UCSD’s Che Cafe will be closed during the next academic year while the building undergoes infrastructure renovations. University Centers Advisory Board Chair Sammy Chang told A.S. Council during its...

This week at the A.S. Council meeting, I was very excited to see all the new faces! Former A.S. Council President Andy Buselt, along with former VP Student Life Linda Le, presented their new “R.A.P.”...

The Ché Café will keep its doors open after successfully raising $12,000 to pay for its 2012 insurance costs. According to Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life Gary Ratcliff, the venue was in danger of being shut down if its members could not pay the annual insurance premium, which was due this spring.

Che Café held a benefit music festival from Friday, Jan. 6 to Sunday, Jan. 8. Tickets for the “I Promise” Festival — which hosted 24 bands over the three days — ranged from $10-$15 per day, with the Che hitting its full capacity of 200 people throughout the weekend.

Ché Café reaches one-sixth of their $12,000 fund raising goal to save a UCSD landmark.

San Diego’s popular concert venue and beloved co-op faces closure if its organizers fails to raise $12,000 by March 2012.

Operations at the Che Cafe, UCSD's widely renowned music venue and vegan eatery, were halted last month following a missed insurance payment that prompted the Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California to discontinue the Che's coverage.

Under UCSD's Master Space Agreement, the venue cannot maintain its lease without insurance. Administrators gave the cafe an initial deadline of Dec. 1 to find a new provider, then extended the deadline until Jan. 1.

The deadline has now been extended indefinitely, and all events are on hold.

The Che has been completely self-sustaining and volunteer-run since it was established in 1980. Insurance costs are the largest expense in the venue's budget. Coverage demands are extensive and include categories for physical injury, libel and slander.

Che member David Barclay said the co-op has struggled to find a new insurance provider, due in part to the venue's reputation as a host for freedom of expression and music events that feature independent, hardcore and punk bands.

Despite these difficulties, core members at the co-op remain optimistic that they will find a provider willing to offer coverage, and insist that the cafe's doors will not be shut permanently.

'The university has been really understanding,' Che member Alice Nash said. 'They could have come down harder on us for not having insurance.'

Nash said increased efforts to open stronger communication between the UCSD administration and the cafe's core members should lead to less animosity between the two parties, which have clashed over issues of contention in the past. Nash referred to an incident several years ago during which the administration attempted to shut down the cafe, leading core members to defiantly barricade themselves inside the venue.'

The nearly 30-year-old Che Cafe has a rich history and a reputation that extends far beyond UCSD's boundaries. According to Barclay, the venue was one of the first of its kind in North America to develop as a cooperatively-run political and musical space while doubling as a vegan kitchen.

It has since garnered a large cult following and inspired the creation of similar venues 'mdash; such as the Smell in Los Angeles 'mdash; and continues to attract visitors from all over San Diego County and beyond.

Che Cafe performers have included such artists as Simon and Garfunkel, Carlos Santana, Nirvana and former Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de La Rocha.

The venue also recently hosted an event starring straightedge icon Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi.

Barclay emphasized the inclusive, open-minded nature of the Che and encouraged student participation.

'Anyone can be a volunteer at the Che Cafe,' Barclay said. 'All you have to do is show up and tell someone that you'd like to volunteer. Furthermore, anyone can come to the Che and propose and organize an event. If you want to make something happen, you can make it happen at the Che.'
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Readers can contact Larisa Casillas at [email protected].

From the outside of the Che Cafe on a Tueseday night, the
venue looks inconspicuous. Located on the hill leading up to Revelle College,
only a handful of cars are parked outside. The sole source of light that
illuminates the scant parking lot comes from the inside through a few small
windows and one main door on the left of the shack-like building.

Inside the Cafe’s mural-covered walls, however, David Bowie
songs float through the venue while a few regulars wait for the show to start.
Some are having deep conversations, some are studying and in the back are
several guys leaning over the counter, chatting with the volunteers who are
cleaning up the kitchen.

But not everyone is there yet. At the large worktable,
scarred with graffiti and plastered with bumper stickers, sits Kira Roessler,
former bassist of punk band Black Flag. Roessler, along with her Dos bandmate
Mike Watt, are at the Che Cafe this Tuesday evening for a scheduled show with
Capillary Action and Joe Lally of Fugazi. The latter two, however, are running
late because they are stuck in Los Angeles traffic.

