November 2019 Issue

the

RUBICON

the student newspaper of St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Ave St. Paul, MN 55105 Volume 47. Issue 3.

Nov 12, 2019

www.rubiconline.com

Robots compete in the brand new Skystone challenge.

Junior Miranda Bance fixes her robot between rounds. “That was the instance where the robot did break,” Bance said.

Robotics coach Kirsten Hoogenakker gathers the team together.

PHOTOS: Nikolas Liepins FINE TUNE. Autonomice members - junior Michael Moran, junior Miranda Bance, junior John Hall, and sophomore Arjay Jacobs fix their robot before an upcoming challenge. “It went pretty well. Our robot played in five matches. We had the highest scoring match, we had like, 42 points. Right now the world record is sitting at, like, 80 which is insane,” Bance said.

Robotics season gears up with first tournament ADRIENNE GAYLORD ILLUSTRATOR

Picture this: four robots, one arena, battling it out until one alliance is declared mightier than the other.

Saint Paul Academy and Summit School hosted the FIRST Robotics MN league meet of the 2019-20 season Oct. 30. In the past quarter Spartan teams, Autonomice and Robotters, have been coding and constructing robots that they’ll use to compete throughout the year.

The two teams were anxious to see all of their hard work in action.

“I had no idea how it was going to go,” sophomore Griffin Moore said.

IT STARTS WITH A CHALLENGE Every year students from around the country participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge.

Robotics teams design, build, and code robots for competition in a challenge that changes every year.

In 2018 the game was titled Rover Ruckus, a space themed challenge involving moving

small balls and cubes. This year it’s Skystone, a Star Wars-endorsed skyscraper building challenge.

TIME TO TEST THE BOTS For this game, four robots in pairs of alliances compete in a two on two each round. They use their robots to transport bricks under little bridges and onto a Lego©-like foundation.

The robots may build tall towers out of the stones, developing skyscrapers that will reflect the name of the challenge, but at this point in the year, teams are ecstatic to simply move a brick from one side of the arena to the other.

Some robots appear to be mindlessly circling, some methodically pacing, while others sit sedentary as their team scrambles with the controller.

The Robotters were up for the first round of the meet.

Their little square robot with its tiny arm was set on the field with the others. The robot drivers stood to the side of the field, their controllers on the table.

Although they were anxious to begin, they knew they had to wait until their robot’s autono-

mous phase, a phase where the robot moves without human direction, was finished. The timer began and the Robotters’ robot moved away from the sides of the field. None of the other robots stirred. It crept out and headed for the bridge ahead. It stopped underneath.

“

I FELT LIKE THE TEAM AS A WHOLE GOT CLOSER AS FRIENDS.

”

Henry Cheney

The team members and fans in the crowd cheered. That park under the bridge won them the first five points of the meet.

In a typical round, after the autonomous phase ends, the drivers pick up their controllers and begin maneuvering their robots around the field. Some robots zoom wildly. Some robots meander thoughtfully.

Plenty of robots never moved at all. There were frequent breaks that broke the flow, and plenty of long, confused pauses, but the night chugged on.

BUY VS. BORROW 2 sides, 1 issue: should students have to buy new texts each year?

OPINION pg. 6 ISSUE 1-3 ... News 4 ... Editorial 5-6 ... Opinions 7 ... Issues INDEX 10-11 ... Feature 12-13 ... A&E 14-16 ... Sports

The Autonomice and Robotters went up against team after team, winning most of their rounds. The Autonomice were a powerful competitor.

The team had been able to use their experience to breeze through building and coding challenges to stop other teams in their tracks. The time and energy they put into the robot paid off; competitors could be seen gazing at it in awe.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK As the meet stretched on, SPA team members passed the time talking, devouring Starbursts, and freestyle rapping.

“It was pretty fun; I felt like the team as a whole got closer as friends,” senior Henry Cheney said.

Eventually their biggest round of the night began. The Autonomice and the Robotters were teamed up on the same alliance. When the round began, both robots executed a five point park and wound up snuggled together with a metallic clunk. The SPA robotics crowd let out a cheer.

Junior Miranda Bance was proud of her team.

“Not a lot of the other teams had autonomous programs where the robot moves on its own,” she said.

When the autonomous phase ended, the Autonomice went to grab stones with their claw, and the Robotters went to move the foundation. There was a level of teamwork and coordination that wasn’t as present in other rounds.

By the end of the round the SPA teams had earned the highest scores of the entire meet: 42 points. In comparison to the 4’s, 7’s and 11’s—common scores throughout the night—this 42 was monstrous.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL The Autonomice ended with a gross score of 119 points, ranked second among the teams. The Robotters earned 108 points, placing fifth.

“I think everyone on the team should be proud of their performance,” Cheney said.

After the SPA team cleaned up the hallways and reset the rooms for class, they left, and the little robots sat waiting in their boxes for their next time to come out and play.

FROM THE SOLE

BACK TO BACK?

IN-DEPTH pg. 8-9

SPORTS pg. 16

A history of sneakers, complete with students’ favorite kicks.

8-9 ... In-Depth

The SMB Wolfpack looks to repeat as state champions in class 4A.

@TheRubiconSPA

2

NEWS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

THE DIRTY HISTORY OF LINE 3 PIPELINE

Information from Minnesota Public Radio INFOGRAPHIC: Evelyn Lillemoe

Line 3 rebuild raises environmental concerns LUCY BENSON

MANAGING EDITOR

The pipeline drips oil onto the earth, wrecked, and in need of removal, yet it stays. A hazard to the environment around it, this pipeline is the existing Line 3.

The fight over this pipeline has been going on for six years.

In 2013, Enbridge, a company that transports energy or often builds oil pipelines to do so, publicized its plan for a new Line 3, an oil pipeline that would run through Ojibwe treaty land near Duluth, Minnesota.

Since its announcement, native activists and their allies have been protesting the construction of the pipeline.

Sophomore Emily Gisser has become involved in this activism with her family living near the proposed site for the new Line 3.

“I have family living in northern Minnesota in a town called Park Rapids, Minnesota, which is where Enbridge [has] one of their main centers,” Gisser said. “So, I heard about the protests and stuff through that.”

Gisser is a member of the Stop Line 3 organization and

primarily is a donor that works to spread awareness around the issue.

“I think part of the turbulence of this issue is beyond supposed economic benefits and things like that, Gisser said.

She noted that media coverage doesn’t capture the full picture: “There’s a lot of environmental and human rights issues Line 3 poses that haven’t been acknowledged as much.”

According to the Stop Line 3 website, there is already an existing Line 3, one that pumps oil across Fond du Lac and Leech Lake reservations. This pipeline is old, breaking down and has already leaked, there is reason to assume it will cause further damage.

“The current Line 3 was built in 1961. It’s breaking, its bursting, it’s malfunctioning, it’s leaking crude oil into the Boundary Waters watershed, into biodiverse areas, it’s just really really detrimental to the environment,” Gisser said.

“The plan for the new Line 3 is to just desert the current line, and then build a new one and attack in an entirely new corridor, so they would just leave the mess that’s happening right

now not fix it because that’s ‘too expensive,” Gisser said The Ojibwe people have not condoned the construction of the pipeline on their land and there is still push back from their communities. Treaties between the U.S. government and the native groups legally attribute this land to the Ojibwe, though their rightful ties to the land span far past European colonization.

“

THERE’S A LOT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES WITH LINE 3.

Emily Gisser

”

The Stop Line 3 website reads “the right to self-determination and self-government guaranteed to tribal nations by the US Constitution and affirmed repeatedly by the US Supreme Court. The State of MN does not have the consent of the impacted tribes along the route, and does not have jurisdiction on tribal lands, including ceded territories. This

is modern-day colonialism for the purposes of resource extraction and corporate profit,” meaning that if Enbridge proceeds with its plans to build the pipeline it will be in violation of the law.

“The current Line 3 cuts through two reservations and treaty land, dating from like the 1850s. There’s lots of liability within who can work on the reservations and who can’t,” Gisser said. “And then there’s also just the issue that the natural resources on the reservations, which are so important to native culture, and just their existence as a whole, that it’s just completely disregarded through the pipelines.”

The pipeline will also have detrimental environmental impacts. The environmental impact study conducted on the pipeline reported that if built, the oil the pipeline would transport could fuel the emission of 193 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Climate change, though most often the by product of white colonialism, disproportionately affects communities of color. For decades Native people have

fought for environmental justice and defended their rights to land, even as they are one of the most affected groups in the climate crisis.

Protests have occurred around the state. On, Oct. 30 protesters gathered at the governor’s mansion to call for action and on Nov. 5 a group shut down the opening of a new Chase bank location in St. Paul to protest Chase’s continued financing of Line 3.

“I think it’s so important to advocate to stop Line 3 because by doing that you cover the environmental concerns, you cover the fact that native rights and recognition are pretty limited in this state. It just hits so many really important causes,” Gisser said.

Many public figures have pledged their support to Stop Line 3, including presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.

The next steps in the fight against Line 3 will likely include more protests organized across the state. For more information on rallies and the pipeline visit the @StopLine3 Facebook.

Iris: Art+Lit Spooktacular helps scare away student stress SALAH ABDULKARIM THE RUBICON

Students walk through the halls and to the upper library where Iris: Art+Lit hosted their ‘Spooktacular’ celebration. Students and teachers gathered to share spooky stories, Halloween plans, and to do some coloring sheets made by students.

Iris had collected submissions for a two sentence horror story competition and the winner was announced at the event. Fall themed snacks were provided by the club, including pumpkin cookies and Halloween Oreos.

CORRECTIONS POLICY:

“

IT WAS A FUN ESCAPE FROM THE ACADEMIC MINDSET.

”

Addie Morrisette

Junior Addie Morrisette particularly enjoyed this event because of the fun environment that surrounded it.

“The coloring sheets were made by people in the club, so one of them was mine. It was super cool to see everyone engaging with something I made.

As with other Iris events, it was

Corrections are printed at the bottom of News p. 2. Corrections will be published in the month following the error and, if the story is also published online, it will be corrected following the online corrections policy.

OCTOBER:

a fun escape from the academic mindset I’m in at school and was a fun, creative way to spend my afternoon,” Morrisette said.

Sophomore Annika Brelsford attend the event.

“I thought it was a really fun way to get involved in the Iris club without actually being in it,” Brelsford said. We did some coloring and read some short Halloween stories. Overall it was actually kind of enjoyable because there were so many people I don’t really get to hang out with but it was very cool to get to see them.”

Iris hosts an event each quarter.

THE RUBICON PHOTO: Salah Abdulkarim PUMPKIN PARTY. Students share coloring sheets over apple juice and snacks. “The coloring sheets were made by people in the club... it was super cool to see everyone engaging with something I made,” junior Addie Morrisette said.

