April 2013

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St. Paul Academy & Summit School 1712 Randolph Ave. St. Paul, MN April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

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Girl Talk

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St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Is the school locked up too tightly?

Administration looks for input on security policies Hannah Johnson

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Sports Editor

At promptly 8:05 am on any weekday, a group of St. Paul Academy and Summit School students crowd at the Briggs Gymnasium entrance, anxiously waiting for someone to open the locked doors and let them into the school. These doors, which most students enter the school through every day, lock everyday at exactly 8:05, much to the dismay of latecomers. This same scene repeats again and again when students have athletics at night or come back to school to get a forgotten book or assignment on the weekend. While this may seem unreasonable to many students, the security department hopes that measures like this will improve the overall security of St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Upper School campus.

Though many students see the security guards walking around the school, many administrators and staff are involved in the safety of the school. Along with the security guards, Security Supervisor Miranda LaBrosse, Director of Finance Mary Albachten and Head of School Bryn Roberts work together to shape the security policies at both SPA campuses.

Together, the group tries to create policies that will “provide the highest degree of safety for students, faculty, staff and people on campus,” Roberts said. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings

on Dec.14, 2012, SPA has intensified many of its security measures.

Some of these new measures include locking external doors during the school day and at night after 7:00. Students also need to sign in and be escorted to their lockers at night and on the weekend.

The new security policies were also implemented to keep track of where students and faculty members are in the school at what time in case of an emergency. Roberts said that a gas leak in the chemistry room at the school over Winter Break made it clear to the security department that there should be a sign in sheet for everyone who enters the building after hours. For safety reasons, the school needed to be evacuated, but it was difficult for security to locate everyone around the school to get them out.

“We did not know who was in the building,” Roberts said, and that made it hard to get everyone out of the building.

“With a sign in, we feel that we can better provide protection for the people in the building. It is not designed to keep you out,” Roberts said, but more “concern about who comes and goes.”

While security measures like the sign in sheet are meant to be beneficial to the school’s safety, some students find these precautions frustrating. Junior Connor Allen, who plays basketball and golf, feels like these measures are inconvenient and not helpful to students.

“I feel like certain security measures that have been implemented

Photo Credit: August King A security guard walks his beat in the arts and publications hallway. “The security [guards] are accommodating,” junior Sonya Das said.

However, Head of School Brynn Roberts concedes that communication with students has been “not as effective as it could be.”

recently are unnecessary and do not actually accomplish anything in regards to security,” Allen said. He said that when he forgets something at school, he becomes irritated when he has to go through many steps with the security guards to get his belongings back.

Freshman Minnie Arnold, a soccer and basketball player, often needs to get escorted to her locker by a security guard after a late game or practice.

“I think having the security measures aren’t always the most convenient,” Arnold said. “When

I need to get inside or up to my locker I would like to be able to do so without calling security. But after all the horrific events that have been happening in our country I think it is definitely the right thing to have for our students.”

Junior Sonya Das agrees. “[The security guards] are taking good precautions,” she said. In regards to helping students access their lockers and missing materials at night, Das “feels like the security are accommodating. They have been pretty understanding.”

Roberts said that students

should voice their opinions and observations about the security at SPA. He admitted that the communication about the new security precautions between the security department and the students and has been “not as effective as it could be.” Roberts hopes that student leadership groups including Upper School Council will have discussions with him and the other faculty in regards to security and the accessibility of the school.

Musicians prepare intricate arrangements for concert Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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Photos Credit: Nina Zietlow TOP: M/US Band Director, Bill Mayson works with the Gold Jazz Band to prepare for the concert on May 28.

BELOW: Choir Director Anne Klus works with the Concert Choir, one of many ensembles that will perform at the concert on May 27.

Feature Editor

When freshman Taylor Rients first saw Mendelsohnn’s Elijah on the stand in front of her, she was shocked. The notes were shrunk to fit on the page but still very dense.

The entire piece was steeped in sharps and flats. “I almost thought it was impossible to do it,” Rients said. “I almost set down my violin and said I can’t do it. But after dissecting the music, I almost have it memorized.”

The music department has selected Elijah as the centerpiece to this year’s Upper School Vocal/ Orchestra Spring Concert, one of the key annual events for music students. The Spring Concert positions itself as a more classical-oriented alternative to music students’ other key night, the fall Pops Concert. A complex oratorio written in German, Elijah (1846) is one of the key pieces of the early romantic era. In the process of learning the piece, students were told to “really break down the hard parts, looking at the notes and where they come in,” Rients explained. “For the really difficult sections, we’d play really slowly and just repeat it and repeat it and repeat it until we got it absolutely right.”

The piece is a real accomplish-

ment. “Usually, when schools do Elijah, they have to hire an orchestra,” US Conductor Almut Engelhardt said. “This is not even college-level, this is professionallevel stuff. I’m very proud of my students for this.”

Another tough piece Engelhardt conducted was Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. The very first Senior Strings class attempted the morose modern composition but couldn’t assemble it in time.

Now, in the class’ last year, they completed.“It’s a nice to bring it to a close the way it started,” Engelhardt said. The class will be retitled Honors Orchestra in future years to open it more explicitly to seniors and underclassmen.

The choir’s experience was less stressful but still requires plenty of focus. “After Carnegie hall, because a lot of that is being transferred over, we were not really stressed,” freshman Lexi Hilton, a member of the choir, explained. However, she found the final stretch of preparation to be “a little more chaotic.”

In the back row, choir students will be joined by singers from a totally different crowd: the Community Chorale. The Chorale is composed of alumni, parents, and faculty, including two familiar faces to upper schoolers: College Coun-

seling Director Mary Hill and US Math Teacher Mary Lincoln. Lincoln, an avid fan of choirs, joined the group after coming to SPA. “I got to meet new people without a huge commitment of time, and I get the joy of singing, which I love.” She especially loves the dynamic at Community Chorale because “the youth have these really pure, beautiful voices, but they get to experience these adult voices as high school students.”

The day after the Vocal/Orchestra concert was its jazzier counterpart, the Spring Band Concert. For this concert, every band member in grades 6-12 joined together to play. Their class met daily for the last several weeks. Junior Sam Carlson explained that jazz band “focused on overall technique, swing style, and approach to our songs. A lot of it is just listening to each other, making sure nobody is too out of their place.”

The US Spring Concert, featuring the orchestra and choir was held this past Saturday at O’Shaunnesey auditorium. On Sunday, the Jazz bands played in the Goodrich Campus auditorium.

To see photos from these events, please go to The Rubicon Online: www.rubiconline.com

News St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

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LEFT: Candidates for SAC co-presidents, juniors Mick Sullivan and Claire Foussard address the student body at the April 25 election assembly. “ Claire and I are pretty much people people. We run being fun,” Sullivan said.

RIGHT: The candidates wait to deliver their speeches. “I think what we’ve tried to do is have a variety of opportunities for students to have leadership opportunities befor they leave SPA,” Dean of Students Judy Cummins said.

Photos Credit: Lucy Li

Candidates seek responsibility in officer elections

Members from each grade in the St. Paul Academy and Summit School Upper School participate in the elected student groups, which strive represent the entire school. “I think what we’ve tried to do is to have a variety of opportunities for students to have leadership experience before they finish SPA,” Dean of Students Judy Cummins said.

Elections for officer positions were held on Apr. 25.

Cummins creates the petition form for students who wish to run so that they can show their viability as candidates. From these petitions, ballots are created and on the day of elections, candidates give two to three minute presentations to the Upper School and eighth grade students. Students vote during lunch periods, and current senior officers of each elected committee count up the ballots. Here is a look at why some students decided to run:

Lucy Li

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Cover Story Editor

Whether it’s organizing Speaker Day and the Blood Drive or working together with administration to improve the high school experience, the Upper School Council’s “job is really representing the climate of the Upper School,” Cummins said.

This year, juniors Nick Cohen and Hannah Johnson ran as a pair for co-presidents. “Our biggest overarching theme is just being here for the students [and] to try to make your life better as a student, whatever that may be,” Cohen said.

They hope to focus USC’s goals towards students’ needs and continue the excellent work the group has done. “If there’s something that comes up that you feel needs to be changed, it’s [the president’s] role as the liaison between the students and the faculty to facilitate that and try to put that into motion,” Cohen said. Among the qualities a good president should have, Cohen places leadership at the top of the list.

“You have to focus, to be able to lead and discern what needs to happen,” he said about the job of president. He has also learned

from past presidents to not take on too much work at once and to be able to delegate work efficiently.

A past example of USC ushering change in the Upper School was the implementation of a rotating exam schedule. This year, USC spent a lot of time on preparing for Speaker Day, which Cohen describes to be “a wonderful experience” that calls for good organization skills. USC will have an important role in evaluating the new schedule next year, according to Cummins.

In the US Discipline Committee, students have more voice than faculty when making recommendations for disciplinary actions.

Made up of two students from each grade and two faculty members, DC has more of a behindthe-scenes presence compared to other student groups.

“What we’re supporting is public but the conversations that take place are not as public,” Cummins said. The Vice President of USC also attends DC, which represents a relic of when the student government created DC after the merge of St. Paul Academy and Summit School .

Juniors Charlie Rosenblum and Grace Owens-Kurtz ran against each other for chair. Before the

elections, Rosenblum said that he decided to run because “I want to keep cases fair and just take a stand of leadership as well.” The role of chair involves sitting in on cases, asking questions, creating a productive environment, and communicating with the Dean. He or she does not vote during cases.

In reference to previous presidents, “They’ve all been great,” Rosenblum said, “and I would just like to continue that.”

In the election process, students who wish to run for chair of the committee are required to fill out a questionnaire and talk with the Dean. DC involves a strong code of privacy for those who appear before the committee. “We want to make certain that the person who is running for the position really does represent what those goals are,” Cummins said.

By running classics such as the Valentine’s Dance and new events such as the Blacklight Dance, the Upper School Student Activities Committee knows how to bring students together.

Participation in SAC requires extensive organization skill. Members are “socially creating the culture of this school,” Cummins said.

Juniors Claire Foussard and

Mick Sullivan ran together for SAC president while freshman Patrick Commers ran for SAC treasurer.

Sullivan ran because he describes himself as “fun and sociable.” He and Foussard have been in SAC for a total of 6 years together. “Claire and I are pretty much people people,” he said before the elections. “We run on being fun.”

He also pointed out that he and Foussard aimed to be approachable by both students and teachers. “We know what the job entails, what it demands, and we also talk to a lot of people,” Sullivan said.

“We’re very friendly so we know what the public expects and what the public wants at dances.”

So far, SAC has been quite successful. “We have so many students attending the SAC events…,” Cummins said. “It really does draw a large percentage of our student body, and that’s not true at all schools.”

For election results, go to rubiconline.com. Elections for nonofficer positions for SAC, USC, and DC for each grade level will be held on May 6, along with class leadership councils and peer helpers around that time.

