in short supply. But some positive developments might be on the way for Twin Cities-area environment and...

In early February, first lady Laura Bush canceled a planned White House literary symposium after learning that many of the poets she invited planned to use the platform to protest a possible war with Iraq. Civil...

Almost every single piece of press devoted to t.A.T.u. heralds them as America's first mainstream dyke pop artists. Did I miss something here? Where exactly does that put lesbian music pioneers such as...

Of all the millions of subgenres of pop music that exist today, one of the most fascinating to follow is sexually-explicit music that is in no way, shape or form erotic to anybody save the creators themselves....

In my opinion, Ice Cube is a total jerk. His lyrics celebrate a worldview that is prejudiced, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Semitic and just about any other "ic" you can think of. The eternal catch-22...

A unique, environmentally friendly automobile program coming to the Twin Cities will let drivers rent cars by the hour. But most University undergraduate students need not apply. Members of the hOurCar...

Canceled bus routes and increased fares might be on the way, since Metro Transit's budget will likely be slashed as part of Minnesota's worst budget crisis ever. Metro Transit's woes are twofold. First,...

Ever since the Hindenburg dirigible exploded in a ball of flames in 1937, the notion of traveling via hydrogen has stalled - until now. President George W. Bush's recent State of the Union address promised...

Anyone who attended a mainstream rap concert in the 1980s should remember how awful live hip-hop used to be. Although isolated groups like the Fat Boys were developing unique personas and genuine lyrical...

The Brothers Grimm's collection of Germanic fairy tales, in its unadulterated form, is not exactly soothing bedtime fodder for the little crumb-crushers. Human existence in Grimm Land is generally erratic...

When I was a teenager attending high school in suburban Texas, I briefly dated a girl of Filipino descent. The relationship only lasted a few months but was significant enough to raise the ire of virulently...

The British are on to something; that's for sure. Virtually every popular Yankee TV show of late is a dumbed-down, regurgitated version of a U.K. program. Everything from punk to techno cuts its proverbial...

The University might soon be home to a research center devoted solely to studying alternative forms of energy. The Consortium for Renewable Energy and the Environment - the working title of the University...

Prostitution is of course both the oldest and one of the most dangerous professions. Hollywood, via unrealistic fairy tales such as 1990's "Pretty Woman," downplays the numerous risks involved to the point...

Hell has officially frozen over. Everything you know is wrong. Hawaii Show, the lip-synching side project of ex-Lifter Puller guitarist Steve Barone, recently opened for Nickelback. Now Har Mar Superstar,...

Female genital mutilation and its intrinsic relationship to human rights and democracy issues were the focus of University sociology professor Elizabeth Boyle's discussion Monday afternoon in Ford Hall. "If...

Italy nowadays is not for the faint of heart. There are only two sections at restaurants: regular smoking and ultra. Meat is consumed like water. Hard-core pornography is shown on prime time. Traffic laws...