NEWS 2: Election poll results incorrect. Elizabeth Warren had 37% of the vote. Tulsi Gabbard had 1% of the vote. A quote was attributed to Ananya Narayan; it should have been attributed to senior Anjali Tadavarthy.

A&E 13: J. Selby’s is described as plant based. The restaurant is both dairy and egg free.

SPORTS 14: Garcia refers to junior volleyball player Karla Garcia. Maddie Fisher is in 9th grade. 15: GVS lost in their 3rd round of sections.

3 Alumni speakers encourage entrepreneurship NEWS

THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

“

SPA DID A GREAT JOB INSPIRING CURIOSITY IN ALL SUBJECTS. Tyler Olson

THE RUBICON PHOTO: Maren Ostrem Alumni speakers Jory Schwach and Tyler Olson, with moderator Sasha Aslanian, speak on their experience as entrepreneurs.

MAREN OSTREM THE RUBICON

Almost 40 alumni/ae gathered in Driscoll Commons Nov. 6, for an installment of the Alumni/ae Council’s Speaker Series titled “From the

Ground Up: Young Entrepreneurship and Work.”

The two speakers Jory Schwach (‘03) and Tyler Olson (‘04), have founded multiple companies. The panel was moderated by Sasha Aslanian

”

(‘86) and ran from 6:15-7 p.m. after time for food, mingling, and networking.

Schwach is the CEO of Andium, an artificial intelligence company that works with large companies around the world.

Along with Andium, Schwach founded GlobalRim, a Solar GPS company and MeshMe, a mobile communication app.

Olson is the founder of many companies, including the vacation rental agency Away Agents, and the cybersecurity company SHYLD.

Both entrepreneurs cited the impact that SPA has had on their success.

“The learning how to ask questions… How to think outside the box. The love of questions. I think SPA did a great job inspiring curiosity in all subjects,” Olson said.

When asked how they found their ideas, Schwach said, “Solving problems is definitely at the core.”

“I went to the cybersecurity offices and literally walked up to all the booths, the speakers, and asked, ‘what problems do you have?’” Olson added.

Student entrepreneurs from Start Up club attended.

Junior Levi Mellin said, “I thought that both of the speakers at the event were quite entertaining, enjoyable, and engaging.”

He added that “Tyler Olson had a similar experience as a young entrepreneur to myself.

He shared some of his stories from when he was a kid about making a name/brand for himself around his neighborhood as well as the SPA community,” After the event, Mellin had the unique opportunity to speak one on one with Olson, who provided advice and guidance based on personal experience. “[Olson] gave me some meaningful insight and information of how lucky I was to be a part of the SPA community and network,” Mellin added.

Although future speakers have not yet been announced, the Alumni/ae Council’s Speaker Series will continue throughout the year.

META organizers strive to create space for BIPOC in Twin Cities Oenga described what she personally hopes for META: “My goal for META is for us Black and Brown bodies to network, combine resources to pour freedom, love, power pride, equality and strength throughout communities and to the world. I want META to be a movement, and even powerful [just] in existence.”

What pushed Garcia to go to the first META meeting was a search for more places she could connect with other people of color.

“I really enjoyed SDLC last year and [META] seemed kind of like [SDLC]. SPA has affinity groups but more spaces with other students of color is somePHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Britney Chino thing that is really important META. META founders, Winfrey Oenga, Ana Keller-Flores, Ijeoma Ugboajah, Sara Flores gather to me. So I was like ‘let’s do it’ for a photo. “META started this past summer after I and a few other friends who were all a part because it sounds really fun of a different youth organization came together and realized [that] organization, while being a and like another safe space [to] great segue to being involved in our community, wasn’t directly going after the things we wanted,” get to know people [with] the co-founder Britney Chino said. same experiences as me,” Garcia said.

Junior Karla Garcia heard “META’s main goal is to be EVELYN LILLEMOE She finds spaces like these CHIEF VISUAL EDITOR the organization that people about the group on Instagram vital and feels that students of Black, Indigenous, and peo- go to when they need help. In and through friends. color at SPA don’t get to experiple of color in the Twin Cities essence, a mutual aid organizaence this kind of environment [WE TALKED have a new way to connect tion. We don’t want to wait for enough. with one another, through a a politician to finally pass some ABOUT] WHY IT’S “It’s important for people new group, META. META is progressive legislation, or pray to be able to have a space with IMPORTANT FOR people that have a lot of things an affinity space for BIPOC in that our favored politician wins an election; we want to take the the Twin Cities started by seven in common with them and US TO HAVE A students in August. Inver Hills power into our own hands and [who have] a lot of experiences Community College freshman lift [and] empower our own SAFE SPACE. that are the same... I feel like at Britney Chino is one of the communities from the strucSPA, there’s a lack of that, estural oppression they face on a Karla Garcia group’s seven founders. pecially for students of color. I “META is an organization daily basis,” Chino said. think it’s also a good place to Winfrey Oenga, a recent for BIPOC to help their comjust be... Your true authentic “So I got there with another munities, themselves, and high school graduate is anothself,” Garcia said. their families. META started er founder of the organization. friend from school, and there This lack of spaces for BIthis past summer after I and a Oenga sees META as a way to was food, a lot of different peo- POC, and more specifically ple, and we showed up and we few other friends who were all work towards liberation. spaces for BIPOC lead by BIdid some go arounds, and talk“META started with a quesa part of a different youth orPOC, is a problem Chino sees ganization came together and tion, which was: why haven’t ed about who we are and why nationwide. realized [that] organization, we [people of color] been given it’s important for us to have “META is an important while being a great segue to the roles of organizing actions, a safe space. Then we talked space because to my knowlbeing involved in our commu- educating, and planning events about why this group began, edge, there isn’t a very big ornity, wasn’t directly going after related to social/environmental why it’s important to have ganization that is dedicated to the things we wanted,” she said. justice issues... Why are we be- spaces like this, what the group and ran by BIPOC youth. This One of the main changes ing facilitated by white people wants to do, their mission… unprecedented space is a need from the previous organization rather than people of color?” and the plans for the year and in every state across the nation. moving forward,” Garcia said.

Oenga said. to META is an affinity group.

We hope to grow big enough

“

”

to influence other states into having their own mutual aid organization run by and for BIPOC,” Chino said.

Oenga also sees a future full of opportunity for META. “META is not just an organization, but a future and endless support system of community, it is an organization focused on the goal of creating liberation for all BIPOC, to open endless opportunities to all BIPOC. This is a space where you can depend on people and come to for empowerment, love, healing, to be a part of a change in the way we view America today, to build strength in our community,” Oenga said, “META is also such an important space, because growing up being surrounded by BIPOC has truly inspired me and made me push myself to be stronger and better for my community.”

This is only the beginning for META. As the organization continues to grow, there are many ways supporters can contribute. Supporters are encouraged to follow their account @metaliberation on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and donate to their GoFundMe which is linked in their Instagram bio. META is a grassroots organization so donations are key to the organization continuing. One of the most important ways allies can support META is spreading the word so anyone who identifies as BIPOC has the opportunity to be a part of this organization.

“Bring your siblings, cousins, neighbors, anyone. We are all in this fight together so we need anyone with a genuine vision and passion to uplift and empower our communities,” Chino said.

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EDITORIAL THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

MINI EDITORIALS

STAFF EDITORIAL

Stereotypes discourage connection

Challenge first impressions. Know each other more deeply EDITORIAL

THE RUBICON STAFF

When walking down the halls at a small school, almost every face is familiar. Automatically, the brain categorizes and classifies people based on first impressions. After time, those initial impressions become cemented and hard to look past.

According to Simply Psychology, scientist Henri Tajfel proposed the idea of social categorization as a natural phenomenon, based on the normal cognitive process of dividing things into groups. It is normal for brains to split people into an in-group and an out-group.

While Tajfel’s study justifies the idea of categorization, when the classification of one’s classmates becomes a habit and fellow students are seen simply as “hockey boys” or “theater kids,” a disconnect forms between the way a person is perceived and their actual, multi-faceted reality. While it is natural and even, accurate to classify people based on the hobbies or aspects of themselves they most regularly display, these categories are never the full picture. These perceptions must not get in the way of creating relationships across these categorical divides.

Collaboration is an important tool in the classroom, and it may be difficult to engage in a meaningful Harkness discussion or complete a group project if everyone in the class is judging each other on the very minimal amount of information they have about their classmates. Rather than making judgments based on what others have gossiped about or the main thing that the student is known for doing, judgments should develop from first-hand experience.

The first impression someone makes is not always an accurate representation of who

EDITORIAL CARTOON: Adrienne Gaylord YOUR CLASSMATE: STEREOTYPE EDITION. Even when stereotypes are occasionally accurate, they are limited, and they can lead to unfair judgments made on appearance alone. they are. Recognize that a single interaction cannot reveal everything about a person. If everyone knows that a certain person is a superstar athlete, don’t assume that they don’t also enjoy reading. If a student seems reserved, give them a chance to open up during discussions before pegging them as quiet.

Sometimes first impressions or stereotypes are accurate. But what’s the worst thing that can happen from giving a person the benefit of the doubt? The worst-case scenario is that the initial judgments made were accurate, and nothing was lost.

While it may be hard to address these misjudgments directly, simple steps can be taken to avoid them. When hearing gossip around school, take it with a grain of salt. Try not to form an opinion on someone before interacting with them face to face in a meaningful way.

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN FROM GIVING A PERSON THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT? Recently, there has been talk of restructuring the way the Peer Helpers program works.

This process is the perfect opportunity to discourage labeling and categorization and encourage open-mindedness and branching out. Ways to do this could include a “Switch it up day” at lunch, where students are given randomized seating assignments in order to encourage grade, group, and gender mixing. Students can begin this by challenging themselves

to just sit somewhere different around the Harkness table in their next class.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School is a caring community. Every year, juniors come home from junior retreat gushing about how wonderful it felt to see their grade open up to one another. Senior speeches, allowing each student the chance to make themselves heard across the entire school, are prioritized.

It’s plain to see that SPA is a community of students who want to understand and connect with each other. The only thing standing in the way is often unconscious categorizing.

Untraining the brain’s habit to label is no simple task, but with greater school-wide efforts and personal reflection, it’s possible to overcome it - and it just may bring the community even closer together.

Give ‘em a minute: extend introductions The 30-second limit on senior speech introductions is too short to properly introduce a speaker.

Most intros are meant to make the audience laugh and warm them up for the speaker.

30 seconds is not enough time to accomplish this goal; even in comedy sets, the shortest bits are over a minute and a half.

