Rubicon, January 2012

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hoo c S t mmi u S y & MN m e d ul, ca a A P . l t au .S IV. e P e v u .

A s t S olph XXIX. Is d n a R 1712 012. Vol X ry 2 Janua

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In this issue: Chicken Wings

How delicious is this?

In-Depth 7

2011: A Year in Music Who came out on top?

Music Scene 14-15

Field trips SPA should take

Where should we go?

Back Page 16

2 News

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

Food truck brings new meal options to campus

Athletes can purchase inexpensive meals before practice or games Ellie Fuelling

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Feature Editor

Grumbling stomachs often greet students after the final bell rings, and with sports teams playing in over 1000 games annually and logging countless hours of practice, what to do about an after-school snack is a dilemma.

Now students need only walk to the parking lot to find a filling meal, thanks to the food truck that now frequents the Randolph campus.

Athletic Director Peter Sawkins presented the idea of hiring a food truck to the Saint Paul Academy and Summit School administration and began the search for a truck. After many phone calls and referrals Sawkins chose the company Chef Driven, and the “Get Sauced” truck arrived on campus soon after. The truck offers quick meals that include burritos, hot dogs, sodas, and chips right by the gym parking lot.

“It’s a good idea. Because the truck is close to school you don’t have to go off campus [to get food],” freshman Mychal Morris said after buying a hot dog before basketball practice.

The food truck is a faster alternative and often more filling than buying candy or chips from the conveniently located Walgreens.

Freshmen Bella Martinez and Julia Lagos appreciate the food truck because “we’re hungry and it’s not good to play [sports] on an empty stomach,” Lagos said.

Martinez added that the chicken

Photo Credit: Ellie Fuelling

Middle School students order from the “Get Sauced” food truck in the Drake Arena parking lot. “Because the truck is close to school you don’t have to go off campus,” freshman Mychal Morris said. The food truck sells meals after school on most Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

burrito is her favorite food to get from the truck.

The food truck’s prices were recently reduced to attract more customers. The menu before consisted of bigger meals like large chicken and pork sandwiches, but the feedback that Sawkins received led to lighter and more

economical options. “Those meals tended to be too much food with a practice coming up so I talked to them about ‘rejiggering’ their price point so they could be more attractive,” Sawkins said.

The food truck is not only for athletes. Sawkins hopes that everyone in the community takes

advantage of this opportunity.

“Anyone who’s around, whether for music or art or theater, I hope will use it.”

The idea of a food truck selling meals at a school campus is a novel idea. “We may be breaking new ground here,” Sawkins said.

Such trucks are usually seen serv-

ing lunches in downtown areas.

As long as the venture benefits the school and the food truck, the meals will keep coming. “We as a school had a need and our students had a need and that creates an opportunity from a business development perspective,” Sawkins said.

Minnesota caucus still hazy as Republicans gear up for long race GOP produces no heir apparent before grand opening of main primary season

Ibad Jafri

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Op/Ed Editor

The race for the 2012 Republican Party Presidential Nomination is not for the faint of heart.

Each step is meticulously planned and each caucus and primary is given a careful amount of thought and preparation. The Feb. 7 Minnesota Caucus is no exception. It is a battleground for nominationseekers dating back so far that archivists at the Minnesota Historical Society are unable to trace its origins.

But history aside, one thing is certain: this year’s caucus is sure to be an intriguing battle. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been the front-runner for the majority of the election so far after beginning the primary season by carrying both Iowa and New Hampshire. Recently, he was overtaken by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich following the North Carolina primary, and he still faces challenges in the forms of Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

Indeed, the outcome and sig-

nificance of the Minnesota caucuses are extremely difficult to pick in such a volatile election year. “I think it’s really hard to say [how much influence the Minnesota Caucuses will have on the general election] just because things can change so quickly,” Minnesota Republican Party Press Secretary Heather DodgersRubash said.

Dodgers-Rubash, who has been the Republican Party Press Secretary since January of 2011, cites the possibility of nomination candidates who may drop out as a reason that predictions are so difficult to make at this point in the race. Candidates who once looked like front-runners, including Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, have dropped out of the race and narrowed the field even further.

It is also difficult to predict the outcome of a caucus when the voters can be drawn across all political lines, as is the case in Minnesota. “In Minnesota we don’t have party registration, so anyone can go to their caucus. You just have to be a registered voter of age 18 by the time the presiden-

tial election rolls around,” Dodgers-Rubash said.

It’s also difficult to predict voting tendencies, as the influence that Midwestern tendencies may have on Minnesota Republicans is unquantifiable.“I would have no idea [if Minnesotan Republicans vote differently than others],” Dodgers-Rubash said. “Maybe if [Former Minnesota Governor Tim] Pawlenty or Bachmann were still in the race it might be different in Minnesota than elsewhere, but I don’t know that [the voters] necessarily will [vote differently than other Republicans].”

The voting tendencies of Midwestern Republicans are usually difficult to predict. The Iowa Caucuses were originally thought to have been won by Romney by a slim margin of 8 votes over Santorum. The tie was a big boost for Santorum’s campaign, putting him in the spotlight for the first time in months. According to the Des Moines Register, vote totals actually indicate a 34-vote victory for Santorum, although the results for 8 Iowa precincts are missing and have not been properly recounted as of press time.

All individuals who are of legal age are encouraged to go to the caucuses and have a say in the political happenings of their state. “I think we’re pretty open and want people to be a part of the process. Anyone is welcome to come and take part and see what happens at a caucus,” Dodgers-Rubash said. Voters at the Minnesota caucuses do not even have to identify themselves as Republicans. “We just take everyone at their word,” DodgersRubash said. “If you’re coming to our caucus and want to spend that much time to be part of the Republican caucus, you’re a Republican.” That attitude could potentially help in drawing more independent voters, the primary targets in the general election.

One effect of the primary season is a wearying effect on voters.

Junior Dominic Dingess, a member of Student Political Union, notes that the primary race “can be kind of drawn out and dramatic just to get one candidate out of it.” But despite the feeling of exasperation, voters still turn their heads whenever there’s a chance of narrowing the field.

Primary Facts

As Minnesota heads to the polls, consider how much the vote counts Gallup primary votes as of press time:

Gingrich: 31 Romney: 28 Santorum: 12 Paul: 12

Source:realclearpolitics.com

The Minnesota and Montana caucuses take place on Tuesday, Feb. 7 along with the Missouri primaries.

Minnesota is traditionally a BLUE state, and has voted Democrat in every presidential election since 1976. Barack Obama won 54.06% of the total MN vote in 2008, and John McCain won 43.83%.

If you lived at SPA, your caucus would be at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church on Snelling Avenue.

News 3 January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

From big screen to Harkness table

Seminar in Visual Narrative offers a new viewpoint on literature

Photo Credit: Dani Andrusko

Seniors Grant Whitaker and Kinnery Patel take notes as US English teacher Randall Findlay examines a scene of The Truman Show for class. “It’s time to give films their due,” Findlay said.

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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Music Scene Editor

In the English department, students can elect to read a wide variety of works for classes, including everything from Lao Tzu to Oscar Wilde to Aldous Huxley.

This year, Aaron Sorkin and Martin Scorsese join that esteemed list. Seminar in Visual Narrative, a new US English elective de-

signed and taught by US English teacher Randall Findlay, teaches students literary analysis of classic and modern films.

Students in Seminar in Visual Narrative will study the history, language, conventions, and technical aspects of film, from the silent film to the chick flick. One unit will be dedicated to comparing books and screenplays and studying how studios adapt the former into the latter. Students

write essays for the class as well as a screenplay, a shot-by-shot film analysis, and a video essay.

The class will culminate with each student creating their own film.

Findlay believes that works of film can be considered texts.

“Is Shakespeare literature?” he asked. “Yes it is. Is it still literature if we don’t read it but see it on stage? Yes, it is. Is it still literature if Kenneth Branagh notices

that Hollywood pays two hundred times more than the theater and makes Hamlet into a movie instead of a stage play?”

By that definition, few know more about literature than Findlay, who is also the faculty advisor of the SPA Film Club. He didn’t discover his passion for film until he taught film criticism to journalism students in place of much pricier theater criticism.

Findlay owns a catalog of over 1,200 films, fifty of which are silent.

Findlay hopes to instill a respect for film in students akin to that for literature. “I won’t deny that literature – the written work – is something special,” said Findlay in a description of the class. “But it’s time to give films their due. We’ve all seen movies that are transcendent, beautifully crafted storytelling and art.

They move us to tears, inform our lives, and ennoble us every bit as much as a great novel.”

Findlay wants students to be able to use film analysis skills as much as reading analysis- if not more. “Film is the dominant art form of the 20th century,” Findlay said. “Students go home from school and turn on the TV. If we give them these skills, they go home and use them right away.”

Students are already taking to the new class. “Mr. Findlay seems really passionate about it, so that rubs off on everyone else,” said senior Kinnery Patel.

So now, whether reading a book alone or sitting with friends, family or strangers in front of a thirty-foot screen, students can study the ever-changing catalog of the English language.

Italian cruise becomes a titanic catastrophe

Actions of captain and some crew members call into question global aquatic safety August King

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In-Depth Editor

January’s “Friday the 13th,” the first of three for 2012, saw maritime misfortune for the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which sunk after hitting a reef off the Italian coast near Gigilo island and subsequently running aground.

The disaster resulted in the relatively successful evacuation of 4197 of the 4232 people on board, and divers continue to search for the passengers that were not evacuated, including one couple from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

The couple, Jerry and Barbara Heil, are still missing.

Details remain fishy surrounding the actions of Captain Francesco Schettino upon the incident.

Why Schettino abandoned ship without taking a proper course of action to evacuate passengers first has yet to become clear. He has made a variety of excuses, the most radical being that during the

chaos he “stumbled and ended up in one of the life boats.” If this is the case, it is some coincidence that two first mates stumbled into life boats as well, leaving for shore and never returning to finish evacuating the passengers.

Schettino was arrested on charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship, and has been further humiliated by nicknames such as “the chicken of the sea” given to him by international press.

Schettino is not the only subject of finger-pointing in the incident. No safety measures were taken on board to inform the passengers as to what should do in the event of an emergency. Panic and chaos ensued the moment the ship crashed, some passengers seeing other passengers fleeing in life jackets before they even knew something was wrong.

