the
SPECTRUM
“Your Voice in Print”
blakespectrum.org
Issue III
Thursday | October 27 | 2022
The Blake School
KASHKARI, PAGE: Feared Line Tests Patience Steiner Lecture ‘22
Fed. Reserve president, former MN Justice to visit JNA Rowan Wallin | Editor-in-Chief
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ov. 15 marks the return of an Upper School tradition, the Steiner Speaker Series, which only happens once every two years and was put at a “pause” during COVID-19. The Steiner lecture aims to promote discussion at the Upper School regarding realworld issues, subsequently provoking thought. Beth Calderone, Social Studies Department Chair, led the charge, along with a selected Steiner Student Advisory, of selecting this year’s speakers: Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and Alan Page, former Minnesota Vikings player and retired Minne-
says, “It’s really great that students got to help decide and vocalize which speakers got to come to the Upper School this year.” Calderone explains, “[In the Steiner Student Advisory,] we talked a lot about students feeling like we often live in a ‘Blake bubble’ and not necessarily feeling like we are super connected to our larger community of Minneapolis. This is a chance for us to think about the partnership that Blake has within our Greater Community. As an independent school I think we have great opportunities through programs like Breakthrough, but we could probably do a better job of thinking more holistically about our place in the educational ecosystem in Minnesota.” In response to the studies finding education gaps by race and socioeconomic status
education for all children in Minnesota. Calderone states, “One of the things that was ongoing in the spring [when the Steiner Student Advisory was meeting] was the teacher strike in Minneapolis. The lecture will also promote more thought about the state of public education in Minnesota.” Calderone adds, “The Page Amendment is a really interesting political issue because it doesn’t cut across the political divides as neatly as a lot of political issues do, so it’s going to really challenge us to think about politics in a different way and as we approach elections. It will be good for us to sort of put aside our preconceived notions about ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ and ‘What should I think about issues?’ and really listen critically and thoughtfully to what [President Kashkari and Justice Page] say
Gabi Marmet
Rowan Wallin Above: The infamous line of cars snapped five minutes before the start of the school day. This line can take anywhere from five to ten minutes to get through. This car line truly tests students’ patience and self respect as well as your respect for your fellow classmates. Below: Josiah March ‘24 desperately trying to be let in the long line of cars after cutting through the Parade Ice Arena parking lot. Instead of saving time by cutting through, it actually took longer to get to the parking lot since no one would let him in.
Kenwood Parkway line delays student arrival Charlotte Opp | Creative Director
H
Photo Illustration: Rowan Wallin Neel Kashakari (left) and Alan Page (right) discuss the implications of public education for children in Minnesota. The picture was taken from the MINNPOST article entitled, “Why a new push for the ‘Page Amendment’ could end up being one of the 2022 Legislature’s biggest fights.”
sota Supreme Court Justice. Seth Flikke ‘24, a Steiner Student Advisee,
for students in Minnesota, Justice Page began the initiative for accessible and quality public
about issues around the education disparities and achievement gaps here in Minnesota.”
Rowan Wallin
ave you ever found yourself stuck in the line to turn left onto Kenwood Parkway and all of the sudden you see a huge black GLE 350 MercedesBenz budge in front of you by cutting through the Parade Ice Garden parking lot? The owner of this particular MercedesBenz, Zander Ganz ’23, says, “I get past the light and see that it’s a super long line so I just go for it and cut through the Parade parking lot.” Ganz can’t jeopardize being late for class. Oliver Duininck ‘24 also understands the risk of going through the left turn line, “There will be times when school starts at 8:45 a.m. and I’ll get
to the line at 8:30 a.m. and I will still be late.” Clearly this raises a moral dilemma whether to follow the rules or cut the line and be on time. Other drivers like Will Nelson ‘24 and Gunnar Johnson ‘23 strongly disagree with the decisions of those who cut the long line. Johnson exclaims, “People actually do that? That’s toxic. I wouldn’t let them in.” Nelson adds, “I don’t like [people who cut the line]. It makes me angry and disappointed.” However, both Nelson and Johnson admit that if they were running late they would undoubtedly do the same. Even younger students like Maddie Raih ‘26 who can’t drive yet understand the moral violation of cutting off your classmates in the turn line. She says, “Literally what is the point? You’re not special. You don’t
“Don’t Worry Darling” cast faces drama regarding sex scenes in the hit movie.
Learn how to make a successful charcuterie board like the ones you see on Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok!
How will the six seniors leave a legacy for the Girls’ Volleyball Team after they leave? Hear what they have to say.
Arts & Culture: Page 4
Food: Page 5
Sports: Page 6
have any sort of special authority so just don’t [cut the line].” Similarly to Nelson and Johnson, Raih confidently confesses, “If I were running late I would 100% do it, no questions asked.” What possesses these drivers to muster the audacity to cut the line in the morning, yet they feel personally violated when someone does it to them? This phenomenon might never be explained. There is a disconnect of respect for our peers that must be mended one way or another. Duininck proposes that Blake or the City of Minneapolis adds another way for students to enter the student parking lot. This might be difficult for the school to accomplish so getting to school ten minutes earlier might be your best option for an academic year free of tardies and unexcused absences.
STAFF
NEWS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 2
Teachers Return to Pre-COVID Rigor, Still Strive For Fairness Students adapt to changes, teachers adapt to students
forts for equal and fair grading didn’t end with COVID. Tao explains, “If students are doing this formative work and practicing, you did it. Okay, good. Here’s some feedback. So that will then skew the final outcome in a way that might look like an inflated grade. But is it [inflated], or is it more fair?” Anderson finds grade-based accommodations fair, noting that her teachers are “still pretty generous in grading.” For example, following a challenging Physics test, “my teacher had us write up a lab and that’s going to go into the test category and those typically do boost your grade a little bit.” Adding to this conversation of what is fair when it comes to grading, McIlmail says, “I think equity is really important, we’re all coming from different backgrounds and different study environments at home.” Grading as a whole is inherently subjective and begs the question of how to grade in a college prep school. Tao agrees, “Technology is changing, school is changing… what would we do if we radically reimagined a school day or a classroom?”
Zoey Ueland | Managing Editor
Managing Editors: Amelia Bush | Zoey Ueland Creative Director: Charlotte Opp Photo Editor: Cleo Kilpatrick News Editor: Sam Tomczik Arts & Culture Editor: Gabi Marmet Food Editor: Mackenzie Higgins Sports Editors: Jason Rotenberg | Yoni Zacks In-Depth Editor: Allyson Jay Sci-Tech Editor: Sofia Perlman Opinions Editors: Oscar Walsh | Ali Hecker Business Manager: Julia Zhang Online Editor: James Prince Faculty Adviser: Anna Reid
STAFF WRITERS: Lily Anderson, Kaylee Chen, Ahan Devgun, Sonia Lerner, Ainsley Pflaum, Kate Rekas, Eva Redmond, Andrew Richardson, and Max Yousha
Ali Hecker
Tao teaches her ninth grade World Literature class. Ninth graders have been the least impacted by these Upper School grade changes throughout COVID, due to their age at the start of the pandemic.
[mental health issues due to COVID] by being more flexible with due dates and expectations.” For her, this looked like assigning less complicated reading, “Sustaining your attention for a longer reading, that I think got a lot harder for students. During the pandemic, I was trying to assign less and less and less reading, like what is the bare minimum I can get through with and students still be successful. Now, I’m not as concerned about that, I hope they’re
COLUMNISTS: Kevin Bizliy, Uma Bhardwaj, and Eva Stegic
MISSION STATEMENT: The primary purpose of the Blake School Spectrum is to report news and to explain its meaning and significance to our readers and the community. We hope to inform, entertain and provide a school forum for the unrestricted exchange of ideas and opinions. STYLE STATEMENT: Spectrum uses Associated Press (AP) Style as of the February 2020 issue.
Amelia Bush
Kaining Zhang Amelia Bush
Latinos Unidos is a Latinx/Hispanic affinity group. “Our purpose is to create a safe-space to vent, build community, share common experiences, and raise awareness of Latinx/Hispanic issues at Blake.”
Corrections for September Issue Page 2: Brian Sago’s name is spelled wrong. Page 7: Regan Brass ‘25, not ‘24, and Jada Chenitz ‘25, not ‘24.
Amelia Bush
Rowan Wallin, Amelia Bush, & Charlotte Opp | Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, & Creative Director
Zora Jean
Silje
Lester Batiste welcomed his baby, Z o r a J e a n , around two and half months ago.
Stevie
te j i rs K : y tt e d b
Kaining Zhang
The Bennett Gallery Curatorial Team meets on Fridays during FLEX in the Bennett Gallery. “The Bennett Gallery Curatorial Team is a passionate group of students who plan and promote the various exhibits in the gallery.”
Amelia Amelia Bush Bush
Comuntiy Service Board leadership team unites Blake’s many service boards, including Habitat for Humanity, Letters of Love, and Enviro. The CSB, hosts bi-weekly meetings in the Danielson during FLEX.
KjirSubmi sten Walt-Anderson welcomed her baby, Silje, around seven months ago. When was your baby born? “April 10, 2022” How did you come up with the name of your baby? “We have cousins in Norway who had a comment on something on social media from Silje and we hadn’t seen it before and thought it was unique. That’s where the name comes from. Also, my name has a random “J” in it so we were hoping for something with a random “J” in it.” How was maternity leave? “It was hard to step away from students that I’ve worked with all year and then end the year on maternity leave and have the seniors graduate and be gone. Other than that, having the time to heal and be with a new baby was precious.”
When was your born? “August 21, 2022”
: by
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Disagree with something that’s in the paper? Have an opinion you want to share? Like to draw editorial cartoons? Take a stand and speak out. E-mail letters or editorial cartoons to spectrum@blakeschool.org or deliver them to room 351. Please limit letters to 400 words.
Yoni Zacks
Empty Bowls Club meets on Fridays during FLEX time in Jim Spector’s room UL02. Empty Bowls club offers opportunities to work on pottery while giving back to the community.