A major concern with longer intros is that there won’t be enough time left for announcements. However, with four intros per speech day, that would be a total of four minutes of the 45 minute X-Period.

Even if each speech is seven minutes - the longest a speech is allowed to be - that leaves (at least) eight minutes for announcements.

A minute per intro would not impede announcements, and if speakers are to get the introductions they deserve, it is a necessity.

When a comedian tells a joke in under 30 seconds, it’s referred to as a throwaway, and senior speakers are worth so much more than that.

Cross-advisory bonding is treat Wednesday Advisory is used for bonding activities within an advisory. But when advisors think beyond their own spaces, great things can happen.

Lockwood advisory planned a scavenger hunt Nov. 6 with clues that sent advisories to each others’ spaces, where treats, clues, and puzzle pieces awaited them. The game encouraged teamwork within each advisory as well as bringing together members of different advisories, since some advisees stayed in their meeting location to greet scavenger hunt participants. The event left participants laughing and full of candy.

Let’s use more advisory times to plan (and do) cross-advisory activities.

THE RUBICON St. Paul Academy and Summit School • 1712 Randolph Ave St. Paul, MN 55105 • rubicon.spa@gmail.com • www.RubicOnline.com • @TheRubiconSPA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CHIEF VISUAL EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITORS OPINIONS EDITOR ISSUES EDITOR IN DEPTH EDITOR FEATURE EDITOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR SPORTS EDITORS PHOTO STORY EDITOR ILLUSTRATOR

Quinn Christensen Evelyn Lillemoe Lucy Benson Julia Baron, Charlie Johnson Maren Ostrem Meagan Massie Lizzie Kristal Sharee Roman Jenny Ries Salah Abdulkarim, Tommy Stolpestad Eloise Duncan Adrienne Gaylord

DIRECTOR OF RUBICONLINE CREATIVE DESIGN MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER NEWS EDITORS OPINIONS EDITORS FEATURE EDITORS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS AUREUS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SPORTS EDITORS RUBICON TV EDITOR

Melissa Nie Noah Raaum Lynn Reynolds Bobby Verhey Liv Larsen, Elizabeth Trevathan Tana Ososki, Lara Cayci Annika Rock, Elle Chen Lucia Granja, Zekiah Juliusson Sam Hanson Martha Sanchez, Will Schavee Henry Burkhardt

ADVISER

Kathryn Campbell PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANT

Megan Erickson

OPINIONS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

EXHAUSTED BY EXHAUST:

76.6%

recycling, and with 75% of vehicles made today including recyclable parts, according to National Geographic, that’s a lot of waste.

Fuel needed to operate vehicles is a major factor in carbon footprint. Getting the fossils to make the fuel out of the earth uses a number of resources and has the possibility of harming

ecosystems, and the distribution of fuel also takes energy and increases the chance of oil spills. Think about it: before the fuel even makes it to a gas station and into the car, there are negative effects. Burning fuel produces carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

It is impossible to completely cut out our usage of vehicles.

However, it is possible to decrease it. There are many options, such as carpooling, public transportation, biking, and walking. Public transportation is very common in urbanized areas, and could be largely taken advantage of. Urban areas tend to have worse air quality because there are more vehicles being used, and more traffic which leads to higher emissions because cars are burning fuel for longer amounts of time. According to the Federal Transit Administration, “heavy rail transit such as subways and metros produce on average 76% lower greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile than an average single-occu-

There are heaps of articles out there warning against video games, asserting the games cause violence, are a waste of time, and isolate people, but video games aren’t a unbridled menace.

It’s also important to be a respectful person who isn’t coated in a three inch layer of Dorito dust, Mountain Dew, and stereotypes... and understand video games in themselves are not the problem.

Video games are assumed to isolate people. Many think of players getting lost in roles in RPGs or spending solitary hours trying to reach the next level of a puzzle.

It’s true that it can feel comforting to some to take some time to themselves, and dive into a game, and maybe one hour turns into two and into four, but only seeing this narrative is biased.

It leaves out all the social connections formed in-game, and that a lot of video games are straight up not played in isolation. Plenty of friends get together and crack open some Wii Sports Resort, or Super Smash Bros, or Diablo.

It’s a fun way to spend time and have fun with the people around you.

Even in class, teachers use learning apps centered around games.

Video games are an activity for families. A family can sit down on game night and play Settlers of Catan or Just Dance.

Neither game is subjectively better or worse for being physical or digital.

Lots of games are designed to be played with friends sitting together or a few hundred miles away. The recent popularity of the battle royal format displays how much people en-

joy human connection in their games. For decades people have been developing friendships with people they’ve never seen face-to-face thanks to online gaming. Thousands of valuable relationships have been started in MMOs and other formats, and these relationships aren’t worth any less than a friend at school. A 2015 study found that 54% of teens who play online games play with friends they know only online.

Video games offer a form of connection that cannot be found through other methods; it’s unique.

Not every video game is multi-player, just like how not every activity is multi-player.

Sometimes it’s nice to spend time alone, and video games, while they do sometimes encourage prolonged play, do not encourage people to be alone.

“Additional reporting by” followed by the name of the reporter.

style. All pieces must be submitted and will be published with a full name.

published online, will be corrected following the online corrections policy.

EDITORIALS articulate the collective

UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS

MEMBERSHIPS

of students use cars to get to school.

ILLUSTRATION : Maren Ostrem

Percent from a poll sent to all students, grades 9-12 with 16% responding.

Park the CAR-bon footprint ELOISE DUNCAN THE RUBICON

Car. Bus. Feet. Every student gets to school by some mode of transportation, but decreasing vehicle emissions should be a goal.

According to National Geographic, vehicles produce around one-third of the pollution in the U.S., and 22% of global emissions of carbon dioxide are due to transportation, according to Transport Geography.

There are many aspects of transportation that are detrimental to the environment.

Vehicles require infrastructure to support them. This in-

frastructure takes up a lot of land and requires resources and energy for its creation and maintenance. Vehicle production is also harmful because lots of energy and resources are needed to make and distribute the vehicles.

The most obvious harmful effect comes from the operation of these vehicles, which contribute to carbon dioxide emissions through the burning of fuel.

Even the disposal of vehicles has negative environmental effects. The plastics and battery acids in cars are put into dumps rather than being disposed of properly through

5

CARS EMIT GREENHOUSE GASSES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.

pancy vehicle; light rail systems produce 62% less and bus transit produces 33% less.” Public transportation reduces greenhouse gas emission by decreasing the amount of cars on the road, and a lot of public transportation is transitioning to being fueled by electricity, rather than by gasoline. Another way to decrease vehicle usage is by walking or biking. These are the most effective way to decrease the environmental costs of transportation, as they do not emit any greenhouse gases.

Unfortunately, this is not possible for many students that do not live close to school or to their activities. Therefore, public transportation and carpooling should be encouraged more and used more widely.

Carpooling is a great, realistic step in the right direction for students. It is easy to set up plans to drive with another student a few times a week, especially if you live close by. Overall, students should me more aware of the impacts their vehicle usage has on the environment, and then take it a step further and make more environmentally friendly choices in their commute to school.

Video games provide a positive escape from stressors READY PLAYER ONE

ADRIENNE GAYLORD

According to the Entertainment Software Association

There’s nothing wrong with sitting down and picking up a controller. Whether matching three-of-a-kind candies on a phone, or getting the fifteenth “YOU DIED” message in a row, playing video games is a way that more than 164 million adults pass the time.

Over the last few decades both how and what people play has changed dramatically.

65% of American adults play video games, 49% regularly use a console, 52% use a computer, and 60% use a phone. Even someone who doesn’t think they play video games definitely knows plenty of people who do.

Video games are a lot of things to a lot of different people: a de-stresser, a mental challenge, a physical challenge, a social platform, and more.

65%

of U.S. adults play video games regularly.

ILLUSTRATION: Maren Ostrem Video games may not be as damaging as one might think.

ILLUSTRATOR

(CONTINUED ON P. 6)

POLICIES, MEMBERSHIPS AND AWARDS OUR MISSION We strive to capture the spirit of the community through its stories while inspiring deeper conversations. Above all, we stand for integrity in our pursuit to inform and engage our readers.

PUBLICATION INFO The Rubicon

is published eight times a year. We distribute 750 copies of each issue to the Upper School which are available for free.

ADVERTISING The Rubicon does not accept advertisements.

ANONYMOUS SOURCES Although

it is always preferable to use names when reporting, there are times when it is necessary to protect those we report on. In the case of a student, the use of grade level as a name designation (i.e. Sophomore Student) will be the preferred method of anonymity.

BY LINES credit the individual who

conducted interviews, drafted, revised and fact-checked an assigned story.

Shared bylines are given to joint effort assignments, with reporters listed alphabetically by last name. Stories that include supplemental materials include a credit at the bottom that states

opinion of The Rubicon staff, while mini-editorials, opinions pieces, arts reviews, and columns belong to the author.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Opinions are welcomed as Letters to the Editor or Submitted Opinions and may be published in the print or edition. Letters to the Editor should not exceed 400 words and Submitted Opinions should not exceed 650 words.

Both may be edited for length and

During the post-critique process, staff members identify inaccuracies and report feedback from readers. The staff publishes corrections when an error is discovered during critique or reported to a staff member. Corrections should be directed to the Editor in Chief or appropriate section editor.

IN PRINT: Corrections are printed at the bottom of News p. 2. Corrections will be printed in the month following the error and, if the story is also

Columbia Scholastic Press Association National Scholastic Press Association MN High School Press Association Quill and Scroll Honor Society

19-20 PUBLICATION AWARDS

NSPA All-American (Print, Online), Pacemaker (Online), CSPA Gold Medalist (Hybrid), Gold Crown Award (Hybrid), SNO Distinguished Site JEM All State Gold

6

OPINIONS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

2 SIDES, 1 ISSUE

Class booklists: to buy or not to buy?

ILLUSTRATION: Evelyn Lillemoe

Book exchange would fix problem MEAGAN MASSIE THE RUBICON

A SCHOOL MANAGED BOOK PROGRAM WOULD IMPROVE EQUITY. The school should offer a book selling or book exchange program for students to ensure that everyone, no matter their financial status, can obtain the necessary materials for the school year.

Students can spend more than $300 each year on textbooks and other books they will use for anywhere from a semester to nine months.

On average, students also need 3-5 books per English class which can cost a great deal depending on the kind of books that the teachers assign.

For example, in Writing Seminar, the teachers require a short textbook that cost $70 while Classics in Society assigned a play that was $18. It all depends on the kind of book that the teacher assigns in relation to what class a student takes.

According to US math teacher Olaf Lakin, Calculus textbooks are bought by students since it’s not a required class. Still, the math department hopes to get state fund books for all required math textbooks. It will take a few years to purchase the textbooks because of state fund formulas.