Mayoral campaigns showcase local issues and controversies Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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Feature Editor

Odd-numbered years are often quieter on the political front.

Presidential and congressional elections never fall in them, and most governors are elected in even years too. But the Twin Cities keep activists active with mayoral elections in both major cities, as well as several large suburbs.

The local elections are particularly interesting this year because, for many cities, it will be their first experiment with ranked-choice voting. Ranked-choice voting allows citizens to indicate their first, second, and third choices for office. The organization FairVote Minnesota has been pushing for

ranked-choice voting programs to decrease partisanship. This will be St. Paul’s first mayoral race with the system and Minneapolis’ second.

In Minneapolis, three-term incumbent R. T. Rybak announced he will not run for a fourth term.

Rybak, a Democratic former radio and print journalist, was first elected mayor in 2001. His dynamic style has attracted national attention, including his title as a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, one of five in the nation. He was also a strong candidate for governor in the 2010 race.

The competition to succeed Rybak is heated. Six DFL members have already stepped up with their races: three current city council members and one former president, a former Hennepin County

commissioner, and one private citizen. Also appearing in the race is Cam Winton, an independent attorney who casts himself as a more conservative alternative.

Even within a system dominated by one party, competition can be fierce. In the 2001 election, Rybak, a political newcomer, knocked out two-term DFL incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton by a stunning thirtypoint margin. The reasons for the upset are still not entirely clear, but corporate welfare and constituent outreach have been cited as among the reasons.

The candidates are working to stand out in a crowded field.

Schiff, who took the early lead in campaign funds, has focused on jobs, promising less red tape and a 25% quota of city residents in

public works projects. Hodges discussed unification and an ambitious pledge to “make Minneapolis the great city of the 21st century”.

Samuels has mentioned his anticrime ambitions.

In St. Paul, incumbent Chris Coleman confirmed his bid for a third term. The DFL powerhouse may end up running unopposed.

The only candidate so far to announce a challenge, Green Party candidate Roger Meyer, dropped out at the beginning of March, citing his uphill battle and fundraising shortfalls.

Outside of the immediate metro, the mayor of nearby Red Wing, Dennis Egan, announced his resignation. The city council recently began an ethics investigation on Egan for his becoming executive

director of a frac sand mining lobbying company. Frac sand mining is a controversial environmental issue in the city, and his work was criticized as a conflict of interest.

His resignation triggers a special election to replace him in June .

Four citizens have stepped up to run for mayor. Dan Bender, former city councilor, was the first to file the papers to become mayor.

Signmaker Ernest Stone and John Sachen of the Red Wing Shoe Company filed soon after. Christopher Nelson, a former army combat engineer and a current security worker at the Prairie Island nuclear plant, was the most recent to announce his run.

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St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Catholics welcome Pope Francis News in Brief Andy Monserud

Senior Art Seminar show celebrates advanced art study...and Sister Wendy

The almost unprecedented resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the appointment of Pope Francis have brought the world’s largest Christian church into a state of transition and renewal. Though he’s only been pope for a month, Francis has already brought his distinctly humble and frugal style to the Vatican, by and large delighting Catholics and non-Catholics worldwide who prefer his compelling humanity to the scholarly disposition of his predecessor.

“The first thing he he said when he became pope was ‘Pray for me so I can serve you,’” sophomore Dozie Nwaneri said. “This is a pope I can stand behind.”

While Pope Francis’ Argentinean heritage indicates increased globalization in the Church, his actions have done even more to expand the focus of the Church’s ministry.

During Holy Week, the pontiff brought the Lenten service of the Washing of the Feet to Italian prisons, where he washed the feet of the inmates in a traditional display of love and humility. He opened accessibility to the ceremony even further by washing the feet of two women, one a Muslim, in a Lenten ceremony that in the past has generally included only Christian men.

Senior Grace Albertson is pleased with Francis’ breaches of tradition. “Traditions are meant to be broken,” she said. “They’re meant to be made, and kept, but... things have been changing.”

Pope Francis has also spent the bulk of the past month focusing on the Church’s message of helping the poor and the needy.

These changes are not without their limits, as Francis has also indicated a commitment to preserving age-old Catholic doctrines. As he finished his transition into office, Francis customarily reaffirmed many of Benedict’s positions, including his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. He also

If you haven’t heard of Sister Wendy, the Senior Art Seminar posters will illuminate you a little. Wendy Beckett, or Sister Wendy is a British hermit, known for her critiques of art. Although she hasn’t come to critique in an art class, she has entertained and inspired many of this years’ seniors as they create seminar work. And on May 3, the Harry M. Drake Gallery at the Randolph campus will present original works of art made by the students in the Senior Art Seminar class. The seniors have curated work from the year to display. Artists include Claire Anderson, William Brower, Katya Deve, Francesco Di Caprio, Peter Driscoll, Madeline Graham, Jeron Mariani, Ian Rolf, Liz Rossman, and Ruth Sheldon. “This show will provide a great opportunity for everyone who does not stop by the art wing [to see our work],” said Liz Rossman whose paintings will be featured in the show. The senior show will run through graduation.

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Op/Ed Editor

Campus parking infractions enforced

Photo reprinted with Permission from L’Osservatore Romano Pope Francis kisses an Italian prisoner’s feet during a Washing of the Feet service during the Lenten season. Sophomore Dozie Nwaneri hopes that Pope Francis can “Bring peace and... unify us through these hard times.”

renewed inquiry into on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an American nun organization whose leaders have rejected the Vatican’s positions on same-sex marriage and abortion.

While doctrinal changes will not be forthcoming in the foreseeable future, administrative reform will likely become a key tenant of Pope Francis’ legacy.

The Curia, the administrative wing of the Church, has become overly cumbersome, inefficient, and prone to infiltration, as was illustrated by the 2012 “VatiLeaks” scandal.

Junior Vittrio Orlandi said, “Hopefully [Pope Francis] will strain out some controversy that

makes the church look bad.”

Pope Francis has already proven his capacity for spiritual guidance, but management skills might prove nearly as important.

Many Catholics look forward to reform. “I just hope he can unify the church more,” Nwaneri said, “bring peace and... unify us through these hard times.”

Albertson has similar hopes. “I hope the church can be... a place for more people to feel comfortable,” she said.

No matter what, it’s clear that Francis’ papacy will be an important time, and a turning point, in the history of the Church.

Juniors bond through snowy Retreat Hannah Johnson

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Stepping out of the school bus, no one could see a thing. All the students gathered in a huddle around the trailer, desperately searching for their luggage. The howling winds sent shivers up spines and many asked themselves, “Why this weather on Junior Retreat?”

Though the weather took a turn for the worse, the St. Paul Academy and Summit School class of 2014 made the best of bad conditions at their Junior Retreat. The 93 students headed to Camp Courage in Maple Lake, Minnesota for two days to discuss issues in their grade and making new connec-

tions with classmates.

Junior Jack Reich and other classmates decided to take advantage of the snowy weather. Reich’s highlight of the retreat was most definitely “the massive snowball fight everyone had,” he said. Besides all the fun he had bonding with his classmates, Reich took away from the experience “the importance of reaching out to make new friends.”

Junior Danielle Socha did not know what to think when coming into the retreat. “I was pretty skeptical going into the retreat. I didn’t really think that it would change the dynamic of our grade as much as it did,” Socha said. Though she was weary at first, she came out of the retreat feeling much closer and connected to the rest of the grade.

Socha’s favorite part of the retreat was the closing candlelight ceremony, where students could speak in front of their class and light a candle.

Socha said that following the retreat, she has noticed a difference in her classmates. “Everyone seems friendlier and a lot more open,” Socha said.

Reich agrees. “I feel like people are much more open to reaching out to other groups to meet new people now,” he said.

The grade returned on Monday with their new senior shirts, ready to tackle senior year as a united unit.

This story was originally published on Apr. 23 on The Rubicon Online.

It’s close to 8:00 a.m. and it’s not uncommon for a student to be searching for an open spot, any spot, to park in so they won’t be late to advisory check-in. But with an increased number of cars in the wrong place, it’s important to follow the signed and unsigned rules of the road to avoid a ticket.

Below is a summary of common unsigned parking restrictions from Director of Finance and Operations Mary Albachten as they pertain to stop signs, fire hydrants, alleys, driveways, crosswalks, and between vehicles. · Do not park within 30 feet of a stop sign · Do not park within 10 feet of a fire hydrant · Do not park within 5 feet of an alley · Do not park within 5 feet of a driveway · Do not park within 20 feet of a marked/unmarked crosswalk

at an intersection · Do not park within 4 feet of another vehicle Additional information about these restrictions and accompanying pictures can be found at www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=5016#ALLEY.

Background checks stopped in Senate The senate found itself unable to move forward on a bipartisan requirement for universal background checks on gun use this month, despite widespread support for the bill. Polls recently have found that 91% of Americans support such checks. However, the Manchin-Toomey Amendment, as the bill was called, received a vote of 55-45 in the senate, short of the 60 votes required to avoid a filibuster. The act was proposed

by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), both moderate senate figures. Four republicans voted for the bill: Toomey along with sens. Collins (R-ME), Kirk (R-IL) and McCain (R-AZ). However, this edge was negated by the four democrats who voted against the legislation: Sens. Baucus (D-MT), Heitkamp (D-ND), Begich (D-AK) and Reid (D-NV). President Obama called the failure to pass such gun legislation “shameful,” and senator John McCain (R-AZ) also expressed regret that the measure was halted.

Suspect apprehended in massive manhunt after Marathon bombing Explosions shook the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, Apr. 15, at around 2:00 PM, the largest terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11 . The cause was two bombs, made of pressure cookers filled with nails and shrapnel. Three were killed and more than 170 injured by the blasts. In the wake of the attack, the FBI scanned video taken at the scene by security cameras and spectators., identifying two men seen both walking together carrying backpacks, and present at both of the bomb sites. The men were identified as Tamerlan, 26, and Dzhokhar,19, Tsarnaev, brothers of Chechen extraction, and American citizens. Two days later, on the night of Apr. 17, the suspects shot and killed a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before exchanging fire with police. One officer was seriously wounded , and the older suspect killed. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s stolen Mercedes was tracked to Watertown, a Boston suburb. After a tense day-long manhunt with the area in lockdown, the younger suspect was apprehended, alive but wounded. He will face terrorism charges, and is currently under questioning by investigators.

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STAFF the rubicon

Editor-in-Chief Aditi Kulkarni

Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief Ibad Jafri

Chief Visual Editor Nick Scott

News Editor

Thomas Toghramadjian

Op/Ed Editor Andy Monserud

Sports Editor Hannah Johnson

Cover Story Editor Lucy Li

Feature Editor

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

A&E Editor Ellie Fuelling

Around Town Editor Liz Rossman

Food Editor August King

Staff Writer & Illustrator Ava Gallagher

Columnist Saif Ahmed

Staff Writers Boraan Abdulkarim Netta Kaplan Gita Raman Dhara Singh Laura Slade

Guest Writer Grace Albertson Adviser

Staff Editorial

Just how prepared are we?