Creative Writing Club meets on Fridays during FLEX in the Danielson Room. “Creative Writing Club is a way to express ourselves in writing in different non-graded formats and learn from each other.”
d itte Subm
JOIN SPECTRUM: Spectrum meets in Room 351 during both lunches every Friday. Please come if you are interested in writing, drawing, designing, podcasting or taking pictures for the newspaper.
tion being this high compared to the last two years.” However, overall trends before, during, and after the pandemic have remained relatively the same, Cory Tao explains, “Students who value learning are always going to put in a certain amount of effort, and the students who maybe don’t connect with the content or the type of class it is, they’re not going to maybe invest as much.” Regardless of this supposed step up in grading, ef-
Clubs Give Many Opportunties Faculty Share Baby Names, Experiences
STAFF ARTISTS: Julia Everett and Melody Lee
BECOME A STAFF MEMBER: Contribute to the paper three times consecutively to be promoted to a staff writer!
ready to return to more rigorous reading levels.” Students’ response to increased expectations has been so far fairly positive. McIlmail notes, “I think [students] have started to meet our higher expectations but it’s a process. We are slowly increasing rigor and expectations at least in my class, we aren’t doing it all at once. I see students meeting the mark but it’s still challenging and I think that some of our students aren’t used to the level of expecta-
n
Editor-In-Chief: Rowan Wallin
OVID-19 changed a lot regarding school. Two years later, schools across the country have begun to revert back to pre-COVID habits in addition to creating new ones. As a whole, inflated grading practices perpetrated by teachers during the pandemic are ending, impacting students’ workload and transcripts. Social studies teacher Mackenzie McIlmail explains, “What we were told [by the administration] is that we could start to return to pre-COVID expectations in terms of workload and in terms of rigor.” Throughout COVID, teachers relaxed rigor. Audrey Anderson ‘23 noted, “I think sophomore year [2020-2021] there was definitely an inflation in grades.” Part of this switch was in an effort to create a more equitable learning environment for students, McIlmail furthers, “We want[ed] to be empathetic and respond to
W alt -An derso
Issue III October 27 2022
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The Blake School 511 Kenwood Pkwy
CJ
Ec kh ard t
baby
How did you come up with the name of your baby? “The first name, Zora is named after the great and wonderful African American writer, Zora Hurston. The Jean part, that is taken directly from my mom... Eva Jean, she passed away a few years [ago]. I wanted to give my daughter a really strong name, both with African American heritage and my heritage.” How was paternity leave? “It was cool. I mean I’m still kind of experiencing this but my baby doesn’t necessarily sleep all the way through the night so I find myself up really early or up really late so I just find myself doing the dad thing, trying to balance my duties here.” Check out the next issue of Spectrum to hear about Maren Anderson’s experience with maternity leave.
CJ Eckh a r d t welcomed her baby, Stevie, around three months ago. When was your baby born? “August 2, 2022” How did you come up with the name of your baby? “I love this TV show called Madame Secretary, its an obsession. I’ve watched it over several times and the daughters name is Stevie… I just love that name. I also love the fact that its unisex and that it could be like a boy or a girl. It stuck with me so I named her Stevie.” How was maternity leave? “It was surprisingly the best. It was the best because I just got to see Stevie develop and just [become] this really cool human being and we just got to spend a lot of quality time together. It was absolutely perfect.”
STUDENT LIFE | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 3
Political Roundtable Club Prepares for November 8 Election Club members simulate election Raiden Chen | Contributing Writer
A
s we get further into October, the Political Roundtable Club will begin preparing for a mock midterm election. In the election the students will, “Create one page on the views of the party and the policies that they will implement in office” according to leader Liam Coley ‘25. Yoni Zacks ‘25 says, “We’ve been working on this mock election since mid-August, so we hope students will be excited about it.” Any and all students are allowed to run, even freshmen like Zavdi
Fisher ‘26, a new member and one of the candidates that is running in the mock election. During this election, the Political Roundtable Club members will be split into two different groups, the red and the blue, with Fisher running the blue party. Sachin Varma ‘25 says, “The red party is still coalescing and hopefully a candidate would be chosen by next week, so we highly encourage students to run.” The candidacy provides a prime opportunity for students to put their opinion out into the Blake community, campaigning with their sincere thoughts and ideas. Participating in this mock election will also grant the winner numer-
ous rewards, Tony Liu ‘25 says, “They get free candy and they get bragging rights.” This reward incentivises candidates to do their very best to try and win the mock election. When the time comes for the election, an email will be sent out to the members, in hopes that everyone will vote for their favorite candidate. Students are highly encouraged to participate at varying levels whether it be running in the election, or simply casting their vote and putting their opinion out there, as they would in any real election. Political Roundtable meets every week on Wednesday during FLEX in social studies teacher Amanda Pomer-
Brain Breaks Benefit, Reenergize
leau’s room, room 245. Zacks says, “Make sure to check it out, and consider running in the election!” The leaders of the Political Roundtable Club, Liu, Coley, and Zacks. The club is always looking for new members to bring forth new perspectives to immerse the discussions in, as well as participate in elections, the voting process, and increasing student interest and involvement throughout the school. Zacks urges, “We’re hoping to get more people to vote in the mock election because the candidates worked super hard on the election prgram. We hope this club can get students more involved and interested in politics overall.”
The Forum's Forum Treasury, religious holidays, game of the week, gym use
Amelia Bush | Managing Editor
S
Rowan Wallin
Sally Countryman ‘23 and Greta Wattson ‘23 head to the cafeteria to refuel thier herbal teas and waters during their five minute brain break in Molter’s AP Calculus AB Block 2.
Attention spans, tranquility, decompression argue for breaks Sam Tomczik | News Editor
“S
chool is a really busy and chaotic place,” explains Zoe Goodwin ‘24, which is why she, along with many other students, appreciate brain breaks. “They’re a really good time to just take a deep breath… and be able to calm yourself,” Goodwin says. Goodwin bases her love of brain breaks on the Zen they provide. Jen Vance, ninth grade dean and science teacher, expresses her appreciation for brain breaks
from their educational benefits. “Typically, the attention span for most people on something is about 20 minutes,” says Vance, “By taking a break, it indicates to your brain that that information belongs together.” Math teacher Maggie Molter agrees. In most of her classes, Molter aims to provide at least one five minute break. Molter finds that breaks provide a better focus for the remaining time in class. She explains that she started providing breaks during the 80-minute blocks but “once I realized that [breaks are] helpful for me I thought the students need them too.” During her unstructured breaks, Goodwin will usually “talk with
a friend, go to the bathroom, get water, or talk to the teacher.” Similarly, Emma Sargent ‘25 enjoys walking the halls for a few minutes to “decompress” during class. Molter encourages this use of unstructured breaks without technology claiming that “students who are moving and are talking with each other [get more out of] their breaks.” Vance typically provides shorter, more structured breaks. Despite different styles of brain breaking, where students participate in group activities such as stretching or turning in assignments, she still hears from students that “it’s just helpful to catch your breath and calm down.”
Yoni Zacks
Layla Chakhvashvili ‘26, Claire Cao ‘26, and Shruti Balachander ‘26 reserach political candidates together.
tudent Body President Justin Krelitz ‘23 and social studies teacher Ben Cady led a meeting on Oct. 7, 2022, during Spirit Week. Every forum member participated in the theme that day (white-out) except for one, Aaron Ellis ‘26. While waiting for a senior member to show up, Krelitz focused on town hall meetings by asking: “Has everyone talked to their grade dean?” The junior and freshman grades have a town hall planned, while the sophomore and senior grades were in the process of planning one. Krelitz acknowledged that grade conference emails don’t work because no one reads them. Krelitz calmed the waves of chatter by stating “Let’s focus please.” The attention was then directed towards the treasury position within the forum. Sam Hardy ‘24 and Uma Bhardwaj ‘24 both ran for treasurer position, with Hardy getting elected in the end. As treasurer, Hardy now manages the budget. If a club wants money, they must talk to Hardy. The forum then discussed if students should or shouldn’t get religious holidays off from school. The plan of action was to meet with Head of the Upper
School Joe Ruggiero. The forum unanimously agreed to approach this topic delicately due to ethical concern. They aim not to exclude certain religions and favor others. While Director of Equity Tyneeta Canonge states that no teacher should assign homework on religious holidays, that doesn’t always happen. Junior class president Karn Kaura ‘24 who initially proposed this topic, proposed an idea where no teachers can place any tests or projects due on a religious holiday so students missing school are able to fully celebrate without anxiety of school-work. Social studies teacher Stacy Helmbrecht-Wilson said that they need to “set a standard.” She proposed that they form a committee to reach out to SDLC (Student Diversity Leadership Council) and come up with a proposal. Kaura, sophomore president Zellie Olson ‘25, Kaylee Chen ‘25, and Sofia Perri ‘23 nominated themselves. The topic of having the gym open was brought up next. Krelitz thought he got the gym open, however a lock still blocked students from gym usage. The biggest issue with keeping the gym open is that there always has to be a staff member present in case of an injury. Hardy proposed having a schedule during lunch where a teacher would be required to give up two lunches throughout the semester. This idea got turned down after reporter and observer Rowan Wallin ‘23 proposed that the gym have
a sign that flips, saying “open” or “closed” on it depending upon a teacher’s presence This solved the issue of a schedule taking away teachers’ free time. The gym discussion got put on the backburner for the time being, and student participation in sporting events was brought up next. Krelitz admitted that the “Game of the Week” from last year failed, but he wants to try again. HelmbrechtWilson suggested that they have juniors and seniors go up in assembly to lead cheers to get people to go to games. She also said that if they get some people to go to games, it might put more pressure on people to go more games. She even offered to assign no AP EURO homework on certain game nights. This idea was met with excitement from the students. Krelitz also added that forum and SIAC (Student Interaction-Action Committee) members must set an example by attending games. Perri suggested that the “Game of the Week” become monthly and Bhardwaj suggested displaying game schedules on the main bulletin board so students know when to attend. The meeting ended abruptly with block seven nearing.
Update: Following this meeting, on Oct. 18 2022, Krelitz and Perri joined SDLC at their weekly meeting to discuss how to best approach religious holidays for students. SDLC members were able to voice their opinions and advice.
ARTS & CULTURE | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 4
Murals and Art Decorate the Hallway Walls Students contribute to hall aesthetics
One project that was done a few years ago was The Bird Project, a team up between Brian Sago’s Amelia Bush & printmaking class and the Yoni Zacks | environmental science Managing Editor & class. Sago still vividly Sports Editor remembers the f you paid attenproject: tion to the walls “We were at Blake you studywould see some ing birds really interesting that flew pieces of art as through you walk around. M i n There are projects nesota everywhere. The on their art wing always r o u t e has the latest stuthrough dent designs, the the air library features and the a mural, and Amelia Bush even the history Here is a Charcoal draw- s u m mer…the wing is involved. ing of Albert Einstein.
I
idea was that the this project in the future. don’t really know much science students He doesn’t know how about them, but I see were researchit would look, but “I’m them every day.” While ing the habinot against [bringing it Zac Gartner ‘25 has a tat threat [to the back] since it would be different perspective, “I bird] and then it a new generation of stu- think they’re pretty cool, is migratory seadents… there’s sort of I think it’s a cool way to son. If you look the question of if we did show school spirit.” Gartat the map, it’s a it again would we do a ner explained that there Amelia Bush map of the UnitedThe oil pastel painting, Radio City different kind of bird.” is a difference between States and SouthMusic Hall, created in 2018. Several students looking at the murals beAmerica, and then it’s which spin to cut… Then shared their thoughts on fore being a Blake stucross-hatched with a col- we inked them up dent versus or for where their win- and printed them after becomter nesting grounds are. on Mulberry paing one, havThe visual art students per, also known as ing felt “A were carving large blocks Kozo. We printed little bit [of a of plywood to make the them by hand on connection.]” prints. [Lisa] Sackreiter that and then had Noticed made the prints for us, an exhibit at the Amelia Bush or unnoticed, we kind of had a third Minnesota Land- Scarlet Tanager carved on wood and then printed in 2017. Blake students party community member scape Arboretum.” have a conteam up. Sago also hopes to the murals. Davandre nection to the art projects Campbell ‘25 said “I done around the school. A mix of dremel tools bring back some form of
Can Scarves Replace Hoodies? Street Style Inspires Students What better style to wear than scarves on an autumn day Celebrities influence everyday outfits throughout the halls Ali Hecker | Opinions Editor
Eva Stegic | Columnist
Cooper Stegic
Some of Stegic’s different stylish scarves to wear this fall.