If all departments utilized state funds, book sourcing would be more equitable.

One challenge to the creation of a book exchange is the fact that textbooks are regularly updated, making it necessary for each class to buy a new text-

book.

But book companies often create updated editions without much change in order to sell new books. Instead of listing the latest book for purchase, teachers should wait until the updates are significant enough to require a new book so students could resell or pass down a text that is still quite useful.

In history and English, however, the textbooks that SPA uses can differ from year to year, but SPA could find other textbooks that could substitute this constant change. US History teachers feel that students should buy their own textbooks in order to margin note the pages as homework.

Students that have exchanged their books in the past with their margin noting already done and while to some teachers they may sound like cheating, to others, it may be a new teaching tool.

According to US English teacher Matt Hoven, using margin notes from a variety of different students can be beneficial to current students because it can allow different interpretations of text that might have otherwise go. However, US English teacher Phillip de Sa e Silva noted that if students use pre-noted text, it could limit the lens that the current student looked through.

For now, students who can’t pay for textbooks ask people in the grade above them to see if the textbook can be used again next year, or look for donated and discarded copies.

All of this could be simpified with a school-wide system. Students should have the freedom to request a loaned book from the school or get an exchanged book from a former student.

System works, no change needed TOMMY STOLPESTAD THE RUBICON

THERE ARE CLEAR EXAMPLES THAT THE CURRENT SYSTEM IS IMPLEMENTED FOR A REASON. The system that is currently in place for buying books for classes works and it should not change. Students take a wide variety of courses in their years in the upper school. Whether it is Calculus or Journeys in Literature, most classes share one thing in common, books.

Textbooks, novels, and everything in between are without a doubt a key part of the curriculum for the majority of the classes. Even Harkness discussions, one of the staples of an SPA education, require annotation and personal interaction with books as preparation for the conversation.

So why is the topic of how students get their books so controversial?

Since there are a significant number of books that students need every year, why doesn’t the school doesn’t provide these materials?

There are many reasons.

Book purchases allow teachers to update booklists to works that reflect new voices and current issues. If the school needed to rely on state funds, teachers would be less likely to mix up reading lists or replace textbooks because buying 100plus copies to distribute is much more expensive for a department.

Students have more flexibility with how they use their books when they buy them.

This can mean a variety of things including the ability to take their own notes in the margins in order to help them understand the content.

It is more difficult to express thoughts and take thorough notes on a text if it is meant to be shared with others.

Along with this, if a student has their own book for a class, there is no deadline for when it needs to be returned; it is theirs for as long as they want it. There are times when a student might go back to a previous year’s text because of a current reading.

Or, they might choose to pass down the book to a friend or sibling. While a student may have still had to pay for a book, passing it on to someone else saves money and is a resourceful use of school supplies. Not only can one pass it on to others, but they can make part of their initial investment back by selling it.

Even though there are somewhat persuasive arguments for the school supplying textbooks, there are stronger reasons for why the current system works.

Students should take advantage of having their own books.

They should take whatever notes they deem fit for a class, pass the text onto other people, or sell it when they are done with it.

Owning a book gives students many more ways to use it and this should not change in the future.

Video games (CONTINUED FROM P. 5) Not only can players reap social benefits from video games, but there are cognitive benefits and skills that can be gained and honed through gaming. Playing certain games has been connected to improvement in a wide range of cognitive functions. There have been improvements found in visual processing, attention, executive functioning, and handeye coordination. The ability to make quick decisions without even thinking about what button was pressed is often put to test repeatedly in plenty of popular video games. When maneuvering a character in a game a lot of players don’t have to think much about what button to press to jump or how to angle the camera. Sure, if the controls of one game are different than another there may be a learning curve, but the time it takes to adjust to that becomes smaller for people who play video games. Some cognitive benefits might be somewhat expected such as improvement in people’s ability to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously or increased mental flexibility, but there are other benefits that can take one by surprise.

There has been successful treatment of amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, through playing action video games.

One study found that through twelve hours of gaming children with dyslexia experienced significantly greater scores on reading tests. Those scores were as great and greater than the scores achieved after children went through dyslexia specific training programs. Games that don’t even advertise increase in these skills are found to have significant benefits. A study found that test subjects after playing Portal 2 for eight hours showed statistically significant improvement on problem solving, spacial skill, and persistence tests than subjects who were assigned to brain-training app Lumosity.

Video games help develop relationships and skills. People who play video games aren’t throwing their time away when they pick up a controller. They’re making friends, learning how to pay attention, and having fun. If video games have one primary benefit, it’s the enjoyment people get out of them. Pong was originally created for entertainment, and the hundreds of thousands of other games that have been conceived since have the same driving desire to make players happy, or at least entertained.

A good game can make a player feel a lot of emotions, like curiosity, rage, or elation.

Video games mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but the most important thing to have in mind when playing is what a great time you’re having.

7

ISSUES THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

IT’S ALL FUN AND

(VIDEO) GAMES Players log in: do video games deserve the stigma?

LIZZIE KRISTAL THE RUBICON

Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, and more all face criticism because of the title given to them: video games.

In the late 1950s, the first video game was introduced, a tennis game similar to Pong. Since then, video games’ popularity has been growing, only drawing more attention to the controversy that surrounds them.

Video games are commonly portrayed as harmful, distracting, and violence-inspiring.

VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES In 1976, the first violent video game, Death Race, was released. Its goal was to run over as many gremlins as possible.

Due to complaints, the game was taken off the market soon after its release. But controversy over violent video games only escalated from there. In 1999, violent video games were blamed for the actions of two student-shooters at Columbine who liked to play video games.

“There’s a lot of unnecessary violence [in video games],” Senior Tina Wilkens said.

In the recent up-tick in school shootings, violent video games have been under fire for their messages, although the law is protecting video games.

In 2008, Minnesota lifted the law that required people buying mature video games to be over 17 because it was unconstitutional via the First Amendment. Additionally, there is little data that supports the fact that violent video games increase youth violence. A study conducted by Anderson and Bushman showed violent games to slightly increase short term aggression. Their definition of aggression was far different from violence.

Aggression was defined as any behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physical or verbal. Violence was considered only the extreme end of that spectrum. Additionally, youth violence has decreased 29% from 2004 to 2014 while

violence video games has increased during that time.

IMPACT OF GAMING ON MENTAL HEALTH Another theory about gaming is that video games are detrimental to players’ health.

In May of 2019, the World Health Organization added Gaming Disorder to their official list of mental conditions.

This sparked concern around the negative health effects surrounding what students seem to play daily. In order to have this condition, three symptoms issues must apply: loss of control over gaming habits, prioritizing gaming over other interests and important things, and continuing to game despite clearly negative consequences such as getting in trouble with parents. However, Gaming Disorder can be misdiagnosed because gaming can be a used as a coping mechanism for other mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. While someone suffering from Gaming Disorder may have more intense symptoms than the average player, it has begun to raise awareness about how gaming can become addicting, regardless of where one may be on the spectrum.

“

THERE’S A PRETTY CENTRAL MULTIPLAYER ASPECT [TO THE GAME I PLAY], SO THAT’S A VERY FUN TO PLAY WITH MY FRIENDS AND OTHER PEOPLE Tina Wilkens

”

“[Video games can be] distracting sometimes… especially with more mindless games.

One of the ways I get around that though is I don’t actually

have any games on my laptop which is where I do most of my homework,” Junior Hayden Graff said.

MEDICAL APPLICATION OF VIDEO GAME TECH While video games have been shown to be addicting, increase aggression, and increase obesity, they’ve also been proven to have positive impacts.

According to a TED Talk given

by Professor Daphne Bavelier who studies cognitive neuroscience, people who play video games respond differently in a positive way to many things.

For example, they have quicker responses to mind games like saying the color of a word, no matter what the word says.

Gamers also have a wider range of attention, like being able to focus on more things at once.

They are better multi-taskers, can see small print easier, and can differentiate between grays better than non-gamers. Video games can also be a big stress relief.

“It’s fun to hang out with friends, play some video games, and it can be de-stressing after school,” Senior Evan Barnes said.

Video games have negative side effects when abused, but video game technology has been used productively, such as in the development of virtual reality exposure therapy. This form of therapy mirrors a patient’s traumatic event and allows for them to interact with it until it becomes manageable.

This technology and video technology like it in the medical community.

Video games have many pros and cons. But to students, even though it can get in the way of being productive, it’s a great source for stress relief.

“It’s nice to not have to do actual things and to unwind…

In the Monster Hunter game I play, there’s a pretty central multiplayer aspect to it, so that’s very fun to play with my friends and other people,” Wilkens said.

Infographic design by Meagan Massie, Quinn Christensen, and Evelyn Lillemoe Information from a poll sent to 125 students grades 9 through 12 with a with 81% responding

8

IN DE

THE RUBICON - N

SNEAKERS: the sole of style

Converse All Star

Converse All Stars debuted in 1917 as a basketball shoe, and to this day remain the best selling basketball shoe of all time.

Vans Slip On

The Vans Slip Ons were released in 1977 with such success that the brand opened 70 more stores in California. The shoe became a favorite among skaters.

Puma Suede

Puma Suede shoes premiered in 1968. The same year, sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos wore the shoes to the Olympics. When Smith and Carlos stepped up to the podium to receive their medals, they took their Puma Suedes off as a symbol of protest against the mistreatment of African-Americans. Puma Suede shoes became a symbol of radicalism.

Adidas All Star

Similarly to Converse, Adidas All Stars which hit the market in 1969, were branded as basketball shoes. They gained popularity when the were recognized by professional basketball players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The shell toe and leather were unheard of at the time, earning the shoe the nicknames “shell toe,” “shell shoes,” and “shell tops.”

New Balance M990

The New Balance M990s debuted in 1982, after four long years of research and design. With a $100 price tag, and a subtle gray color palette, the shoe quickly became wildly popular amongst runners.

Nike Air Jordan I

Nike Air Jordan I launched in 1985. Due to their success, Nike restocked the shelves, but they overestimated their popularity. This resulted in the price of Jordans being marked down to $20. While the shoes were made for basketball, their affordability attracted skaters not only to the shoe, but to the brand in general.

Reebok Instapump Fury When the Reebok Instapump Fury was released in 1994, it was met with mixed reviews. Some consumers thought the out there look unique and interesting, while others thought they were ugly.

Since then, they have become more popular, as modern consumers ideas on attractive footwear caught up to it’s modern design.

Nike Air Max

Nike Air Max hit the shelves in 1987. The iconic Visible Air unit that the shoes have become known for was inspired by the architecture of George Pompidou Centre in Paris which was designed

by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers in an “inside out” fashion.