School should teach more real-world skills to help students in college and beyond College preparatory school. It is the reputation that precedes St. Paul Academy and Summit School students when they enter this institution. What we will do will in our four years here defines what we will do in our coming years at college.

We learn how to analytically read texts, write four page papers in one night, manage our time with problem sets, and deal with the stress that comes with all of it. We are nothing short of ready for the what workload college will bring.

But are we really prepared for all aspects of college and beyond?

Do we have what it takes to succeed in a world filled with more than books and paper?

You probably know how to solve a quadratic equation or write a thesis statement. You may have spent a few years learning conversational Spanish, French, German or Mandarin. But what else?

We are unquestionably thankful for having had the opportunity to expand both our intellectual and moral horizons. We pride ourselves on being able to succeed in the upper echelons of professions as widely-varying as business, law, medicine, engineering and countless others. But what skills are we destined to apply before our legal internships and medical residencies? Do we know them? As many students learned at the senior retreat, we often lack the ability to mend torn clothing or budget our time and money in a “real-world” setting.

The Senior Project is one ex-

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College jokes are more hurtful ubicon than funny

the student newspaper of St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Memberships Minnesota High School Press Association National Scholastic Press Association Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2012 Awards JEM All-State Gold MHSPA Best in Show NSPA All American w/4 marks of Distinction CSPA Silver Medal

Illustration credit: Ava Gallagher Life beyond high school requires that we know much more than how to take notes and pass final exams. We would do well to learn more practical skills alongside these academic essentials.

cellent way of giving students a chance to gain some experience in a world beyond school. But why do we need to wait until the last month before students graduate to give them this experience? We could immerse this “real-world” mind set throughout our four years here.

With a new schedule to come, SPA has the opportunity to add classes that will go beyond academic fulfillment. We are at the threshold of institutional advance-

ment; we must take advantage of this and add classes that will prepare us for the non-academic aspects of life.

With an 8:45 late start on Wednesdays but plenty of students still arriving at 8:00, SPA has a perfect opportunity to add in classes that will challenge students to think beyond what school expects of them. In a world so dominated by technology, a computer science class could go a long way in giving students the chance to try their

hand at web design or basic coding.

Or we could take this time and give students a chance to try their hand at cooking or give them an opportunity to explore different aspects of community service.

SPA has done well to prepare students for what lies beyond, but there’s always room for improvement. Learning more of these often mundane but undoubtedly important skills would improve our educations even further.

Opinion

Kathryn Campbell

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Opinion/Editorial 5 April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Tabloids and TV news had no reason to harangue Saudi man

It is no secret that we at St. Paul Academy and Summit School are a lucky bunch of students. Not only do we obtain a stellar education, but many of us graduate from high school planning to enroll in the best universities in the world. As such, it’s easy to get lost in our bubble of privilege.

We often like to joke about college educations that we might view as “inferior.” “Ha-ha, I’m going to community college!” “I’m going to The Culinary Institute; isn’t that funny?”

Is it funny? It’s generally viewed as rude to publicly critique choices people make, for whatever reason. This is no exception, especially when students like us comprise a far smaller group than students attending community colleges or institutions that would seem like a non sequitur in the SPA community. For some, community colleges, technical schools and Le Cordon Bleu might seem like a joke. For many more people, they’re a reality, and we have no right to mock them for it.

If you followed the buzz surrounding the tragic bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday, Apr. 15, you may have heard that in the immediate aftermath that authorities detained a Saudi national and were holding him in custody as a suspect. This was false.

A Saudi student studying in Boston was tackled by a bystander who thought he was “suspicious.” While recovering from his wounds in the hospital, he was hounded by a Fox News reporter who repeatedly questioned him about his roommates, to which he could only respond, “Let me go to school, dude.” Fox and the New York Post later released his name and reported that he was a suspect in custody. The FBI searched his apartment and found nothing of note.

Why was he “suspicious?” Was he too brown? Was his accent too thick? Did he not fit the bill for “innocent bystander?”

In light of the detention of Dzokhar Tsarnaev, this issue is likely to be forgotten. A Muslim is guilty, and other Muslims are likely to suffer for his guilt. It’s easy to panic in times of great tragedy like this. That doesn’t make it correct to automatically revert to fear and racism.

The Rubicon Editorial Policy: The Rubicon editorials are representative of the opinions of the Staff Editorial Board, which is made up of all students in journalism/Editorial Leadership.

All other opinion pieces are the opinions of the authors themselves.

The Rubicon Letters Policy: The Rubicon welcomes letters to the editor. They can be mailed to us or sent to rubicon.spa@gmail. com. Letters should be limited to 150-200 words and published by discretion of The Rubicon staff.

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St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Focus on leadership undervalues introverts Ellie Fuelling

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A&E Editor

We live in an extroverted world.

The idea of brainstorming has taken over offices and classrooms, and often times the loudest voice is the only one that is heard. With so much information and so many messages, and conversations happening constantly we have forgotten to value time alone, and we have been devaluing those who thrive by themselves.

Introversion recently became a hot topic with the release of books like Laurie Helgoe’s Introvert Power and Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Quiet discusses how our society undervalues introverts, and Introvert Power describes what defines an introvert and how they can best use their talents. But what does this extroverted world look like in a school setting?

In the classroom it presents itself in the form of Harkness discussions and brainstorming sessions. These teaching techniques cultivate new ideas and help students debate topics in healthy, productive ways. But they clearly favor extroverts over introverts. Introverts get energy from themselves, while extroverts are energized by having people around them. Introverts usually need to consider their ideas before they express them to the class, leading others to see them as non-participatory. But introverts bring just as much to the classroom as extroverts.

In Quiet, Cain argues that brainstorming produces weaker results than work done in solitude. In a New York Times Opinion article she writes, “Research strongly suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption.” This type of work would appeal to introverts, who often have a harder time expressing their ideas verbally.

Red tape for the sake of security should not get in the way of educational pursuits Thomas Toghramadjian

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Illustration credit: Ellie Fuelling In an environment that focuses on discussion and leadership, those who work better on their own are at a distinct disadvantage.

In classrooms we need to remember the value of silence, which can hold just as much power as talking.

Our inclination is to praise those outspoken students who take control. While those traits are admirable, favoring those over quieter, contemplative characteristics creates an anxious and oppressive environment for introverts. Students and teacher need to recognize the value of introverts in order to create a balanced classroom.

Extroverted qualities are set as the “normal.” It’s normal to easily engage in small talk and voice an opinion without hesitation in an English class. It’s normal to want to meet new people and easily make friends. Those who don’t fit into these parameters are seen as antisocial, when really they just take energy from a different place.

Introverts shouldn’t have to change

themselves to fit other people’s expectations.

In the classroom, participation usually counts for a portion of a student’s grade. But participation only comes easily to some. Is it fair to measure participation on the same scale for introverts and extroverts? Education blogger Valerie Strauss wrote that “Narrow interpretations of the meanings of silence can lead to false assumptions about student participation in classroom activities. Students who are silent might receive low grades for classroom participation, when in fact they are actively engaged in learning. Rather than working to fix or change “introverts” I suggest we understand the various reasons students choose to participate verbally in classrooms or to refrain from such participation.”

Our inclination towards ex-

troversion also manifests itself in our obsession with leaders. Being a leader is overemphasized by colleges, peers and family, and those who are outgoing benefit. But there is nothing wrong with following. It is possible to be passionate about, and active in, an activity without being a leader.

Introverts may like spending time alone, but that doesn’t make them lonely. They may not speak as much as others, but that doesn’t make their opinion any less valuable. Even though they may feel no inclination to lead, that’s OK, because they’ll leave the world a little better than they found it anyway. The SPA community and society at large need to slow down, spend some time in silence, and acknowledge the many assets that introverts bring to the classroom and the world.

Infographic

SENIOR

PROJECT 19 students working for pay outside of school

17

by the numbers

students are working in a meidcal internship

of students found their internship through a family connection

37% 13

Seeking a balance between safety and schoolwork

students found their internship through an SPA suggestion

28

of students found their internship through a family connection

students are participating in activities outside of SPA

students are participating in a sport

students are participating in the school musical Hairspray

26 36%

31

23 of students are working in food support for community service hours

students are working in education for community service hours

18

Illustration credit: Aditi Kulkarni

News Editor

Maintaining a secure school environment is an important priority, and one that school administration cannot afford to neglect. However, the safety of students and our possessions does not always need to conflict with accessibility. For example, rather than escorting students to their lockers after hours, the security staff would be more effectively mobilized at the building’s entrances, where they can keep an eye on the traffic coming in and out. Similarly, instead of sweeping vacant wings of the building looking for students to escort to the Summit Center or gym foyer, the security staff could simply walk the same rounds, checking for unauthorized visitors but leaving students to work.

Steps like these are not only a matter of allowing students to work wherever they please. Some portions of the school, like the publications and art wing, are home to equipment unavailable anywhere else. Escorting a yearbook writer on deadline away from the computer with his page on it does much more harm than good. More broadly, this is an issue of trust.

The vast majority of us are capable of behaving appropriately without adult supervision. Of course, students should not be allowed to run amok around the building, but choosing who to expel and who to leave alone is a judgment call St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s security personnel should be allowed to make. Ask vandals to leave and let the photographers working in the darkroom stay. It’s that simple.

Of course, the school administration has students’ best interests at heart, and it is unfair to attack security guards who are only doing their jobs. In addition, the security staff has already shown itself to be flexible, delaying the locking of the inner doors to accommodate athletes finishing late practices. However, the administration has an obligation to maintain a dialogue with students to ascertain which security practices interfere most with our ability to use the facilities at our disposal. Accommodating the Upper School Council’s request for a meeting, or authorizing the Head of Security to talk with students and reply to their concerns would go a long way toward this end. Safety is key, but it needs to go hand in hand with communication.

Fe a t u r e 7 April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Asian students face unique college obstacles over there with a number count,” she said. How much a school “shapes” their group of accepted students may depend on the makeup of the applicant group, and the admitted group may not have the same numbers as the one that attends in the fall.

According to the Harvard University admissions web site, 21% of Class of 2016 admittances were Asian. “Harvard College welcomes talented students from all backgrounds, including Asian-Americans,” Senior Communications Officer at Harvard University Jeff Neal said in The New York Times.

Photo Credit: Lucy Li Sophomore Neerja Thakkar looks ahead at the race selection space on the Common Application online. “It used to be that being Asian would help you since colleges wanted diversity,” she said, “but now there’s so many Asians getting into top colleges that it can actually hurt you.”