Senior Maggie Johnson, who recently returned from a less tragic cruise vacation, reflects poorly on that ship’s safety procedures.

She said she “never worried about

Newsbrief Web giants protest legislation In late 2011, the House of Representatives and Senate each created bills that target foreign pirate sites. The House’s bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), created in the Senate, both focus on American search engines, payment processors, and other websites that allow media bootlegging. Both bills’ ultimate goal is to combat piracy of copyrighted materials. Companies such as Google and Twitter said this legislation would enable censorship similar to that used by China and Iran. They claim that the bills would threaten online innovation and impede freedom of speech. Like China and Iran, either bill would put in place a blocking system to prevent certain websites from being accessed in the United States. On Jan. 18, Wikipedia led a large-scale 24hour shutdown as an online protest movement against SOPA and PIPA. Since then, no action has been taken to force a vote on either bill.

Student groups host Martin Luther King-fest “We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish as fools,” Martin Luther King, Jr. said. Upper School students read that quote in morning advisory for one week in January. . Nationally, King is recognized on MLK Day, Jan. 16 in 2012, but at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, the celebration kicked off with the return to school on theJan. 17. Members of the Intercultural Club and Gay Straight Alliance worked to distribute suckers and quotes daily and ran an assembly on the 23rd.

A special bell schedule facilitated the performance of Incognito by Michael Fosberg. Combined advisories met on Jan. 24 to discuss Incognito, a spoken-word presentation which explored the themes of identity and community.

Corrections: Photo used with permission from Costa Cruises

The Costa Serena [above] is one the Costa Concordia’s five sister ships. The Concordia flipped Jan 13 and sank days later. Although most passengers were evacuated, as of press time there were 17 dead and several missing, including two passengers from Minnesota.

my safety on board the ship but when I look back on the cruise, I realize I would not have known what to do in case of an emergency.”

Governments and companies from around the world are reviewing cruise ship safety in light of the situation, which Johnson agrees is necessary. “The first day on board, we did a practice drill which involved going into a room

and watching a crew member put on a life jacket. It was not useful whatsoever,” she said.

Some conversation has already been initiated regarding compensation of customers. Carnival Cruises, which chartered the Costa Concordia, is in the process of reimbursing tickets and has offered certain customers a discount on another cruise in exchange for loyalty.

On page 8 of the December issue, sophomore Catherine Riley’s last name was misspelled. On the back page, Malika Dale’s first name was also misspelled. The Rubicon apologizes for the errors.

Get daily student news www.rubiconline.com

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4 Opinion/Editorial January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

STAFF the rubicon

Editor-in-Chief

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Staff Editorial

Preventable injuries hurt the spirit of the game

Rebecca Xu

Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief Rachel Kinney

Chief Visual Editor Dani Andrusko

News Editor

Andy Monserud

Op/Ed Editor Ibad Jafri

Sports Editor Aditi Kulkarni

Columnist Nick Volpi

Allison Wang

Feature Co-Editors Saif Ahmed Ellie Fuelling

Sci/Tech Editor Lucy Li

In-Depth Editor August King

A&E Editor Liz Rossman

Music Scene Editor

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

Online Visual Editor Nick Scott

Illustrators & Photographers Alicia Little Claire O’Brien

Webmaster/Videographer Hannah Ross

Staff Writer

Asialy Bracey-Gardella Tommy Toghramadjian

Adviser

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Kathryn Campbell

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ubicon

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 2011 Awards JEM All-State Gold NSPA First Class CSPA Gold Medal MHSPA Best in Show, 2004-2008, 2010

Far too many athletes are permanently sidelined by life-threatening injuries that could have been be prevented.

One hit. One check from behind was all it took for BenildeSt. Margaret’s sophomore Jack Jablonski to be paralyzed from the waist down, likely to never walk again. Just a few weeks later senior Jenna Privette of St. Croix Lutheran High School was partially paralyzed after falling to the ice in a hit not called by referees.

Injuries this winter have left many wondering whether it is possible to make an inherently dangerous sport - like hockey - safe.

Jablonski will never walk again, and while doctors hope Privette will make a full recovery, something needs to be said about such preventable injuries.

While it is commendable that Minnesota State High School League implemented stronger consequences for penalties on Jan. 15, this will not be enough to prevent dangerous play in

Facebook is on the wrong page According to “Introducing Timeline,” the instructional popup for new Timeline users on Facebook, the Timeline provides a place where Facebook users “can tell your story from beginning, to middle, to now.”

But this statement is quite far from reality, as Timeline provides users with a unstructured format that leaves new posts, current likes, and “About Me” sections splattered across the webpage.

We commend the attempt Facebook has made to give users more influence on the design of their pages, but a basic cover image that “provides an open space with a unique image that represents you best” just isn’t going to cut it, and a better way to give feedback needs to exist. When YouTube changed formats in December, a customer survey invited users to express both their qualms and their praise.

If Facebook really wants to give users the ability to customize and design their webage, they are going to have to go all out.

As ambitious as Timeline is, it is truly lackluster.

high school sports. This will not change the victory-at-all-costs mentality of players and coaches.

Recently, high school hockey has captured the attention of the public because of Jablonski and Privette’s injuries. But other contact sports, including soccer and football, have equally pressing matters to deal with. Studies have shown that the impact of heading (hitting the ball with the head) in soccer leads to the loss of some brain matter. Young football players face the prospect of injury with every tackle.

Overzealous play runs rampant with or without harsh punishments. Increased penalties will not make a tremendous impact, apart from angering players and coaches. This problem must be attacked at the root: the fundamentals players are taught. Too often, coaches forgo the proper

What is this?

Grade school?

There have been a number of complaints about Upper School student manners in the lunch room: trash on the floor, food left on tables and chairs in the walkways have become commonplace.

The Middle School administrates rules around lunch room behavior, including having a limit of six students to a table, controlling their volume and having to return to tables after putting away their plates to pick up food and trash that are left behind. The assumption has been that US students are old enough to manage themselves responsibly and don’t need written rules, but recent problems have gotten out of hand.

Overloading tables may create a fun conversation with friends, but it clogs the walkways and isolates those who can’t find space in the crowd. Leaving food or trash behind creates extra work for the Taher staff as well as an unappetizing and unwelcoming eating environment by sixth hour lunch.

Maybe it’s time to take a cue from the Middle School and clean up our act.

teaching of tackling and checking tactics in order to get the most out of their players, for better or worse. But there are safe ways to hit a player in all sports, and it should be practiced.

Concussion testing, which started at St. Paul Academy and Summit School two years ago, is a positive step for players and coaches. But there isn’t a magical formula for preventing a concussion if the hits keep coming.

While protective gear has improved over the decades, the physicality of sports has also increased. Games have become faster and tougher. Relying only on protective gear is foolish. Protective gear only protects players up to a certain point; after that, it is the athletes’ responsibility to protect themselves and other players.

Increased regulation is a good

Overreaction to piracy maroons Internet users

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Cover Story Editor

Editorial Cartoon: Claire O’Brien

Ever since the House of Representatives and Senate proposed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), net-izens have boiled over in rage at the blatant display of censorship.

While the goal of both bills is to protect copyrighted material and prevent Internet users from pirating American material, both SOPA and PIPA infringe First Amendment rights such as the freedom of speech and expression. Although fighting for the sovereignty of copyrighted material is nothing short of laudable, it seems that these bills are loaded with technologically uninformed language that leaves most netizens fighting for free, leisurely use of the Internet.

If SOPA or PIPA were to pass, the Federal Government would have the authority to shut down YouTube so long as one video contained copyrighted material, as many YouTube videos are prone to do. Does the government truly deserve that ability? Such a power cannot be justified.

step. Concussion testing is a good step. But more needs to be done.

Athletes need to play safe not only for their own safety, but for the safety of other players.

Coaches should focus on safe play instead of debating the validity of a penalty. Fans need to learn to not chastise referees for enforcing the rules of the game. Parents need to remember that their child is only playing a game and that too much aggression should not be encouraged.

Sports play a significant role in building a community. The spirit that is inspired by an unexpected win or a tight scoring game is unmatched. But if athletics are not kept safe, society runs the risk of losing the enjoyment it derives out of sports. And students, like Jablonski and Privette, can lose so much more.

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Editorial Policy

The Rubicon editorials are representative of the opinions of the Staff Editorial Board, which is made up of all students in the Journalism and Editorial Leadership classes. All other opinion pieces are the opinions of the authors themselves.

Letters Policy The Rubicon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and should be limited to 150200 words. Letters may be edited for length and grammar and are published by discretion of The Rubicon staff. They can be mailed to us or e-mailed to rubicon.spa@gmail.com.

Opinion/Editorial 5 St. Paul Academy and Summit School January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV. Republican candidates are no knights in shining armor Arrogant, hypercritical candidates are unappealing and continue to deter potential voters

Illustration Credit: Dani Andrusko

The fight for the Repbulican Nomination has become a two-horse race between Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Left) and Former Masschusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Andy Monserud

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News Editor

As the Republican primaries and caucuses continue, it has become harder and harder to tell who exactly the various candidates are. In Iowa, Mitt Romney became the man of the people, despite his enormous fortune and corporate ties. In New Hampshire, Ron Paul did his best to play the educated, rational moderate while still advocating total isolationism.

In South Carolina, Newt Gingrich strained himself to identify with the bible-banging social conservative, a claim that was laughable in the “Is-this-guy-serious ?” way only the former Speaker can be.

If you want a consistent candidate, January is not the time to look for one. The only thing these candidates are doing is making

Sound Off!

New sports stadium?

Yes or No

themselves look like puffed-up, pompous buffoons.

So why do we even bother with policy issues this early in the game? Primaries are full of vague accusations and vaguer assurances. For almost a year, the candidates have been trying to convince the Republican base that they are the “real Conservative” in a group of what seem to be phonies. They talk big about being the candidate to beat Barack Obama, or about being “the antiRomney.” This boast-fest seems like poor preparation for actual competition, and even poorer for major public office.

To begin with, what is a “real conservative?” Conservative doctrine has many facets and can be exercised to infinite degrees.

