Aureus Vol. 2 Issue 2 (light)

AUREUS The

LIGHT AND DARK Issue Spring 2018

THE LIGHT & DARK ISSUE

CONTENTS

Night Owl..................................................................................................................................................................4 Star Stuff......................................................................................................................................................................6 Shedding Light on Life.........................................................................................................................................8 The Struggle Between Light and Dark...................................................................................................10 Candles Light the Dark....................................................................................................................................12 Moon Signs.............................................................................................................................................................14 Deep Dark Secrets.............................................................................................................................................16 Paranormal Activity.............................................................................................................................................18 Campfire Stories..................................................................................................................................................20 Our City: Day and Night..................................................................................................................................22 Early Bird..................................................................................................................................................................24 What Brightens Your Day................................................................................................................................26 Plugging in for the Night..................................................................................................................................28 Sugar Showdown.................................................................................................................................................30 The Things We Can Learn From Sunflowers.......................................................................................32 Staff List.....................................................................................................................................................................34

Letter From the Editor: This issue is my last before I venture off to forge new opportunities and pursue higher education. In a time so saturated with futuristic pursuits, it is important to take a moment to reflect.

This year has been fraught with highs and lows - lights and darks. I couldn’t be prouder of the success this publication has achieved; from the initial story brainstorming to late night paste ups, the staff of Aureus has approached the issues with vigor and excitement. Such enthusiasm is cause for the great success in viewership and the continued growth of the publication.

The theme - light and dark - is indicative of life’s eternal balance. We broke the magazine into light and dark halfs to illustrate their differences, but also to show where they interesect. While this issue is a point of immense pride for me, it also marks the end of my time in the journalism program at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. I extend my sincere thanks to Ms. Campbell for her guidance and mentorship, to the Aureus staff for their hard work and creativity, and to everyone who reads a copy of this magazine.

Signing off, Webster Harrison Lehmann Aureus Editor In Chief

Vol. 2 No. 2

NIGHT OWL

Are there perks to being a night owl?

Studies would say yes. It has been shown that night owls, or those who prefer to stay up late at night, are more creative and have better reasoning skills. If that’s not enough to convince you to ditch your early bedtime, studies have also shown that those who stay up late have significantly higher mental endurance than their early bird counterparts. Night owls had longer attention spans and quicker response times-two skills that are ideal for students.

Junior Izzy Dieperink, who routinely stays up until 12 or 1 a.m., believes that the benefits of prolonging hours awake are in fact true.

“I find that I become most creative at around 11:30, so if I need ideas for a project, I’ll often try to brainstorm then. At night I find a certain focus that I don’t find during the day,” she said.

Dieperink is not alone in her late night lifestyle.

Whether its due to a Netflix binge or an overload of homework (or procrastination for that matter), many high school students find themselves awake past midnight. But the next time a parent tells you to “Turn those lights off!” blame your late night energy on biology.

Over 90% of young adults have a late chronotype. In other words, teenagers are scientifically predisposed to stay up late. Biological sleep patterns shift between childhood and adolescence, making natural sleeping

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Written by Isabel Gisser Designed by Quinn Christensen

and waking times later. However, with school starting at 8 a.m., night owls are often deprived of the recommended 9 hours of sleep. This can create some hard feelings towards mornings.

“I dislike mornings,” said Dieperink.

“It takes me a while to ‘warm-up’ to the day. I only like mornings when I have something really exciting that day.”

A dislike for rising early doesn’t necessarily include a dislike for early risers.

“I don’t mind morning people, I think they help make my mornings better because they are usually more optimistic,” said Dieperink.

While it can be a drag to wake up early following a late night, the benefits of staying up could be worthwhile and there are always ways to wake yourself up, as Dieperink knows well. “I often find myself with a triple americano from Dunn Brothers in my first class.”

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STAR STUFF Vol. 2 No. 2

It’s poetic, magical, and scientifically correct. The idea of humans being made of stardust has inspired poems, quotes, research, and a popular line from the Joni Mitchell song, “Woodstock.” It is somewhat fantastical to imagine the little lights seen light years away in the sky are somewhere within our human bodies as well.

Written by Isabel Saavedra-Weis Designed by Iya Abdulkarim Submitted photos: hannah scott

Stars, among others things in the sky, have always been present in the life of US Physics teacher Steve Heilig: “When I was in lower school, the things I was curious about always seemed to move in the directions of a combination of physics and astronomy,” he said.