Lucy Li

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Cover Story Editor

Chinese-American senior Jeremy Tong was clear in his view.

“Race can also help you a lot as a student, but it also hurts a lot of people,” he said.

Sophomore Neerja Thakkar shared her opinion. “It used to be that being Asian would help you since colleges wanted diversity,” she said, “but now there’s so many Asians getting into top colleges that it can actually hurt you.”

In college applications, the box which students may check for race is determined by forces beyond the high school experience.

For Asian-Americans, the impact of race on an application is under dispute, especially when it comes to top tier schools. Ac-

cording to a segment in The New York Times’s online opinion forum “Room for Debate,” even though the population of college-age Asian-Americans has approximately doubled in the past twenty years, the average number of Asian-Americans enrolled in Ivy League schools has stayed at 17 percent. On the other hand, the California Institute of Technology, whose admissions office follows a race-blind policy, has Asian-American enrollment statistics that parallel population growth.

Director of College Counseling Mary Hill thinks that “there is the reality that universities and colleges of all shapes and sizes are always trying to consciously shape the class that they are enrolling.”

Hill does not believe that any college sets quotas or a goal to discriminate. “No college is sitting

said.

Affirmative action, a policy used by some schools to reach out to underrepresented groups, is controversial due to how it may lead to reverse discrimination against majority groups.

A current case undergoing review in the United States Supreme Court, Fisher v. University of Texas concerns two female white students who believe that they were denied admission to the University of Texas based on their race. If the court rules against the school, affirmative action may end in public universities.

“

To recieve equal consideration, Asian Americans must outperform whites by 140 points, hispanics by 280 and blacks by 450 on the SAT. Sociologist Thomas Epenshade Tong doubts these statements.

“I guess that’s just an euphemism for whatever they do and in reality I’m sure that they’re not raceblind,” he said.

In response to the concern among students, Hill hopes that fears of discrimination will not prevent students from applying to certain schools. “I think when there are articles and discussions about statistics, it’s a piece of information to consider along with other bits of information,” Hill

In his book, No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal, Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade wrote that “to receive equal consideration by elite colleges, Asian Americans must outperform Whites by 140 points, Hispanics by 280 points, Blacks by 450 points in [the] SAT (Total 1600).”

“That’s probably true,” Tong said in response to this. “From my experience, test scores didn’t really help me at all… they matter less when you’re trying to compete

with other students for spots.”

Test scores are not the entire application, but Tong believes that his extracurricular activities were not lacking, either.

Thakkar, who still has over a year before applying to colleges, has an Asian-American friend who blamed his race for the admission responses he received from colleges. “He noticed that his classmates who had similar applications to him got into better colleges than him just because they weren’t Asian,” Thakkar said.

Hill wants to dissuade students from finding a single reason for the college admission results they received. “I think it’s really important to realize that a college is never admitting a student simply because of their race or ethnic background. Is it a factor among many other factors? Yes, it is,” she said. “Even if you can sit on the right side of that admission officer who made that final call, it’s usually never a function of just one factor, but it’s natural and very human to try and make sense of it.”

Thakkar plans to face the college application process by succeeding in the parts she can control and putting fears of discrimination aside. “It’s not like you can really do anything about it, so I’m just going to try to keep my grades up... and just apply for colleges and see what happens,” she said.

Overall, Hill encourages this discussion of race’s impact on college admissions to continue. “I think it’s an important aspect of the process to keep calling attention to,” she said. “I think you have to examine and expose aspects of the admission process that can raise some difficult questions.”

Jobs give students new stresses and opportunities Hannah Johnson

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Sports Editor

Wake up, go to school, work, go home, eat, homework, sleep.

This is the jam-packed schedule of many St. Paul Academy and Summit School students who hold part-time jobs during the school year. These students have learned how to juggle their school, homework, social lives, sports and work all while maintaining sanity and balance. Three working students share their experiences with working during the school year.

While many students only hold one job, others choose to work two or more. Junior Asialy Bracey-Gardella, an avid biker, began working at Sunrise Cyclery in Minneapolis the spring of her freshman year, where she helps build and repair bicycles. This summer, she began teaching bike classes at Cycles for Change, an organization that promotes bicycle use in St. Paul.

Between the two jobs, Bracey-Gardella works three days a week, including all day Saturday at Sunrise. She usually works on Thursday and Friday at Cycles for

Change, but “it is always changing,” she said.

Though having two jobs is difficult, Bracey-Gardella sees the benefits of working. “I just do it because I like it, so it makes doing my school work easier because I am happier,” she said. She also enjoys making her own money. “It is really nice having extra money and not having to ask your parents for money,” she said.

Freshman Kyle Salverda also began working to have his own money. “I decided to get the job so I could have start having some income,” Salverda said. “My family really pushed for me to start working.”

Salverda didn’t need to look far to find his job. Salverda has been working at Drake Arena selling concessions at athletic events since the spring of his Eighth grade year.

He works between four and ten hours a week, depending on the athletic events going on at Drake and Briggs Gymnasium. “It is a little difficult, but definitely manageable,” Salverda said.

Salverda, who is also a studentathlete, said that he manages his time balancing sports, school and

work very well. “I don’t find it very hard to balance out. [The Drake Arena managers] are very good at trying to make [it] so working doesn’t overlap with sports or any extracurricular activities,” he said.

Junior Ysabella Johnson also knows how to schedule her work around her schoolwork and sports.

Johnson works on Saturdays and Sundays at the Wendy’s in Eagan, where she is a cashier and takes customers’ orders. She began working at Wendy’s a year and a half ago and chose the fast food joint because “they hire at 15,” she said.

Though she enjoys her time at Wendy’s, Johnson is looking to find a new job at Edible Arrangements, a store that arranges fun fruit bouquets and gifts. Johnson said that she is looking into the new workplace because the hours fit with her busy schedule at school. “It is good to have a flexible manager,” she said.

All three students said that students wanting jobs should look for jobs that appeal to their schedules.

If scheduling hours to work is tough, Johnson recommends finding a place with a flexible manager

Photo submitted by Asialy Bracey-Gardella Junior Asialy Bracey-Gardella works during open shop at Cycles for Change. Despite the time crunch, the job “makes doing my schoolwork easier because it makes me happier.”

to work around schoolwork and other commitments. Salverda advises students to find a job with a manageable amount of hours a week. Bracey Gardella said that

students should be excited and motivated to work. “You should try to do a job you enjoy,” BraceyGardella said. “Then it is not so bad.”

8

C ove r

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Even though athletics can take a toll, the experiences gained on the court or field makes it all worthwhile. Whether balancing academics or healing injuries, student athletes manage to persevere.

The challenge of

for s t r o p s

Patello syndrom

Sophomore Ian Sussna wa track practice. Last fal “instead of going easy

Concussions

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Three students sh impact of past inj A&E Editor

Concussions, multiple sprained ankles and torn ligaments. Months off the team. Is it worth it? The toll of sports, in the physical sense, is an unavoidable component to sports.

Sports are meant to meet friends, blow off steam, and live a healthy lifestyle. But with the countless advantages comes the physical toll of practicing for hours after school, day after day, for years.

y Li

Nina Perkkio Soccer, Hockey

Senior Nina Perkkio anticipates the puck during a hockey game last season. “There’s going to be pain in sports; it’s just part of the game,” Perkkio said.

Sprained ankles

Senior Nina Perkkio has played sports for all four years of high school, focusing on soccer in the fall and hockey in the winter. She has gotten concussions in both sports, and countless sprained ankles from soccer, where it is so easy to roll an ankle on the field. She was out for one and a half months for the first concussion and two and a half for the second, but, she said that for recovery time, “It really depends on how bad the injury is.”

Injuries, especially concussions, are bound to affect academic work.

“I missed a lot of school for [the concussions].” Being a part of an after school activity like sports or plays usually improved academic performance. For Perkkio, “Not being able to participate in sports after school

to destress and be with the team; it’s harder to get work done because you don’t have that time to come back together.“ In the end, Perkkio believes sports are definitely worth the cost.

“The sports I play are really hard on my body. Almost every day I have pain of some sort. But it’s worth it.

There’s going to be pain in sports; it’s just part of the game.”

Josh Gray Basketball

Senior Josh Gray jumped up to take a shot over an opposing six foot player, missed, and came down on the player’s foot. His ankle twisted and broke, and he was off the basketball court for two months. After working with a physical trainer for months he was able to start walking without crutches, then jogging, and eventually he made his way back on to the court.

While this happened near the beginning of the basketball season this year, this was not Gray’s first encounter with sports injuries. During freshman year he sprained and tore ligaments in the same ankle he later broke. “The doctor told me it would have been better if I had broken it,” Gray said. During junior year he got a concussion from soccer.

Gray still weighs the benefits over the injuries. “It comes with the game,” he said. He recognized the physical toll sports take, saying he often comes to school sore after a

Stor y

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

9

All work and all play: student athletes balance the best of both worlds

Each year, over 38 million children and adolescents play sports, according to Safe Kids USA.

ofemoral me in knee

Photo Credit: Aditi Kulkarni Senior Peter Wood lifts a dumbbell while reading out of a textbook. “It’s important to try and forget everything and work on homework for at least some time,” Wood said.

Aditi Kulkarni

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Photo Illustration Credit: Lucy Li alks along during a warm up exercise at ll, Sussna injured his left knee because y, I decided to push it,” he said.

hare the juries hard practice. But for Gray, sports have helped him academically, and this far outweighs occasional soreness. “I have to focus more on homework when I get home from practice or a game,” he said.

Ian Sussna

Cross Country, Track Sophomore Ian Sussna has what is known as patellofemoral syndrome. This means the muscles on the sides of his leg are weak. This hadn’t mattered to him until one day in cross country practice when his knee started hurting. The next day the team had a 5K, and “Instead of going easy, I decided to push it,” he said. His knee hurt even worse and he went to the doctor to see what had happened. Because his leg muscles were weak, they didn’t hold his knee into place, and he knee shifted out of place when he ran.

This happened in early November last year at the end of cross country season. Luckily, he only had to miss one last meet because of his injury. It took a couple of months for Sussna to recover while wearing a knee brace. Other than occasional ankle pain from having flat feet, he hasn’t had to endure other injuries.

Injuries are a common occurrence in athletes, and they seem to be hard to avoid. But students agree that despite the consequences of pushing yourself too hard in a game or practice, the benefits of sports are worth it.

Photo Illustration Credit: Lucy Li Senior Josh Gray, who played on the Varsity Basketball team this winter, aims for a basket. He broke his ankle last season, after spraining and tearing ligaments freshman year. “It comes with the game,” he said about sports injuries.

Sprained and broken ankle

“

The sports I play are really hard on my body... But it’s worth it. senior Nina Perkkio

Approximately 300,000 concussions occur each year in the U.S., according to Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance.