Though Roessler had never heard of Che Cafe before being
scheduled to play there, the mood she feels from simple tea-sipping and
Bowie-listening sums up the Che’s attitude.

“[It’s] not playing by the rules, but here it is: doing the
best we can, putting it together on your own. It has that kind of
anti-corporate feel to it — ‘I’m gonna do it the way I wanna do it and not
conform to what anyone else says,’” Roessler said.

Despite it being her first time playing at the Che,
Roessler’s assessment isn’t far from the truth. This independent,
volunteer-run, on-campus venue does not have a leadership hierarchy of any
kind, just a group of people — both students and nonstudents — who collectively
decide how to run operations. Anyone can take part in this decision-making
process by attending collective meetings on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m.

This democratic process has its benefits. Members can do
things the way they want and see the fruits of their labor. According to David
Diekmann, a nonstudent volunteer: “Shows depend on who goes to the meetings and
book the shows. Whoever listens to hardcore punk or indie pop will choose what
kind of shows they want to see.”

Che’s interior illustrate the legacy of previous bands that
have played there. Bumper stickers on the Che’s wooden panel walls advertise
for bands such as the Lisps, Rat City Robot and Claire de Lune. Even mainstream
bands such as Green Day and Cursive have graced the Che in the pas, according
to Dana Dahlstrom, who graduated from UCSD in 2007 and is currently a graduate
student.

Though Che members are proudabout its culture-rich past,
they still remain humble about its function. In the past, according to
Dahlstrom, the Che held firmly to a nonracist, nonsexist, nonhomophobic policy,
and refused to allow bands to play — even if they attract a crowd — if they had
these tendencies.

Though the store does not have formal core values, Dahlstrom
said Che members recognize the left-leaning philosophy drawn from the cafe’s
revolutionary namesake.

“It’s a trend that nobody can deny,” Dahlstrom said. “But
there’s too much of a perception on the UCSD campus that Che espouses some sort
of extreme viewpoint. People who have heard about the Che heard that they’re
communists or something. Whatever they say, it’s not true. There isn’t a single
Che dogma or anything everyone has to believe in. Every single question you ask
will be a different answer from someone.”

Though beliefs may vary from member to member, everything they
do is volunteer-oriented with a do-it-yourself approach — the core reason for
the cafe’s existence and inner workings.

In addition to hosting either a concert or a film series on
Tuesday nights, the Che holds all-you-can-eat dinners serving vegan food at
either $3 or $4 a plate, cooked completely by volunteers. That particular
night’s special was pesto pasta, with all its ingredients donated. Txus Zubia,
another nonstudent volunteer, came in at 3 p.m. that afternoon to help cook for
those who come to the Che for dinner.

Dahlstrom, Diekman and Zubia unanimously agreed that the
best donation the Che receives is not any piece of equipment or furniture, but
the time that volunteers contribute.

“Obviously, we can’t run without volunteers,” Dahlstrom
said.

In addition to being part of a collective effort,
volunteering at the Che is also a haven for those who are new to the area.
Thurgood Marshall College junior Taylor Hunter is a transfer student who has
volunteered at the Che for a quarter.

“I came from Long Beach and didn’t know anyone, so I came
[to the Che] to meet people,” Hunter said. “I have fun cooking and talking.
Even cleaning up is fun.”

Zubia moved to San Diego from Mexico and knew almost no one
in the area. The Che’s appeal drew him to San Diego, especially when Against
Me! played at the Che five years ago. He now volunteers there full-time.

Roessler admires that the Che acts as a kind of alternative
hideaway.

“Especially for kids out of town, they are looking for a
place,” Roessler said. “A lot of people don’t fit in a part of the school. I
went to UCLA and I was part of Black Flag. The sorority girls would always
stick their noses up at me. It gives people somewhere to go, especially in
college where things feel strange.”