INFOGRAPHIC: Lizzie Kristal and Maren Ostrem

9

EPTH

NOVEMBER 2019

A brief history: sneakers in society ELOISE DUNCAN THE RUBICON

Today, sneakers are one of the most versatile articles of clothing, able to be worn from the gym to the runway and everywhere in between. However, it hasn’t always been that way.

The beginning of sneakers, what we call them today, was in the late 1800s. The first sneaker with a rubber sole was created in the 1860s, thanks to Charles Goodyear’s creation of rubber that didn’t lose its shape. It was intended for playing croquet. Since then, sneakers have evolved into many different shapes, sizes, and colors, and for many different uses.

As sports and down time for relaxation became increasingly common, more comfortable and usable shoes were needed; sneakers were the solution.

However, the people that wore them were typically those of higher status and wealth, as the cost of rubber was high, and working class people had less time to spend doing the leisurely activities that utilized sneakers.

In 1917, Chuck Taylor created All-Stars out of canvas and rubber with the intention of them being the “signature” basketball shoe. By the end of

HAVE “ IWITNESSED

SNEAKERS AND ATHLETIC SHOES KIND OF EVOLVE AWAY FROM JUST ATHLETIC ENVIRONMENTS, AND TO BE MORE ACCEPTABLE IN MORE PLACES.

”

Carey Otto

World War Two, sneakers had become a shoe used in all walks of life as more people wanted to wear them for comfort.

1985, college counselor and sneaker fanatic Carey Otto would argue, was a major year in sneaker history. Nike signed with basketball star Michael Jordan, and created the Jordan 1s. They were originally black and red, but those shoes were banned because of a rule the NBA had that required enough white on basketball shoes. So, a white and red shoe was made

in response. The Jordan 1s came out a year after the foundation of Nike.

“I think my real love for footwear, and specifically sneakers, started in 1985, when Jordan 1s were launched. Those things came out. The idea that there was a banned shoe, that the best player in the NBA was wearing a shoe that was banned, was an amazing marketing concept,” Otto said.

A year before that, Gucci had released the first luxury brand sneaker. Sneakers have made their way into all sorts of lives and all sorts of activities.

They have transformed from being something only for athletic wear to a major part of pop culture. Otto has seen this transformation throughout his life, and argues that it shows how multi-faceted sneakers are.

“In my life, I have witnessed sneakers and athletic shoes kind of evolve away from just athletic environments, and to be more acceptable in more places. It even has migrated its way to high fashion. I mean you’ve got some of the best fashion houses manufacturing athletic style sneakers, which I think is a testament to just how versatile sneakers have become,” he said.

“They’re comfortable and I customized them so they’re personalized to me.”

Sophomore Lulu Priede “I like my Jordans... Michael Jordan is my favorite, favorite player. I’ve got to represent.”

Junior Adam Holod “These are the shoes that were designed by my favorite artist, Childish Gambino.”

Current trends shaped by sneaker culture CHARLIE JOHNSON THE RUBICON

Sneakers have transitioned from everyday, run-of-the-mill white tennis shoes to a way to express a unique style. This movement, known as sneaker culture, has become extremely popular. Along with recent modern styles, the resurfacing of past decades’ fashion has come back like a storm.

The sneaker industry has been booming recently, and there are a few brands that sit at the top of the mountain.

Currently giants of the industry are Nike, Adidas, Jordan, and Vans. As of 2018 the number one grossing brand was Nike by a long shot, with 6 of the top 10 best selling shoes being Nike. Recently the new trend for brands such as Nike and Adidas has been to collaborate with other street style brands such as Supreme or OffWhite. These “collabs” became ultra-popular. When collabs are in high demand sneakers can be re-sold for hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars. A few weeks ago, multi platinum rapper Travis Scott released his Air Jordan 6 collab that now retails for anywhere between $700-$1,300.

Junior Levi Mellin wanted to buy his shoes called “Lacombes” once he found out they who were designed by popular rapper Childish Gambino.

“

I THINK THERE IS A SENSE WITH THE YOUNGER GENERATION, THEY’RE REALLY DRAWN TOWARDS RAPPERS... IT BOILS DOWN TO SHOE CULTURE. Levi Mellin

”

“He’s been my favorite artist for many years and once I heard he was designing a shoe, I was very inclined to buy it,” Mellin said.

Like Mellin, Junior Adam Holod likewise looks up to his sneakers creator.

“Michael Jordan [was] my favorite player, gotta rep his shoes,” Holod said.

When sneakers are promoted by a pop culture icons like Scott, Gambino, and Jordan, they become even more favored by customers. Take Yeezys, for instance. Yeezys, a sub-brand owned by Adidas was created by rap-mogul Kanye West, by the end of 2019 Yeezys are expected to be worth 1.5 billion dollars since its launch in 2015.

Mellin thinks that the young people of the world are drawn to buy more sneakers when

they are designed by a rapper or musical artist.

“I think there is a sense with the younger generation, they’re really drawn towards rappers… it boils down to shoe culture and that is something that’s really popular in this time right now,” Mellin said.

Customization is also a new way for people to express their style. Top brands like Nike, Adidas, Vans, and others allow their customers to take a sample of one of their shoes, and design it the way that they want. Sophomore Lulu Priede doesn’t buy shoes that often so she wanted hers to be personalized to her own style.

“They’re comfortable and I customized them so they’re personalized to me,” Priede said.

Like Priede, one of the most common traits that customers look for in sneakers is versatility. Sophomore Katherine Bragg loves her shoes and wears them with everything.

“They go with everything I wear... I wear them like everyday,” Bragg said.

Whether is be a classic Air Jordan or a customized sneaker, the world of sneaker culture is ever evolving. There is no telling where it may go in the years to come, but one thing is for sure: customers will keep on buying them.

Junior Levi Mellin “They go with everything I wear...

I wear them like everyday.”

Sophomore Katherine Bragg “I like how they have a mismatching color scheme and the checkerboard.”

Sophomore Clarke Baskerville THE RUBICON PHOTOS: Charlie Johnson

10

FEATURE THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

Faces of the rally

BEHIND THE LENS

Liepins captures Sanders rally The New Power Generation opens the rally with a performance.

The New Power Generation fires up the crowd prior to Sanders and Omar’s entrance.

PHOTOS: Nikolas Liepins CHEER ON BERNIE. Sanders engages with the crowd as they shout chants and encouragements and raise signs printed with his name to show their support. His voice and words do not quiet the crowd instead it makes them raise their signs higher.

NIKOLAS LIEPINS CONTRIBUTOR

Passionate chants of “Not me. Us.” — a Bernie Sanders campaign slogan — burst from the sea of Sanders supporters in Williams Arena (The Barn) on the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. That was the world in which I worked on Nov. 3 for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign rally.

Having gotten approved with press credentials just an hour before the event, I arrived in a nonpartisan capacity at the official Media entrance off University Avenue. Following a quick security check, I was escorted up the white staircase into the bowl of The Barn where I found my place in the Media Area (also known as Press Pit) alongside major news outlets, including FOX and ABC.

WALKING THE (BUFFER) WALK I got settled in, thinking that I would spend the duration of the night in the Press Pit. How wrong was I. While I was setting my camera settings by capturing some great shots of The New Power Generation who, with Brother Ali, opened the event, I noticed a huddle of photographers on the lowest platform of the Media Area.

Seeing as I was the only photographer outside the seemingly important gathering, I went down to investigate. By joining the circle, I learned that I would be participating in the buffer walk, where photographers walk the area between

I GOT SETTLED, THINKING I WOULD SPEND THE DURATION OF THE NIGHT IN THE PRESS PIT. HOW WRONG I WAS. the audience and the stage, ultimately ending up directly at the front of the stage in an area restricted to the media (the buffer). We were split into two groups based on media outlet.

The first group — seemingly composed of mostly A-list outlets such as Getty Images — got to shoot from the buffer for all the introductory speakers (former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, MN Attorney General Keith Ellison, and MN Representative Ilhan Omar) and 5-minutes of Bernie Sanders.

We in the second group (which included local outlets such as MPR and the Pioneer Press), shot from the sidelines for the first speakers, then we got our 5-minutes of Sanders. While in the buffer and sidelines, we had to crouch so we didn’t block the audience from seeing, especially those who needed to see the sign language interpreter.

BERNIE’S BIG ENTRANCE Though the crowd was already excited to hear Sanders’ introductory speakers, the stadium echoed with deafening

cheers of the crowd when Sanders’s intro song, “Back in Black”

by AC/DC, boomed through the building. That moment, his entrance, was one of the most important times to get the shots I needed to get. For one, I needed the Sanders-Omar hug, a shot that I knew I wanted after missing the Trump-Pence handshake at the Trump rally a few weeks ago. When we were given our five minutes in the buffer, we had to get whatever shots we needed, then we were out. I felt like the photographers that I’ve seen on TV during major events, because, in that moment, I was one of them. In that time, I captured some close-ups of Sanders’ face that show the emotion behind his words. Though time seemed to stop as we were capturing moments from the buffer, we eventually received the thirty-second warning. After that, it was back to the Press Pit where I got some great establishing shots that show Sanders surrounded by his supporters.

PHOTOGRAPHING THE ROPE LINE Then, a media handler (a campaign staffer assigned to facilitating the Press) asked if I’d like to do the rope line, which she explained was when we photographed Senator Sanders and Representative Omar from on stage as they walked through the buffer shaking hands below us. With an enthusiastic yet professional “yes,” I joined the group as we followed the same crouching path as before. Then,

as soon as Sanders left the stage to begin shaking hands, we gently pushed through each other to the stage in order to get the prime positions for our shots. Shooting down from the stage over Sanders and Omar was a phenomenal experience where I got some shots that show the amazing excitement between the Congresspeople and their supporters. After that exhilarating moment of being on stage with photographers from major outlets, I returned to the Press Pit, gathered my belongings, and headed home to edit the 750+ photos that I took throughout the evening.

A supporter strains to see the stage above the crowd.

Representative Ilhan Omar hugs a supporter on her way to the stage.

THE FINAL PRODUCT As media outlets release photos from the event, I notice that my photos are of the same caliber and similar vantage point as those which are making the front page of newspapers across the country — it’s amazing. At the time, I didn’t realize just who I was photographing alongside, but now that I’m seeing photos released, I’m putting faces and photos together and find myself in awe of the people who I was working around. All bragging rights aside, however, this event provided amazing experience operating in the professional photojournalistic world, with all rights and privileges thereof, and I’m proud to be able to provide a behind the scenes look.

Representative Ilhan Omar addresses the crowd.

Senator Bernie Sanders takes the stage.

Senator Bernie Sanders energizes his supporters.