Athletics cause about 30,000 hospitalizations, 500,000 doctor visits and 2 million injuries in high schoolers each year, according to the organization STOP Sports Injuries.

Editor in Chief

The rigor of academics is tough.

The rigor of athletics is tough. Combine those two together and it totals long hours and intense pressure for student athletes.

However, at a school like St. Paul Academy and Summit School, academics are the first priority. Student athletes have to work to ensure quality time is spent not only on their academics, but athletics and their other extracurriculars.

But can the intense role academics play have a negative effect on the quality of athletics?

According to Director of Athletics Peter Sawkins, the harmony of academics and the other activities SPA offers is what makes for a complete education. “I think of this school as not only providing an excellent athletic foundation, but also a comprehensive education which includes, academics, the arts and athletics,” he said. “It’s the marriage of all three of those within an institution that provides that complete education and gives our students the perspective to be successful leaders in whatever field they pursue.”

But as they are planning the athletic school year, they keep SPA’s core mission of academics at the forefront. “We try to consider scheduling in a way that allows people to think about their academics as rigorously as they need to,” Sawkins said. “But clearly athletics takes time and energy and it’s about finding that right balance, which can be very personal for each individual.”

For some students, though, the total workload can be too much.

In situations like these, Sawkins believes that working with the student on an individual basis is the best policy. This may involve additional input from the principal or coaches.

The flexibility extends both ways as student athletes have found teachers to be understanding in certain scenarios. “As a whole when [my team] has had far away games I feel

like the next day, teachers have been pretty lenient and forgiving when it comes to homework and tests,” hockey, soccer, and baseball player senior Peter Wood said.

Wood has also seen an increase in his time management skills. “Using all your free periods in the day is very valuable, especially when you have night games,” Wood said. “It catches up to you very quickly if you didn’t use your time in school.”

But he admits that working on game days can be tough with all the anticipation a game day comes with.

“You find yourself thinking about the game a lot throughout the day, which is tough,” he said. “But it’s important to try and forget everything and work on homework for at least some time.”

Sophmore basketball player Bella Martinez agrees with this. “[The basketball team] definitely had a lot of late games this year, which made it harder to find time for homework,” she said. “It’s important to use the time you have before games and in free periods to get work done. There were some nights where I couldn’t finish everything I needed to.”

While SPA is able to boast a rigorous academic environment and an impressive arts department, Sawkins believes that its reputation for an emphasis on academics does deter some students from coming. “I think there are kids that we would very much like to have here who are very bright, very good citizens, and great athletes who are not coming to SPA because of athletics. There is some truth to that,” he said. “As a department, we are trying to change that mindset.”

The first step in doing that, Sawkins believes, is building awareness. “I think there are things we can do from a branding perspective in on our uniforms, on the press we get, and just things we can do externally to get the school on the radar,” he said. “Our big selling point is the academics, but there are clearly very qualified students who are also very good athletes.”

10 Fe a t u r e

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013 Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

The Rubicon editor wins Journalist of the Year Thomas Toghramadjian

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All photos credit: Noah Shavit-Lonstein Seniors (from left) Ariana Amini, Spencer Egly, and Danny O’Shea express their shock at the skyrocketing cost of college. In the past thirty years, college costs have risen 440%, for reasons that are increasingly hard to pin down.

Rising college costs a shock Reasons for high tuition, interest rates hard to trace Aditi Kulkarni

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Editor in Chief

When Upper School College Counselor Jill Apple first started working in college admissions in the 1980s, college tuition was only $4,000 or 5,000 per year. Today, she sits down with sophomores, juniors, and seniors to help them sort through the $50,000 per year tuition cost found in some schools.

“I can vividly remember the tuition charges and think back on how they’ve increased so much,” she said.

Senior Madeline Graham is no longer shocked by the tuition price but still finds herself thinking about it a lot. “The college I’m attending doesn’t offer merit scholarships,” she said. “My college tuition is going to be a pretty major sacrifice that my parents will have to make. We have accepted that it is not going to be easy to afford.”

The cost of college tends to

dominate conversation in the college admissions realm. “We’re always asking the question to admissions officers of why [their tuition cost] is so much higher,” Apple said. “They’re trying to justify decisions that are not made in their own office; those decisions come from the presidents of their universities.”

There is no one clear scapegoat for the cost of college: the combination of faculty benefits, fancy facilities and technology, student loans, and college comparison have all played a role in the high cost. “So much of the increasing costs come from faculty salaries and benefits. If we were to go back

and take a look at the cost of medical benefits as an employee in this country, they would have doubled and tripled,” Apple said. “So much of the expenses come from human resources.”

Technology and the sciences contributes to this cost as schools feel pressured to replace and update technology and software in the classroom environment. When Apple worked in college admissions, the most costly technology was the telephone and new computer. Today, she feels colleges are expected to keep up with the constant advances made in technology.

“There’s something in our culture that says we want every college campus to look pristine and cutting edge,” she said. “Granted, a lot of colleges needed to update their science buildings and their dormitories, but does everybody need lots of fancy dining facilities?

Today’s student culture has more choices; instead of one dining hall with one menu they have 20 differ-

ent options.”

Upper School History teacher Nan Dreher, who teaches an economics course, separates the costs into two categories- public and private universities. “States have very significantly cut their funding to public universities, so those [public] universities have had to raise tuition to cover their costs,” she said. For the elite private schools, “students are desperate to get degrees from the most elite schools, which open a lot of doors. So, basically, those schools can pretty much charge whatever they want and there will be an abundance of students willing to pay. Economists would say that demand for these degrees exceeds supply, which forces up the price.”

Apple agrees, in part. Colleges try hard to justify these high prices.

“There is safety in numbers,” she said. “So colleges have felt that if [another college] increasing theirs, they can as well, and use it as justification.”

But colleges have done their fair share of work to help subsidize costs, some intentionally using it as a tactic to appeal to more applicants. As colleges have raised their costs, they have also increased scholarships and financial to help enroll their classes.

“This isn’t a new phenomenon, but we call it discounting as opposed to scholarships,” Apple said.

“Colleges do it in order to be more attractive to a student, but also to select who you can be more attractive to, giving you more control over the incoming class.”

Senior Julian D’Rozario experienced this phenomenon when he heard back from some of his schools over Spring Break.

D’Rozario, who will be attending the University of San Francisco,

found out he had won a merit scholarship without applying. “I didn’t actively try for [a scholarship],” he said. “When I received my letter from USF, in addition to a ‘welcome from USF’ there was another thing saying I had won some presidential merit scholarship!”

However, all these aspects of the college admissions money game seem miniscule in comparison to student loans. “What you’re hearing about most in the world of aid and paying for college is loans, and the whole loan business has gone crazy,” Apple said.

Dreher agrees with this statement. According to Dreher, loans are not of the same concern to colleges as they are to students. “Colleges don’t have to bear the consequences of students who can’t pay their debt – they get paid up front whether or not students graduate,” she said.

However, while the cost of college remains a forefront in discussion, a fix remains elusive. There are no quick and easy solutions to this nation-wide dilemma, but the federal government, private corporations, and colleges themselves are doing as much as they can to offset the cost of college.

News Editor

Her position might be less visible than an Upper School Council or Student Activities Committee presidency, and her face isn’t frequently seen in assembly, but the work of Aditi Kulkarni has deeply permeated St. Paul Academy and Summit School. As Editor-InChief of The Rubicon, Kulkarni has presided over and signed off on every edition of the paper this year.

Kulkarni received some well-deserved recognition for her efforts after being selected by the Journalism Education Association as the Journalist Of the Year for the entire state of Minnesota. “[Journalism Advisor] Ms. Campbell told me about journalistic scholarship opportunities, and I decided that I would [apply]. I thought that it would be a good way to set up a portfolio and get my work out,” Kulkarni said.

Her portfolio will next be reviewed by a panel of judges who will determine the winner for the entire country, as well as several runner-ups. “I’m not really expecting anything from nationals, but it’s an honor knowing my portfolio will be judged on that level,” she said.

The award constitutes not only a prestigious accomplishment for Kulkarni, but also the culmination of her three years in journalism at SPA. She entered Writing for Publication in her sophomore year, hoping to do some sports writing for the paper, not knowing how far her career would eventually go.

Despite the broad curriculum of the class, Kulkarni wanted to continue her focus on sports reporting. She got her chance, becoming editor of the sports section in her junior year.

As an editor, Kulkarni developed her skills in photography, becoming a presence at sporting events year round. Improbable action shots became a hallmark of her tenure as sports editor.

“My photography gave me opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise, like riding the bus with the boys soccer team to their games at the Dome,” Kulkarni said.

As Editor-in-Chief, Kulkarni’s primary goal was to foster dialogue and mutual understanding between members of The Rubicon staff.“I wanted people to get their drafts in on time, but also make sure that I was able to listen,” she said.

“I want to leave a legacy of making sure that journalists here are trained in all aspects of their work. I came in wanting to do sports writing and I found that I loved a lot of different things that I never would have discovered otherwise,” Kulkarni said.

Ar ts & Enter tainment

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Horror Andy Monserud

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Op/Ed Editor

While some question movies’ position in the art world, they are definitely a difficult medium to create. But because it’s such an accessible art form, film is extremely popular among young artists. To recognize this, St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Film Club hosts an annual student movie night. The sixth such event took place on the evening of April 10th.

Film Club usually gives the SPA Student Movie Award, or SPASMA, to the favorite film of the judges, a group that ranges from faculty members to parents to visiting artists. They announced the winner of the St. Paul Academy Student Movie Award, or SPASMA, a week after the films aired.

The Doll House won the award, garnering praise from Film Club “for all-around excellence in narrative, suspense, editing, sound, and costume.” Opponent The Great Cat Spy received the Sound and the Furry Award “for clever cultural commentary and humor.”

The submitted movies and winners were The Doll House, a horror flick with silent-film tendencies by freshmen Anna Biggs, Calla Saunders and Maggie Vlietstra and featuring Saunders’ younger sister Carenna. Junior Michael Wilkens and sophomore Olivia Fitch created The Great Cat Spy, a pun-heavy

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

11

rules on Student Film Night

Film Club premiers two student-made films

horror satire. Viewers teetered on the edges of their seats for most of the night. To fill the night, Findlay showed Eoin Small’s 2008 horror film The Hand, Nat Bear’s goofy 2011 action flick Nerf Wars and Kaia Findlay’s creepy 2012 drama Clementine, making up the first half of the event. Small’s film featured

“

I had a fantasy about making this movie, and during Spring Break I decided ‘you know, I’m actually going to do it.’

junior Michael Wilkens

the director and leading man chopping off his own hand, Kaia Findlay’s ended with a murder, and even Bear’s comedy had a body count to rival any big-budget action film.