As
Autumn approaches, it is the perfect time to try new clothing items that you haven’t worn be-
fore, be it new boots, a sweater, a hat, or even a scarf! Although scarves are a great addition to one’s wardrobe, why don’t we see people wearing them at Blake? Is this because we are indoors most of the time, not having to face the outdoors? Rossalyn Moore ‘25 says that she doesn’t wear scarves “because the school has weird temperatures.” Moore notes that “some [rooms] are very cold and others not,” which makes it difficult to gauge if she would want to carry around a scarf all day. Instead, she “find[s] it more efficient to bring a hoodie.” Hood-
ies are seen quite often, as they are easy to wear, and can be hung practically anywhere. Although, the same goes for scarves: they can be taken off easily and be hung anywhere as well. Price Glover ‘24 agrees with Moore, saying that scarves are “obviously much more for aesthetic purposes than functionality,” although he would wear a scarf if it “had John Travolta’s face all over it, because that would be fly.” Maybe instead of reaching for your hoodie this Autumn, you could try something new and go for a scarf, they are easy to carry and can elevate your outfit with ease.
Ali Hecker & Zoey Ueland Worn by Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber, the recent resurgence of claw clips is proof that this 90’s trend is here to stay. Claw clips are both functional and fashionable, making them the perfect hairstyle for school.
As seen worn by supermodels Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, fleece zip ups have made their return as a popular fall fashion trend. These cozy fall staples are the perfect versatile way to keep warm as the temperature drops.
Popularized by celebrities such as Hilary Duff, Dakota Johnson, and Kristen Stewart, these clogs have been on the rise since late summer. Perfect for fall, these stylish slippers are sure to keep your feet warm.
Inspired by Hailey Beiber, these pearly chrome nails have been one of the most popular trends of fall 2022. These timeless nails are perfect for any occasion and go with any outfit. People wear them at school all the time.
New Movie “Don’t Worry Darling” Crashes in Theaters Drama between cast is more interesting than plot Mackenzie Higgins | Food Editor
From
an alleged screaing match between director Olivia Wilde and starring actor Florence Pugh, to accusations of Harry Styles spitting on co-star Chris Pine, “Don’t Worry Darling” has captured the media’s attention for Mackenzie Higgins all the wrong reasons. The drama ensued with Cover at the movie theater showcases a plane crash on par with major events and themes of the movie. an interview Wilde gave in
which she said she wanted to make a movie with “good sex” and “female hunger.” In a different interview, Pugh said she wasn’t happy that the movie was being reduced to its sex scenes, which validated fans’ suspicions of tensions between the two. Other drama included Shia LaBeouf’s unexpected departure from the cast and frustration over Styles and Wilde’s alleged “disappearances” from the set. Because of all this attention, I walked into the theater realizing I knew very little about the plot. Even while watching it, this feel-
ing of confusion lingered. In the movie, Alice Chambers (Pugh) is living with her husband, Jack Chambers (Styles), in Victory, an idyllic 1950s era community, when she starts to notice strange occurrences. The first half of the movie consists almost entirely of these occurrences: eggshells that don’t have any eggs inside and walls that collapse on Alice. These short scenes only added shock value, and even though they clued Alice into the lies the community’s leader, Frank (Pine), told her, these events were never truly explained when
Alice uncovered the truth. I wish Alice and Jack’s backstory was better explained rather than a long beginning. As for the sex scenes that Wilde was so proud of, there was no need for them. Rarely do sex scenes ever add substance to movies, and this movie was no different. Furthermore, Wilde’s assertion about creating a movie with empowering sex scenes falls through. With all of the gaslighting, manipulation, and downright abuse of Alice and the other women in Victory, this movie was not empowering. I agree with Pugh on this one.
Snapping Great Pictures: More Than Just Saying Cheese! Rundown of photography class Faith Zhao | Contributing Writer
“S ay
nice capture, instead of nice photograph” explains Brian Sago, the photography teacher Sago has been teaching at Blake Upper School for 13 years. While Sago is teach-
ing, his goal for each of his students is to, “understand photography as an art form.” In the first quarter, Sago teaches his students techniques such as leading lines, dark to light, composure, composition, and more. His class also goes around the school while using his techniques to photograph their surround-
ings. During the second quarter, “[there] will be a concept or a theme and I want you to go do your own thing.” The second quarter has more freedom, and is meant for students to apply what they’ve learned to express themselves in a more creative way. His students enjoy his class very much. Ryan Lee ‘26 says “Pho-
tography has made me more creative whether that comes from taking cooler pictures or using his techniques for pictures in everyday life.” Susan Sonteg, an academic scholar, wrote about the “violence” to photography and how people “take pictures or shoot film.” Sago thinks that this could be related to memory. Sago
explains how photog- ing around us, [being] raphy helps memory, mindful is a good way and that by “taking too to put it” says Sago. many photos you remember less because you are busy ‘clicking, clicking, clicking’ and not letting your brain experience the thing.” This goes to the “less is more” concept. “In Jimmy Hughes a way, photography builds our attenuation For his photography class, Hughes of what is happen- captured a bucket with pebbles.
FOOD | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 5
Trendy Boards Create a Fun, Interactive Eating Experience These boards aren’t just pretty to look at Payton Smith | Contributing Writer
W
Payton Smith
Top: TikTok’s latest trend, the butter board, inspired Payton Smith ‘24 to make her own version. Bottom: Smith also channeled her creativity when putting together a charcuterie board.
hether it’s through Pinterest, TikTok or Instagram, you’ve probably noticed the new trending boards. Despite the different concepts, they all center on one thing: food. The trend takes a wooden board and places a variety of items on it, open for people to pick and choose. The charcuterie board can include a mix of things such as crackers, meats, cheeses, and nuts, while the butter board consists of butter smeared across the wooden board and coated with topping like herbs, honey, etc. If eating was boring before, there’s
no way that still stands. After seeing these boards everywhere for the past few weeks, I needed to try them out for myself, so I spent my Sunday afternoon making (and eating) a butter board and a charcuterie board. Different from my usual dinners, the boards provided a more fun and less traditional approach to eating. The charcuterie board consisted of foods that can be eaten with your hands, which was similar to the methods of the butter board, where rather than spreading butter on bread, it became normal to dip it, providing more efficiency than having to use a knife. After making these boards and reading reviews on social media, I’ve determined why these boards have been trending. They offer a simpler way to eat
and provide options so that you’re not sticking with one thing. It’s like putting a bunch of snacks together to form a meal. Even with the butter board, I used a variety of herbs and breads to make each bite a little bit different. Not only do these boards allow for something new, they also open up the field to creativity. Charcuterie boards have been around for a while, but not many people thought to take it any further than that, until the butter board. Once the butter board appeared, many more variations followed and making your own board became an activity almost as fun as eating it. I highly encourage you to explore a trendy board on your own and I hope that you enjoy it just as much as I did!
Dining at New Restaurant Macanda is Not Worth the Dollars Ambiance, experience do not rectify high prices Kate Rekas | Staff Writer
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acanda, a new restaurant on Lake Minnetonka that serves “an eclectic mix of global flavors in a traditional Mexican structure,” didn’t disappoint. However, after seeing the sizable check, I realized the dinner didn’t match the restaurant’s high prices. If you are looking for a lively atmosphere, gorgeous lakeshore view, mocktails (or cocktails for those of age), and a little bit of spice, Ma-
canda might be the splurge for you. The interior decor falls in line with the cuisine, featuring a nod to Latin American design styles, except with a more tonal color palette. The design includes a Mexican-style tile floor, light wood furniture pieces, as well as a bounty of greenery nestled in painted clay planters. It feels as if you’ve walked into a tropical South American beach resort. The restaurant was far from crowded, the service was excellent, and we had paid the check only after an hour. The passion fruit mocktail was fantastic, but with two icebergs and no booze for a whopping eight
dollars, the pour could’ve been more generous. For starters, we ordered chips with salsa and guacamole and the corn panzanella. The chips were generously portioned, but were far too salty, overpowering the three salsa trio (which had some kick) and delicious guac. The corn panzanella was similarly generous in portion size, and was a delightfully fresh dish with crisp textures and refreshing flavors. Next, for the main event, the tacos. We ordered the tempura shrimp tacos and grilled carne asada tacos. Each came with only two average-sized tacos, which was disappointing consider-
ing the $15-20 price. The tacos tasted great, were easy to eat, had a bit of spiciness, but didn’t blow us out of the water. Finally, while I was disappointed that there were no churros on the menu, we ordered the chocolate trifle. The dessert resembled a chocolate mousse of sorts, a more deconstructed trifle, with cream, cookie crumbles, and pineapple garnishing it. A perfect sharing size, the dessert was rich and creamy, but again, relatively expensive. In the end, diners must decide whether or not Macanda’s perfectly respectable food and ambiance is worth the splurge.
Kate Rekas
Macanda is on 294 Grove Lane East in Wayzata. Macanda’s creators also run another popular restaurant in Wayzata, Josephina.
Power Bowls Supplement Lunch Easy Apple Cider to Warm You Up New station gives students further food options Sofia Perlman | Sci-Tech Editor
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Cleo Kilpatrick
Abbott Spiller ‘24 builds himself a power bowl featuring spiral pasta and ground pork with red sauce.
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his year, Taher Corporate Chef Chris Loew brought the Power Bowl Station to the lunchroom. Located in between the two main lunch lines, the station offers an entirely different meal than what is on the menu for the day. It includes rice, some sort of protein such as tofu or chicken, and a vegetable like broccoli or green beans. Chef Mike Jost explains that “It’s all formulated to have a certain amount of grams of protein,” which is why the station uses small bowls rather than plates. Similar to the main meal, the food at the Power Bowl Station varies each day, ranging from Korean beef to pork and beans. Jost states that, “The idea is just to have…something else that is interesting and that is healthy.”
Many appreciate the added option of the station, Ellie Schifman ‘24 states, “I think the Power Bowl Station is nice because it gives you an extra option for what kind of food you want to eat if you don’t want to eat the main food option.” Yet, the Power Bowl Station is not unanimously loved, Frankie Vorbrich ‘24 says, “I don’t like the power bowl station because it replaced soup, and I really like soup.” However, Jost says that the lunchroom is planning on reintroducing soup to the daily menu “once it gets colder.” I believe one area that can be improved is the variety within the Power Bowl Station options as the food offered can become repetitive from day to day. But overall, the Power Bowl Station provides students with increased variety for their lunches by expanding the options beyond the salad bar, sandwiches, and the main meal, something that should be greatly appreciated by the student body.
How to spice up your store-bought drink Cleo Kilpatrick | Photo Editor
I
t’s that time of year, the leaves are reddish orange
and the weather is a little brisker. This is the perfect time of year for apple cider. This warm flavor filled drink reminds my taste buds of fall and pairs perfectly with any other fall treats. It also tastes great in the morning or at night! My favorite thing to
do is buy apple cider from the grocery store and then add my own spices and enhance the apple flavor. I like my apple cider to have a strong cinnamon taste so by adding cinnamon sticks and apple slices it gives the cider a nice zing!