FEATURE THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

Bergner is happy camper at Warren

11

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Margot Bergner Junior Margot Bergner poses with a friend at Camp Warren. “I know people now that I would not know [if I didn’t go to camp,]” Bergner said.

JENNY RIES

THE RUBICON

If you notice Margot Bergner wearing a t-shirt that says ‘Warren’ on it, don’t assume it’s political. The Warren is Camp Warren in Eveleth, Minn., where Bergner has spent the past four summers. She has accumulated seven ‘Warren’ t-shirts, which make up a significant part of her wardrobe. Besides its contribution to Bergner’s closet, spending summers at Camp Warren has offered Bergner a special community.

“

WHAT MAKES WARREN THE BEST FOR ME IS JUST THE COMMUNITY. Margot Bergner

”

Bergner first went to Warren because both her mother and her sister had gone.

“I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll try a month, it’ll be fun,’ ” she said.

She fell in love with the camp, and found the community to be a perfect fit for her.

“I just think, every person who goes to camp is like, ‘oh my camp’s the best.’... But I think what makes Warren the best for me is just the community. And I know a lot of camps have that idea of like, ‘we come together as a community,’ but I feel like there are different types of people who go to each camp and that’s what makes it different for them. But the one I go to, I feel like it just pushes it above and beyond… those are people who really connect with me and I connect with, and it’s just, they’re amazing people to be around and surround yourself with,” she said.

Over many summers spent at camp, she has formed close bonds with her Warren friends.

“I know people now that I would not know. Like, one of my best friends, her name is Justina… she lives mostly in New Mexico… I would never know her if it wasn’t for camp, and… she’s one of the greatest people ever, and... meeting

people like that... is the best thing possible,” Bergner said.

This past summer, she took another step in her camp career by becoming a Counselor In Training (CIT).

“I loved looking up to all of my counselors when I was younger. I used to be like, ‘oh my god, I want to be like them, they’re so awesome.’... I want to have that same impact that… people had on me to someone, because I looked up to them so much and I want to be able to give back and provide what was given to me, to someone else,” Bergner said.

While the CIT program involves training and educational programming, they also travel far outside the classroom.

“We hiked the Superior hiking trail. And there was one day, where we did like 11 miles at one time hiking up and down, and it was really hard on all of us. But then after we were done, we illegally camped in this state park because all the spots were filled, so … we put our tents up right in this old campsite that wasn’t anything anymore,” she said. “And we were next to this huge cell phone tower, and then that night, it was raining and there was lightning, and… we were all in one tent, because we were a little bit scared, but we were having fun. And we were like, ‘you know if lightning came down it would hit that telephone wire and we all might be gone,’ but we were like, ‘at least we’d be with each other,’ so that was really sweet.”

Beyond being a fun experience, Bergner said that it stood out because “I worked really hard, and I was really proud of myself. I got to spend it with so many other people that I looked up to, and we spent so much time having fun and being in each others’ presence, and it was just really fun, because we were kind of suffering together, but… it was great.”

Each year, Bergner returns from camp with memories, merchandise, and friendships, all of which will stay with her until next summer.

THE RUBICON PHOTOS: Eloise Duncan CRUNCHY. The salad consisted of nuts, cilantro, cranberries, and crunchy grasshoppers. While the taste was phenomenal, the idea of eating grasshopper freaked Kristal out.

FIRST PERSON FEATURE

1 Kristal chomps down on creepy crawlies Do

thing that scares you...

LIZZIE KRISTAL THE RUBICON

I’ve always been very touchy about trying new things, especially exotic foods. You could only imagine how freaked out I was to know I would soon be eating bugs.

I purposely decided to do a minimal amount of research going into this knowing the more I learned about the crawling critters I had to swallow, the harder it would be to do so. Though that was the case, I did know bugs were buzzing as the food of the future because they are more environmentally friendly than industrial farming, are high in protein and other nutrients, and help to add another source to feed the population. I’m not sure if I could hop on that trend because eating just one is a struggle for me.

But I searched for a restaurant in the Twin Cities that served bugs and came across Colita.

They have a modern Mexican cuisine with integrated international flavors, and happened to have a dish with chapulines — a species of grasshopper. I asked a friend to go with me, made a reservation, and hoped I wouldn’t back out.

The time came to travel across Minneapolis during traffic hour, only making the anticipation of the approaching task scarier. Once arriving, the restaurant was extremely nice; they had a modern atmosphere and attractive decorations. We sat down and ordered one appetizer — the dish

with the bugs — and a Shirley Temple (because what better way to wash down some grasshoppers?) I’m sure the waiter thought it was a little odd, but the food finally arrived and I was beyond nervous.

INSPECTING [THE CRICKET] BEFORE EATING IT WAS LIKE THE “DON’T LOOK DOWN” WHEN YOU’RE UP HIGH; IT JUST MADE ME MORE ANXIOUS. The dish didn’t look as intimidating as I thought it would. It was a salad with the bugs as the topping, which were cut in half, making them less “bug-like.”

Nonetheless, I still knew they were bugs which would make it challenging to get myself to eat it. I took out a bug-piece and put it on my fork. Even though the lighting was very dark, I could still make out the shape of a bug. Inspecting it before eating it was like the “don’t look down” when you’re up high; it just made me more anxious. After sipping on the Shirley Temple, I decided it was go time. I popped a cricket in my mouth and began chewing. It was coated in the salad’s dressing, so the taste was lovely, but the texture was a different story. If I tricked my mind into thinking they were

crackers, the crunch wouldn’t have bothered me, but because I knew they were grasshoppers, it made me cringe. I chewed only a couple of times, until it became easy enough to swallow. Then I washed it down with some Shirley Temple and was satisfied I had completed it. I picked apart the rest of the salad, eating some lettuce without chapuline on it.

In the future, I could see bugs becoming a staple of Americans’ diets, but if it happened now, I wouldn’t be able to eat them regularly. That’s not because they didn’t taste good, because if they’re spiced correctly they’re delicious. No, it’s because I never liked bugs in my house - let alone my mouth.

WANT TO TRY LIZZIE’S SALAD?

Here’s what you need to know

- Colita is located in Minneapolis near Lake Harriet on Penn Ave S. - The dinner entrees cost approximately 15 dollars, The least expensive being 8 dollars and the most expensive being 27 dollars.

- It is gluten free.

- The tortillas are made fresh daily, cooked to order.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

Herrera Soto thinks outside the canvas is very sacred to me, and the feelings I am trying to invoke are tied to this special relationship between my practice and I,” Herrera Soto said. “My art serves everybody, in so far that I do not have an particular message to get across. I enjoy all the feedback I receive on my work, and all the stories people see in it,” he said.

ration because they all make work with a Latin American/ Chicanx mindset, and I identify myself not just in their artwork but in their identities as human individuals.”

When Herrera Soto is building an art set, he often has headphones in to keep his focus.

“I love working with music or listening to podcasts. The I THINK ABOUT work is often continuous, and listening to music helps me ART LIKE stay focused. I work all day, but WASHING like to do different things at different times. I do things that DISHES - IT’S need focusing in the morning (reading, editing, research), and NOT ALWAYS more loose stuff in the eveROMANTIC OR nings (tracing, drawing, writing poetry, etc.),” he said.

ENERGETIC. IT’S Herrera Soto’s art keeps him on his toes.

A NECESSITY. “I love the sacred energy Jonathan Herrera Soto that is involved with making Herrera Soto’s art process art. It is something special and isn’t quick. While some artists I am infinitely curious about do paintings in 24 hours or sit what is possible. I never find down and just draw, he plans myself bored with my workhis work through research.

-I enjoy problems because it “My ideas come to me allows me the space to develthrough research, and through op creative answers that help constant work. I think about me envision new possibilities. art like washing dishes--it’s not Something I dislike is the diffialways romantic or energetic. culty involved in maintaining a It’s a necessity, and [I] am con- studio practice full-time. I wish stantly sketching, writing ideas, artists were more easily able to writing poetry, and all these invest themselves in their work elements come together in my to the extent their hearts dework like a mosaic,” Herrera sired,” he said.

Soto said.

For budding artists, HerreIn combination with re- ra Soto advises not to lose your search, he often turns to other stride. artists for inspiration.

“There won’t always be an“Doris Salcedo, Rafa Espe- swers, and that helps with keepranza, and PostCommodity,” ing things moving forward in Herrera Soto said. “They are the work process,” he said. wonderful sources of inspi-

“

”

THE RUBICON PHOTO: Sharee Roman MISSING AND MISSED. Soto’s exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art featured portraits of missing or murdered journalists from Mexico painted on the ground in mud. “Art practice in the studio is very sacred to me, and the feelings I am trying to invoke are tied to this special relationship between my practice and I,” Soto said.

SHAREE ROMAN THE RUBICON

Artist Jonathan Herrera Soto is between two exhbition openings, one centered at SPA and the other at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA). The exhibit at the MIA was a solo exhibition called In Between/ Underneath which featured portraits of murdered or missing Mexican reporters. The exhibition ran until Nov. 3. The art exhibit at SPA, titled All At Once/De Repente, is open until winter break.

In both exhibits, Herrera

Soto explores the use of natural materials. In Between/Underneath, he used mud to draw faces on the floor of the museum, and in All At Once/De Repente he uses wooden crates as a canvas.

“I am interested in reusing materials, and breathing life into objects that are meant to be disposable. The wooden pallets signify this sentiment in their disposability and ephemerality--they’re meant to be thrown away after use. In the galleries, I use these pallets as objects to write poetry and ex-

hibit the details held in their wooden grooves. I am interested in playing with printmaking, and strive to work against traditional methods of exhibiting work when I can,” he said.

Herrera Soto’s exhibit interactive. At the MIA, visitors were able to walk over the rows of faces. In All At Once/De Repente, the viewer is encouraged to touch the canvas or the wooden board or to tinker with the artwork themselves.

Herrera Soto is very present in his work.

“Art practice in the studio

From decor to souvenirs, students are

Stuck on stickers QUINN CHRISTENSEN EDITOR IN CHIEF

Over the course of their high school careers, students accumulate knowledge. They accumulate experience. And they accumulate stickers - a lot of stickers.

It’s become a tradition for US students to plaster their school computers, as well as water bottles, with stickers.

Some stickers are purely decorative, while others have meaning or stories behind them.

Junior Hannah Lorenz-Meyer has a wide variety of stickers on her computer and water bottle. One in particular seems appropriate for a school computer.

“I really like my Michael Scott sticker. I got it from Redbubble. It says ‘I understand nothing’ and I feel that a lot during school,” Lorenz-Meyer said.

Stickers have become Lorenz-Meyer’s souvenir of choice

“

A LOT OF MY STICKERS ARE FROM PLACES THAT I’VE BEEN.