The lack of new films this year is unusual, but not entirely surprising. “When we announce it, I almost always hear from somewhere between ten and twenty different individuals that want to make movies,” Findlay said, “but obviously with the pressures of time around SPA, plans don’t always go the way people want.” He attributes this

year’s particularly small crop to the lack of promotion and to the fact that for the first time, Film Club did not hold workshops for aspiring filmmakers, a staple of previous years’ competitions.

This year’s submissions began with The Doll House, which caught the audience’s attention with its tense, fast-moving tale of an abused toy returning to haunt its owner. The film has no dialogue, which only adds to its fatalistic tone and nail-biting horror. “We were a little worried that it would turn out as sort of a funny horror,” Biggs said. “So I’m glad that I’ve heard it creeped some people out,” Vlietstra added.

The Doll House was followed up by the semi-satirical The Great Cat Spy, which came to Wilkens first as a pun on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. “I had a fantasy about making this movie,” Wilkens said, “and during Spring Break I decided ‘you know what, I’m actually going to do it.’” He enlisted Fitch as a codirector, co-writer and actress, and the result was a bizarre, pun-heavy locked-room thriller with occasional semi-intentional goofs, including green blips on the screen said to represent Gatsby’s green light and a phantom-like figure in the mirror cast by cameraman, senior Asher Szachowicz.

“The most fun of the whole thing was watching it afterward and realizing what I’d created,” Wilkens said.

Photo used with permission from director Anna Biggs Freshman Anna Biggs examines an old doll while hiding from a doll, freshman Maggie Vlietstra, that has come to life. “We were a little worried that it would turn out as sort of a funny horror, so I’m glad that I’ve heard it creeped some people out,” Vlietstra said.

Photo used with permission from director Michael Wilkens Above, sophomore Olivia Fitch races to find a mysterious cat in The Great Cat Spy. Below that lies a Great Gatsby reference. “The most fun of the whole thing was watching it afterward and realizing what I’d created,” director Michael Wilkens said.

SAC plans new black light dance Ava Gallagher

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Photo Credit: Ellie Fuelling Seniors August King and Nick Scott prepare their DJing equipment for the black light dance hosted by Students Activity Committee held on May 4.

Staff Writer/Illustrator

By the sounds of it, this is no ordinary dance. In place of the formerly annual Battle of the Bands, the Student Activities Committee (SAC) has scheduled a black-light dance for early May. SAC co-presidents Jeron Mariani and Max Lowenthal hope to reach out to a wider audience through this dance, even if it comes at the cost of Battle of the Bands.

Unlike previous St. Paul Academy and Summit School dances, the students themselves have a much larger role in the overall experience and feel of the dance. Multiple student DJs will have the opportunity to share their own selections of dance-worthy music. “We’ll have a

little shift in music ideally. It probably will be similar to other dances but we’re hoping to appeal to a larger audience,” Lowenthal said.

The student DJs will be seniors August King and Nick Scott, with electrical and technological help from senior Steven Olson.

This dance will debut SPA’s first ever use of black-lights.“Mr. Hughes suggested that we have a black light dance, and we thought that it would be fun. People responded positively to it, so we went with it.” Mariani said. Students are indeed looking forward to this new dance more so than previous dances. Junior Katrina Hilton hopes there will be improvement in the music choices at the dance, “I went to the most recent dances at the beginning of the year. They were fine, I didn’t really like the music at

those,” Hilton said. However, talk of student DJs and black-lights have captured Hilton’s interest: “I might go to this one because I heard that there were gonna be students DJing… the idea of like, the black-light makes it sound like it’s a club or something” Hilton said.

For Lowenthal and Mariani, this event is a chance to give students what they really want out of a school dance. The cost is $7 if students are dressed in neon or white, and $10 if they are not. The combination of black-lights and student-picked music will be something different, and something that everyone should see. “It’s not just dress up and dance, there are other elements,” Lowenthal said. “I think it will be fun,” Hilton said.

12 A r t s & E n t e r t a i n m e n t

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Girls have mixed feelings about HBO’s Girls Hannah Johnson

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Sports Editor

Season two of HBO’s Girls, begins with the main character, Hannah, breaking up with her casual boyfriend for being too Republican. She also insists that throughout their short-lived relationship, she never thought about how he was African American. These are just a few samples of the controversy that comes with the show.

Though Sex and the City is an inspiration for the show, Girls shows the less glamorous side of New York, taking place in youthful Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Though often called funny, raw and refreshing, others think the controversial show is racist and sexist.

Girls follows four women in their twenties: Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshana, pursuing their dreams in New York City while experiencing many friendships, sexual relationships and money issues along the way. Lena Dunham, who plays Hannah, is also the show’s creator, writer and producer. Many of the characters and situations portrayed in the show are based off Dunham’s experiences, friends and life.

While Dunham wanted to depict the life of a typical girl living in New York, the show has received a lot of criticism. Many critics complained there was not a single person of color in Hannah’s friend group.

Senior Liat Kaplan, who watches the show, agrees with critics.

“There are a few people of color on the show, appearing in unimportant, non-speaking roles, and always playing maids, nannies, or bellhops,” Kaplan said. “The fact that the only people of color on the entire show are playing ‘the help’ is perhaps the most racist part.”

Kaplan said that Hannah’s reason for breaking up with her African American boyfriend in season two was racist and ridiculous.

“Hannah accuses him of fetishizing her as a white person. She also claims she ‘doesn’t see color’ and ‘doesn’t see him as black,’ which is one of the most racist things you can say to a person,” Kaplan said.

“It erases their history and identity for your convenience.” Kaplan also added that Dunham has used social media including Twitter and blogging to post racist, insensitive comments.

Girls also has had viewers and critics alike viewing sex and relationships in a different light. Multiple characters on the show are seen performing sexual acts. Hannah also is often seen shirtless, with no sense of embarrassment or shame.

Though this nudity might send a good message about body image and confidence, others have a hard time understanding the constant nakedness.

Sophomore Eva Perez-Greene, a big fan of Girls, said that the raw depiction of sex and nudity shocked her at first. “The first time I ever watched Girls, I was taken aback by the sex scenes and kind of grossed out, to be honest,” she said.

In many of the racy scenes, the characters show resistance or displeasure with the sex. Adam, Hannah’s boyfriend, often forces her to have sex and humiliates her and becoming rough. Kaplan says that though it is OK to show rape and sexual violence in the media, it is important to not show it as a normal and healthy aspect of a relationship. “When [rape and sexual assault] is treated as a normal part of a relationship, it can lead women who are raped or sexually assaulted to not speak out about it, or not even recognize it as such.

Rape needs to be treated as rape,

Photo used with fair use from HBO.com Shoshanna, played by Zosia Mamet, and Hannah, played by Lena Dunham, watch a game show together as they discuss their problems. “I understand that post-college twenty somethings don’t necessarily have their lives completely figured out,” senior Liat Kaplan, who is not a fan of the show, said, “but surely there must be something more that this.”

Photo Credits: Hannah Johnson Junior Ellen Samuelson laughs as she watches an episode of Girls. Sophomore Eva Perez-Greene is shocked by some of the content on the show. “The first time I watched Girls, I was taken aback by the sex scenes and kind of grossed out, to be honest,” she said.

not just unpleasant sex.”

Perez-Greene said that she does “resonate with some aspects of the girls lives, specifically the hook up culture and how convenient yet frustrating and degrading it is,” Perez-Greene said. Though she is not involved in the casual dating scene of many twenty year old women, she understands that many are.

Despite the controversy, Girls has received plenty of praise. The show won two Golden Globes this

year and Best Television Show, Comedy or Musical, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical, for Lena Dunham in her role as Hannah. HBO renewed a third season of Girls in January, and filming began in March.

Both Perez-Greene and Samuelson highly recommend the show to other students. “It is awkward, that is my kind of humor,” Samuelson said. “It is just a really good show.”

Kaplan believes that the characters and portrayal of women in their twenties makes Girls hard to watch. “There is no one to root for, no one to sympathize with.

I understand that post-college twenty somethings don’t necessarily have their lives completely figured out, but surely there must be something more than this,” she said.

WOMENINTELEVISION 25%

20%

The percent of exceutive producers who are female

The percent of TV editors who are female

26%

30%

The percent of TV creators who are female

The percent of TV writers who are female

Women are so rarely featured on TV as main characters with their own motivations. But why is that, and why is half of the world’s population is so under-represented? The number of women behind the camera mirrors the representation on screen, and it is

shocking.

89%

of TV directors are male

96%

of TV directors of photography are male

SOURCE: Boxed In: Employment of Behind-the-Scenes Women in the 2011-12 Prime-time Television Season Illustration Credit: Liz Rossman

13 S p o r t s

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

In spite of a strong desire to compete, athletes are kept off the track, the courts, and the field by a stormy, snow-filled spring.

Spring Sports Snow Days

Photo Credit: Laura Slade The snowy bench in the dugout, absent of baseball and softball players, represents the harsh reality of the season so far, even though the teams began Spring Training in mid-March.

When the teams are able to play more regularly outside of hard-to-acquire dome space, rescheduled games will pack their schedules with up to seven games a week.

Frigid weather bad luck for baseball FAST FACT Dhara Singh

Because of snow, the Varsity Baseball team will play 5-7 games weekly.

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Staff Writer

From little league to varsity, from hitting a ball on a t-stand to swinging at a ball coming at 70 mph, junior and senior varsity baseball players are very committed to the sport they love.

“If hitting off of a t-stand counts, I have been playing ever since I was three years old,” junior Josh Johnson said.

Senior Co-captain Spencer Egly has been playing baseball for as long as he can remember. “I think it’s been 16 or 17 years. I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t playing,” Egly said.

After four years of playing on varsity, Egly’s favorite aspects of the game are the intense competition and the feeling of the team.

Johnson has been playing on varsity since ninth grade. “Little league was a great place to start, and since then I have grown a lot physically, and also mentally,” Johnson said.

Johnson plays the positions of pitcher, first base and outfield on the varsity team. Johnson has many complex goals for this season, but his main one is simple:“ I want to strike out as many batters as possible.”

The season began March 18 with Spring Training with the regular season -- as yet to start -- con-

tinues until May 20. The playoffs, section championship games and state tournament follow, giving the team a potention to play just into the summer.

This 2013 Spartan team consists of six juniors and 10 seniors, with Spencer Egly and Matt Fiedler as co-captains and Assistant Athletic Director Mike Brown as the head coach.

With a successful season in 2012, the varsity baseball team finished with a record of 14-6, and took second place in the Tri Metro conference.

The team has high hopes for the season, and to get there, they have set the goals to respect everyone and fear no one, compete hard

in every game, never give up, and to bond as brothers.

The team is facing a hard time because of the spring weather conditions. With snow on the diamond, it has been difficult to practice and impossible to keep the game schedule.