What makes Rick Santorum, this race’s biggest social conservative, more or less conservative

"It'd be more fun to see the Vikings."

Is Governor Mark Dayton fumbling a great opportunity by vetoing plans for a potential Vikings Stadium?

Our sports savvy student body have strong opinions on this issue, and a since stadium debate is likely to continue and impacts tourism, revenue, taxes and city planning, it’s important to have an opinion -whether you are a Vikes fan or not.

than Ron Paul, a radical fiscal conservative? And how much bearing does that actually have on electability?

The answer, of course, is none.

In the grand scheme of things, primaries are rather insignificant.

When the general election rolls around this fall, everything that has occurred in the primaries will fall into irrelevancy in the greater scheme of a policy-based, nationwide campaign. Moderates tend to avoid the further reaches of either side of the political spectrum.

Republicans should focus not on who is the most conservative, but who is the most electable. And the fact that the most specific statements these candidates have made tend to be blustering and often offensive (I’m looking at you, Speaker Gingrich) is not helping anyone’s electability.

In fact, the only candidate that

has kept a reasonably clean reputation among moderate or liberal voters is Mitt Romney, which raises the question, “Why do conservatives hate him so much?”

Romney is the Republican Party’s best hope for victory in the coming election, and in calling him too moderate or too weak or too compromising, candidates like Santorum, Gingrich, and recent dropout Rick Perry are only making themselves look like desperate maniacs.

Of course, Romney has not been especially vocal on actual issues either, despite his front-runner status. His campaigning has been sparse and reserved. But this is probably better for Romney. By keeping quiet now, he cannot be accused of “flip-flopping” in the months following this summer’s Republican National Convention.

After all, taking an actual posi-

Do students support plans for a new Vikings Stadium?

"I don't care, I don't watch football or sports."

tion among the bunch of wonks and has-beens that populate the Republican field at the moment would only give them fodder to rip apart in the primary season.

Giving them fresh meat would accomplish little and more than likely alienate some faction or another of the hardcore Republican base.

So the question is, why do we make such a big deal out of primaries? If absolutely nothing candidates say during this time has any meaning, why do we pay so much attention to them? In the grand scheme of things, the primaries are simply a show. They are a circus of gaffes and lost causes, clowns and acrobats wasting time and entertaining the public until the general election. And the truly funny thing is that they all seem to think it’s important.

"I've been to the old one a lot, and I want something new."

"It's a waste of taxpayer dollars."

Jason Wentworth, Senior Dylan White, Sophomore

"What they have now is fine and I think they're kind of greedy."

Keep talking, students!

Sophia Ganapes, Senior

Carrie Jaeger, Freshman

Asher Szachowicz, Junior

"They should be fine playing in a facility that has enough resources to play football and I don't think they need a new stadium."

Quotes and photos compiled by Alicia Little, design by Aditi Kulkarni

Maddie Hanson, Junior

"They should have one because the Twins have one and it's not fair."

Olivia Black, Freshman

6 Sports

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

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Columnist

With compelling play and important results, the Boys Varsity Basketball team has grabbed every body’s attention giving the newly formed McKenzie’s frenzy something to cheer about.

The team has turned things around under fourth year coach Kevin McKenzie and is on track to have its best season of the McKenzie Era. This young and dynamic squad has brought the energy back to Briggs Gymnasium; they are once again fun to watch with their lightning quick counter attacks and lock down defense.

Every player has bought into the defensive philosophies McKenzie inspires and this has made the Spartans one of the surprise teams in the Tri-Metro Conference. The balance of experience and youth has given the team incredible chemistry. The six seniors have made sure that the young guns feel comfortable and have allowed for explosive play from eighth grade sensation Dalante “the Chosen One” Peyton. Peyton made his varsity debut this year at only 13 years of age against Maranatha Academy and finished the night with 12 points. Peyton has gone on to score 27 points and logged 10 rebounds against Blake and consequently has earned himself a regular spot in the starting rotation. This kid is truly something else. If you have not already, you will need to come out and watch him.

The leadership provided by the three captains, juniors Josh “Slim Shady” Gray and Spencer “Spegly” Egly and senior CJ “Panda” Whitaker has set the tone for what has undoubtedly been a great Spartan season.

Through hard work and perseverance the Spartans have kept their composure during adverse circumstances and are on pace to win many more games than they did in the past season. This leadership will be tested now that the Spartans have hit a rough patch of losing four straight games.

The Spartans are serious contenders to finish near the top of the Tri-Metro East division where they are currently in third place, only two games behind first place St. Anthony Village, who the Spartans lost to in a heart breaker earlier this season.

Over the past three years this program has undergone some serious remodeling efforts but it seems that now they are on the right track, the track to success.

The future is bright for this team who will only continue to improve. Go Spartans!

Asialy Bracy-Gardella

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Staff Writer

Even though the Varsity Girls swim season is over, two incredible swimmers are plunging into high profile futures. Freshman Heidi Katter, an Olympic hopeful, dreams of being counted among the best swimmers in our nation. Senior Ceallach Gibbons has taken her passion for swimming and become an ambassador for those who want to dip their toes in competitive water.

At the Foxjet A meet on Jan. 13, Katter launched herself headfirst into the water, arms stretched out in front of her. She sliced through the water with grace and ease. Katter has a distinct confidence when she is in the water: "I’ve always liked the feeling of being in the water; it has always felt relaxing and refreshing at the same time," Katter said.

When Katter was just six months old, she "thought [swimming] was fun…I’ve always loved being in the water," Katter said. Currently, she swims with the AquaJets. Every day after school, she makes her way to practice in Eden Prairie until at least 5:30 p.m. On Mondays and Wednesdays, she goes to dry land from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m. which consists of exercises outside of the pool to strengthen muscles

not commonly developed in the water but useful for swimming.

"When Heidi comes in the pool, she’s focused; she loves being there," Katter’s coach Kate Lundsten said.

Katter swims year round, taking time off for only two weeks in August and on Christmas Day. This allows her to train and com-

April to August swimmers swim in a long course pool, usually outside, that is 50 meters long.

Katter has set her sites on qualifying for the Olympic swimming time trials. Lundsten said, "I believe [Katter] has the ability and the capability to qualify for the Olympic trials.”

While Katter eagerly swims

Ceallach and Heidi’s best times Ceallach Gibbons Best Times 200 Freestyle 2:00:09 500 Freestyle 5:17:62 1000 Freestyle 11:10:41 1650 Freestyle 18:54:16

Heidi Katter 200 Backstroke (2011)

Fastest time at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials

2:03.16

2:06.09

Heidi Katter 100 Breaststroke (2011)

Fastest time at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials

1:03.63

1:06.87

Illustration Credit: Asialy Bracey-Gardella

pete in both of the swimming seasons. For swimmers there are two seasons: short course and long course. During short course, swimmers compete in a pool that measures 25 meters long. The short course season begins in September and ends in March. From

toward her goal, Ceallach Gibbons shapes swimming legislation.

Gibbons has always liked to be in the know when it comes to swimming, her coach Paul Lundsten said. Now she can. Gibbons is on the board of directors of

Swimmers race at a competition in the University of Minnesota pool.

“I’ve always liked the feeling of being in the water; it has always felt relaxing and refreshing at the same time,” freshman Heidi Katter said.

Minnesota Swimming, Inc. "This gives me a chance to explore my love of swimming outside of the pool," Gibbons said. She is the Vice Chair of the Athlete Committee on the Board of Directors.

The board meets to talk about the politics of swimming, including the number of meets that should be held during the season and where they should be held. Gibbons’ job is to bring the point of view of the athlete to the conversation. "[Swimming] should be about the athletes first and foremost and I think we bring it back to that."

Gibbons captains St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s swim team in the fall and for the rest of the year she swims with STAR, a club team. Gibbons began with swimming lessons when she was five and has been on STAR for nearly eleven years.

Gibbons practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

She also lifts weights with Anna Voltmore, the Upper School’s Physical Education Instructor.

What stands the same for the two swimmers amid their differences is their love of the sport.

Gibbons believes that swimming becomes a lifetime sport. She knows that she will be swimming in college and for the rest of her life. Katter said swimming enables her to get away from thinking about school and relax.

Students share Super Bowl plans and predictions Ibad Jafri

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Op/Ed Editor

There are very few days in one’s life where it is socially acceptable to paint yourself in bright colors, scream like a maniac and eat like a glutton. The National Football League’s Super Bowl, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, is one of those days. And why not? Football has, after all, superseded baseball as the national pastime.

According to data gathered by Nielsen Media Research, the Super Bowl has set a precedent for being one of the most watched events in the world, and usually brings in more television viewers than any other event in any given year. Forbes has said that the NFL takes in $6 billion a year in revenue, and it is an oft-cited fact that the average 30-second commercial costs $2.5 to 3 million, for no other reason than the sheer amount of viewers that will witness such an advertisement.

But for many, the factors that make a Super Bowl enjoyable and the favored way of celebrat-

ing it can vary. “I go to a friend’s house and I watch the Super Bowl with a bunch of friends,” freshman Zeeshawn Abid said. “It’s usually an intense game.” For the

“

shows - this year’s will feature pop icon Madonna - says that Super Bowl commercials are also “always pretty entertaining.”

These commercials have

I’ll never forget when [Giants wide receiver David] Tyree caught a pass that set up the Giants’ game-winning drive with his helmet.

“

Nick Volpi

Stellar swimmers go beyond high school swimming Photo Credit: Asialy Bracey-Gardella

ClassicSpartanColumn

Freshman Zeeshawn Abid

past six years, Abid and many in his community have gone to this same friend’s home to eat, cheer, and watch football on a day that has evolved into a ritual for so many people nationally.

Others tend to celebrate in a more laid-back manner. “We always make homemade pizza and chill the whole day. It’s pretty fun because my whole family watches it together,” junior Grace Albertson said. Albertson, who is also entertained by the halftime

evolved into an industry of their own. Famed sets include classic Budweiser commercials and a critically-acclaimed Star Warsthemed Volkswagen ad which aired during last year’s game.