As a student and a Boy Scout, he learned firsthand what the stars had to offer humans— such as ways to tell the time—and how to use a telescope.

“That’s where I learned my good star jokes, too,” Heilig said. “I’ve always thought stars were fascinating and humorous at the same time.”

It can be easy to think that because stars are not easily within our reach, they aren’t more than a pretty view to gaze at. However, stars are surprisingly present in everyday life on Earth, even in ways that aren’t direct.

“The sun is a star, and without the sun, we are out of luck. The sun makes it possible to have complex life. Without stars, we don’t get that. The elements we’re made of wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have stars going through their life cycles,” Heilig said.

When a star reaches the end of its life, it releases gasses that are important to maintain life on Earth. When a star goes supernova, the elements that is blasts off into space are 6 - Aureus

the common heavy elements on earth. And while only one supernova was necessary to make Earth and its inhabitants, the continuing supernovas are still relevant to the makeup of the universe.

“If a star goes supernova, then those elements get blasted out into the rest of the neighborhood, and they are available for other people. When a star like ours gets towards the end of its life, it doesn’t go supernova, but it does go through this stage of becoming a red giant,” Heilig said.

That red giant, also known as a planetary nebula, is a cloud formed around a star as it dies and releases elements like hydrogen. And although humans have never experienced this part of a star’s life up close, the hydrogen that is created by stars is just as relevant.

“Some of the hydrogen we’re made of has probably never been a part of a star; it was just part of interstellar space. But, probably a good fraction of it did come from other stars. So most of the atoms we are made of have been part of a star at some point,” Heilig said.

For senior Hannah Scott, looking up at the stars is a personal and almost spiritual experience.

“This might be a little cliché, but looking at the stars is always grounding. Many people find

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the idea of the universe being so large to be overwhelming, but when I look at the stars, it puts the stressors in my life into perspective.

I am reminded of how small I really am in the grand scale of things and that the tasks that can appear to be critical at the time are in reality pretty insignificant,” she said.

Scott is also an avid hiker, and the stars bring her back to some of her favorite moments on backpacking trips.

“I was backpacking in Utah with a group of 10 other girls.There are very few cities in Utah; the stars are so bright because there is much less light pollution. The night before one of the girls’ birthdays, we stayed up having a mini dance party which involved ridiculous dancing and even more ridiculous singing. Exhausted, we collapsed into our sleeping bags which we laid in a circle and talked for the rest of the night under the brightest, most abundant ceiling of stars I have ever seen in my life - including in pictures & movies. It felt otherworldly. I had no idea stars could ever be like that,” Scott said.

Stars can feel very far away from us, yet become a part of our lives in a multitude of different ways. They become parts of stories that people tell, or literally parts of the Earth and the people on it in elemental form.

“You are right about saying that we are stars.

The Big Bang left us with a lot of hydrogen and a fair amount of helium, and almost nothing else. And you look at the Earth, and it’s almost all the else,” Heilig said. The “else” has enough mysteries on its own, humans are still making revelations about Earth they live on. Maybe the questions and the answers are in the stars.

CEILING OF STARS. “We laid in a circle and talked for the rest of the night under the brightest, most abundant ceiling of stars I have ever seen in my life,” senior Hannah Scott said.

Star Vocabulary Galaxy - a system of stars held together by gravitational force. There are many galaxies, and the Earth is in the Milky Way. Supernova - when a star explodes and causes its mass to go into the universe. When this happens, the star gets very bright.

Planetary nebula - shell gas that forms around an old star Solar System - eight planets and a moon orbiting around their sun, along with comets, asteroids and meteoroids.

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SHEDDING LIGHT ON WHAT MAKES US TICK 8 - Aureus

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ight. Day. Night. Day. Over and over, every person follows the same simple routine: fall asleep when it is dark, wake up when the sun’s light sneaks through blinds and dances on their eyelids.

The pattern is ingrained into our lives. However, from the brain to the pupil, a complex series of biological functions explains why it is so hard to keep your eyes open when a teacher turns the lights off for a presentation or the day is cloudy and gray.

Scientists do not know the definitive reasons why humans need sleep. The human brain and body both need rest to regenerate and process the activity of life. Although the question has not been fully answered, sleep has been heavily analyzed and researched. It isn’t known why we sleep, but it is simply known how we fall asleep: light, temperature, even food affects how easily a person can reach out and grasp sleep.