Always a hot spot for vegan delicacies, noble causes and eclectic bands, the Che Cafe is on the benevolent prowl again with the upcoming Darfur Benefit Show (May 24). The seven-band extravaganza features UCSD-affiliated groups like Honest Iago, Breathing by Wires and Auspice joining forces at the Che this Thursday to raise funds for the Genocide Intervention Network, an organization that will funnel half the proceeds to the civilian protection effort in Darfur.

But this is not your Granny's bake sale - in true Che fashion, fundraising has gotten gritty: the UCSD S.T.A.N.D. (Students Taking Action Now; Darfur), Eyes Like the Sky Studio and 10 local bands have recorded the benefit CD What about the Humans?, featuring songs relevant to the cause and packed with twangy acoustic guitar and sure, resonating vocals (as will the live show). Acts like Honest Iago channel the rich, gritty scream-rock of Alkaline Trio, assembling a collection of baroque/classical piano with punk at its core. Also in the house will be easy-on-the-eyes crooner Wendy Darling, reminiscent of a jazzier, faster-paced Beth Hart. Her steady acoustic rhythm and strong-belted lyrics round out the concert's mix of folk ballads and tenacious rockers.

In addition to the Darfur Benefit, the Che will see its usual week of stacked, offbeat performances, including the smooth electronica of Tussle (May 25), blaring highly stylized frenzies of thrilling buzz-beats and crashing UFO-inspired synthesizers (Think Sigur Ros or Mum without the oddball nonlanguage vocal overlay). Somewhere between trance and a contemplative whir, the tone of their 2006 album Telescope Mind is most prevalent in songs like ""Flicker Hot Chip,"" where the band blends a danceable yet chi-calming rush of post-club noise. In their own words (on MySpace), Tussle's sound is ""boom boom boom skreeee~~~woooossshhhhh-da dum dum dum.""

Then, on Saturday, our quiet La Jolla campus will be invaded by the ferocious girl group from L.A. known as Mika Miko (May 26). Not to be confused with hot British sensation Mika, Mika Miko is a clash of screaming punk and raw funk from the throats of five ridiculously enthusiastic chicks. The girls are a hardcore cross of Black Flag-realm '70s punk and modern scream-o sass; their jabbing blare could be seen as amateur - if not headache-inducing - if the main goal in their performance weren't to make us just get up and dance. Tracks like ""Forensic Scientist"" are straightforward fun in their frantic need to skank and screech, even if all their lyrics are rendered unintelligible.

To call the Che Cafe alternative would be a bit of an understatement. As UCSD continues on an endless crusade of expansion and demolition, the Che remains one of the only historically unique spots left on campus. Established in 1980, the cafe is run by a ""nonhierarchical worker's collective,"" serving all-vegan fare and hosting live shows to create an environment that promotes social change and a strong sense of community.

With such a rich tradition, it seems only fitting that bands gracing the Che's innards are as unique and distinguished as the place itself. This Friday, Jan. 25, the Che presents main act Kite Flying Society with The Vision of a Dying World and Old Man Hands as support.

Kite Flying Society's debut album Where is the Glow? garnered attention both within the blogosphere and at the San Diego Music Awards, where the group won Best New Artist. The album, which is available at most local record shops, can best be described as a synthesis between contemporary pop and '60s beach folk, capturing a bit of Brian Wilson with a more modern, Shinsy feel: ""6000 Shipwrecks"" combines echoing vocals with a catchy Fender Rhodes line that keeps the song light and whimsical.

The band does sound much younger than its members are - not to say that one can ever be too old to make naive pop, but the music's lightness suggests the band members are departing from their teenage years instead of their mid 20s. Of course, this has no bearing on an album that succeeds in both charming and satisfying its listeners. (Just be sure to watch out for the Cher-like auto-tune that detracts from the otherwise great ""6000 Love and Seagulls."")

The other billed artists are also San Diego locals, both with solid support for KFS. The Vision of a Dying World create a sparse sound with acoustic - and the occasional electric - guitar, again conjuring the Shins, but then departing into the slow, methodic nature of their own melodies. Old Man Hands' music slows down the momentum even further, with somber lyrics and down-tempo tracks that are both sincere and serene. Let's just hope that on Friday, we won't have drifted off to sleep before Kite Flying Society gets to take the stage.