This year, the antics are sure to continue with highly anticipated The Super Bowl also provides people with fond memories, as time-honored traditions are wont to do. “The most exciting Super Bowl in my memory was the Giants-Patriots game [Super Bowl

XLII, played on Feb. 3, 2008 in Arizona],” Abid said. “I’ll never forget when [Giants wide receiver David] Tyree caught a pass that set up the Giants’ game-winning drive with his helmet.”

Fond memories for other individuals are abundant as well. “My most memorable Super Bowl was [Super Bowl XLI in Miami] with the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts,” junior Serena Hodges said. “I bet money on the Colts with some friends and the Colts won. I only won about 5 cents, but it was really fun.”

And as for this year’s game?

“The Patriots will win the Super Bowl because of their strong offense,” Abid said. Junior Reid Kett holds a differing opinion.

Kett wants the New York Giants to win it all “because they beat the [defending champion Green Bay] Packers and they only have 9 wins [thus making them an underdog].”

Whoever should win this year’s title bout, Super Bowl XLVI is sure to be a thriller as the Patriots and Giants go at it once again. Go crazy, superfans.

In-Depth 7 January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Photo credit: Nick Scott

Chicken lovers were thrilled when Dominos announced the addition of wings and boneless chicken to their menu in 2011. The pizza company added eight new dipping cups as well.

Twin Cities chicken wings fry high The Goal: Online Visual

wings

Editor Nick Scott and I eat chicken wings like no other member on the staff of the Rubicon. We curved our obsession in the name of journalism in pursuit of finding the best combination of wings and sauces to publish this issue. We settled on three restaurants renowned for their wings: Buffalo Wild Wings, Domino’s Pizza, and Pizza Luce. Enjoy reading our critiques of these wings as much as we enjoyed eating them.

sauces Photo credit: Nick Thorsgaard

Buffalo Wild Wings offers seasonings on wings in addition to sauces.

Photo credit: Nick Scott

Dominos Pizza offers both wings and boneless chicken as two options, though many choices of sauces and seasonings can further customize an order.

Nick Scott

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Online Visual Editor

Buffalo Wild Wings: Buffalo Wild Wings (nicknamed by its customers “Bdubs”) is the go-to place for wing diversity. Bdubs serves their wings in both boneless and traditional styles, but with a wide array of sauces and seasonings available to create the perfect flavor combinations for any customer. With a massive menu of entrees, sides and deserts, the Buffalo Wild Wings experience is the most customizable of any of the other wing-spots.

The boneless wings are served in sizes of eight, 12, 18, 24, or 50, where the traditional wings come in servings of six, 12, 18, 24, or 50.

Domino’s: Domino’s wings come in two different types: boneless and traditional. The boneless wings were recently changed from “Buffalo Chicken Kickers” in order to accommodate customers whose favorite

tastes didn’t necessarily include buffalo flavoring. Now, they are served with no pre-applied sauces or seasonings and can be bought with a range of different dipping sauces (see “Sauces”). The traditional or “boned” wings come in several different flavors such as plain, mild, hot, barbeque and sweet mango and are also available with dipping sauces. Both types of wings come in boxes of eight, 14, or 40 wings.

Pizza Luce: Pizza Luce’s wings are one-of-a-kind. Their wings come in three different flavors: barbeque, buffalo and spicy Peking. The chicken on these wings literally fall off of the bone; It takes only one dip in either ranch or bleu cheese and one slurp of the bone to yield all of the meat to eurphoria. Even the buffalo flavored wings, while having the characteristic spiciness of other buffalo sauces, have an almost sweet after taste making them unlike any other chicken wing in the Twin Cities.

August King

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Photos credit: Nick Scott

In-Depth Editor

Buffalo Wild Wings: With a variety to satisfy any taste buds, the sauces at Buffalo Wild Wings win over the other three locations because of the freshness they bring to their dining experience upon every return. It isn’t a quantity over quality situation either; their flavors beat other buffalo and barbecue sauces because they are exceptionally better. And it doesn’t stop at wings. All items on the menu can be tossed in any of the fourteen sauces, providing a rare opportunity to eat saucedoused french fries with a fork.

Every time I go to Bdubs (at least two times a week), I challenge myself to get a different sauce for my twelve boneless wings, but would feel as if I was cheating myself if I didn’t get them tossed in honey BBQ. My case isn’t uncommon, as people tend to find “their order” and stick to it.

Domino’s Pizza: Domino’s is all about convenience: delivery service and pizza boxes make the food organized in a way that

makes it quick and easy to eat, and it doesn’t stop at sauces. A similar but not as delicious sauce variety as Buffalo Wild Wings, Domino’s sauces come in dipping cups and are acceptably used for both chicken and pizza alike. Serving both breaded boneless chicken and wings, the sauces found their niche in the former, as the wings are tossed in either a pretty average buffalo or barbecue sauce.

Ultimately, Domino’s sauces are good, as long as you aren’t using them with their wings.

Pizza Luce: Though they only sport three options, Pizza Luce’s sauces are definitely the most distinctive of the four restaurants.

The spicy buffalo is not humble, the tangy BBQ can change the shape of your face, and the spicy Peking is...spicy, and not for me.

Luce serves the most interesting dipping sauce I have had, their peanut dipping sauce accompanying Spicy Peking wings opposed to the conventional ranch or bleu cheese. Rest assured, the judges of these 21-time winning wings at the Minneapolis WingCapades are not forgetting to include quality of sauce in their verdicts.

8

Cover Story

ONEACTS January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

[ [

Hard Candy Black Comedy

Face time Black Comedy

Georg Bamberger

Noah ShavitLonstein

Pablo

Brindsley Miller

Cam Murray

Carol Melkett

Harriet Gorringe

Hagop Togh- Sophia Myersramadjian Kelley

Claire FlomStaab

Hannah Ross

Louis

Laureen

Nick Scott

Petrone

Claire O’Brien

Noah Mische

[]

One act reviews Rebecca Xu

Editor-in-Chief

On January 27, students performed at the Sarah Converse Auditorium on the Goodrich Campus from 7 to 9 p.m. “I’m looking forward to watching my cast accomplish everything that they worked for, have all their lines down, and have it be fun,” Moe said.

With the presence of the crowd, the atmosphere during the performance was different from rehearsals. “[The cast] will really get the energy level they need when the crowd is there,” Rosenberg said.

[]

1st Man

[

Emily Ross

Malika Dale

2nd Man/ George Michael Wilkens

Evan Leduc

The Performance

1/4 of One Act actors are new to SPA’s theater program

Adam

Bob

Cindy

Dylan Perese

Adam Lurie

Peter Coetzee

Mrs. Stevenson

Chief Operator

1st Operator

Charlotte Hughes

Lexi Taylor

The One Acts stand out from other Upper School productions because instead of just one production and one director, multiple student directors organize their own plays. “It allows those students who have been [heavily] involved in theater to try something different,” Upper Theater Director Eric Severson said.

Severson asked seniors who have performed in US theater productions before to come forward and direct if they were interested. Directors often started thinking about directing in their junior year, but for seniors Sam Rosenberg and Ella Coon, their ambition started early on. “In ninth grade, Ella and I said we were going to direct together and so we did,” Rosenberg said.

Senior Avery Moe said, “I like how people who don’t have a lot of experience in acting can come and try [the One Acts] and see what they think of acting and theater. So I decided to be a director because I had already been in three plays and I wanted to give the experience to someone else.” Moe formed a trio of directors with seniors Mia Gambucci and Isabel LaVercombe, while other seniors, such as Emily Upin, directed alone.

[

Sorry, Wrong Number Suicide in B flat See more pictures from the one acts at www.rubiconline.com.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the one acts at The Rubicon Online: www.rubiconline.com

Linda

Ellie Fuelling

Information

On stage, the actors and actresses manage to perform their lines, positions, and motions correctly with seemingly tremendous ease. However, organizing an entire play doesn’t happen overnight, especially when it comes to directing and performing four one acts.

The Competition

Clea

Andy Monserud

[ VI V [ [

The Saturday after the Friday performance, Severson’s one act went to the Minnesota State High School League One Act Play Competition’s Section 4A subsection.

The 1st and 2nd places in the subsection advance to section, and section 1st place goes to state, which the play The Sandbox did last year.

“You never quite know what’s going to happen,” Severson said about this year. “We’ve got a really nice mix of 9th through 12th graders involved, some people with their first time on stage, some with their umpteenth time.”

r

Kaia Findlay

Schuppanzigh

One Act Choosing the process IDirectors

Sci/Tech Editor

[

Paulette

Clara Stahlmann Roeder

THE

Ibad Jafri

r

Miss Furnival

Suicide in B flat Niles

Lucy Li

Colonel Melkett

9

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Danielle Socha

II

[

[ [

Hard Candy

Fred

Ira Chinaza Nwaneri

Ryan Hobert

Gail

Harry

Ben Oppenheimer

Dave

Andrew Merriam

Max Lowenthal

Emily

Jane

Ruth Sheldon

Maggie Clark

Sorry, Wrong Number 3rd Operator

2nd Operator Zoe Burton

[

Choosing the Plays

Mansuda Arora

4th Operator Anna Olson

Sergeant Duffy Halsey Moe

Hospital Receptionist Alex Boutrous

Western Union Alicia Little

William Naas

After the directors were confirmed, the directors had to choose their plays. Student directors researched plays under the guidance of Severson, who helped them find books and websites to look at.

“It’s all their choice so they have to do the legwork,” Severson said.

The choices must be 30 minutes or shorter in length. Severson also helped decide if the plays had a good number of roles to offer. “Usually it’s several months of researching, looking for plays, thinking, ‘Okay, is this cast going to work? Can I imagine the students that I know will be auditioning performing in this?’”

Severson said. This year, Severson chose to direct Black Comedy because he wanted to ease off the tragedy of the fall play, Trojan Women.

Moe, Gambucci, and LaVercombe also had hoped to find a comedy when they were searching for plays. “We ended up picking Hard Candy because we watched it on Youtube, and it seemed pretty funny,” Moe said.

Coon and Rosenberg chose to direct Suicide in B Flat because they both liked the playwright, Sam Shepard. “It’s a really challenging play because the more time you spend with it the more things you learn about it,” Rosenberg said.