Light affects sleep by encouraging the body to stay awake. When light is visible to the human eye, it prevents the level of melatonin—a sleep inducing hormone—from rising. The pattern of sleep is dictated by the body’s circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm comes from the latin roots circa, meaning around, and dies, meaning day. And that’s exactly what it is; the body’s internal clock resetting every 24-hours.

When people talk about always feeling tired after lunch, it is related to their circadian rhythm. After eating, the body produces an increased amount of insulin which can trigger happy or sleep hormones.

According to Robbie Clark, a dietitian and sport nutritionist, “After eating—particularly sugary foods—insulin is produced by the pancreas which then converts these sugars (glucose), circulating in the bloodstream into glycogen within our cells,” Clark said. “Excessive secretion of insulin causes the essential amino acid tryptophan to move into the brain. Once in the brain, it leads to increased production of serotonin and melatonin, which are two neurotransmitters that have a calming effect and help regulate sleep.”

The aforementioned factors affecting the circadian rhythm can be manipulated and controlled. When trying to stay awake, whether pulling an all nighter before exams or recovering from jet lag, looking outside at the sky will send the body and brain a small jolt. Even keeping the lights on inside will help a person fight the urge to close their eyes and succumb to sleep.

Since light affects levels of serotonin, a chemical that plays a large part in regulating mood and emotion, a lack of exposure to light can also leave a negative impact on mood and energy. Anyone who has been a victim of the Minnesota winters can easily describe the feeling of living in the doldrums. It is not just the cold. A lack of regular exposure to natural sunlight can result in a decrease in energy and mood. Seasonal Affective Disorder, with the very apt abbreviation SAD, describes the drained, worn out feeling people get when the cold weather forces them indoors.

Whether it be staying awake during class, trying to fall asleep, or trying to lift yourself out of Minnesota’s drowning weather, light Written by Jack Benson plays a significant role in our daily lives.

Designed by Sharee Roman

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he struggle between light and dark is eternal. Whether the struggle occurs in real life, a movie, or a book, the decision a person makes to associate with the “light” or “dark” side of society is a pillar in any successful narrative. In famed series’ such as Harry Potter, and Star Wars, this assumption holds true.

Each story’s claim to fame is the narrative forged between multiple books or episodes that centers around the decision to join either side of society, for better or for worse. It’s a common quality that engages readers and defines the good from the evil in each story. However, it is the differences in the way that each of the main characters go about deciding which side of the spectrum they desire that makes each plotline unique. The struggle, as seen in each of these narratives, is eternal.

Throughout the seven Harry Potter books, Harry has a unique relation to the dark side, evidenced by his fateful encounters with Lord Voldemort and the house of Slytherin. Even though Harry is, at heart, a noble hero, he is internally conflicted throughout the story about which side he truly belongs to. His parents of the house of Gryffindor, good hearted people, and the house is generally associated with light at Hogwarts. Harry is also positively influenced by his best friends and fellow-Gryffindors Ron Granger for nearly a decade, but do those light aspects mean Harry is light-filled throughspeaks fluent parseltongue, the snake-born language of Slytherin and through as “The Chosen One” because of his encounter with he-who-shall-not-belightning bolt shaped scar on Harry’s forehead. Talk about conflicted. world placed on his shoulders: Society expects him to choose and his inclination to choose good to solve every challenge. dark side? Harry will always have Slytherin DNA in darkness will never truly leave him.

In the Star Wars series, protagonist pushes the dark-means-evil Luke belongs to the as a member of the box

THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN

LIGHT & DARK Written by Andrew Johnson Designed by Noah Raaum 10 - Aureus

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and brave were members throughout its history Weasley and Hermione and-through? After all, Harry Lord Voldemort, is famously known named when he was a child that resulted in a Throughout the story, Harry has the weight of the the light side, a pressure heavily inferred by his actions But what if Harry was always meant to join Voldemort on the him, which proves that even though he often chooses the side of light, Luke Skywalker is famously conflicted between good and evil. Director George Lucas comparison further by actually giving the comparison a name (the Dark Side). Although Jedi Order, he is close to giving up and moving to the Dark Side by joining his father Darth Vader the Galactic Empire. While the universe of Star Wars is far more complex and holds more longevity in office and on the bookshelf than Harry Potter’s, the eternalness of Luke’s struggle between dark and light is similar to Harry’s. Numerous characters in the series pressure Luke to join each side of the moral spectrum, and although Luke officially refrains from joining the Dark Side, he shares blood with Vader, who is a key cog of the Dark Side and all of its evilness. Later in the series, Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo, is faced with the same problem. After a falling out with Luke Skywalker, he joins the Dark Side and fights for Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the Dark Side. However, he later kills Snoke and seems to be moments away from joining fellow Jedi Rey on the good side, until he decides against joining and remains conflicted on his moral mentality. Even after killing Snoke, Ren is remains seriously conflicted on the decision to join the light or dark side, further supporting the point that the struggle is eternal. It can be inferred that having the ability to use “the force” is a physical representation of this struggle and that his inability to harness and use his powers contributes to his indecisiveness regarding his moral compass.

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Vol. 2 No. 2

Finding the lig Candles are somewhat outdated and there are probably many forms of light that are more practical or cost less. However, a candle can serve as more just than a poorly executed light source. Students, including juniors Jennifer Verhey and Ahmed Umer and sophomores Richard Chang and Lily Ramalingam think candles can be useful in certain situations.

“Candles are spiritual and they smell really good. I always turn a candle on when I’m listening to records or want some good vibes,” Ramalingam said.

9th grader Bobby Verhey doesn’t personally use them because of safety concerns.

“I don’t use candles because I have a bad memory; I feel like I will forget to blow it out.

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I think it would make my house smell good, but I usually give them to people as gifts,” Bobby Verhey said.

Those who are hesitant to use real candles because of the safety concerns can opt for an electric candle that still delivers a soft light.

Some people use candles on rare occasions.

“They’re objects made out of wax used in celebrations like birthdays. I only use them for birthdays or if the power goes out,” Chang said.

Similarly, junior Ahmed Umer said “They light on fire and I don’t use them. I guess they could be used for decoration, but overall they’re useless.”

The use of a candle isn’t always a technical one. It can simply be an ambiance or mood booster.

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ght : Candles “I have no opinion on candles; I don’t use them. I think they are particularly ineffective as a light source,” junior Jeffrey Huang said.

Regardless of whether or not students use physical candles, most students have some sort of metaphorical candle that helps them light their way through their darkness. These can range from people of importance to things they love to do and, despite their form, they are central to people’s lives.

“My friends, my dogs, Tristan, my family, and dance are my ‘candles’ because they are positive things in my life,” Jennifer Verhey said.

“A flashlight is my ‘candle’ because I use it to light everything in front of me,” Chang said.

“There are no ‘candles’ in my life because I

Written by Tristan Hitchens-Brookins Designed by Iya Abdulkarim

don’t believe there is any darkness in my life,” Huang said. ”My ‘candle’ is my record player because it always lightens my mood and creates a really vintage aura that I enjoy,” Ramalingam said.

“Sleep is my ‘candle’ because it helps me relax and calm down,” Umer said.

Whether someone seldom has no use for a candle in their life like Huang, or occasionally uses them like the others, having a candle doesn’t just mean having a light source.

Everyone, whether it’s a student or an adult, can have dark days and a little light can make a huge difference.

In a metaphorical sense, it’s important that we all have a “candle” in our life.

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Vol. 2 No. 2 Written by Nitya Thakkar Designed by Mimi Geller

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Horoscopes, tarot cards and fortune tellers are all well known forms of predicting someone’s future, but moon signs can also predict innate emotional states. While there is no scientific proof supporting the use of astrology to predict one’s future, there have also never been studies disproving this practice.

For US Science teacher Steve Heilig, moon signs may be fun to read but don’t hold up scientifically.

“There are a lot of questions regarding the accuracy of planetary signs. If someone is born prematurely, which sign do they get? The one they were born into or the one they should have gotten?

Someone could say moon signs are dictated by fate or by a higher power. For me, I don’t really believe in moon signs because there is no law of physics I can point to,” Heilig said.

With the lack of in depth brain studies currently available, Heilig believes that moon signs and horoscopes are based on randomness and chance rather than true patterns.

“There are some people that are really good at finding patterns. You could give them a random set of numbers and they will find someplace in a random string of numbers where there is some pattern and say it is not random, even though it is. We see patterns in randomness.

Unusual things might happen in your life and you remember them because they are unusual. If you get a good lottery ticket after you ate spaghetti the night before and that happens a second

time, y o u say that is a pattern even if you have also gotten good outcomes after eating different meals.