”

Hannah Lorenz-Meyer

as well.

“A lot of my stickers are from places that I’ve been. So like the one of Camden, Maine, I went there this summer. And it was really pretty. And then like Muir Woods in California, I went last spring break. It’s just really peaceful there and I thought I would get a sticker because I really liked it,” she said.

Sometimes Lorenz-Meyer specifically keeps an eye out for stickers on her trips, but other times she finds a cool sticker just out of luck. That was the case for a sticker that she got on a trip to New York.

“I have a sticker from a museum I went to in New York.

They had an art installation and my sticker is the American flag but instead of the stars it says “think” and [that] just… really resonated with me. And they had it at the gift shop so I got it,” Lorenz-Meyers said.

Since students look at their computers nearly every day, stickers make great reminders of trips and other special experiences.

“My favorite sticker on my computer is this black and white sticker of Amelia Earhart in her plane and it’s really special to me because I was in a show last year called Chamber Music which is basically a group of really powerful, cool women throughout history working together to destroy the patriarchy and my character was Amelia Earhart,” senior Ananya Narayan said.

The show was special for several reasons.

“I just bonded with that cast so much, and we would

THE RUBICON PHOTO: Quinn Christensen Juniors Isabel Toghramadjian, Hannah Lorenz-Meyer, and Grace Krasny decorate their computers and water bottles with colorful stickers. One of her favorites is a sticker of Michael Scott from The Office. “It says ‘I understand nothing,’ and I feel that a lot during school,” Lorenz-Meyer said. have like hour-long discussions about the show and what it meant to us and all the hidden meanings and symbols and the random things that went down in that show. So right after the show finished I went out and

bought that sticker because I wanted to remember it for a very long time,” Narayan said.

No matter what they’re stuck on, stickers allow for personalization.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

ARTIST PROFILE

From @katherinewigs_castle Instagram One of Goodman’s patches features a picture of the Earth on fire, which she made for the Climate Strike.

THE RUBICON PHOTO: Julia Baron Junior Katherine Goodman works on a sweater she is knitting.

Although she works mainly in textile, she started out with drawing. “I’ve been drawing ever since I was a kid,” Goodman said.

Goodman knits generations together JULIA BARON THE RUBICON

Three generations of women in junior Katherine Goodman’s family have been creating art.

Goodman has continued this legacy. For Goodman, creating art is an opportunity to combine many of her passions into one creation. Goodman draws, creates embroidery patches, and knits. Her work includes themes of politics, historical figures, activism, and vampires, all interests that she has been able to further express through her art In Goodman’s patchwork, she is specifically inspired by the movie A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, because it involves both her love for vampires and for feminism. She explains the movie as a “horror

feminist film” and said that she enjoyed it because it portrayed a different type of villain than is usually present.

“I liked the symbol of this horrifying creature who is a defender of women,” Goodman said.

In addition to depicting this feminist villain through her art, Goodman also enjoys portraying powerful women throughout history.

“I printed out pictures of Emma Goldman and Zora Neale Hurston … And I embroidered over them. Emma Goldman is one of my personal heroes. She was a Jewish immigrant and I kind of believe she was a big part of labor unionizing in the early 1900s… so she’s amazing figure,” said Goodman.

“For Zora Neale Hurston, I really like her book that we read in ninth grade, Their Eyes Were Watching God, so this [work] is a little tribute to her,” Goodman said.

Goodman has been passionate about creating art since she was young. Initially she focused mainly on drawing, and it became clear that art was a passion for her and it was something that she was going to dedicate a lot of time to.

“I’ve been drawing ever since I was a kid, like doodling on homework sheets. I have some old math books that are less math then they are bad drawings,” Goodman said.

She has expanded into exploring a variety of mediums.

Goodman completes patchwork that she sometimes sews onto jackets or keeps, trades or sells on Etsy. Her work with embroidery started last spring when her grandmother gave her the basic materials she needed to get going.

“My grandma did a lot of embroidery. [She did] more traditional stuff like on clothing and such. She gave me some needles and thread once I got into [patchwork], so that really helped me to have the materials I needed,” Goodman said.

Goodman noted that her interest in patchwork stemmed out of her love of sewing with her mom.

“I’ve done sewing before, because I like to sit with my mom and sew. Eventually, I tried sewing different designs, and then I realized that embroidery thread is out there, and it’s a lot quicker, so it makes it easier to sew things onto felt,” Goodman said.

Goodman has explored different things to do with the patchwork she creates, In addition to sewing them onto her clothing, she also has been recently interest in how she sell or trade them with other artists.

“I’ve been lucky enough to connect with some really lovely people on Instagram who

“

MY GRANDMA DID A LOT OF EMBROIDERY...

SHE GAVE ME SOME NEEDLES AND THREAD ONCE I GOT INTO [PATCHWORK.] Katherine Goodman

”

I’ve done some patch swaps with, meaning that we each design, embroider, and send a custom patch for the other person, and some art swaps, which is similar to a patch swap except that while I sent them a patch they sent me a different type of art work. For example I sent two patches to an artist in Atlanta, and she sent me a metal pendant that she had hand stamped in return. While Goodman enjoys these swaps, she also enjoys just giving out her artwork to people without getting anything in return.

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“I always love trading art.

I’ve done probably nine swaps or giveaways through my Instagram, but I also like to bring extra patches with me so that I can give them out to people who I think might appreciate them.” Goodman said.

Goodman has also experimented with selling her patches on Etsy, as she often has some leftover patches that she makes, but doesn’t have anyone to give them to.

“I do have an Etsy page, Katherinewig, where I have a couple of different patches for sale, most for under a dollar…

I started my Etsy page mainly just to see how it would work and to do something with the extra patches that I didn’t have anyone to send to,” Goodman said.

Goodman uses her profits as a way to help immigrants and refugees at the southern border by donating the money she makes on Etsy.

“Since I’m fortunate enough to not need to support myself with my art, all profits are donated to RAICES an immigration [organization] which provides legal counsel and help for immigrants on the border,” Goodman said.

Currently, Goodman experiments with digital art: “I have recently been experimenting with doing a bit of digital art, like drawing on the computer, which I like because when I draw by hand I normally don’t use color because I’m not very good with colored pencils and I don’t have a ton of markers or anything, but on the computer, I like the way that you can like blend colors and stuff, which really works out well for me, she said.

Those interested in Goodman’s work can follow her on Instagram @katherinewigs_ castle or purchase her work on her Etsy shop, Katherinewig.

MUSIC REVIEW

Labrinth hits a high note with Euphoria Soundtrack MEAGAN MASSIE THE RUBICON

Euphoria, which aired on HBO this summer, is sensational and startling, and its soundtrack by Labrinth matches the show’s themes perfectly.

Released on Oct. 4, the Euphoria score has created a huge impact on viewers’ perceptions of the show. Listening to it allows viewers to interact with the show in a striking way that heightens the senses. The score has a wide variety of techno, orchestral, vocal, and synthesizing tones that integrate key themes of seriousness and melodrama. Labrinth, a singer, songwriter, and record producer, worked with Sam Levinson as the performer on all the songs and laid down the tracks for both the instrumental and vocal parts.

According to Variety Entertainment, he wanted to collaborate in the production of Euphoria because the show reminded him of his own childhood in London. When working on the project, Labrinth combines multiple genres such as classical and hip-hop to get the effect of the soundtrack.

Labrinth also touched on the fact that the show talks about a lot of teen issues that no one wants to discuss and that he wanted his music to involve those people. The most important aspect, according to Labrinth, is the fact that he was able to converge different eras and worlds into the same album.

The controversial teen drama, “Euphoria,” is a whirlwind of emotions, tracking the life of Rue, a 17 year old drug addict who is fresh out of rehab.

In the pilot episode, one of the first songs from Labrinth’s soundtrack is “Formula,” which highlights the dramatic beginning of a dramatic show.

It plays as Rue introduces her drug addiction to the audience.

It has a major impact on the perception of her character and without the expressive music behind the scene, the viewer may not be as emotional or empathetic.

As soon as Rue is on her way home, the song, “Home from Rehab” plays in the background, showing what kind of person Rue is now. It allows the viewer to become more deeply involved with the plot because it evokes emotion and suspense of how one should approach Rue’s character. “Home from Rehab” is a 43 second instrumental piece with blends of piano, techno synthesized strings,

and a heavy beat that feels nostalgic, but overall feels slightly off because Rue is being welcomed home. The ambiguous and intense tone of these songs show the complicated reality of Rue’s life, successfully introducing her as a character.

The soundtrack illustrates the tensions within the social constructs that surround Rue and her friends. The show tackles the stigma surrounding rehab, mental health, sexuality, and body consciousness. In the pilot episode, the viewer is immersed into the hardships of addiction and how it can greatly affect everyone. Rue’s best friend in the show, Jules, is a transgender girl who faces her own challenges with bullying and finding her identity.

During an important moment in the show when Jules decides to continue exploring her iden-

Fair use image from hbo.com tity, the song “Planning Date” plays, which contrasts the serious and adult scene with innocent, child like tones.

The score is available on Spotify and YouTube and the show is on HBO, and you can purchase episodes on streaming services

4/5 STARS

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SPORTS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

Runners achieves milestones in state meet

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Per Johnson KEEP UP THE PACE. 8th grader Violet Benson and 9th grader Becca Richman make their way down the trail at the state meet.

Cross Country Girls qualify as a team; Moran runs a personal best LYNN REYNOLDS ANNIKA ROCK RUBICONLINE

Countering the low temperatures with high energy, the cross country team raced at the state meet with supporters lining the stands.

The team and supporters bussed to St. Olaf College Nov. 2 to run in the MSHSL State Meet. Sixteen teams raced, and among them were some of the best cross country runners in the state.

This year, the girls team qualified for state and junior Michael Moran qualified in the mens race.

9th grader Becca Richman said, “It was a very good strategy race and we all went out a little fast but with the adrenaline and just being at state, going in it a little fast was expected. But we were really ready to keep our focus and really just raced as a team with the support of each other. Knowing that, we all could do it no matter what felt really good,” she said.

“

I FELT IN CONTROL AND I FELT LIKE ‘THIS IS MY RACE.’

”

Michael Moran

Supporters from the boys and JV teams and family members attended the event in the freezing cold.

Junior Isabel Toghramadjian said, “I thought our team raced fantastically and every single person at this race is at

Junior Michael Moran catches his breath after the race. a very high level, so there is a lot of competition, but just looking at the times, these

were some of the best times of the entire season and our girls raced really well together.”

Junior Levi Mellin, a member of the boys team, was there to cheer on his teammates at the meet. “Today, at the state meet, they did their best and gave it their all. The conditions were tough but [they] persevered and the fact the girls even made it here, to state, is just a win in itself. The girls team is in the top 16 of the state,” he said.