[ [ IV [ [III

In December, actors and actresses practiced reading through their scripts. After winter break, they rehearsed every weekday for an hour after school. Once a week, the casts rehearsed in the Lower School, but most rehearsals were on Randolph Campus in various classrooms.

Every one act has its own challenges, whether it’s a comedy, tragedy, or mystery.

Severson’s play, Black Comedy, was difficult because the actors had to pretend they were in the dark. “A major challenge is getting the physicality of the movement and the timing down,” Severson said.

For Moe, a challenge was putting her ideas into action. “As a director you usually have an image in your mind about how the play should go, and it’s hard to put that image into words and show what you mean and what you want the play to look like,” she said.

Rosenberg agreed that conveying his ideas was difficult and said, “We’ve always gotten it from the other perspective with Seves telling us directions, and giving directions is very different.”

The week leading to the performance was Tech Week, in which technical elements such as costumes, lights, and props were added in to rehearsals. “It’s the last chance we have to get everything right,” Ross said. Tech Week occured in the Lower School’s Sarah Converse Auditorium.

Counter Attendant

Rehearsals

Auditions happened the week before exams. Potential cast members wrote down preferences for which plays they wanted to be in, but the directors ultimately chose who to cast.

“I wrote that I preferred to be in Sorry Wrong Number or Black Comedy,” sophomore Emily Ross said, and eventually was cast as Information in Sorry, Wrong Number, directed by Upin.

Once the cast was set, rehearsals began.

Black Comedy

Suicide in B Flat

Hard Candy

“Remember, big reactions, big voices, big physicality. If you didn’t hear me…BIG!,” Upper School Theater Director Eric Severson said before a showing of his play Black Comedy. And big it was. Whether it was the extreme body farce, loud accented voices, or audience’s laughter, everything about Black Comedy was big, big, and big. The play centered on a very distressed Brindsley (played by junior Cam Murray), who is awaiting the arrival of the deaf millionaire, Georg Bamberger (played by junior Noah Shavit-Lonstein). On top of the stress caused by his current fiancée’s father, Colonel Melkett (played by junior Hagop Toghramadjian), ex-fiancee Clea (played by junior Ellie Fuelling), and neighbor Harriet Gorringe (played by senior Hannah Ross), there’s also a fuse in his apartment! Another noteworthy aspect of the play was the lighting - absolutely ingenius. Black Comedy begins in a pool of darkness for the audience, but the actors can see. When the electricity shuts off in the play, the lights turn on in the auditorium. It’s a paradox, but used in a clarifying way.

This presented a challenge to the actors because they had to pretend that they couldn’t see, but the entire cast adapted to the setting effortlessly. In the midst of this blackout confusion, the plot slowly unraveled. “It’s like a magic dark room where everything happens the wrong way round,” Clea (Fuelling) said.

“Music is an extension of sound.” It can become one’s “physiology, psychology, and makeup.” Suicide in B Flat, directed by Coon and Rosenberg, breathed meaning into the notions of music and psychology. Out of the four one acts, Suicide in B Flat definitely wins the award for the biggest brain teaser. The play was told in a convoluted manner that dared to penetrate beyond the borders of the mind. However, only this maze-like storytelling method could successfully convey the essence of Suicide in B Flat. The play focused on the life and death of junior Nick Scott’s character, a musician named Niles. Two detectives, Pablo (played by junior Ibad Jafri) and Louis (played by junior Clara Stahlmann Roeder), investigated the roots of Niles’ death, but could barley comprehend their findings. Niles’ friends, Petrone (played by senior Noah Mische) and Laureen (played by juniorClaire O’Brien), could somehow cross between the world in Niles’ mind and the real dimension, justifying an impossible paradox. Some would label Mische and O’Brien’s characters as crazy, but “it’s fun to play a crazy person because you become more invested in your character,” Petrone (Mische) said.

Here’s a piece of hard candy to sweeten your entrance into the harsh reality.

Like Black Comedy, Hard Candy’s main purpose was to provide a night of laughter.

And so it did. Directed by Moe, Gambucci, and LaVercombe, Hard Candy traced a series of ridiculous interviews conducted by Bamdft enterprises. From beginning to end, Hard Candy evoked stomach pains from laughing too hard. The interviewees were hired after the most outrageous interviews. One interview only lasted a couple of seconds because it involved the prince charming Fred (played by senior Ryan Hobert). With rose in hand, he walked in through the door and froze his interviewer, Emily (played by junior Ruth Sheldon) with a mesmerizing look. No need to explain why he was hired. In another interview, Jane (played by freshman Maggie Clark) was hired even though she was still in school. Luckily for her, her mother was the interviewer. Hard Candy”wasn’t only hilarious because Bamf enterprise hired all the wrong people, but also because it rejected all the right people. Junior Chinaza Nwaneri played a disciplined military soldier named Ira. With an education from both West Point and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she seemed like the perfect applicant. However, the company didn’t hire her.

Auditions

Sorry, Wrong Number In the world of murder mysteries, it doesn’t get any better than this. Sophomore Charlotte Hughes plays a very paranoid Mrs. Stevenson in Upin’s play Sorry, Wrong Number. After hearing the planning of a murder, the very worried Mrs. Stevenson attempts to crack down this mystery to ease her fluttering spirit. To her demise, no one takes her seriously because the murder hasn’t occurred yet.

Hughes successfully portrayed a crescendo of anger as she faced off the five nonchalant operators and the extremely annoyed Sergeant Duffy (played by Halsey Moe ). “Each operator has his or her own personality. There’s supposed to be a different experience with each operator. Mrs. Stevenson gets more and more frustrated because no one is giving the time of day to her predicament,” senior Zoe Burton, who plays the 2nd Operator said. In a twisted conclusion, Mrs. Stevenson and the audience discover that the planned murder was actually her own.

10 F e a t u re

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

Elizabeth Linn teaches from experiences in war-torn country Library Assistant volunteered in Salyan and Ganja and now creates weekly trending topics Lucy Li

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Sci/Tech Editor

Chatty students, messy tables, and tall stack of books probably won’t rattle Elizabeth Linn too much, since she used to live in a war-torn country. Linn joins the staff as a Library Assistant and although she’s still figuring out the rhythms of the school, she is already enjoying her new job.

“I went to college with people from SPA and they had such fond memories of this place,” she said.

“It’s a great place to work.”

“I went to college with people from SPA and they had such fond memories of this place,” she said.

“It’s a great place to work.”

After she graduated from St. Olaf College, Linn worked at a library thousands of miles away from Minnesota. She was a Peace Corps youth development volunteer in Azerbaijan, a country between Armenia and the Caspian Sea and south of Russia. She initially worked in Salyan and later

Photo credit: Nick Scott

Library Assistant Elizabeth Linn prepares trending topics. “[The trending topics display] gives background, historical context, and important terms so students can get informed,” Linn said.

Submitted photo: Elizabeth Linn

Library Assistant Elizabeth Linn stands with volunteers participating in Youth Civic Leadership Academy, a Democracy Commission grant project. “We completed seminars on democracy, human rights, leadership and conflict resolution,” Linn said about the project.

in Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city.

While there, she organized English conversation clubs, in which she taught critical thinking and how to make life decisions.

“My goal with that was to create a safe space for young people to

talk about the issues that affected their lives,” Linn said.

Linn also hosted forums about diversity and the American experience, participated in a women and gender development committee, and organized a Chinese conversation and culture club.

She also participated in the Youth Civic Leadership Academy. “We completed seminars on democracy, human rights, leadership and conflict resolution,” Linn said.

The region where she worked was in a state of war. “Azerbaijan and Armenia have for about 20 years been in a ‘state of war’ and while there are several people killed every year from cross-border fire, the two countries have not engaged in full-scale warfare since 1994,” Linn said.

Currently, Linn spends her

days as a library assistant cataloging and shelving books, helping students find books and cleaning up at the end of the day.

She’s also responsible for the new trending topics display, which is a collection of articles on current events and can be found on the SPA web site and in the library itself. Linn prepares four topics each week, at least one on international news, one on U.S. news, one on local news using a variety of news articles, and a spotlighted topic. “[The trending topics display] gives background, historical context, and important terms so that students can get informed,” Linn said. For example, a recent trending topic was Jack Jablonski’s hockey injury.

Aside from doing library work, Linn enjoys running and yoga. In Azerbaijan, she coached a softball team. “I did it to encourage young women to participate,” she said. Linn also enjoys going to museums, watching films, and spending time with her husband and friends.

Delve into science fiction during the cold winter months Students recommend their favorite books to read when the weather is dreary Andy Monserud

r

News Editor

It’s cold, gray, and the snow is firmly entrenched, covered with a thick layer of sludge from the cars crawling along the roads. After skirting around Minnesota for so long, winter is finally here, and the last thing anyone wants to do is go outside. The average Minnesotan would rather find any way to escape the dreary weather. And what does that better than a book?

So this winter, put your slippers on, stretch out on the sofa, and meander off into one of these worthy titles, recommended by St. Paul Academy and Summit School students.

The Hunger Games Trilogy plays on desire to survive One can hardly mention Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy without sparking some kind of conversation. When asked about the smash-hit science fiction books, freshman Afsar Sandozi could barely say anything before everyone nearby chimed in, offering their own perspectives on the books and their rise to fame.

Sandozi said she liked the first and second books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, but not the final title, Mockingjay. “I felt [Mockingjay] had no meaning to it,” she said. Sophomore Sam Carlson rushed instantly to Mockingjay’s defense. “I thought it had great meaning, just hidden meaning,” he said.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss

Everdeen is forced by the oppressive government to take part in a gladiator-like competition against 23 other adolescents. She manages to survive with the help of a new friend and ally, Peeta Mellark, but must ultimately make tough decisions regarding her fate and that of the dystopian state she lives in. “It’s not necessarily aimed at teens,” Carlson said, despite its popularity with teenagers. Sandozi notes that her older sister enjoyed the books despite being twenty, a little older than the target audience.

Lionsgate film studios are planning a Hunger Games movie, for release March 23. Sandozi has mixed feelings about this.

“I’m excited, but I’m going to be disappointed,” she said. “I feel like they’re just going to ruin it.”

Carlson disagrees. “This is one of these movies that can go either way,” he said.