We have a tendency to take coincidences and say ‘Oh, that is a pattern and therefore something is causing it.’

THE LIGHT & DARK ISSUE We want to see patterns.

We tend to find patterns, and they are patterns, but they are just coincidental patterns—not patterns caused by anything,” Heilig said.

He recounted the story of a professor that told his students he would g i v e them each a

unique horos c o p e tailored to their specific birth date and time, when in reality he gave them each the same horoscope. Each student felt the personality traits and talents described them very accurately, even though the lists were general enough so that almost

every student agreed with what was written.

This physiological phenomenon is called the Barnum effect, and is often used by people who claim to be able to see the future to attract customers and make them seem like they are getting a unique reading when they are really getting the same general response.

Despite Heilig’s doubt in the validity of moon signs, he still enjoys reading his horoscopes.

“I definitely read my horoscope once in awhile for fun, like on my birthday to see how my year will be. But until there is a little bit of scientific underpinning, I have a tendency not to worry about what they say too much,” Heilig said.

Interested in reading about the traits associated with your moon sign but unsure what it is? Because the moon travels quickly around the zodiac, going through each sign within a month, the exact time and location of your birth are important factors in figuring out your sign.

Scan this code to calculate your moon sign:

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Vol. 2 No. 2

Do you have any secrets?

Deep.

Dark.

Secrets.

“Not that I know of; I don’t have any because I don’t like thinking about anything.”

- Zach White

S

ecrets are a part of everyone’s lives at one point or another, and the students of the SPA community are no different.

Regardless of whether they have secrets or not, their personalities are shaped by it.

“No, because I’m not that interesting of a person.”

“Yes, because there are some things that I don’t want to share with people.

I don’t know if they’re dark, but they are deep.”

- Kieran Singh

Written by Tristan Hitchens-Brookins Designed by Noah Raaum

“I don’t think I have any because I am a relatively open person. Any deep secrets I may have, my friends already know; and I wouldn’t classify them as deep dark secrets.”

- Audrey Egly

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- Muriel Lang

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hese students do not have the need for big secrets because of how open they claim to be. While they might not have secrets, they still have certain feelings about people who do...

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Is it dangerous to keep secrets?

“Yes, because not sharing and trusting people can be detrimental to a person’s mental health.”

- Quinn Appert

“Yes, because then they would eventually devour them from the inside.”

- Muriel Lang

“Having too many deep dark secrets can be potentially harmful to anyone.”

- Audrey Egly

“It depends, because if it’s not on a need-to-know basis, then it’s not a problem; like if someone was going to blow up the moon, I wouldn’t keep it a secret.”

- Zach White

“It’s a good thing because it adds mystery to peoples lives.”

- Kieran Singh

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he students generally believe that deep dark secrets have negative effects on people’s mental health, so share your next deep dark secret with close friends or family.

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Faculty and students

chilled breeze washes the air.

The lights flicker. A thump from the basement echoes throughout the house. The phone rings, but no is on the other end of the call. Shrieks reverberate through hollow walls.

Thunder cracks from the unusually orange tinted sky. And, to make matters even creepier, the dog barks at what seems to be nothing, a tell tale sign that a presence, ghostly, spiritually or physically, inhabits some space within the house. This is not the beginning monologue of a horror movie, these anecdotes are fabled reality for students and faculty at St. Paul Academy and Summit School.

For junior Ben Putaski, the appearance of celestial occurrences happened when he visited his family friends at their house. This wasn’t just any house, this was the Chauncey Griggs Mansion, which upholds a notorious title of being one of the most haunted houses in St. Paul, according to the Pioneer Press. With 24 rooms, this Summit home was originally built in the early 1880s for St. Paul merchant, Chauncey Griggs.

After being repurposed as an art

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gallery, it was then sold to private owners. This mansion is large, Victorian, and filled with dark woodwork and paintings.

“We went to go visit this family on Halloween one year, and it was one of the creepiest places I’ve ever been in. For instance, there were these Victorian paintings that kind of seemed to move around from when we went in to when we left.

It’s infamous for there being a bunch separate ghosts that are all different people describing the same thing. I didn’t like it,” Putaski said.

A 15 year study reported that magnetic fields were stronger in places described as haunted.