< > < RECIPE < > < Ingredients:
Cleo Kilpatrick
Instructions:
3 cups store-bought apple cider 3 cinnamon sticks 1 apple, sliced 1 pinch of ginger for more spice
Pour the apple cider into a smallish sauce pan and put the rest of the ingredients in with it. Let it sit for about 20 minutes on medium high heat. Then it’s ready to serve! Super easy and delicious. Enjoy!
SPORTS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 6
Fall Attendance for Girls’ Sports on The Rise Jason Rotenberg
Students cheer for their peers Georgia Wilson | Contributing Writer
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all is a popular time for sports, especially for girls. This year, female athletes have the opportunities to play sports such as volleyball, cross country, tennis, soccer, and
swim & dive. During homecoming season especially, attendance for these sports grew. Saleya Scott ‘25 has been to a significant number of girls sporting events. Scott states “I’ve attended girls’ volleyball [and] girls’ soccer.” JV soccer player Jojo Arlowe ‘25 also has gone to certain sporting events
and intends to go to more in the future. Arlowe states, “I think I’m going to go to the varsity girls [soccer] first playoff game.” Arlowe further explains, “I might choose to go if I have friends on the team or if it’s a sport that I really enjoy watching.” It’s no surprise that Arlowe enjoys attend-
ing various girls sporting events. When asked if she likes sporting events in general, Arlowe responded, “I’m a big [Minnesota] Gophers fan and [Minnesota] Wild fan, and my friend brought me to a [Minnesota] Loons game twice so that was fun.” She further states, “[Blake girls sports are] similar to professional sports just at
a smaller level…so it’s good to get out there and support [these student athletes].” In contrast, sporting events are not up everyone’s alley. Usman Mallick ‘24 has a valid explanation for why he, and other people, may not attend girls sporting events. Mallick explains, “I just don’t have time with swimming
and extracurriculars, as well as homework, to add a sporting event on top of that.” Although not everyone can make it to these games, it’s no surprise that girls sporting events are popular amongst the Blake community. With all of their skilled players, it makes the events very enjoyable to watch.
Girls’ Swim Coach Quits Mid-Season, New Coach Recently Hired Practice difficulty increases, team stays strong Max Yousha | Staff Writer
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fter almost 5 seasons as the Girls’ Swim and Dive coach and two as the C Squad Tennis coach, Luke Johnson has moved on from the team. Johnson left the team in September, midway through the season due to a job offer as the head coach for
the Reno Aquatics Club in Nevada. The girls were sad that he had to leave, but it opened up the opportunity for Damon Carrison to come and coach the team. Carrison started coaching the girls after Johnson’s departure. He comes from a strong background in coaching girls and boys swim teams, as he coaches the Wayzata boys’ swim team in the winter and used to coach Benilde girls for around 20 years. With a new coach
comes a new coaching style. Coach Carrison’s coaching style differs greatly from former coach Johnson’s. Captain Molly Seidel ‘24 notices that, “the practice schedule is different… there is also more yardage [to swim] at practices.” Co-captain Ivy Besikof ‘23 agrees with Seidel, saying that “the biggest difference is the difficulty of practices, he definitely kicked it up a notch. He made it a little more difficult with higher yardage.”
The ramp up in the difficulty of Carrison’s practice style compared to Johnson’s isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Besikof observes that “it isn’t a bad difficulty increase in my opinion.” According to the captains, aside from the harder practices, Carrison hasn’t changed the chemistry between the girls. Seidel expresses that, “the team has stayed pretty consistent. We’re a close group of girls so we’ve kind of just kept our momentum.”
Besikof supports that statement by saying “I don’t think there’s such a big difference in our environment, we’ve always had a strong
bond.” Clearly this group of girls has maintained good relationships with one another, regardless of coaching changes, ready to swim.
Oscar Walsh
Carrison coaches from the sideline during an intriguing meet on October 12 against the Hopkins Girls’ Swim Team.
Girls’ Volleyball Ending an Era Mystery Athlete: October Issue Many seniors in their final season upon graduation Oscar Walsh | Opinions Editor
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he girls’ volleyball regular season came to an end in mid October, as six seniors took to the final games of the season for their last moments on court in their high school careers. No players graduated last season, so the current
seniors have led the team in past years and hope to lead the team to success in sections. The girls faced historically strong conference matchups like Minnehaha Academy and Providence Academy, but the large group of seniors were hopeful to leave a positive impact on the talented underclassmen. Senior and captain Evie Doran ‘23 explains the team dynamic compared to last season, “[We] have a new group
Submitted By: Eva Stegic
The girls’ volleyball team huddles up, discussing their gameplan with one another before they carry on with the game.
of talented underclassmen that are improving the team, and I feel like we can be more competitive this year because we didn’t graduate any seniors last year.” The team defeated St. Paul Academy by winning every set in both of their matchups this season. This is Doran’s sixth year. She has gotten to know the core players very well, “We’ve spent more time together, as the core group of seniors, getting better and working together.” The girls are hopeful that the close community they have created can find success in the postseason. They regularly create themes for the players to wear at school on each home game day, and they regularly shows spirit and support each other on game days. The team grew with a talented group of underclassmen this year. Senior and captain Lily Erlandson ‘23 hopes, “[The team] continues the team spirit… and trying to get to know everyone on the team.” It is also Erlandson’s sixth and final year. The team, led by their many seniors, won their final regular season match against Richfield 3 to 1. Now they hope to do well at sections and end on a high note.
Can you guess this studentathlete? Max Yousha | Staff Writer
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his month’s mystery athlete has an important role on the Wolfpack Football Team that usually goes unnoticed. He is the kicker for the team and hits crucial field goals that help boost the score. As an athlete, he plays multiple sports, including football, basketball, and baseball. This athlete points out the importance of being a multi-sport athlete by relating his kicking ability to playing soccer. He states, “I used to play soccer when I was younger so I figured that I would try out for kicker in 9th grade… flash forward to today, and I have been the varsity kicker for the past two seasons.” This athlete used his athletic talent from former sports to be the great kicker he is today. What he likes most about kicking is, “The power to change the momentum of a game with just one kick.” This goes back to the fact that being a kicker is an underrated role on the football team, as one kick can win a game or change the momentum. At practices, this athlete works on his kicks; “I
usually spend most of my time working on field goals or kickoffs.” As a kicker, consistency is key, and this athlete exemplifies the importance of practicing his kicks every day so that come game day, he can hit his kicks automatically and possibly win or change the momentum of the game. This athlete’s teammate Tyler Vandersall ‘24 comments that, “He tries to help out a lot at practice. Even though he’s only a kicker, he does other stuff
to help out the offense and the defense… tries to just volunteer wherever he can. Really supportive too, and just a fun guy to be around.” Overall, this athlete demonstrates that along with his talent and usefulness as a kicker, he is also an amazing teammate and someone his teammates want to constantly be surronded by. Can you guess this month’s mystery athlete? Find out on blakespectrum.org!
Jason Rotenberg
A spectacular kick from this month’s athlete during the Homecoming game helps the team on their way to victory.
SPORTS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 7
Fall Sports Athletes Look Back at Season Highs and Lows Girls’ Soccer Wolfpack learn Ultimate Frisbee Boys’ Soccer Cross Country stays positive lessons from sea- enjoys fall warm- look ahead to the has bright future throughout season son up season future ahead
Girls’ Tennis sends controverisal duo to state
Amelia Bush | Managing Editor
Mackenzie Higgins | Food Editor
Jack Ulland | Contributing Writer
Jack Ulland | Contributing Writer
Jack Ulland | Contributing Writer
Steven Cao and Tarun Gopalakrishnan | Contributing Writers
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s the soccer season comes to a close, Jules Noteboom ‘23 looked back on her season. Their regular season ended with three wins, 12 losses and two ties. Noteboom commented that her favorite memory was, “Probably just laughing with [her] teammates over [their] many losses.” Grace Gullickson ‘24’s favorite moment from the season was beating Mounds Park Academy. Gullickson stated that “It was really fun to beat MPA 7 to 1 because it really boosted our confidence a lot. We weren’t having the best season and so that helped us a lot.” Next season, Gullickson is “looking forward to a better season because this season was better than last season so then maybe next season will be even better.” Noteboom advised that “we have to stay positive through the wins and the losses. Especially in my senior season, appreciate every moment even if it’s not what you wanted it to be.”
e have to keep moving forward,” says Grady Rannow ‘24, one of SMB Wolfpack’s defensive backs. Rannow emphasizes the importance of the team’s “next man up mentality,” explaining that the team needs to push forward despite the many setbacks that the team has faced, including multiple starting players who sustained season ending injuries. Regardless of some of the difficulties they have encountered, The Wolfpack has still had a lot of success this season. Their final regular season record stands at 4-3. Stephan Gufstafson ‘24, an SMB linebacker, said a highlight of the season was “scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt against DeLaSalle.” Gustafson adds that the biggest lesson he’s learned this season is that “the coach is always right.” Using this lesson and the many others they have learned this season, The Wolfpack hopes to carry momentum into their future games so they can keep pushing forward in the postseason tournament.
Submitted by: Grace Gullickson
Kai Capistrant
he Ultimate Frisbee season has been going strong this year, and everyone is having plenty of fun playing. Looking back on the season so far, Aidan Atmore ‘26 has some reflections on his rookie season on the team. According to Atmore, “Our team is dominating.” He also notes that they have gone 5-1, and that “we have good spirit, we work well together on the field, we pass, we catch, we play ultimate frisbee.” For weaknesses of the team, Atmore says that 9th graders were one of the weaknesses, including himself, but he says that “some strengths have been that the captains have been just great at teaching the new players and I think we have accelerated exponentially.” Looking back on the season, he says that Hopkins was his favorite team to play because “they were so easy to beat, because they suck.” Overall, Atmore was very positive about his season so far on the team and it seems to be a fun team to be on!
Submitted by: Jonah Yousha
oys’ soccer had a very rocky season, and Max Vezmar ‘26 provided some reflections after his first season on varsity. “We had kind of a bad start to the season, but we are looking to redeem that in the playoffs” says Vezmar. With a 3-11-2 finish, Vezmar said “we had a lot of quality, we played well, but we just didn’t get results in the game.” In addition, he highlighted a strength of the team, being that “we still have the passion to go on to win,” a good trait for the postseason, he says that a weakness would be “experience, or age, because the players that are playing right now are still new to being a team. One of Vezmar’s favorite teams to play this season was Minnehaha Academy, because “they were one of the most competitive teams we played, and both matches we played with them got pretty intense.” Altogether, Vezmar was pretty happy with where the team is currently and they will certainly come back better next year.
Nick Witzke
oth cross country teams are gearing up for sections and looking ahead to state as the season nears its end. While the team is getting ready, Seth Flikke ‘24 shares some reflections on how the regular season has gone for his team. “I’ve really been enjoying [the season], It has probably been my favorite season to be in so far.” He also says that they have good captains and “even if you’re not a captain, you can still be a leader.” After all the regular season races, Flikke says his favorite was “probably our Gale Woods meet, which is a lot of fun, it’s a good course, everyone ran super fast.” Flikke added that their “strong middle school presence” is a strength and that they have “an 8th grader, and three 7th [graders] that are all super fast and varsity level which is great because I was a little scared going into the season about how well our varsity team would be performing.” The team looks to be prepared for a good run at the section and even state levels. They have a bright future ahead.