Traction age readers speculate a dystopic future Post-apocalyptic science fiction is a popular genre at the moment, and junior Francesco Di Caprio has a talent for finding diamonds in the rough. Phillip Reeve’s Hungry City Chronicles have been out of print for some time. “They are an elusive series of books,” Di Caprio said.

The series is set in a postapocalyptic, quasi-steampunk world in which enormous citystates, called “traction cities,” wander the earth on caterpillar treads, devouring smaller cities with mechanical jaws for their natural resources.

By skimming a Hungry

Chronicles book one can find high adventure, fantastic creatures and pop-culture references (in Fever Crumb, a prequel to the main series, there is a scene in a bar named Mott and Hoople, a nod to 1970’s glam rock).

Di Caprio particularly enjoys the books for their sprawling plots and massive climaxes.

“They have...many strands that come together...at the end of the book, and they get really exciting and hard to put down,” he said.

Spiritual sci-fi takes readers out of this world Again in the vein of science fiction is Mary Doria Russell’s 1996 literary debut, The Sparrow.

“It’s basically Jesuits in space,” Upin said. “It’s really awesome.”

That’s a compressed version.

The main character, Emilio Sandoz, is a Jesuit priest from Puerto Rico in 2019 who follows an alien radio transmission to the distant planet of Rakhat. The novel takes place in two time frames, one in Sandoz’s space-exploring youth and one in his dotage. “I’m not usually a big fan of sci-fi, but it was really interesting and the story was really great,” Upin said.

The Sparrow explores deep religious and philosophical themes, which were not lost on Upin. “It was one of the three books that ever made me cry,” she said.

Upin discovered this book through Librarian Nicholas Bancks. “Mr. Bancks told me about it so he’s an awesome reference if you need a book,” Upin said.

Mockingjay completes The Hunger Games Trilogy, a series filled with perilous competitions in a Dystopian world. “I thought it had great meaning, just hidden meaning,” sophomore Sam Carlson said.

Cover image used with permission from Suzanne Collins’s website

Predator’s Gold is one Philip Reeve’s steampunk novels set in the Traction age, a far-future time in Britain. “They are an elusive series of books,” junior Francesco DiCaprio said.

Cover image used with permission from Philip Reeve’s website

The Sparrow tells the tale of a Jesuit priest in space.

“I’m not usually a fan of sci-fi, but this book was really interesting,” senior Heather Upin said.

Cover image used with permission from Mary Dora Russell’s website

F e a t u re 11 January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Going through an

“

Awkward phrase

I’ll say it as a filler word. If you look at annotations in my books, you will probably see awks written.

How has the meaning of “awkward” evolved?

“

Sophomore Sharon Sethna Asialy Bracey-Gardella r

Staff Writer “This is sups awks…double awks,” sophomore Sharon Sethna said to sophomore Yusra Murad on the benches.

If you listen to conversations many students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School have, you are bound to hear the word awkward.

“It’s a stupid word,” freshman Nicolas Koch said.

“It’s a great word,” Sethna said.

The word awkward is used, abbreviated and misplaced on a daily basis for many SPA students, and those who do not say it, hear it.

Awkward as defined by Merriam Webster means “lacking dexterity or skill,” “showing the result of a lack of expertise,” or “lacking ease or grace.”

When students at SPA use it, it’s a joke, having little to do with the correct definition.

“It has become an over-used word,” sophomore Alex Boutrous said.

Freshman J.J. Corn felt the same way: “It’s used out of context.”

Sethna discussed her habit of

using the word awkward. “I’ll say it as a filler word. If you look at annotations in my books, you will probably see awks written,” Sethna said.

Some can relate to Sethna but the majority are indifferent to the word.

Corn said, “when the situation fits, you just say it.”

While some continue to use it true to its definition, others make it humorous.

“I say awks as a joke. I’m never serious about it,” sophomore Alida Mitau said.

“Saying awkward makes everything more awkward,” sophomore John Wilhelm said.

The trend extends far beyond the walls of SPA. Corn said that the use of the word awkward has become “more mainstream…to a point where the situation isn’t even necessarily awkward.”

There is evidence of it becoming mainstream, as it can be seen and heard in celebrity tweets, on Facebook, in television, and the internet.

Khloe Kardashian from the popular television show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” uses the word awkward in her tweets.

“How awkward is this episode for me? LOL” and “OMG soooo awkward!!!!!!” she tweeted.

All photos credit: Asialy Bracey-Gardella

Sophomore Sharon Sethna lays near her locker texting her friend, sophomore Yusra Murad. “Wow this is awkward,” (below) Sethna texted. Sethna shamelessly admitted to her love of the word awkward.

There are web sites dedicated solely to “those awkward moments including www.thatawkwardmoment.net. Some of their posts include: “That awkward moment when your mom denies your friend request on Facebook,” “That awkward moment when you realize that your secrets are being stolen through your dream, within a dream, within a dream.”

There is a TV show on MTV about a fifteen year old girl, in high school, and an experience that changes her high school existence named “Awkward.”

All that adds up to a lot of awkward floating around.

Khloe Kardashian’s tweets, the web site, the Facebook group, and the show have all become

popular within the year. How does a word go from being average, to no longer avoidable? At SPA no one has an answer, but if

you want to get caught up on the trend, Murad has some suggestions, “awks, awks my socks and awka flocka flame.”

Amity Scholar immerses himself in American culture Daniel Duque joins the school’s community for a semester to assist in Spanish classes Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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Music Scene Editor

“Language… is a natural part of my life,” Spanish Language Amity Daniel Duque said.

For Duque, learning a new language is a thrill; music to his ears.

“When I was a boy, I started playing guitar. I loved playing songs in English. There’s just a feeling.

[Because of the music, studying English] is something that I just wanted to do.”

Duque hails from Medellìn, a city of 3.3 million in Antioquia, Colombia. Although the city is historically known for issues with cocaine smuggling and cartels, it is now one of Latin America’s safest big cities. Known as the “City of Eternal Spring” it is surrounded by mountains. It is unlike Minnesota, and December is considered the best month to visit Medellin, according to the Lonely Planet guide.

Duque is studying to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign Language Teaching from the University of Antioquia. He applied for the Amity International program in the United States to improve his English and to immerse himself in American culture.

And immerse himself he has.

In addition to assisting with Spanish classes and completing his last college course online,

Duque is taking Writing for Publication II. He hopes not to become a journalist, but believes the course will improve his English writing skills and allow him to meet new people. Currently, the class is studying sports writing, and Duque wrote a column about soccer, a very important sport to him and to Columbia.

Duque has made it his mission in America to take advantage of the great American melting pot and meet people from a variety of diverse backgrounds.

Duque has already begun to encounter a few cultural differences. He is staying with Glenn Baron and Kathryn Holum, and their children sixth grader Marlee and third grader Julia Baron for the semester. On his first night with his St. Paul host family, Duque was served a spicy soup for dinner. “Spicy food is not common in Colombia, which tends to more sweet foods, especially fruit. It was interesting

All photos credit: Asialy Bracey-Gardella

Amity Daniel Duque will work closely with Spanish teachers in the lower, middle, and upper school classrooms this semester. “Language... is a natural part of my life,” he said.

because everybody in the house liked the spicy food,” Duque said.

Duque will spend the semester assisting teachers in the lower,

middle, and upper school with Spanish classes, with the occasional opportunity to teach the class himself.

12 S c i e n c e & Te c h n o l o g y

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

January 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

The Omnitheater kicks off its annual film fest OmniFest

OmniInfo

Alicia Little

Rachel Kinney

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Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief

Illustrator Photographer

Omnifest, a Science Museum When walking into the Science of Minnesota film festival in which Museum of Minnesota’s Omnithefive IMAX films are played conater, the first thing that strikes you is tinuously for six weeks in the huge the sheer size.

The monstrous domed dome-shaped Omnitheater, takes a year screen is nine stories tall and weighs to plan. The films are chosen based on 160 tons.

Unlike most domed screens, former and projected success, including the Science Museum’s Omnitheater dome that of the last Omnifest. “Key staff review rotates on two steel arms so that it can be the attendance of each film, the results of raised to reveal a standard IMAX screen. visitor surveys and anecdotes about visitor It is the only convertible dome theater in the Photo Credit: Alicia Little experiences,” Senior Vice President of Museum United States and was the first of its kind in the Wolves prance across the screen during the film Wolves, which Enterprises Mike Day said. Then, throughout the is currently showing in the Omnitheater. “It showed well how Northern Hemisphere. During Omnifest, with a year, directors and producers of films campaign to the Native Americans are helping to bring back the wolf, film playing every hour, the screen remains in its have theirs included in the lineup of potential Omwhich I think is a good idea,” freshman Evan LeDuc said. lowered position.

With a 375 guest capacity and nifest films. Films chosen may have not been played an 89-foot-diameter screen, every seat has a clear, at SMM before, and they do not have to focus on sciunblocked view of the screen. The Omnitheater is ence, as long as they have “social or educational value special because viewers cannot see the edges of the and high production standards,” according to Day. This screen, and “that ‘you are there’ experience is exyear’s films are as many as 20 years old, but “it is traordinary,” Senior Vice President of Museum amazing how timeless they are,” Day said.

Enterprises Mike Day said.

Omnifest originated from occasional film The current Omnitheater screen was festivals in SMM’s old location’s Omnithebuilt as part of the museum’s new locaater. When moved to its current location tion in 2000. The counterweights used in 2001, its popularity led to Omnifest’s to rotate the domed screen were so transition to a six-week, yearly event. large that they were put in place before the building was built. The Science Museum’s original location on Wabasha Avenue in Rachel Kinney downtown Saint Paul also had Managing Editor an Omnitheater.

Online Editor-in-Chief The Science Museum has been a pioneer in giant screen This film, originally released science films, having produced in 1997, is Academy Award11 since 1978. Among them nominated and showcases the was 2011’s Amazon. flora and fauna that reside in the Amazon rainforest while focusing on an indigenous tribe, the Zo’é. Although the film’s plot is fabricated, the beautiful journey between the high mountain villages in the Andes and the low, dense jungle Rachel Kinney of Brazil overcompensates. “It went in Managing Editor depth on the cultures that live around the Online Editor-in-Chief Amazon,” freshman Evan LeDuc said. The

Amazon

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Journey into Amazing Caves

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film cited scientific facts and paired them with shots of the interesting rainforest environment, and it was a fun way to learn.