Yet the instances of the inexplicable do not always call for an unusual location. Junior Kenzie Giese recalls a time when she was simply speaking about paranormal activity: “Recently someone was talking about ghosts, but I didn’t have any ghost stories to share. At the

same time as I was talking with this person, I was just scrolling through VSCO and all of a sudden a creepy picture of a ghost pops up in my feed,” Giese said.

The notion of the existence of ghosts or unwieldy spirits has persisted through generations. In fact, according to Scientific American, 32 percent of Americans think ghosts are real. Yet these devout beliefs may also have complicated, but nevertheless scientific, explanations.

Richard Wiseman, a professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, has written a wide array of books about the psychology behind paranormal activity.

In an extensive 15 year research project, Wiseman found that in places that were described as “haunted,” magnetic fields were stronger. Stronger fields can affect the brain in the form of electrical stimulation, which could trick humans into thinking that someone follows behind them.

Another felon for eerie sensations as believed by Wiseman: infra-sound.

These low frequency sound waves travel without being suscepti

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explain the unexplainable ble to the human ear. These waves can provoke oddities in humans, like nervousness and hyperventilation.

Furthermore, some believe that low frequency sound waves may cause visual illusions as the waves may vibrate at the same rate as human eyeballs.

Additionally, Wiseman affirms that much of humans’ spooked feelings originate from suggestibility.

Expectations, coupled with nuanced differences in location, could influence how people feel in relation to their anxiousness.

US Science teacher Sarah Muncy affirms that a shift in her location prompted unheard of results. When at her friend’s farm in Rockford, Minnesota, a mysterious disappearance of her keys left her astonished.

Muncy recounts that when visiting her high school friend, who has always claimed the haunted nature of her house, strange episodes would take place. A common theme at the house: missing items can randomly reappear.

“I would kind of brush it off, because I’m a scientist and these things can be explained. Then, I lost

these classic tales.

“My mom had an aunt, maybe three who lived together, it was super weird. One night one of them passed away, and they had no clue that was going to happen, she kind of just died peacefully away at night, and my mom was sleeping at the my keys. I hadn’t gone anywhere, time. But, she remembers waking up there was physically no reasonable place for my keys to be. We tore ev- that night, very suddenly, and hearing erything apart to try and find it and very clearly her aunt saying ‘Goodbye, Betty.’ It was so loud and so we couldn’t. Flash forward and I’m clear that she actually woke up and teaching my sixth grade math class, then didn’t see anything. She went and I go back to my desk to take attendance, and sitting in the middle back to sleep and found out the next day that her aunt had passed of my desk are my keys. It had the away, and that’s the story,” Asis said. key chain, and it wasn’t my replaceWhether ghosts are real or ment keys. I asked the kids if anyone not, stories about them punctuate found them, but they couldn’t have conversations time and time again. because I didn’t have the keys myself. My name was no where on the From deceased spirits to irrationally placed keys, the topic of discussion keys, but somehow they got to me certainly ranges, and the advice on my desk,” Muncy said. seems to remain: look twice when Death and the loss of a loved entering an unfamiliar place and one resurrecting in ghost form staples the common trope in countless pray no ghosts will command gusts of cool wind. literary works, films, and TV shows.

Yet, more often than not, these cliches feel like reality for many. Junior Written by Mimi Geller Ethan Asis has grown up hearing a Designed by Nitya Thakkar story about his mother with one of

32% of Americans report a belief in ghosts. That’s up from 22% in 1978, according to a Gallup poll.

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Campfire Scares

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Written by Flannery Enneking-Norton

veryone is centered around the glowing campfire that pops and crackles intermittently as it burns low into the night. Headlamps cast searchlights around the darkened woods; only tree outlines are visible through the night, with occasional shadows that provoke the imagination--is it really just a tree? What else could be hiding out there in the dark?

Campfire scenes invite scary stories. Nightfall brings an awareness of the unknown, and the unseen. It is easy to let one’s imagination run wild around a campfire late at night because the only certainties are in the immediate vicinity of the campfire’s light;

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Designed by Webster Lehmann

everything beyond the reaches of that orange glow is mysterious, and invites speculation. Many students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School have experienced similar campfire settings, whether on a weekend trip, or month-long Menogyn expeditions, and have collected scary stories to accompany the already eerie setting.

Junior William Swanson picked up his scary story and prank during his time at Camp Foley.

There, the counselors recounted a tale of a girl menacing a local camp, complete with sound effects.