The first game was scheduled for Apr. 12 against Highland Park High School at SPA, but it was snowed out. All of their games to date have also been cancelled or postponed because of the wintry conditions. When the Boys Varsity Baseball team can finally take the field, they will play 5-7 games per week.

But none of this diminishes the love of the game.

Growth year presents opportunity for softball Nina Zietlow

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Staff Writer

The wind is frigid and the field muddy with patches of icy water and snow scattered about. Nonetheless the Girls Varsity Softball team is surrounded with warmth and optimism as they warm up and get ready for another day of practice.

The team, which has a history of strong performance, is not only facing the challenge of bad weather but is also working to recuperate after losing many team members, including six seniors at the end of

last year.

“We try to make it a seamless transition after players graduate, but half of our roster graduated,” head Coach Bill Ross said. “It creates a kind of challenge but it also creates more opportunity for other kids.”

The team is going through a rebuilding phase. “A lot of people are really new to the team,” said freshman Vanessa Miller.

The loss of players has forced the team to make some vital changes to the lineup and positions. After two years in right field, Miller is now catching for the team. The team has also expanded their roster

to include two eighth graders.

Making such drastic changes is no easy feat but the team has handled these challenges with a positive attitude.

“We don’t let each other get down or stay focused on what we didn’t do right; we focus on the next opportunity, the next play,” Ross said.

Softball is a close knit community, and despite the recent changes they plan on continuing as they always have: “We’re focusing on the process of developing our skills, and the knowledge of the game.”

Ross said.

The team plans to take things

one day at time but are setting their goals high. “We’ll make every effort to complete for conference championship” Ross said.

“We have the potential to learn a lot, but it will take a few years before we’re really good,” Miller said.

The team has its next game on May 2 against Visitation at SPA.

FAST FACT

Half of last year’s roster graduated, so this is a building year for a young team.

14 S p o r t s

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Trap shooters shatter clay... and the competition Netta Kaplan

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Staff Writer

“Pull!” A brightly colored orange disk shoots into the air and bursts in half, accompanied by a bang. It falls to the ground, indistinguishable from the thousands of other clay fragments covering the field. “Nice one.”

Two dozen students have gathered at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake for the first of two trap shooting practices. Surprisingly, this is only the third year St. Paul Academy and Summit School has had a trap shooting team--but the team has gained a lot of interest from new and veteran shooters alike, tripling in size since its inception. The very first year of the team’s formation, they were conference champions, and scored in the top five in their conference the next year.

While individual scores matter for personal standing, all members compete as a team. But rather than marksmanship, the team’s main goals are safety and fun. While shooters don’t need to own a gun, they do need to have Firearms Safety Certification for Youth from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which consists of classroom or online education and field training. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to handle firearms, and we’re teaching them the right way,” parent and team coordinator Amy Rients said. But shooters are still motivated to do well. “When you first start off, you don’t care when you miss,” freshman shooter Charlie Ward said. But the more you succeed, the more you want to suc-

FAST FACT

The team practices twice before all shots count towards competition.

Senior Asher Szachowicz and freshman Will Donaldson talk about shells with their teammate Basil Ernst. Caliber of shells cannot exceed 12 gauge. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to handle firearms, and we’re teaching them the right way,” parent and team coordinator Amy Rients said.

ceed. “You’re more invested in it, so you have higher expectations,” he continued.

Though the team is strong in numbers and dedication, trap shooting is still considered a club rather than a sport. Because of this, students can’t earn varsity letters. The team can only meet on weekends because of scheduling matters with the gun club, which lets them practice for free. Some students participate in other sports

All Photos Credit: Netta Kaplan Freshman Quinn Smith and senior Asher Szachowicz line up with shooter Basil Ernst to check their scores at the end of their round. Shooters tend to care more about their scores as time goes on. “You’re more invested in it, so you have higher expectations,” freshman shooter Charlie Ward said.

as well, which doesn’t help. For trap shooting to become a sport, it must require so much time that members can’t do other sports, as well as ensured participation over time. “We have a limited bandwidth of sports we can support, and we are at that limit right now,” Director of Athletics Peter Sawkins said.

Changing the status of the team hasn’t been a priority for school administration. “They like to see clubs be around for a while, make

sure they’re established and not fizzle out; that enough kids are interested,” Rients said.

Most shooters would like to see the club become an official sport at SPA, particularly as that gives them the ability to get varsity letters. “At most high schools it it,” junior and varsity shooter Lowell Naas, who has been on the team since its beginning, said. As a sport, the team would gain financial support from the school and assistance in hiring

coaches and organizing transportation. “For some people it could be an activity, but when you do it on a regular basis, it becomes a sport.

It takes a lot of work and dedication,” freshman Quinn Smith said.

Trap shooting requires several valuable skills, including focus and enduring strength. “Mental concentration. That’s the most important one,” Naas added.

Track and Field team suit up for a successful season

Photo Credit: Boraan Abdulkarim The Track and Field team stretches in their warm ups on a rare, sunny day. “The snow has been a problem just because it has kept us off the track and limited the amount of quality workouts we are able to do,” Head coach Rob Donnelly said.

Boraan Abdulkarim

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Staff Writer

“We’re on the field today, let’s go!” Everyone gets up in unison and dashes for the door, proving that they’re the St. Paul Academy Track and Field team.

During the walk from the athletic hallway to the field, which has recently been covered in snow, everyone’s chatting, talking about the school day and their plans after practice. As students slowly ap-

proach the field, they head to the bleachers and stretch. Then, they hit the track and run a few laps.

The air is on the brink between cold and warm, and the sun is shining, reflecting on the bits of snow still on the sidelines. The weather, for a change, is gorgeous and the team is motivated.

Everyone is bundled up in layers, from sweaters to leggings under shorts. The team is optimistic about this season, despite the odd April snow. “It’s either a nice spring day or the weather isn’t that great”

said senior captain Ellen Swenson.

Track is one of the sports that’s known for going on with practice no matter what the unpredictable Minnesota weather might be. “Our reputation for going forward despite the weather is well earned.” head coach Rob Donnelly said.

“The snow has been a problem just because it has kept us off the track and limited the amount of quality workouts we are able to do,” Despite the challenge the snow provides, the team is looking optimistic about the days ahead. “I’m confident we’ll do well this season” freshman Christine Lam said.

Christine spends her time on the track only. Freshman Hallie Sogin does track and field. The St. Paul Academy and Summit School Track and Field team isn’t just a team of runners. With a wide range of events, from relays to shot put to discus, track and field is more than just what its shortened name (track) deems it to be.

The track team is technically made up of Junior Varsity and Varsity. But they don’t distinguish the difference between them. “We don’t specify who’s on JV and who’s on Varsity. It doesn’t really matter as long as you’re scoring

points” Sogin said.

Just like JV and Varsity, the fielders and runners are are meshed together into one team. And while this shows unity, it leaves the fielders glossed over, unless a person attends a meet. “It is definitely underrepresented. I kind of wish the field part was a bigger part of our team” Swenson said.

Unlike most other sports, the track team doesn’t have just one overall coach, but has special coaches for every event. Track (and field) just has so much variety, there cannot be the same person running around supervising hurdles and shot put and relay practices at the same time.

Kaitlyn Frenchick trains athletes for middle distance, long and triple jumps. Dave Montgomery, the former Athletic Director, trains sprinters and overall running technique. Ed Perrault trains athletes who participates in shot put and discus. Nicole Carroll focuses on hurdlers, and Max Lipset helps with strength work and high jump.

“People are getting specific training,” Swenson said. This training, and the effort on behalf of the participants, is helping in respect towards the embodiment of

each individual event.

“Most people usually just do one or the other,” Swenson said.

That means that the people who finish their field events first, and support their running teammates for the rest of the meet. “The meets are pretty long,” Swenson said. It’s not to say that the runners aren’t important. But it’s important to note that the fielders are there.

“For the people who do it, it is important to them,” Swenson said.

Track is an incredible sport, which helps improve running ability, jumping ability and overall strength and fitness. According to Swenson, it’s all about strategy“There are psychological strategies, different strategies you can use”.

To be in a team like track, where, with the exception of relays, events are individual, you have to have a motivation or goal. Donnelly’s goal for the team is progress. “The great thing about track is that we have a stopwatch and measuring tape so it is easy to track progress. Everyone, if they work hard, will get better.”

Spor ts St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

15

United Boys Tennis moves Lacrosse indoors sparks Laura Slade new r frienships FAST FACT and Out of the 12 teamwork players on the

Staff Writer

All Photos Credit: Gita Raman Sophomore Sarah Romans prepares to catch a ball thrown by another teammate at a recent practice in the Visitation gym. “We are very strong in the midfield and have an experienced goalie,” varsity head coach Beth Seibel-Hunt said.

FAST FACT

United Lacrosse, the co-op team with SPA and Visitation, began in 2008.

Sophomore Sarah Romans practices a technique called “cradling” which helps keep the ball in the stick’s pocket and protect the ball from defenders.

Gita Raman

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Staff Writer

One of the hopes of Girls Lacrosse Head Coach Beth SeibelHunt is, “that we get to start, I’m ready to start, and I’m eager to continue to improve our playing record.”

There is not much time to get on the field; the snow on the ground has made it difficult to get outside. Instead, the team has been practicing in the Visitation gymnasium. During one of the practices Seibel-Hunt told the girls, “We have to push ourselves since we are not on the field, put in your

best effort.”

Despite the snowy weather outside, the team is eager to begin with their new players. “We are very strong in the midfield and have an experienced goalie,” said Seibel-Hunt.

This year the Girls JV and Girls Varsity lacrosse teams have about 19 players in total. Five of those players are on Varsity lacrosse, there are four freshmen and one sophomore. “We return with six experienced players and we have nine new players on the team,” said Seibel-Hunt. One of those returning players is freshman Bridget Hoffmann.

Hoffmann started playing la-

crosse last year as a “bubble” player, meaning that she would switch from JV to Varsity at anytime.

This year there are five varsity girls from SPA playing on the team. Hoffmann has said that playing with the Visitation girls is nice, since she knew some of them from her hockey team.

When asked about the best thing about playing lacrosse she said, “It’s fun being with the team, they’re great to be with and play with.” “Lacrosse is a fun sport and it is really easy to pick up. A lot of the girls that tried out made the team this year.” Bridget Hoffmann’s sister, 7th grader Hayley Hoffmann who was one of the girls that made it to the Varsity team, said.

This is Hayley Hoffmann’s first

year playing lacrosse. With all of the other spring sports Hayley had one key purpose: to meet new people and to have a new experience.

Hayley has had similar experience playing hockey. Hayley chose to play this sport mainly because it seemed “almost like playing hockey, except not on the ice.”

Hayley’s main goals are to improve her game and learn more about the sport.

Seibel-Hunt has been playing lacrosse ever since she was a freshman in high school. The highlight of her career came during her sophomore year in college, when she was a US National Representative for New England in her regional tournaments.