Wolves

Populations and environments of wolves in North America have Managing Editor changed drastically since humans began expanding into their natural Online Editor-in-Chief land, and this film follows these changes. Using a domesticated pack in order to film the wolves up close more safely, the film illustrates the importance of wolves and the recent attempts at reintroduction of wolves in areas they formerly populated. When Native Americans were driven off their buffalo hunting land by white settlers in the 19th century, they had to hunt in a fixed area, causing the buffalo’s numbers to be reduced dramatically. Wolves, a natural predator of buffalo, were affected as well. The film does a good job showing the importance of reintroducing wolves into areas such as Yellowstone National Park, upping the cute factor with baby wolves, but does not make more than a passing reference to opposition.

The most intriguing part of this film is simply watching the wolf family’s interactions.

This was chosen for Omnifest because, though it came out in 1999, it focuses on the importance of conservation of wolves-- a timely topic because they were just removed from the endangered species list.

Rachel Kinney

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Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure Rachel Kinney

In 1914-1916, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team conducted the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that “has become a Managing Editor larger-than-life testament to heroism and human endurance,” accordOnline Editor-in-Chief ing to the film’s website. This film is truly awe-inspiring, and one of the greatest survival stories of all time. It follows Shackleton and his team as they sail to Antarctica, as their ship freezes in the ocean and they live on ice for months and finally as Shackleton leads a rescue mission paddling life boats across a raging sea and hiking through an uncharted mountain range. All 28 men survived. “I was impressed by the unbelievable ability of Shackleton and his men. In the beginning, I thought they were all going to die,” senior Eddie Xie said . In 1999 and 2000, the production team for this documentary went on expeditions to the Antarctic to re-create Shackleton’s famous trek, at the same time showcasing famous mountaineers Reinhold Messner, Stephen Venables and Conrad Anker.

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Nancy Aulenbach and Dr. Hazel Barton’s jobs include exploring caves to understand life inside them, and in this film they show audiences caves in Greenland, Mexico and the Grand Canyon.

The cavers are searching for microorganisms that live in very harsh environments yet survive, called extremophiles, because they could hold some insight into how to create antibiotics to fight human disease, according to the documentary’s website.

The movie first came out in 2001. This film has amazing visuals that take you down hundreds of feet in an ice tunnel, through a claustrophobia-inducing underwater cenote sinkhole and across a zipline over the Grand Canyon area.

Search for the Great Sharks Search for the Great Sharks focuses on three Managing Editor dives run by Dr. Eugenie Online Editor-in-Chief Clark, shark expert of 40 years, and Rodney Fox, an Australian “shark authority” (according to the movie’s website) who survived a Great White Shark attack. The team tests shark repellent but also works to show that sharks are not “killing machines” as often thought. Though the film does play some overthe-top music when the sharks get too close and makes some dive attempts seem more dangerous than they are, it’s informative and interesting. There are some scenes in the lab as well as on the sea, and the 70-something year old shark experts provide a humorous dialogue, for example, “How does this thing work again?” in reference to a camera. Day said, “Audiences on a physical and emotional level feel they are part of the expeditions featured in Search for the Great Sharks.”

Rachel Kinney

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Omnifest Illustration Credit: Alicia Little and Lucy Li

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

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

d n i h e B ards w

the A

t a k o o w L o h e S d ard Insi

An wood’s Aw ystem Holly ting S Vo

Photos used with permission via Creative Commons: 7DAYSUAE, rinestonerockinghorses, aboutmerylsteepvn2 on Flickr

Before an actor, director, producer or other contributor to a movie can stand on stage and receive an Oscar, the members of the Academy must be chosen. There are almost 6000 members that make up The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a group of actors, musicians, directors and other entertainers.

“I honestly feel that if you’re going to vote on something, you need to be as informed as you can and you need to understand what the field is,” Art Director and Academy member Jeannine Oppewall said. It is not an easy task to become a member of The Academy. One must be a member of the film production industry to be invited to join the group with at least two sponsors on the board. Members nominate films from their profession; an actor would nominate a fellow actor for example.

“I think everybody feels a great sense of responsibility,” Sound Designer and Academy member Gary Rydstrom said on voting for Academy Awards, “I want to make sure that I see all the films I can and see them the best way I can.

Golden Globe Awards

Membership for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is not as widespread as for the Academy. Members of HFPA vote for Golden Globes, and are a group composed only of international journalists based in Southern California. This means the group is smaller and the voting process simpler. Members attend over 300 interviews and many more screenings throughout the year and then send in a vote for each category.

The Golden Globe Awards are held at the historical Beverly Hills Hotel, in Los Angeles. The awards set off the begining of the Hollywood’s award season, whose winners and nominees are said to, in greater, determine the Oscar winneers and nominnees. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes honors both film and television.

Ellie Fuelling

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Feature Editor

The slick unsealing of an envelope, the slight smile on a presenter’s face, and the pause that is full of anticipation and dread.

These are the moments that lead up to announcing the winners at award shows such as the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards, and the Critics Choice Awards. Before that envelope is put into the presenter’s hands, before the excruciating hours of hair and makeup to make actors look presentable, before, even, the movies premier, the voting process begins. And it begins with choosing members.

Members of the Academy for the Academy Awards, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the Golden Globes, and members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association for the Critics Choice Awards.

There is a long process that comes before the unsealing of an envelope; from membership to viewing to voting. A process that gives credit to the decisions made, and that gives great honor to the recipients.

Grammy Awards In the music world, musicians are honored at the Grammy Awards. The process is similar to the others mentioned with the Recording Academy voting for the best albums, songs and artists. This award, the only televised show awarding musicians. The process of voting begins with screening, where music is put into categories such as Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country, and Rap among many others.

Critics’ Choice Awards

The Critics’ Choice Awards is another televised broadcast, awarding films, that brings in the viewers. Composed of about 250 television, radio and online critics, The Critics’ Choice Awards is the newest award show, beginning in 1995, and has yet to gain the reverence of the longstanding Academy Awards.

To be considered for membership, critics must “Regularly provide a large television, radio, or Internet audience with subjective assessments of the quality of motion pictures being released theatrically,” according to the BFCA website.

Members of each group are given special screenings, free admission, and DVDs of movies released that year so they can watch all movies that have the possibility of being nominated. The members then send in nomination ballots for movies they believe have the possibility of winning an award. There are up to 25 awards given, including some lesser known awards like Sound Mixing and Animated Short Film.

Screen Actors Guild Awards

The Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest working actors labor union and presents thirteen awards each year during their award show. Over 2,000 SAG members are randomly selected to choose the nominees for film and television. Nominees are announced late in the year, and for this year, they were announced on December 14, 20ll. After that, all 100,000 SAG members vote for the best performances of the year.

Photos used with permission via Creative Commons:Guzzle & Nosh

Academy Awards

Critics’ Choice Awards Jan. 12 Golden Globe Awards Jan. 15 SAG Awards Jan. 29 Grammy Awards Feb. 12 Academy Awards Feb. 26

14 M u s i c S c e n e

The Year in...

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

The year in... rock

Allison Wang

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Cover Story Editor

This past year has been a big year for the musicians of the Twin Cities. Between the raucous live shows of bands like Pink Mink and 4onthefloor, the return of Haley Bonar to the cities from Portland, and the domination of the Doomtree collective, 2011 will be remembered in the local music scene’s immaculately hip history books.

The year in... country and folk Photo used with permission from minnesota.publicradio.org

For Northerners who’ve always had a taste for Southern country-rock, 4onthefloor’s 4x4 is the album for you. Released last February, 4x4 adds a unique mixture of folk-rooted rock-and-roll melodies, twangy guitars, and loud, wailing vocals to the urban music scene of the Twin Cities. The album’s use of harmonicas and screeching guitars frame the “easy listening” lyrics and guttural vocals in songs like “Workin’ Man Zombie” and “Junkie.” Other songs convey the band’s unique brassy humor, like the 36-second “Irish Tune”. 4onthefloor’s down-to-earth, fun-loving Southern attitude is not easily mimicked by other bands in Minnesota.

Andy Monserud

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News Editor

Haley Bonar

Poliça

Photo used with permission from haleybonar.com

Photo used with permission from thisispolica.com

From the onset, Poliça’s Give You the Ghost catches you by surprise. “Amongster,” with its echoing electronic voices, creates a ghostly atmosphere. Released in December, Give You the Ghost centers around a constant motif of loneliness with the transcending, psychedelic, and auto-tuned vocals of Channy Casselle and the equally haunting lyrics. In “Wandering Star,” she sings, “I’m married to the wandering star and I’ve kissed the moon / it was full when I full when I fell in love with thee / but now the world turns without me.”

Each song is backed with a mournful techno guitar background and layers of drums that add a earthly tribal quality.

LOW

Notable for their slow indie rock, Duluth trio Low released C’mon in April. Like other successful bands, Low is able to evoke a visceral emotional response. However, Low achieves the response not by singing passionate and soulful songs. Their beautifully crafted lyrics and dusky melody patterns speak for themselves. Listening to the album is like watching a ball of light intertwine with the darkness that surrounds it. Songs like “Try to Sleep” and “Something’s Turning Over” resemble a morning lullaby, lulling the listener into the warmth of a new day. However, other songs like “Especially Me” and “You See Everything” feature Low’s haunting female vocalist, creating a feeling of hope and desperation at the same time.

Photo used with permission from chairkickers.com

A true grrl’s rock-and-roll band, Pink Mink’s first ever album, Pink Mink, was released in July. Featuring the harsh, but harmonizing vocals of females Arzu Gokcen and Christy Hunt, the album mixes loud, rasping guitar solos and a tough, but bluesy attitude to create an eccentric rock band in its own respect. Although Pink Mink has their share of fist-pumping, whipyour-hair rock music like “Kids Don’t Follow” and “Ginger Wolf,” an oldies surfer beach vibe can be felt in songs like “Hidden Beach” and “The End of the World” that highlight their somber and lingering yet lackadaisical tone.

The true value of this album comes from its malleable songs, adaptable to rock-out sessions in bedrooms or to laid-back beach days.