The boys team cheered for individual qualifier Michael Moran. He placed 32nd out of 175 runners. His time was 16:44.

Moran felt good on the track and about placing so high in the meet.

“I wasn’t really nervous at all. I was just ready to have a good race and I did. I raced how I wanted to and I felt in control and I felt like ‘this is my race’,” he said.

Cross Country head coach Kellan Minter said, “Both Michael and the whole girls cross country team finished out the season with great races at state.

[There were] a lot of personal bests; Michael with a personal best on an already really fast time. I think half of the girls team had their personal bests today after already running their best last week at sections.

It’s a great way to finish the season.”

Despite the cold temperatures and the nerves, the cross country team raced well.

“It’s been a huge season for me and it’s been a huge season for the cross country team as a whole and this [race] feels like the perfect capstone moment of it all,” Moran said.

New coaches mark next chapter in Spartan basketball New head coaches take lead boys and girls varsity basketball as they look to recharge for the upcoming season.

Both Keto and McElligott bring high expectations.

“I think we’ll all have to learn about each other early on, but I hope to be a dangerous team by mid-season,” Keto said.

KETO BRING HISTORY OF STATE TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

McELLIGOTT KNOWS SPARTAN BASKETBALL FROM MS COACHING

The new boys’ coach is Kevin Keto, a former college basketball player at Augsburg University. Keto previously coached at Forest Lake High School for 13 seasons as an assistant, helping them reach the class 6A state tournament twice, an impressive feat for the state’s highest level of basketball.

Keto was the recipient of the 2017 assistant coach of the year award.

The girls varsity team has hired MS math teacher Na-

For McElligott the most valuable thing her players can do is have fun and bond together. This connection between players will help win games, which according to her is the most fun thing a team can do.

“I want us to have fun—and guess what? Winning is fun, so we will be striving to do a lot of that as well,” McElligott said.

For Keto the coaching vacancy was a perfect fit for his values and coaching style. “I

CHARLIE JOHNSON THE RUBICON

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Kevin Keto Kevin Keto is the head coach of boys varsity basketball. talie McElligott. McElligott has played basketball for as long as she can remember; she coached middle school basketball for three years before taking a break. She is back and excited to coach some of the players she previously coached as middle schoolers.

Natalie McElligott is the head coach of girls varsity basketball. feel honored and blessed to be joining such a great community... I’m excited to work with the intelligent, driven, well-rounded student-athletes,” Keto said.

McElligott sees her new title as an opportunity to encourage tomorrow’s Spartans to be-

come successful on and off the court. “My hope is that younger Spartans will see the new momentum in the program and want to play more basketball and that other teams in our conference see us as a team to beat.”

Some boys varsity players had the chance to interview a number of different candidates for the job. There was a 100% agreement between players that they wanted their new coach to be coach Keto.

Sophomore Brandt Baskerville was adamant that Keto was the right fit for the team.

“He has a good intensity to him. He was also a high level player which made me excited because I know that he will bring great energy to whatever we do as a team,” Baskerville said.

Seasons start for the boys on Dec. 3, the girls on Nov. 21.

SPORTS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

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PROTESTING AND CHANGING CULTURAL INSENSITIVY IN SPORTS

1968

NCAI launches a campaign to adress stereotypes in pop culture, media and sports.

Protesters brought brightly colored signs and listened to speakers discuss the Washington mascot.

1972

Representatives from NCAI and other groups reach out to team owners to try to change franchise names.

“We are not your costume,” one protest sign reads.

2005

NCAA puts in extensive policy to take away harmful “Indian” mascots from college sports teams.

Information courtesy of: National Congress of American Indians

THE RUBICON PHOTOS: Evelyn Lillemoe NOT YOUR MASCOT. Protesters gather in front of the U.S. bank stadium prior to the Minnesota vs. Washington football game.

Protesters leave a lone protest sign behind.

Racist team names confronted at Vikings game JULIA BARON THE RUBICON

As floods of purple and gold streamed into U.S Bank Stadium on Oct. 25, a smaller congregation of protesters gathered outside. Assembling in Commons Park, which sits adjacent to U.S Bank Stadium, Native Americans and allies gathered to stand in opposition to the use of a racial slur as the Washington team’s mascot. Protesters listened to speakers such as Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, Minneapolis Mayor Jabor Frey, and member of The White Earth Band of Ojibwe, David Glass. The speakers cov-

ered an array of issues, relating this mascot as a manifestation of the racist treatment of Native Americans that has continued for hundreds of years.

Speakers called attention to the recent epidemic of Native American women going missing. Speakers looked to the future generation and commented on how they wished that their children would not have to face the same battles against racism that they do.

Sophomore Ruth Mellin has heard about the protests, and belives that the team must change the mascot.

“I think they should change [the mascot]. I think it’s offensive and disrespectful.” Mellin said.

“

I DON’T THINK [THE WASHINGTON TEAM IS] TRYING TO BE OFFENSIVE, BUT IT DOES HAVE THAT EFFECT. Alek Radsan

”

The Vikings acknowledged the event, and released an official statement on the issue, saying that they recognized the concerns and wished to respect

the large population of Native Americans who live in Minnesota. Although they addressed the concerns, they also noted that they would still treat the Washington team in the same way they would treat any team, as they are an official NFL team.

“In terms of in-game elements, we are obligated as a member of the NFL to operate and market the game as we would any other Vikings home game,” the statement read.

Junior Alek Radsan believes that this name isn’t intended to cause harm, but also acknowledges how it has had that effect.

“I don't think it's coming from a bad place that they have that name, it just has a

bad connotation that’s certainly offensive... I don't think they're trying to be offensive, but it does have that effect, but I don’t think it’s an active effort on their part,” Radsan said.

While Radsan understands the offensive implication, he think the decision to change the name is ultimately up to the team.

“I don't see the cause for the protest, but I think that the team management should definitely consider changing the name,” Radsan said.

The Washington team has no plans in place to change their name or mascot.

Athletes challenge themselves, try different sports and join new teams JENNY RIES

THE RUBICON

Joining a new sport can be challenging, particularly for upperclassmen, because of the need to catch up to teammates.

Even so, students join new sports each year, building new connections, and at times finding strengths they never knew they had.

Sophomore Davyd Barchuk is joining the Alpine Ski team this year.

“We've just had a captain's practice where we just did some warm ups and drills. We can’t do alpine skiing until there's snow,” he said.

Barchuk has been skiing for many years, which led him to SPA’s team.

“I've always loved skiing, I've been skiing for about six years… it just seemed like a

good activity. I hadn't had any winter sports to do otherwise…

I had some friends that are doing it as well.”

EXPERIENCE “MY [ON THE SWIM TEAM] WAS REALLY GREAT. I GOT TO MEET NEW PEOPLE. Milkii Tigro

”

Not only was this 9th grader Milkii Tigro’s first year on the SPARKS swim team, but it was also the first time she had ever been on a sports team.

“My experience was really great. I got to meet new people,” Tigro said.

Senior Eric Bottern joined

track last year as a junior, and is joining basketball this year.

For track, Bottern said “I had a couple friends on the team and I wasn't really doing much in the spring, and they convinced me that it would be a good idea to go out and participate in some athletic activities.”

Bottern will even be track captain this year.

“Mr. Minter, the head coach, approached me about [running for captain]. And he really wanted me to do that. Because he said that I brought some good things to the program. So I just felt like it would be a fun thing to do,” Bottern said.

On the alpine ski team, Barchuk said he has felt welcomed onto the team by team veterans. “[My teammates are] all great. I know a few of them…

and they all seem like great people, they're really friendly and inviting.”

Tigro said her teammates on the swim team are “very welcoming... positive and supportive.”

There are also physical challenges that come with being new to a sport.

“The hardest part was trying to… swim as well as the others, which was a challenge because it's brand new to me,” Tigro said.

However, Tigro has grown over the course of the season.

“I think it ended up going really well, because I've improved a lot,” Tigro said.

She plans to swim again next year, and maybe try something new.

“I do want to try other sports to see how that goes,” she said.

THE RUBICON PHOTO: Salah Abdulkarim CROSSOVER. Senior Eric Bottern crosses over a basketball behind his back. Bottern is a veteran at track - he will be a captain this year - but will be a rookie on the basketball team.

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SPORTS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2019

THE RUBICON PHOTOS: Sharee Roman FIGHT FOR THE WIN. SMB Wolfpack defense stop the Mound-Westonka White Hawks in their bid for a first and ten on Oct. 26 at their home field at The Blake School -- Hopkins campus. “It was... snowing. It was the type of game that reflected the weather. It was physical, hard-fought football.”

Wolfpack tackles state tournament No fumbles in section playoffs pushes the undefeated football team forward SHAREE ROMAN THE RUBICON

With an undefeated regular season record of 8-0-0, the SMB Wolfpack entered section playoffs strong.

Now, Wolfpack is looking toward US Bank Stadium and an opportunity to defend their state championship title.

Captain Tommy Stolpestad plans to make that success carry through the tournament: “We need to make sure we stay locked during practices and make sure everyone is having a positive experience on

SMB Wolfpack players take a few moments to unwind, sit down and discuss the first half of the game during halftime in the locker room.

the team and building a brotherhood,” Stolpestad said.

The team thrives off bonding and traditions.

“A fun tradition we have is that most of our team goes to Potbelly every game day,” sophomore Judah Thomas said.

The team has faced some obstacles throughout the season, the weather being a major one as the season pushes into late fall. They have used these challenges as a way to get better rather than a reason to stop trying.

“For me, when it’s snowing or raining, it brings me back to the days when I was younger playing football. You always remember those games where the weather was crazy when you are little, and I think they are even more fun in high school,” Stolpestad said.

He added that “All season, our team has rallied around adversity and I think we are better because of it. These

Junior Gabe Ramirez and sophomore Charlie Johnson chat on the sideline during the Nov. 1 game against Benilde St. Margaret’s Knights.

“

IT’S ALWAYS A BLAST TO GO AND BATTLE WITH THE WOLVES.

”

Gabe Ramirez

games we have had in adverse weather have tested us and made the games much more memorable because of it.”

Junior Gabe Ramirez agrees, and is grateful for the football season and team.

“Football contributes a home away from home to my life and it’s always a blast to go and battle with the wolves,” he said.

At press time, the team was prepping for the Nov. 9 game against Chisago Lakes at Centennial High School.

Captain Tommy Stolpestad

SMB Wolfpack players rest on the bench during one of the toughest match ups of the season against the Mound-Westonka White Hawks.

Tommy Stolpestad is a captain for the SMB Wolfpack and a The Rubicon Sports Editor. The story was produced by Photo Story Editor Eloise Duncan