Submitted by: Will Eckes
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s the weather gets chilly in October, the end of the Girls tennis season is here. Although the Blake Girls Tennis team did not qualify for the State Tournament, they still had a great season, falling to a tough Edina team in the Section Finals. At the end of the season, after the team section competition, each school chooses two singles players, and two doubles teams to send to the Individual Section Tournament. This provides players the opportunity to qualify for the State Tournament as an individual or duo. Head coach Mike Ach sent Blake’s first and second singles Allyson Jay ‘23 and Nana Vang ‘24 to the section tournament as a doubles team, and they eventually qualified for the State tournament in doubles. Vang is pumped for the State Tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center at the U of M as she looks forward to improving her result this year from a consolation champion finish last year. “We can definitely make a better run this year,” Vang stated.
Annika Johnson
Girls’ Basketball Team Loses Majority of Roster, Still Optimistic Most of varisty move on as captains search Gabi Marmet | Arts and Culture Editor
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ith only three returning Varsity players for Girls Basketball, the team is searching for new players to join the team in hopes for a great season. The
Anna Craig
program has lost 13 seniors who went to college, almost all of the varsity players. They also lost their coach in the offseason. The new head coach for varsity is Nisha Fisher, and the team is excited to see how the season will go with her. The captains are Catherine Hardy ‘23, Naima Michael-Crushshon ‘25, and Charley Bowles ‘26, and they are planning to have a fun and successful season. Hardy has been playing basketball since first grade, and started play-
ing at Blake her freshman year. In all of her years at Blake, girls basketball hasn’t been the most successful, but there are records of past teams in the gym which allude to it being a very successful sport. In order to promote basketball, Hardy explains, “[I] and the other two captains, [Bowles] and [Michael Crushshon], have been trying to [find] people in the Blake community who have basketball experience, or none, it doesn’t matter, and sort of recruit them for the team.” The captains have
come to the conclusion that in order to find more players on the team, they must not be afraid to go up to students they don’t know who they have heard play. The captains are excited to begin the new year and have high hopes for the upcoming season, with their returning varsity players with lots of skills as well as their new varsity players. Hardy says, “We do have to spend and invest some time in rebuilding the program, getting numbers, things like that. But, I do have hopes
that we can competitively play and compete in games.” Hardy also mentions that the captains are making plans for bonding events, “Create like fun sort of events to do during the year to make it more fun, I guess, and more sort of meaningful games.” There were open gyms throughout the mownth of October and some more are coming this month, followed by the captains’ practices and the regular season, which starts on November 29 at Saint Agnes School.
INDEPTH | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 8
HOME GARDENS: ENVIRONM POLLINATOR GARDENS REVIVE SPECIES Bugs are frequent flyers in gardens made for them Ani Bhardwaj | Contributing Writer
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ccording to the National Pollinator Garden Network, “Pollinators are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food we take each day, and yet pollinators are at a critical point in their own survival… more nectar and pollen sources provided by more flowering plants and trees
will help improve their health and numbers. Increasing the number of pollinator-friendly gardens and landscapes will help revive the health of bees, butterflies, birds, bats and other pollinators across the country.” Pollinator gardens are gardens that focus on promoting pollination and native species. Freshman Grade Dean Jen Vance who has two pollinator gardens says, “In my neighborhood in Minneapolis, there have been a lot of boulevard gar-
dens, and I do see monarch butterflies and lots and lots of different bees and so when I planted my boulevard garden I stuck to mostly natives and than put in some annuals that also attract pollinators just to provide a pollinator oasis.” These gardens bring about all sorts of wildlife to the backyard from hummingbirds to bees and interesting bugs. The wildlife scattered throughout the garden provides fun and interesting sights to see throughout the year, just
from your bedroom window. Pollinator gardens are beautiful ways to support the environment. They even help with saving water, Vance says that “Native plants tend to have deeper roots so it helps to conserve water down into the soil table.” One of her gardens was funded by a grant from the Minnesota Board of Water Soil Resources. Plants in Vance’s gardens include zigzag goldenrod, milkweed, giant hyssop, and asters.
THE BEN
stress
connection ear All photos submitted by: Jen Vance
In the top left, a monarch butterfly is seen landing on Vance’s Joe Pye Weed plant. The top right picture depicts Vance’s front lawn filled with light-colored flowers and luscious green plants. The bottom left shows Zig Zag Goldenrod’s small, yellow flower heads. In the bottom right, a Black Swallowtail butterfly lands on Monarda, yet another one of Vance’s plants in her vast pollinator garden.
PLANTS AS GIFTS BRING CONNECTION
Allyson Jay
Allyson Jay
Anatomy teacher Jim Arnold gave Jen Vance a plant earlier this year. Arnold states the reasoning behind this gift, explaining, “They were on our deck, we have lots of plants on our deck, and at the end of the year, some of them
that my wife thinks will survive inside we bring them inside. And we’ve been pretty successful with this. However, there’s a limit to how many plants we can have. So, she said, ‘Why don’t you take these to school and give
them to somebody?’... They are succulents. They require a fair amount of water and light, which they normally get on my deck. So hopefully they can make the transition to inside. I don’t know the names, there are four or five different kinds, they’re all succulents but I’m not versed enough to tell you what they are. It’s a container plant, which is very cool.” Arnold and Vance have a special connection through gardening and planting. Arnold continues, “Ms. Vance and I have talked together since I’ve been here and she loves plants, I know that, so I knew she would love one. A random act of kindness!”
learn abou
eat clean, hea
INDEPTH | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 9
MENTAL, HEALTH BENEFITS MACKENZIE MCILMAIL’S FLOWER GARDEN A question & answer
NEFITS:
Ali Hecker | Opinions Editor
What inspired you to have a garden? So I spent most of my twenties living in really congested cities and apartments and for a while I lived in a boarding school with twenty teenage girls in my house and so I always wanted to have a garden so when I moved to the Twin Cities and bought a house in saint paul, all of a sudden I had all this land to play with and I was just so excited to experiment and my sons love helping me in the garden which is super cute and teaches them all sorts of things.
s relief
How long have you had a garden for? This will be the fourth year we had the garden, every year is something different. We usually do a lot of herbs and the rest is just flowers and we like to cook a lot in our family so we do a lot of basil and thyme and oregano and rosemary, all of which smell amaz-
n with the rth
ing. And then the flowers, we’re always experimenting and waging you know, like a family battle against the rabbits that live in our yard, it’s like something out of a childrens’ book. Yeah, so we grow hydrangeas and peonies and tulips and irises and in season, we’ll grow mums. We’re trying to get more into the Minnesota indigenous plants, but honestly I don’t know what I’m doing because I’m not from here. I grew up mostly in the South where you have a really long growing season and things are really warm all the time and here the growing season is so short so I’m trying to familiarize myself with what the heck I’m doing. I came from North Carolina where it’s not unusual in North Carolina to still see flowering plants in November and so here, everything is dead by then and then also the growing season starts in March whereas in Minnesota, the last frost date is May 10th, so you can’t even put things in the ground or outside until May 10th. So, by then, it’s a weird feeling, it’s like you’re planting almost in summer, so I’ve
had to learn a lot. What is the maintenance like for your garden? Some plants are really low maintenance in the Twin Cities, for example, peonies are really low maintenance, the only thing you really have to worry about
is that sometimes, the plant will get so heavy it will fall over, you’ve probably seen them on the ground. I so you have to like use a bunch of different types of fertilizers and stuff like that to get that color so that’s more maintenance intense.
All photos submitted by: Allyson Jay
A backyard garden is filled with salvia (purple plants), lady’s mantle, cat mint, and eastern redbud trees. These plants thrive in the summer and spring as they’re speckled with bumblebees and butterflies.
FOOD GARDENS PROVIDE FRESHNESS Benefits outweight the work, manual labor Sam Tomczik | News Editor
“E
verything tastes better off of the vine or the stem,” explains Ellie Schifman ‘24, which is why she, along with other community members, recommends food gardens. Schifman continues, “It’s not only better to eat food from the garden, but [over time] it becomes cheaper too.” Additionally, Schifman notes the differences in taste between store-bought and homegrown produce: “A lot of people say they
ut nature
don’t like tomatoes, but I feel like they just have to try one fresh.” Schifman and her family tend to grow various fruits such as strawberries and raspberries, vegetables such as kale and cucumbers, in addition to a plethora of herbs. As for her inspiration, “My mom… is in charge of the [garden] and she cares a lot about organic food and growing our own food.” Jim Spector also enjoys growing homegrown produce. In addition to the crops mentioned by Schifman, Spector tends “cantaloupe, beets, eggplant, pepper, potatoes, garlic…, squash, broccoli, … Brussel sprouts,” and more. His inspiration to get involved
with gardening was both that “it’s easy and I can enjoy the food.” However, not everyone has been as fruitful as Spector and Schifman when it comes to home-food gardens. Art teacher Bill Colburn ‘88 cites difficulties with “tending to the vegetables, weeding, etc, so in the end [his] garden has not been very happy.” Colburn notes the time and labor that it takes to properly grow produce, saying, “you need to be able to devote time to it, a little bit each day every day.” Schifman adds that “There’s harvesting and then every year my mom gets organic compost soil which helps them grow
better. There’s also weeding and taking off the dead parts.” In lieu of fruits and vegetables, Colburn encourages more people to grow herbs, explaining that, “herbs are always easier, and I use them all the time.” As for the carrots, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins and other vegetables he grows he finds that, “A lot of things come up and they just don’t [succeed].” Despite his own difficulties with growing food, Colburn still urges people to try gardening food for themselves, claiming, “it’s good for your psyche, to connect with the earth, it’s important.” “If you like to eat your own food, why not [build a garden]” says Spector.
althy, organic Julia Zhang
All photos submitted by: Ellie Schifman
To the right, Schifman’s basil plant bathes in sunlight along with a large variety of other plants and flowers. To the left, Schifman’s tomatoes are seen thriving in abundance with their leafy green stems. It is important for tomatoes to be grown in the warm sun.