As she increased in the ranking teams, she was then invited for tryouts for the US National Team.

Seibel-Hunt was among the top 50 players, but was placed in the lower group and was not able to play for the national team. SeibelHunt noted that “it was my best year ever.”

Not giving up Seibel-Hunt continued to play for clubs and sports teams.

“The best part is sharing your passion with the team, no question,” said Sibel-Hunt.

Golf squads grow as more underclassmen join Ibad Jafri

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Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief

Golf is not often thought of in the same category as soccer, baseball or basketball at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. But that could change very soon. Both the Boys and Girls Golf Teams at SPA have been rejuvenated by recent bursts of participation from younger classes, as both teams include members of the middle school.

The more entrenched members of the team welcome this participation. “I think people should really pay attention to our squad because of our young talent,” junior captain Cal Nicholson said.

Nicholson firmly believes that golf warrants attention from other SPA students. “Contrary to popular belief, golf is actually pretty

exhausting,” Nicholson said. He attributes this to golf ’s demand for “intense focus, stamina, and hand eye coordination.”

Sophomore Girls Golf Team captain Delaney Carter agrees.

“Even if [SPA students] don’t think golf is a real sport, they should still see how hard all our teams work,” Carter said.

Intense practices are also commonplace. The team generally heads to the Highland National Golf Course to hit balls once a week, though this has been impossible due to the weather this season. Instead, they have begun using heated outdoor stalls or golf simulators.

Overall, Nicholson is thankful for his golf experience. “I decided to play golf for SPA because I wanted to play on a more competitive level with a good group of guys, and that’s exactly what

happened,” Nicholson said. Carter has also found positives in golf.

“It seems like an older sport, but it’s really social and I enjoy that,” Carter said.

Carter’s hopes for the future are high. “I hope we do well and get better this year and continue to work throughout the next couple of years,” Carter said. “There are many new and young girls, so once we practice more I think we can field a good team.”

Nicholson is also optimistic for the upcoming season, saying that the boys team “has made huge strides from already being a toptier team from last year, and we’re looking to win conference this year and make a state appearance.” An appearance in the state tournament would be the first in SPA golf history, and that’s something any team can be proud of.

“

We are looking to win conference this year and make a state appearance.

starting lineup, four have never played a Varsity match.

“The general feel of this season is rebuilding,” Boys Varsity Tennis captain Jeremy Tong said. The tennis season is off to a rough start this spring.

With the empty spots that last year’s seniors left behind, this is a year to rebuild the team talent.

Two freshmen joined the team along with two middle schoolers.

Another obstacle the team will have to overcome this year is their delay in court availability due to the snow. The team had begun practices as scheduled on Apr. 1, but after two cancelled practices they had to move to the Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center at Fort Snelling.

Freshman George Stiffman, who is new to the team this year, has kept a positive attitude towards the weather. “The weather is frustrating and not very tennis friendly, but the Fort Snelling courts are pretty close so it’s not too bad,” Stiffman said.

In terms of rebuilding, Stiffman says he hasn’t noticed much because he is new to the team but “as a team we definitely have work to do.”

Tong has made his agreement clear.

“We had to take in a lot of new guys this year,” Tong said, “We really need to make sure that everyone has the basic skills to play.” Of the new players this year, four are in the starting line up, much more than previous years. Because of these setbacks the team, which is generally regarded as one of SPA’s more competitive, is not expecting a high-scoring season.

Tong is prepared for a year of growth, saying that “the matches we play will be tougher this year.”

The team’s next match is against St. Anthony at SPA’s own tennis courts.

junior captain Cal Nicholson Check out The Rubicon Online for more on Boys Tennis. www.rubiconline.com

16 M i nu t e s o f Fa m e

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

April 2013. Vol XXXX. Issue VII.

Annapolis-bound Grace Albertson will combine military service and college Albertson wrote about the Naval Academy for her Memoir course in the piece excerpted here. The complete story is reprinted at The Rubicon Online.

Grace Albertson

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Photo Submitted by Grace Albertson Natalie (‘08) and senior Grace Albertson celebrate Natalie’s graduation from the United States Naval Academy on May 27, 2011. After undergoing a rigorous application process, Albertson has been accepted and will attend this prestigous program beginning in the fall.

“Everything about having the opportunity to attend the Academy and serve my country excites me,” she said.

August King

r Staff Writer/Videography

Strength. Intellect. Leadership.

These are all qualities necessary to make it to the United States Naval Academy. Senior Grace Albertson took a few moments to answer questions from this reporter about her plans for the future, the perseverance it took to get there, and what she looks forward to most.

Q: When did you know you wanted to apply to the Naval Academy and subsequently join the Navy?

I had been thinking about applying in the back of my mind since my sister became a plebe at the Naval Academy which was the summer after my sixth grade year. Of course in middle school I wasn’t very serious about colleges, but I still knew that it was potentially an option that I was interested in. By the end of sophomore year I was positive that I wanted to attend the Naval Academy.

I thought about enlisting a little bit, but in the end I decided that going to the Naval Academy would be the best way for me to achieve my goals and serve my country.

Q: What influence did your sister having attended have on your decision?

Her attending the Academy definitely had an impact on me. I am not sure if I would have found the Academies by myself and see that the Naval Academy was the best fit for me. I have learned so much throughout the past six years from my sister and I really value her input and support. Natalie didn’t want to push me in any direction, but she was always there when I

had questions and needed help with my decision.

Q: Any idea of what you hope to major in while there and then what you would like to do while in the Navy?

I would like to major in either naval architecture (systems engineering) or ocean engineering and minor in Chinese. Upon being commissioned as an officer in the Navy of Marine Corps I would like to be either a Navy or Marine helicopter pilot. I have changed my mind so many times over the past couple of months that my choices may change by the time of service selection (when I decide what I want to do after graduating from the Academy).

Q: What makes you proud to serve your country? Anything that makes you nervous?

I am excited to go to the Naval Academy for many reasons. I was drawn towards the outstanding academics, opportunities upon graduation and camaraderie of course, but most of all I want to serve my country. This is just the best way for me to achieve that. I am nervous and excited at the same time about so many things. I am trying to prepare myself both physically and mentally for the challenges that are coming really soon. I report for plebe summer (training for freshman) on June 27, so I am really focusing on preparing myself for that because I know I will be tested and pushed to the limit.

mer. Women need to have their hair cut above the bottom of their ears about.

I am not too upset about it though because we are allowed to grow it out once the summer ends as long as we wear it in a bun. I know with my curly hair I will look ridiculous, but in the end everything else pretty much outweighs that.

Q: What was the first thing you did when you found out you got in?

I was called by Congresswoman McCollum’s office while I was visiting my sister in San Diego, where she is stationed, over winter break. I was told that I received both a nomination from the congresswoman as well as an appointment to the Academy. It was pretty cool that I heard about both applications at once because that is pretty rare and hard to get. The first thing I did was tell my sister and cry. It was special to be able to share the moment with her in person. I was just so happy that it was hard to contain all of my emotions at one time.

Photo reprinted from Flickr Creative Commons

Q: Will you have to do anything to your physical appearance (hair, etc)? How do you feel about that?

Check out The Rubicon Online for

All incoming freshman, or plebes, are more information on SPA students required to cut their hair for plebe sum- joining the military after graduation.

Guest Writer

I have been to Annapolis, Maryland too many times too count. All I know is that I have been there so many times in the last six years that I cannot count all of them on my ten fingers. Even though I have been there multiple times, my family and friends make each trip memorable. I am so excited to say that through a lot of hard work, I will call Annapolis my home for at least the next four years of my life.

The first time I traveled to Annapolis was with my family during the summer after my sixth grade year. Annapolis is the home of the United States Naval Academy and approximately 4,000 midshipmen at any given time. My family arrived a week before Induction Day—the day that my sister, Natalie, would officially become a midshipman at the Academy. I arrived knowing very little about the Academy and even less about Maryland.

The week smelled of ocean and a place far from the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota. Each time I walked outside of our candle-scented house I was greeted by the freshness and crispness of the morning dew forming on the grass under my toes. I could smell the heat of the sun on my nose and shoulders turning a light red. I have never felt so calm and at ease as I did among these smells. What remained with me is a clear smell that I cannot even try to forget. I can still hear the gentle waves crashing. The wind in the sails of the boats created a place for me to simply be happy. I-Day at the Academy sounded of roars of screaming and yelling along the quiet, serene backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay, the sail boats, waves and the sun.

The trip ended with us saying goodbye to Natalie and heading back home. As I arrived home, I realized that something other than my big sister was missing. No place had ever had such a large impact on me and Annapolis seemed to wiggle its way into every conversation and every thought I had. I just couldn’t get enough of it.

After many more trips to the East coast to visit my sister, by my sophomore year of high school it was clear that I would do just about anything to attend the Naval Academy for my college experience. Everything I did, thought, and talked about for the next couple of years had something to do with getting into the Academy. Heck, everything I do today even has something to do with the Academy and getting there. I spent my little free time on the Academy website filling out every new document the moment it became avail-

able and trying to learn everything I could about life at Mother B (Bancroft Hall – the largest dorm in the country). When asked during an interview about why I really wanted to attend the Naval Academy and be an officer in the United States Navy I simply replied with “it feels like home.”

The process of getting into any of the three major Service Academies—the US Air Force Academy, the US Military Academy, and the US Naval Academy—is extremely strenuous. The application, which begins in February of junior year, includes a physical examination, doctor appointments, a full application to the Academy, and applications to senators and congressmen to receive a required “nomination” from interviews. I spent months preparing for my interviews with the staffs of Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Senator Al Franken and Senator Amy Klobuchar. A prospective candidate must obtain an “appointment” to the Academy as well as a “nomination.”

The “appointment” amounts to an acceptance, but you cannot actually attend unless you also have a “nomination.” The interviews can make or break one’s chances getting into any service academy so I did not take my preparation lightly.

During my first interview I met with an intimidating veteran. The conversation started out normally but the tables quickly turned.

The interview did not go as I had expected it to. I had rehearsed for hours on end, answering a list of “Common Questions Asked for Nominations” but these questions seemed to disappear under the weight of the not-so-commonly-asked ones. These thoughts continue to roll around in my head today. I had been asked before by curious friends, family members and teachers about why I wanted to attend the Academy and commit myself to the United States military, but my intent had never been questioned as it was in this one interview. Yet someone somewhere realized that the Naval Academy needed to be my home and for that I am extremely thankful.

Everything about having the opportunity to attend the Academy and serve my country excites me. The smell of the Severn and the bold waves of the Chesapeake make the area more inviting alongside the business and nervousness of what goes on behind the doors in Rickover Hall and Bancroft Hall and on the track in the Wesley Brown Field House. It is an interesting compilation of sounds, sights, and smells that help me accept the challenges that are to waiting for me in the coming months and years.