The story goes: one day in the early 2000s, there was a series of murders by a 16-year-old girl. Her murder weapon? Two chains. She was caught a week after her first murder, and sentenced to 20 years

in a secure facility. However, after only two years, she escaped. A few miles down the road, her inmate clothes were found at the bottom of a cliff, with nobody in sight. Police believed that she fell and died, and her body had decomposed.

A year later, a different body was found. The dead man was a camp counselor at a Camp Foley.

The autopsy determined that the cause of death was murder by chains. This was the first murder in 3 years in that town, and the town was shaken to the core.

Police where stumped. A week later, a witness came forward. His only piece of information was the sound he heard before the scream: a clinking of chains.

At this point, Swanson recommends using sound effects to

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mimic the chains, and augment the rising tension in the story.

This town was near Camp Foley. After his death, Camp Foley became more alert. For the first week of camp, everything was normal. But after the second week started, campers started hearing something at night. From the woods, a *clink* *clink* *clink* of chains. The camp director told everyone to alert their counselor and the police if chains were heard. A few days later, a loud clang was heard outside a cabin. The counselors called the police and when they came, they searched the woods around camp. No one was found.

A well-timed pause here keeps campers alert, and sets up the culmination of this scary story.

But the next night, a counselor was walking to the bathroom after dark, and he heard the *clink* *clink* *clink* and they froze. The next day, he was found with cuts and bruises and a concussion. The last thing he remembered was seeing a chain coming out of the dark and hitting the side of his head. Police were now very alert and patrolling the camp. Nothing happened for the next week, but then, in that exact cabin, the chains were heard again, right outside.

The counselors told the camper to stay silent. Sirens and flashing lights came from the woods. The police told them that they didn’t find anyone around the cabin or woods.

Everyone knows that jump scares are critical to maximize the terror effect of a spooky story,

so prepare to end this one with a literal bang.

An hour later, the door opened and a chain fell into the cabin [At this point drop a chain or slam the door open]. The campers screamed, but the counselors were cracking up. They shined a light on the door and it was the camp director. Everything that they were talking about was just a prank that the counselors made up. The police were just a counselor in a costume, the chain clinks were just another counselor, the “attacked” counselor had makeup, the lights around the cabin were just flashlights, and the camp director slammed the door open with the chain.

Swanson recalls being amused by his counselor’s prank here. Although the story started scary, the humorous note settles everyone’s nerves, though some might not be able to resist sidelong glances into the shadowy woods, or jumping at the clink of a canteen for the next hour.

Some scary stories, like Swanson’s, are designed with pranks or effects in mind. Others are more open-ended, and it is the unknown that creates the most suspense.

Senior Henry Zietlow recalls one such story that he learned at Camp Widjiwagan.

A man decided to go on a solo camping trip because he was busy with work, and just wanted to get away. He went out into the mountains, and he brought his camera because he loved photography.

Every night he put his camera next to his pillow to make sure it was

safe. His trip was going really well: he was having a good time, just going through the mountains. But every morning he noticed that his camera was just a little out of place. He thought maybe he had accidentally moved it in his sleep, or was making it up in his head.

After a week, he finally came home and uploaded all his pictures to the computer. He noticed something weird: there would be like six photos of mountains or trees, and all the ones that he took. Then there would be really dark pictures. Curious, he adjusted the brightness, and started to make out the outline of his tent in the dark.

The story ends there, leaving the rest up to the listener’s imagination, or the teller’s discretion.

Those darkened pictures could mean one thing: the man had been followed for the duration of his trip, and someone (or something) was taking pictures of him. The mystery is shudder-worthy.

Camping in the daylight invites wonder at all of nature’s beauty and intricacies; however, after nightfall, the darkness prompts one’s imagination to stretch to its deepest, most fearful corners.

These stories are creative additions to any camping trip if one desires to amp up the spook factor. Spin these tales after dark-and complete the scene with a flashlight for eerie shadow effects-to keep everyone on the edge of their seat (or sleeping bag).

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OUR in the day Vol. 2 No. 2

It’s an American hallmark seen in countless cinematic and literary works: the idealized city skyline. While this phenomenon is most particularly pronounced in New York City, the Twin Cities features an exquisite skyline that epitomizes Minnesotan pride. In addition to the lit up city line at night, the cities radiates during the day as well.