GAMES & ADS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 10
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Oscar Walsh | Opinions Editor
8)*-*%&-*%9%$":*-*#2*+7
WUZZLES Allyson Jay | In-Depth Editor
WORDS OF ADVICE:HALLOWEEN Charlotte Opp | Creative Director
“Make sure your costume is both warm and comfortable.” - Maddie Newhouse ‘24 “Dress up for costume day at school.” - Sara Costa ‘23
“Go all out with your costume.” Jules Notebom ‘23
“Get candy that’s both good and cheap.” James Thornton ‘25 !"#$%&''%()*%&#+,*-+%.#%/'&0*+1*2(-345.-67
SCI-TECH & HEALTH | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 11
Caffeine Effects Nervous System Computer Science Classes Innovate New department boasts lengthy waitlist
Caffeinated beverages generate conflicting ideas
Zoey Ueland | Managing Editor
Amelia Bush | Managing Editor
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ne of the most common phrases I hear throughout my day is “Amelia, stop drinking Starbucks. You have a problem.” But I always beg to differ, which leads to the question: What does caffeine actually do? According to healthline.com, too much caffeine can lead to jitters, rapid heartbeats, irritability, and headaches. Withdrawal can also cause headaches as well as anxiety, irritability and a rapid heartbeat. Healthline states that the reason for this is “The blood vessels in your brain become used to caffeine’s effects so if you suddenly stop consuming caffeine, it can cause a headache.” The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that around 80%
Amelia Bush
Goodwin arrives to her morning math class with a Celsius in hand, something she enjoys drinking each day.
of U.S adults consume some form of caffeine daily. If the symptoms and withdrawal effects are so bad, why do people drink caffeine whether it’s coffee or an energy drink? Zoe Goodwin ‘24 drinks Celsius (an energy drink that contains around 200mg of caffeine) and comments that “I think it helps me focus and I just feel more energized and ready for the day.” According to Harvard’s school of public
health, “Naturally occurring polyphenols in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can act as antioxidants to reduce damaging oxidative stress and inflammation of cells. It may have neurological benefits in some people and act as an antidepressant.” While not good in large doses, caffeine’s benefits can be greater if consumed in moderation and for students, the benefits seem to outweigh the harm.
Cold Symptoms Hit Hard Students feel surge in illnesses Tara Reddy | Contributing Writer
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uring the month of September, a large number of students fell ill. Rossalyn Moore ‘25 was one out of many students that got sick last month, having symptoms within the second week of school. Some of her symptoms included a cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion. Moore says she “[thinks] it was from a bug going around the school because everyone had it at the exact same time.” The upper school is not the only campus suffering from a surge of colds, as Moore’s brother who goes to the Middle School also had the same symptoms, along with many other stu-
dents in his grade. Moore states that this sickness lasted about two weeks, and that “usually [her] sickness wears off after like a few days,” so this was not a normal cold for her. Biology teacher and 9th grade dean Jen Vance said that several students had COVID-19 during this time, and that it might have been a “stomach illness or
ach issue can get passed pretty easily.” Vance says that in her experience, it is not uncommon that people get sick in school this time of year. Although it seems the school has reached the tailend of this outbreak, it is important that we take preventative measures to ensure that this does not happen again. Vance rec-
ince 2013, Blake has welcomed computer science as a course integral to students’ learning. However, for much of the time it has been on the backburner relative to other STEM courses, Department Chair Madeline Burton ‘07 reflects that when she went to Blake, “I didn’t know that computer science existed.” But, how times have changed. Now, Sarah Hasday Erbsen ‘24 exclaims, “[Ap Computer Science Principles] is a very selective class, everyone wants to be in it.” This past year Burton created, and subsequently became the head of, the computer science department. Sydney Dorvill ‘23 a student in AP Computer Science Principles explains, “It’s probably one of my favorite classes if not my favorite one. Ms. Burton’s great, she’s super smart, has a bunch of degrees and she does a really good job of teaching us.” Burton’s inspiration for the department came from her own educational experience both at Blake and later during college, “One of the things that I think is really important
about the highschool education is the opportunity to explore and become curious and find out more about things you look and things you’re curious about and that just felt like an opportunity that was missing for students.” Currently, 5 classes are offered at the Upper school: Intro to Computer Science, AP Computer Science Principles, Intro to Computer Pro-
something for someone for some purpose so that you’re thinking about who is the user, what empathy do I have for those people, why do people want what I’m creating?” Past examples have included collaboration with The Bachman Museum. Computer science revolves around far more than code, Erbsen explains, “the [New York Times] doesn’t make your
Oscar Walsh
Burton states that she was first drawn to computer science “to practice problem solving in a creative way; looking at things and figuring out how they fit together.”
gramming, AP Java, and Software Design. The introduction classes are offered one semester each and Burton alternates between teaching the two APs year by year to give students a broader learning experience. Software design prompts students to collaborate on one project throughout the year. Burton notes that the class urges students to, “design
money, actually, selling subscriptions, they make it selling data…I think the class is so important just so you understand how your data gets sold because we’re in the digital age.” As a whole, the department branches STEM with creative arts with an emphasis on problem solving and, of course, the technology of the future.
Monkeypox News Disappears Discussion of virus fades Kaining Zhang | Contributing Writer
O a cold.” Vance explains that “one of the things that happens is that we’re away from each other all summer, and then we all come back together… or teams start practicing again… and things like colds or a stom-
ommends that students continue proper hand washing and not sharing food or drink. She also asks that students stay home when they are sick to take care of themselves, or to wear a mask if comfortable.
ver the summer, the news was filled with stories on Monkeypox. Now, it is seldom spoken about. Monkeypox (MPXV) is a viral disease that spread starting in May 2022. The primary symptom in people who have MPXV is a rash located on part of their body that lasts for 2-4 weeks, as well as flu-like symptoms. MPXV can be spread through any close or intimate contact.
Melody Lee
MPXV isn’t showing up in the news anymore, which may be because the vaccine is effective. A study by the WHO (World Health Association) says that the smallpox vaccine can be used to combat MPXV, and was shown to be 85% effective. Compared to the COVID-19
mRNA vaccine, which is 68% effective, and the influenza vaccine, which is 4060% effective, the vaccine is pretty effective, which is a factor to the disappearance of MPXV.
Continued on blakespectrum.org
Organization Tools Prove Vital For Managing School Work Helpful strategies to stay on track
Lauren Armstrong ‘25 utilizes Canvas to its fullest in order to
stay on top of her work, saying, “the calendar and module sections of each
Sonia Lerner | Staff Writer
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s the school year is now in full swing, the need for organization and time management are at their highest. With so many options available, both online and in hand, the possibilities of organizing your schoolwork are endless.
Evie Doran
Doran employs a handwritten list in a planner to stay organized, commenting that she “just prefer[s] that to typing.”
class are really helpful to me.” Armstrong adds that she especially likes how easy-access Canvas is, with the ability to have the app on your phone. However, like any system, Canvas isn’t perfect. Errors with the calendar view top the list of flaws for Armstrong: “I don’t like how sometimes assignments won’t pop up on the calendar, and sometimes that’s not a teacher’s fault.” Overall, Armstrong says that Canvas, “really
helps with getting stuff done on time.” Students may choose to utilize means other than Canvas to stay up to date. Evie Doran ‘23 adds a planner into the mix in order to keep track of her schoolwork. Although she still uses Canvas as well, Doran explains that her planner “is helpful to make a list for what [she] needs to do in a night.” She adds that the physicality of the planner and actually writing
things out is what really helps her. “It sticks better in my mind when I get to physically write things down.” Like any system, there are some downfalls to carrying around a physical planner. Doran mentions: “I guess [my planner] kind of just hangs out in my backpack, and sometimes I forget about it.” Doran ends by saying, “I think everyone should find their own system that works for them.”
OPINIONS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 13
Voting For A Policy, More Important Than Voting For Your Friends Popularity voting affects long term results Bennett Wieland | Contributing Writer
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s the CJB and Forum Elections were happening, I noticed a strange (but common) phenomenon occur: voting by popularity. I know there’s something to be said for the popular vote and the people’s choice, but when it comes to government – student or federal, popularity should not (but does) take precedence over policy. The classic stereotype of a hopeful student representative is a candidate who makes promises such as “banning homework,”
“lengthening lunch,” and many more outlandishly unrealistic claims. It bears repeating that this is not the ideal candidate as it is improbable they will follow through on their claims. Social media is an effective means to spread a lot of information to a large audience in a short amount of time. Keeping this in mind, how does this apply to elections? The qualities of a non-efficient candidate are often looked upon as comedy. It’s like studying for a Geometry test versus procrastinating and playing Minecraft. You feel good doing one in the long term and the other provides short term satisfaction. Elections are the same. Which candidate and
Melody Lee
what politics will be best in the long term? The next time you, a parent, or anyone you know is voting in any capacity, think of
your future self and reflect on your past opinions. As high schoolers, our brains are developing faster than a flock of freshmen rush-
ing to second lunch, so our values change on a daily basis. It’s important to remember the pace in which our opinions change when
voting. What you believe is funny or cool one day is going to seem cringy the next. It’s vital to vote for people who you think will have an actual positive impact on the school, not for someone who will accept bribes to change policies, bail their friends out of penalties and repercussions, and overall, get nothing done other than furthering their own agenda, rather than what’s best for their constituents. Voting for a candidate who shares your values will not only benefit your classmates, but also you. Voting for the candidate who enacts change creates a sense of pride. Vote for your values, and don’t let anyone else try to tell you not to.
Rants and Raves: Fall Edition
Zoey Ueland | Managing Editor
Rave #1: Rustica In search of the perfect backdrop to complete work, study, and feel like Rory Gilmore during fall? Rustica is your answer. Rustica has two locations: one on West Lake Street (my preference) and the second in Southdale. The cafe is cozy with lots of seating, ample amounts of workspace and outlets, and arguably the best homework playlist ever. While they sell out of pastries fairly early in the mornings, their butter croissants are unbeatable. The environment is stimulating and pleasant, making it the perfect place to tick off your increasingly large canvas calendar.
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ines and the waits they create frequently pose a challenging moral dilemma: whether or not to budge those who are patiently waiting their turn. The benefits of quickly sneaking in front of a line include saving the time and energy which lines often deplete. However, cutting lines comes with the cons of causing your rule-abiding peers to wait longer, moral indecency, and on occasion, public shame.
Rant #2: Coffee in the Cafeteria
Rave #2: Farmers Markets
Coffee in the cafeteria is on the decline. Too many times I come to school in need of caffeine only to be disappointed that the only options to mask the flavor of burnt coffee are half and half creamer and generic sugar. This station is not in line with modern offerings. Where are the iced lattes? Where is the cold brew? Even french vanilla creamer would cut it, which too many times is gone by the time I make my way downstairs.
I love a good farmers market. Flowers, dogs, beautiful fruits, vegetables and pastries: farmers’ markets truly are heaven on earth. A favorite farmer’s market stand of mine is Soloman’s Bakery. Their chocolate croissant is to die for; I mean it is literally a butter croissant filled with chocolate ganache. I could cry just thinking about it. Autumn marks the beginning of the end for farmer’s markets which are the perfect way to enjoy the changing weather, sunshine and falling leaves.
Rant #1: Decreasing Sunlight in Fall As the sunlight seeps through the orange, red and yellow leaves I can’t help but adore fall and its rapid changing of the once humid season. Yet, one thing prevents this from being an otherwise perfect season: the fact that we miss most of it. The decreasing sunlight casts a depressing shadow and makes each day seem shorter than the last.
Cutting lines leads to embarrasment, shame The line of cars waiting to turn left onto Kenwood Parkway before school creates a particularly enticing opportunity to budge, as the consequences of waiting often result in a tardy. Despite this repercussion, many chose to wait in line as they realize how cutting in front would disadvantage their peers, forcing them to wait longer. This can result in their tardiness due to the selfish action of budging.