Pink Mink

Photo used with permission frompinkmink.com

Though South Dakota native and Twin Cities alt-country behemoth Haley Bonar has been releasing music for a decade, she has somehow stayed under the radars of mainstream audiences all that time. Golder, the singer-songwriter’s latest effort, finally launched the Low protegé into the spotlight, so much one can hardly listen to 89.3 the Current anymore without wondering how many times one person could possibly be name-dropped without becoming absurd.

The ludicrous amount of hype doesn’t take away from Golder any, though. Bonar’s solid alto pierces the songs on the album with ease, detailing even the most dreary situations, such as the uncaring boyfriend she addresses in “Raggedy Man,” with a sort of passive nonchalance that makes it difficult to pay attention to anything else. This serves her well, because the instrumentation on Golder tends to be unremarkable. While a few songs do bring out Bonar’s compositional skill, the real gems are the ones where her voice takes center stage, such as “Money,” “Raggedy Man,” “Kid October” and the charmingly kitschy “Bad for You.” Overall, the album is exactly what its title kind-of suggests: golden.

It’s unlikely to put Bonar in competition with the sex-goddess divas dominating today’s pop, but as she puts it on “Raggedy Man,” “There’s a whole lot more in this big ol’ world than watchin’ myself be your raggedy girl.”

Peter Wolf Crier Photo used with permission from peterwolfcrier.com

Twin Cities folk-rock band Peter Wolf Crier are not exactly who one thinks of when the phrase “wall of sound” is used. And most listeners are cool with that. Unfortunately, the band doesn’t seem to be. Their second effort, Garden of Arms, has them experimenting with noisy, morose soundscapes that are about as far as a cry can get from 2010’s mellow Inter-Be. This would be all well and good if the band were actually able to make interesting soundscapes. As it is, they aren’t. The sounds on Garden of Arms are interesting on the first track, but get kind of boring when they don’t seem to change for forty minutes. While some melodies are memorable, namely on the single “Having It Out,” they’re entirely in the vocals.

The vocals, too, are an issue. While Peter Pisano’s vulnerable vocals are one of the things that endeared the band to audiences in the first place, here they sound too exposed. The pulsing soundscapes don’t fit the band, and many listeners will probably be glad when PWC return to the known.

M u s i c S c e n e 15 January 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue IV.

Local Music

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

But not everyone was watching the scene firsthand. So here are Minnesota music’s eight best albums of the year, divided into the three dominant categories in the state (folk, rap and rock). National music is all good and well, but when you’re hungering for some local pride, we’ve got your fodder.

The year in... rap Andy Monserud

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News Editor

Women dominate 2011 music industry, critics’ lists Artists like Adele and Nicki Minaj bring women to equal footing and beyond Rachel Kinney

music scene last year. More imManaging Editor portant than her success is the Online Editor-in-Chief way she earned it; she made her 2011 proved to be an excep- way to the top using more than tional year for women in music. just sex appeal, unlike most feNot only were female artists re- male rappers. While Minaj does peatedly pulling high positions rap about sex, she often uses on Top 40 lists, but they also it to show the degrading lyrics hit the indie scene hard. Women men rap by turning it the other are no longer constrained to out- way. She has paved the way for dated, sugary-sweet pop music empowered female rappers, and as they often were not so long has done so with well-written, ago. This is just the beginning of interesting raps.

Last year also brought the a more gender-balanced music first woman to have five singles scene that allows women to esoff an album reach number one tablish themselves as pop singon Billboard Hot 100: Katy ers but also rappers, mixers and Perry’s Teenage Dream. The spoken-word artists. single that held the number one Adele first became popular position longest this year was with her album 19, which she Rihanna’s “We Found Love” at began recording at that age. It eight weeks. sold over two million copies, but Critics have noticed a rise in her popularity has only increased women in alternative and indewith the release of her second pendent music as well. tUnEalbum, 21, in Jan. 2011. This yArDs, the name of the music album boasts an extraordinary project of Merrill Garbus, renumber of accolades: number leased the album w h o k i l l one in 18 countries, the first UK in Apr. 2011 and has received album with three million sales overwhelmingly positive rein one year and the most digital views from critics for her mix sales in the United States in one year (over 5.5 million), to name a of styles, which includes Afro few. Her success helped women beat, folk and rock. Another exremain in top positions on vari- perimenter, St. Vincent or Annie

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Sims Photo used with permission from avclub.com

Doomtree has spawned a number of local rap behemoths, but Sims, one of five emcees, has often paled in comparison to his coworkers Dessa and P.O.S. His second solo album, Bad Time Zoo, shows little sign of breaking this trend. Sims’ rhymes are not terrible, but Bad Time Zoo lacks the intensity and unforgettable wordplay characteristic of his work with Doomtree. The beats, too, are often less interesting than they could be, despite the contributions of producer Lazerbeak, another Doomtree member. The most notable exceptions are the jazz-influenced singles “Burn It Down” and “Too Much,” the latter of which, incidentally, features P.O.S. The number of Doomtree contributors on the album almost make one think that this was something of a prep album for the seven-member group. In fact, on “Radio Opaque,” the name “Doomtree” is repeated twice for no apparent purpose in a way that recalls the harddriving “Bangarang” on No Kings. But the gems in this rock pile are solid at best, and decidedly lackluster. Three Doomtree members released albums in 2011. When listeners have those kinds of options, there’s little reason to sift through the one mediocre one. And Bad Time Zoo is firmly in that slot.

DOOMTREE

Clark, released her latest album Strange Mercy in Sept. 2011.

The album peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 and was the most popular album of her three.

The success of women in music last year was not just a onetime occurrence. So far in 2012, Perry, Rihanna, and Adele still top the Billboard Hot 100 list, and it doesn’t seem that things are going to change. When Adele first entered the music scene, critics compared her to various other female singers, comparisons she rejected.

“We’re a gender, not a genre,” she declared in an interview on blogcritics.org. Minaj hopes for women to be able to gain success in the music industry with their own skill too: “I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal.

You’ve got to have something else to go with that,” she said to Interview Magazine. These artists are making progress towards gender equality in music, and in fact female artists are becoming more sought after.

ous music charts in 2011.

Rapper Nicki Minaj accounts for still more of the success women had on the mainstream

Rapper and singer Nicki Minaj has paved new routes for women in the hip hop industry.

Photo used with permission from wired.com

After a long and productive hiatus, hip-hop collective Doomtree is back. And they’re taking no prisoners. Their latest, the rebelliously titled No Kings, is a dark car-chase of an album, flying through frontiers old and new.

While Doomtree’s two biggest superstars, P.O.S. and Dessa, tend toward a more laid-back, rock-influenced tone on their solo projects, those precedents are ground into dust on every song on the album. No Kings is relentless, both in lyrics and in beats. Although the group has been working together for ten years, they aren’t afraid to take cues from the rise of bass-drops and flailing, as seen in the pounding bass in the spectacular “Bolt Cutter.”

On “Bangarang” Cecil Otter proclaims that “the tortures of the past are like the fortunes of the future. We been fortunate enough to know no borders, no rulers.” This is a group with no intentions on changing what they do unless they darn well want to. The group retains its autonomy and eccentricity throughout the album, dancing around but never quite falling into the dubstep trap that captured so many rappers in the last year.

That eccentricity is what makes the members of Doomtree among the greatest hip-hop rappers and producers in the upper Midwest.

No Kings features a variety of styles, including a punk-rock vibe on “Punch-Out,” gleeful boasting on “Bangarang,” and even a U2-style anthem in the radio favorite “The Grand Experiment”, on which the entire crew takes a turn at the mic. The dissatisfied, edgy tone throughout lends the album intensity and a sense of purpose. Altogether, though hip-hop is not typically this critic’s genre of choice, No Kings will definitely be going on my play list for 2012.

Singer Adele recorded the hit soul-pop record 21, the best selling album of the year.

Photo used with permission from adele.tv

Photo used with permission from mypinkfriday. com

Experimental musician Tune-Yards included a wide variety of sounds on her acclaimed latest album.

Photo used with permission frommyspace.com/tuneyards

Field Trips

we would love to take Science “Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

English O’Shaugnessy Auditorium at St. Kate’s University: Miss Representation According to St. Catherine’s website, “Miss Representation [is a film that] uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see.” Students in Gender in Literature, Seminar in Visual Narrative, and American Literature all could benefit from watching.

German On Grand Avenue in St. Paul, celebrations for the Winterfest will be taking place until mid-February.

French Designed by the French architect Emmanuel Masqueray, the St. Paul Cathedral showcases French history and artistic style. Check it out on 239 Selby Ave.

Science Museum of Minnesota: The Human Body gallery The Human Body gallery features all aspects of the human body including cells, tissues and organ systems. The museum engages visitors in fun and interactive ways. Activities such as “The Cell Lab” allows participants to perform their own genetic experiments.

Mathematics Target Field Stadium: Minnesota Twins While The Twins are playing, students can calculate batting averages while simultaneously enjoying the game. Students will enhance their applied math skills by calculating statstical and geometrical information regarding the sport.

Fine Arts

History Minnesota History Center: 1968 From now until Feb. 20, the exhibit 1968 is on display at the History Center. According to its website, the year 1968 was jam-packed with events, “[A] president steps down, a leader is shot down, and a hope-filled view of heaven and earth.”

Chinese The Minnesota International Chinese School and Chanhassen School District teamed up to celebrate the year of the dragon at Chanhassen High School on Jan. 28.

Spanish Stop by the Midtown Global Market on Lake Street and 10th Avenue to fill hungry heads and stomachs.

Sports

Walker Art Center

Any Professional Sports Game

All art lovers are familiar with the Walker Art Center, but students have not taken a collective field trip. With tickets as low as $10, students and teachers alike will be able to enjoy the spectacular art on display at the Walker. Galleries include photo collections, painting galleries, and sketch drawings.

Athletes probably have favorite athletic teams. A great way to learn is to watch the professionals play. Afterwards, athletes and coaches will feel refreshed, having spent a day enjoying their favorite activity and learning.

Front Cover Design: Dani Andrusko Back Cover Design: Rebecca Xu Recommendations compiled by Saif Ahmed

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