Cutting the left turn lane line through the Parade Ice Garden parking lot also comes with the potential risk of not being let back into the line of cars, and the sure risk of your peers seeing your inconsiderate maneuver. In fact, many who chose to wait in line do so due to the embarrassing nature of waiting to be let back into the line. That said, in unique situations where tardies are not an option, such as an
8:00 a.m. math final, unrighteous measures, such as cutting the left turn lane, become more righteous. A simple solution does exist to this otherwise unfortunate predicament: getting to school early. Office hours, FLEX, and clubs offer various ways to pass the time before classes start. If an earlier morning routine does not sound appealing, then the long wait to turn left is your option. Lunch lines
repeatedly create another delay during the school day. Not only do they move inexplicably slow, but their wait times can be exponentially agonizing if you are hungry amd unwilling to eat something offered at a shorter line (a situation that many students often find themselves in). For the lunch lines, however, budging is a special rite of passage. As each grade rises in seniority throughout their time at the Upper School,
they gain the privilege to budge those younger than them. Despite efforts to cut out lunch line budging, for many students, the benefits of budging are just too enticing. This social norm allows budging upperclassmen to defy any moral baggage that would otherwise accompany budging the line. However, moral and social shame is still brought to underclassmen who budge the lunch line.
For more opinions articles, go to BlakeSpectrum.org
OPINIONS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 13
Biden Reviews Legislation Upon New Opinions To Say What the Law Is Recent legislation reviewed for marijuana convictions Claire Cao | Contributing Writer
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s of now, there are 19 states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, 37 states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, and only 3 states that do not allow any access to marijuana. There have been many arrests and convictions made due to the possession of marijuana, and this has led to people’s lives being ruined as they cannot find jobs because of these charges. And while white and black or brown people use marijuana at similar rates, many convictions have been unfairly targeted towards black or brown people. However, very recently President Biden announced an executive order to pardon marijuana possession charges for thousands of Americans. As Maggie Bowman agrees: “We know that oftentimes the
disciplinary actions for marijuana use in this country are influenced by systemic racism and systemic oppression and so I am fully supportive of decriminalizing marijuana.” Many advocates also state that this is the first step to reversing the uneven convictions made
ited to pain, nausea, seizures, aid in cancer, and stimulating appetites. However one of the biggest issues is the limited access to research marijuana. As Niederschulte confirms: “I think it’s a great idea…it’s less addictive than other things like opioids…currently with it
creasing access to marijuana is necessary for further research on marijuana. Not only does this reduce systemic racism it aids in medical research. For these reasons combined, I believe that marijuana will advance in the medical field as well as increasing equity in the US.
Supreme Court cases to look for this season Kevin Bizily | Columnist
“Oftentimes the disciplin- L ary actions for marijuana use in this country are influenced by systemic racism and systemic oppression. ” - Maggie Bowman toward black and brown communities. Marijuana has always had a negative reputation, however, the benefits of medical marijuana have been overlooked numerous times. Jacqui Niederschulte states that “marijuana has been villainized when there are a lot of beneficial properties of marijuana.” These benefits include but are not lim-
being only a schedule one drug that makes it hard to do any real research on it. So I think we should be looking at it for medical stuff.” Marijuana has extreme amounts of potential to unlock new medical solutions so increasing marijuana will progress the US by leaps and bounds. For all reasons stated above, I believe that in-
The U.S Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) defines schedule 1 drugs as, “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The DEA relegates marijuana into this category based on its medical value compared to the potential for abuse.
ast year’s Supreme Court term was historic, signaling a decisive shift towards originalist and textualist interpretation and the rejection of a controversial doctrine known as substantive due process. Importantly, this suggests that the Supreme Court will no longer “read new rights” into the Constitution as some scholars have advocated for, but will rather constrain itself to recognize rights stemming from the text, historical context (namely, elements of the British government the framers intended to either preserve or eradicate), and longstanding traditional interpretations of the Constitution. Importantly, the Court’s composition has changed with the retirement of Justice Stephen
Breyer, who has since begun teaching at Harvard Law School, and the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. As many justices have remarked, the addition of a new justice always signals a new angle for the court. Speculating from recent oral arguments, Justice Jackson may provide a liberal argument for the originalist method of interpretation, solidifying the court’s reliance on this theory but opening up broader debate around its application. Although the prior term was quite profound, the upcoming sitting features numerous significant cases. Chief among these, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and SFA v. University of North Carolina will evaluate the permissibility of affirmative action under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Amendment XIV, respectively. While current precedent under Grutter v. Bollinger allows the consideration of race in college admissions, it is expected the court will find this violates the plain text of both laws.
Outdated Campus, Room to Improve Relationships Out of School Recommended Dated Upper School yearns for updates Jason Rotenbrg | Sports Editor
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ollegiate or Modern? The Blake School seems to be split between the two. If you hang around the science wing you might feel as though you are a part of a modern institution, and if you hang around the English wing you may feel as if you are living in the past. That may lead you to a glaring question: should the upper school be renovated To start off, let’s review some of the past renovations done to our wonderful upper school. In a conversation with David Zalk ‘66, he noted “There have been certain big projects, the most recent being the project of the renovation of the library and science wing spaces. The real major renovation was during 2001-2002 when the whole building was renovated, and classrooms were reconfigured. That was a really big renovation project.” Zalk also notes “there have been smaller projects prior to that, but the spaces have been in that configuration for a very long time at that point”. Although it is
pleasant having a learning environment with older architecture, it is time to renovate. In my past experience sitting through many English classes, I have come to notice the many boxelder bugs that cramp into small classrooms. Entering through
Oscar Walsh
the most mysterious entrances, all while teachers and students walk on a floor that creaks like it is about to snap. The old English wing isn’t all that bad, as I can come to appreciate the old fashionedw design throughout the wing, exemplified the most in the NAR, but it is due for an upgrade. The Science wing and library, as well as the junior lounge are prime examples of why we should renovate our school. Modern furniture and architecture create a good learning environment to finish our pressing homework assignments. It is no coincidence that many people like to hang out with friends during school hours around these premises compared to the other
parts of the school, aside from the highly popular senior lounge. Because so many people enjoy spending time in newly renovated parts of the school, the whole school should be remodeled to provide more space for students to hang out. The rest of the school doesn’t feel as old as the English wing, but an upgrade seems appropriate as our institution must change with time. Zalk, on the other hand, disagrees about the renovations to the upper school. When asked if he thought the upper school was going to experience a large renovation he stated, “I hope not. I like the older more traditional look. I don’t know that I am a big fan of that contemporary design of the science wing. I’m perfectly happy, personally, with the way things are.” and, “The redesign of the science wing was to make it more suitable for how science is taught these days. It wasn’t just an aestetic project..” In conclusion, our upper school is due for a long-awaited renovation. Some people may not be the biggest fan of a possible renovation but communities change with time, and now is the time to change to more modern furniture and architecture.
Questioning time spent with significant others while at school Andrew Richardson & Will Mairs | Staff Writer & Contributing Writer
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trolling through the bustling halls, one may notice some of the seemingly many high school relationships that populate the school. While it may seem enticing to be in a relationship with another student, many people have not thought about the potential drawbacks of an in-school relationship. Among high schoolers, one consistent belief is that you will see your partner significantly more if it is in an in-school relationship compared to out of school. Warren Strootman ‘23, conveys the effects of this perfectly: “pros [of in-school relationships] is that you get to see them more, cons are that you have to see them more.” For obvious reasons, most students view this as a good thing, but there may be some unintended consequences. Imag-
ine you want to have a good laugh with your friends in the senior lounge, and, instead, you feel forced to talk to your partner about some boring topic (like “How is your day going?”). Another potential problem is that due to the small class size, word spreads quickly. As Catherine Hardy ‘23 said, “everyone will sort of know everything”
in a relationship. When a relationship fails, this phenomenon is only magnified. As Agustin Catoggio ‘25 puts it, dating someone at the same school “could end badly when breaking up.” If you breakup with someone, not only will you see this person every day, but you will also deal with the potential rumors and misunderstandings from
“Pros [of in-school relationships] are that you get to see them more. Cons are that you have to see them more.” -Warren Strootman ‘23
about your relationship, whether you like it or not. Especially for those not in a relationship, a peer’s relationship soon turns into a common talking point. Harrison Oxford ‘23 expresses his fears of “everyone being up in each other’s business” due to them being
your peers regarding your breakup. Imagine you breakup with your significant other, leaving you and your ex to the court of public opinion. Therefore, for these reasons, dating someone outside of our community is better than dating someone inside of school.
PERSPECTIVES | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 14
Can Art Truly be Separated From the Artist?
Separation Impossible Amid Scandal Art Enjoyed Despite Personal Views Amelia Bush | Managing Editor
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t seems as though every day there is a new celebrity scandal, whether old comments or affairs resurface. With scandals come the moral dilemma, should you continue to support the artists if they have done terrible things? Can you truly separate the art from the artist? After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible. Take Woody Allen, a famous film director that has won academy awards, Golden Globes and many more awards. Despite his acolades, he had a sexual relationship with his adoptive daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. Every time I hear or read that sentence my first reaction is of disgust. As a result, there is no way I can watch any of his films without his own actions polluting his work. What makes matters worse is that he went on to marry Previn and raise two adoptive children together; he was later accused of molesting one of his daughters, Dylan. I refuse to support someone that does something so horrific and disturbing. Another example is Morgan Wallen, a country singer who has used the N-word and subsequently got caught and somewhat canceled on social media. According to an article by NBC News written on July 23, 2021, “Morgan Wallen said in his first interview since he was caught on video shouting the N-word that he hasn’t ‘really sat and thought about’ whether country music really has a race problem.” This disheartening insensitivity is difficult to witness. Once again, I don’t want to buy and download his music, and therefore give him money, when he doesn’t use his platform responsibly. Such actions are dangerous, Kanye West (Ye) is a perfect example of this. In 2009 he went up on stage while an eagar 19 year old Taylor Swift was about to give her acceptance speech for “Best Female Video” at the VMA’s. This behavior was both rude and inappropriate. During the peak publicity of his divorce with Kim Kardashian, Ye went on a social media rampage mocking members of the Kardashian family and Kim’s boyfriend at the time, Pete Davidson. More recently however, Ye has found himself in deeper water. Ye took
to Twitter and made antisemetic comments stating he would go “death con three on Jewish people,” a reference to “defcon
young followers. This is the case with every artist that has a platform. People that like his work will look up to him, and
Rowan Wallin | Editor-in-Chief
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hen artists put out their work, it can
of Coco Chanel, it’s a huge company. If we were to punish Chanel, lots of hardworking Chanel employees would also be punished.”
Julia Zhang
Despite being beloved, the Harry Potter series (featured above) recieved it’s own backlash when its author J.K. Rowling was involved in a few scandals of her own. In Jun. 2020 Rowling posted a series of seemingly transphobic tweets, including “TERF wars.” TERF stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” Such tweets sparked much backlash from loyal Harry Potter fans, actors, and actresses in the movies. Despite this, many avid Rowling fans continue to purchase merchandise.
three.” Defcon is an acronym that refers to the Defense Readiness System. According to an article from the U.S. Sun titled “What does Defcon three mean from Kanye West’s Tweet?”, “Defcon means ‘increase in force readiness above normal readiness’ and would be used in situations that may not pose immediate danger but warrant significant alert. Under this warning, the military must be prepared to launch operations within 15 minutes of warning.” This is disgusting and violent, and in itself is horrible. However, Ye’s comment becomes worse when you realize that prior to his account suspension he had amassed 31 million followers. His actions set an awful example for his
with enough exposure, the music and person become intertwined, leading his young and impressionable audience to believe that his actions are acceptable. This cohesion has happened to me with artists I love and stand by like Swift, and therefore it can happen with negative influences as well. People, especially those with platforms, must be held accountable, and we must continue to discuss the harm these kinds of actions can bring. Supporting their work will only lead to tolerance for their actions. As a community, we must be able to acknowledge mistakes, and while forgiveness is vital, supporting consistently bad decisions can only lead to encouragement.
be hard to differentiate between this work and them as a person. However, despite this challenge, it is essential to only focus on an artist’s art because the artist isn’t intentionally trying to persuade the consumer to comply with their beliefs through their art. In the case of Coco Chanel, the French fashion designer and founder of the luxury Chanel brand, she was revealed as a secret Nazi agent during World War II. Although Coco Chanel’s involvement in the Nazi regime is undeniably abhorrent, her brand still lives on and thrives today, employing thousands of workers. Caroline Pollack ‘23 elaborates on Coco Chanel as an artist, We should be able to disregard the artist from art… like in the case
In this case, the art should certainly be more important than the artist because it would negatively affect many innocent employees. Jules Noteboom ‘23 says, “I just like to enjoy and listen to music. I’m more focused on the art. I get that people can be offended… but we need to be able to move past [these offenses], acknowledging that they might receive less awards [by consequence.]” Noteboom doesn’t “really pay attention to the artist behind the art.” Liam Saldanha ‘23 admits that although he isn’t a fan of Marilyn Manson, a singer who has been accused of sexual assult, he still listens to his music.
Saldanha explains, “There are certainly artists who I engage with who I know are ‘bad’ people. It’s tricky because you can enjoy the media they produce but you also don’t want to gratify who they are as a person.” Saldanha goes on, “I separate artists from their art because I just want to enjoy the media that is present.” Kanye West (Ye), billionaire and rapper, is another heavily talked about and listened to artist among Upper School students, who has some eyebrow-raising beliefs. Eloise Walsh ‘24 chooses to disregard Ye’s beliefs and focus on his music. Walsh says, “I really enjoy Kanye’s music but I don’t agree with the things he says. That’s tricky though because when I listen to him, it supports him. It’s a push-pull moment. When I listen to his music, I don’t think about his beliefs. He is a great lyricist and very talented, so I just keep his music and him separate.” Joe Melloh ‘25 agrees, “I don’t think about Kanye’s beliefs when I listen to his music, because then it takes away from his song.” Will Nelson ‘24 weighs in, “Kanye has a certain impact on the people that listen to his music… maybe his beliefs politically are not agreeable. Although they are two separate things, we should keep both in mind while we listen to him.” In the end, it is much easier to enjoy the art at hand, no matter the source because overall the art can bring joy (in the case of singers) and financial security for thousands of workers (in the case of Coco Chanel).
Rowan Wallin
Despite controversy surrounding Ye, students continue to enjoy his music. Here, “I Love Kanye,” released in 2016 from his album “The Life of Pablo,” plays during the school day.
FEATURES | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 15
Sëñïør Tråvëls, Ëxpërïëñçës Tåïwåñësë Çültürë Rishabh Balachandran ‘23 spent the summer in Taipei
Çøññëçtïøñs Ýøü Mådë . . . “Even though it was just like four weekends with [my host family], I felt a really strong connection with them. They gave me a new Chinese name because my old one was pretty weird and then I just got to know them really well I also got to know their friends really well. So like one Saturday we did this escape room in Chinese…that was fun.”
Sonia Lerner | Staff Writer
Thøüghts Bëførë Thë Trïp . . . Lëårñïñg Ëxpïrëñçë . . .
“I guess [I felt like I was missing out on stuff back in the U.S.], there was some bit to that. Before I got into the program, like when I was applying in November, to my mom I was like, ‘I’m not going to do this, like even if I get in, I’m not going to go.’ But before we left, we made an Instagram groupchat with all the people that got accepted in, and there’s a lot of really cool people, so I never really had that. Also, it was just like ‘yeah, I might be missing [out].’ I don’t know, I wasn’t going to be doing much anyways; I was probably just going to be playing tennis and doing some volunteering, but I would definitely not have rather stayed in Minnesota for the summer.”
“I really liked the method that we used…We did spend time learning new words and we learned…new grammar structures to communicate more fluently, but we spent a lot of time doing speaking. [My] speaking and listening improved the most, and that was the focus of the program. If you’re always listening to Chinese, your listening is going to improve. Also, in class and stuff like that we spent the whole time basically speaking in Chinese. I don’t think our teacher spoke in English to us once. Even though classes at Blake are taught in Chinese, it wasn’t the same. I think a lot of our Chinese learning was also outside the classroom. With my host family…the dad and the mom couldn’t really understand English very well, so I had to use Chinese. That improved my fluency a lot, but also like, one thing I feel like people who learn a language in a classroom don’t have is that…when you spend so much time speaking to actual people and actually being able to use the language outside of the classroom setting, you become a lot more comfortable with just saying normal stuff in the language. You don’t have to think about it a lot.”
Bïggëst Çültürë Shøçk . . . “I wouldn’t say I ever had culture shock, but I did kind of have a little bit coming back to the U.S. It was kinda weird because…I was so used to going up to people and preparing to speak Chinese to them. When I got back and when we landed in San Francisco, I went to the counter to ask a question and I started asking them in Chinese. I was like ‘Oh, shoot, you probably don’t speak that.’ That was actually probably the biggest thing, the language.”
Ådvïçë tø Øthërs . . . “It was my first time traveling internationally by myself…It was a pretty cool experience. I think everyone should have that experience at least once in their life. I’ve traveled to lots of places with my family, like India and Mexico and Italy, but it’s not really the same. Additionally, the fact that if you’re going there and you speak the language, it’s even [cooler], because you can go somewhere as a tourist and you won’t…really get to know anyone. I would probably just be touring Taipei 101 and these big places. But when you spend that much time there, you get to really understand people and the culture and stuff like that. And I know it’s kinda generic, but you learn a lot about how similar people are, especially just my time with my host family. Even though they’re so far away, it doesn’t seem very far away, especially now.”
Mëmøråblë Mømëñt . . . “On the Sunday before we left, me and five other guys went to climb this mountain…there was this river called the Daintree River and there’s two really tall mountains on either side of it. One day we decided, “we’re gonna go climb that mountain.” So me and like four other guys, we went to the pier and then…we took this boat across [the river] and then took this bus to a temple…and then we hiked for like two kilometers up the mountain…it was just a lot of fun. We met these two Taiwanese ladies that were really funny and we got them to take our photos and stuff like that and yeah, it was just a lot of fun. We have this montage of us climbing the mountain and it’s really fun.”
Cleo Kilpatrick
All Photos Submitted by: Rishabh Balachandran Balachandran visits a theme park in Taiwan with his host brother and sister.
Balachandran smiles at the top of Xiangshan with a friend. Xiangshan is a mountain that overlooks downtown Taipei.
Balachandran stands with his older host-sister in front of the northernmost lighthouse in Taiwan.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | OCTOBER 27, 2022 | 16
No Halftime for Sally Countryman Allyson Jay | In-Depth Editor
T
he rumble of the fans from the sidelines fills the air. The blistering sun beats down on braided hair and sweaty jerseys. Cleats sprint over grass, sticks collide, and a single
yellow ball hits the ground. A whistle blows and everything stops; the game is over. Balancing academics and personal life is never easy. Adding even one sport into that schedule is even harder. Add two more sports totalling to three seasons, hours of practice, and long, strenuous games, and you’ve got a peek into Sally Countryman ‘23’s daily life.
H o w d i d y o u s ta r t p l a y i n g?
“I
got into sports from my parents first. My dad put me in skiing when I was two or three years old and then also my parents put me in softball and some other recreational sports in my community. My grandma was also a big part of women in sports and she did a lot for women being able to play when she was younger so she also was a big part of getting me into sports. She was a tennis player when she was younger so she kind of got me into tennis a little but I didn’t really enjoy it then.”
What has this journey been like?
“T
here have been a lot of ups and downs, that’s for sure. The main thing now as me being an upperclassman is that I know it was really difficult for me as an underclassman and in middle school when my parents would make me go to hockey captains and lacrosse captains because it was very stressful for me and I was put into environments that I wasn’t really comfortable in. I think just seeing my growth since then has been a lot, and now as a senior, I grew in terms of the confidence I’ve gained through the years, which has helped a lot with my performance. Another huge thing is that now because I am the oldest one, I feel like I’m able to create good relationships with younger students and make them feel welcomed. I try to make it the least stressful as possible because I know it was really hard for me and I don’t want it to be hard on them. It’s important to recognize that they [younger students] may be worried about how upperclassmen percieve them, which is why ensuring that they are treated the same despite their age is crucial and I try my best to comfort them in that sense.
How have you balanced this?
“T
he academics have definitely been the easiest to balance with sports. I know that sounds like it wouldn’t be, but being able to have a set schedule of having tennis after school until a certain hour and having hockey or lacrosse after school until a certain time, allows me to have better time management throughout the day with my free blocks. For example, if I know I’ll have a game and that’ll take five hours compared to an hour of practice, I am able to use my time wisely in school. Honestly, I find it harder in between each sport season to do my work because I come home and I might not have practice or anything so then I might put off my work and start that later than I should. So balancing academics and sports has been the easiest part of that, but I think that one of the biggest challenges for me is balancing all three sports during the school year. During the summer it’s easy because I’m able to have all three sports during the day or have two because I have pretty open days, but during the actual in season sport, it’s really hard for me when it comes to the end of the season because I improved so much of my game for that specific sport. Then transitioning into the next season of a new sport is challenging for me because I’m kind of just thinking about the sport before that and usually I haven’t played the new sport as much as I’ve wanted to in the last weeks before that, so the hardest thing for me is just the start of the new seasons when I’m still thinking about the past sport and not being able to continue that sport.”
What do you like most?
“T
he biggest thing that I’ve gotten out of the sports is being able to be part of different communities and different groups of people. Whether it’s Blake sports or not, just being able to have another group of friends that you can relate to who aren’t school people is really cool. Or, if it is school people, you kind of get to see a different part of that person through sports. It’s just an amazing experience being able to have these types of connections and relationships with people and also coaches.” Watch Spectrum’s newest Youtube video “23 Questions with Sally Country-
Submitted by: Sally Countryman
Fatemeh Vang ‘27 and Countryman made a commitment at the beginning of the tennis season, one that held up for the entire season. The commitment in question, taking one picture every day they were together. “Either Sally or Allyson Jay ‘23 brought it up and they were like ‘we should take a picture every day we’re together so we can see our memories’...and we just did it every day,“ said Vang. “I like being able to look at the pictures. I think I can remember what happened that day just by seeing the picture,” Vang commented. As for the picture of them eating grapes displayed to the left, “I remember that exact day so its nice to see that memory.” The daily picture helped bring the two together. Vang says that “my favorite thing about Sally is her entire personality and her
man.” You can find the
sense of humor. We have the same humor so whenever
Vogue magazine re-make
were together we can make each other laugh and have a
to the left.
good time. Whenever I’m with her I’m always happy.”