When frolicking through Mill Ruins Park in Minneapolis, it’s impossible to resist the temptation of also walking across the Stone Arch Bridge. From there, one could see the “yellow room” at the Guthrie Theatre. What also faces the Guthrie Theater, and the “yellow room” is the historic Gold Medal Flour sign, equipped with LED technology. While these places range, they share a commonality: light. From the iridescent water that shimmers on a sunny day underneath the Stone Arch Bridge, to the neon buzz of the Gold Medal Flour sign, Minneapolis surely conglomerates light.

Yet this light shines on cloudy days too. Frank Gehry’s cubist architecture that defines the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis is built with a stainless steel facade that shimmers even in the absence of sun. Facing the Mississippi River, the museum staples Minneapolis with refractions of light.

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at night

Although Minnesota is often associated with nice, happy-go-lucky attitudes of positivity, this city still has a diverse and vibrant nightlife, and night views. The iconic downtown St. Paul “1st” sign that gleams with LED lights can only truly be seen, and appreciated at night. The lights can additionally change colors, varying the night sky nevertheless. The sign is a physically figurative remind of St. Paul’s history.

Another popular location for nightlife fanatics in the Twin Cities is First Avenue.

With stars upon stars of famous performers’ names, like Prince or U2, the venue seemingly attracts most everyone. The restaurants surrounding the concert venue balance the already vivacious setting that is First Avenue.

Whether sunny or pitch black, the Twin Cities offers seemingly endless options for activities. Just as the Twin Cities represents a duality in urban architecture, the combination of day and night life can be expressed in the same manner. The days and nights eloquently balance.

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Vol. 2 No. 2

EARLY BIRD Written by Isabel Gisser Designed by Lucy Sandeen Photograph by Chloe Morse

Does the early bird get the worm?

Apparently so, according to junior Ethan Less.

“Waking up early sucks for about 2 minutes when I’m laying in bed, wishing to be back in the dream. But once you get past that threshold, you win, and you get the worm.”

The worm, in a literal sense, could be increased energy and motivation and a more positive outlook on life. Studies have shown that morning people are more proactive than those who prefer to stay awake past midnight and wake after noon. This may be because their biological clocks align more closely with the “social clock,” meaning the school day lines up neatly with their 24 - Aureus

sleep schedules. However, underlying genetic predisposition could also be the answer.

Less has witnessed these benefits firsthand.

“On weekends, I’m angry at myself when I sleep the day away. Plus, in the summer, an early round of golf ends around 12 [a.m.] and I still have the whole day.

In the winter, sometimes my mom will take me to her workout guy to do an early morning workout. It’s a great feeling to get things done in the morning.”

However in the demographic of night-loving teenagers, the early bird is also a rare bird.

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Only 7% of young adults are hardwired to be early risers. Early chronotype, or the scientific predisposition to wake up bright and early, is far more common in the elderly. Despite being surrounded by their (mostly) crabby peers at 8 a.m., early birds, including Less, are awake and ready to go.

Less describes his morning routine as a positive and energetic experience. “[First I] wake up to an upbeat song. Take a shower.

Turn on the toaster. Put either a bagel or a piece of toast in the toaster. Get out the cream cheese and lox or peanut butter and banana, respectively. Gobble

that up. Drink about 2 glasses of water. Brush my teeth. Put on some clothes. I’m off. Music in the car ranges based on mood. The best days are usually Billy Joel or hip hop/rnb. Singing (shouting) in the car is key.”

Demonstrating the cheerful attitude early birds are known for, Less holds no grudge against night owls.

“Late nights are good, too. Just not on school nights.”

If you’re looking for a source of energy, positivity, and focus, the difficulty of dragging yourself out of bed on a Monday morning may be worth it.

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Vol. 2 No. 2

What brightens your day?

Everyone has their own answer to this question, and we’ve left a little space below for you to write yours. Need a starting point? Read the answers students and faculty shared.

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Quotes collected by Isabel Saavedra-Weiss Designed by Lucy Sandeen

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“My students.” -US History teacher Sushmita Hodges “Talking to teachers that I like.” -Ethan Dincer, 11 “Other people laughing… and dog videos!” -Kelly Fielder, 12 tting coffee in the morning because it’s such a routine and it’s got a bunch of memories attached to it.” -Gracie Tilney-Kaemmer, 9 “When people smile at me in the hallways and say good morning.” -Nina Smetana, 10 “Having my friends laugh at my stupid jokes.”

-Will Swanson, 11 “My cat, I love her very much.” -Elise Parsons, 11 “Making other people smile.” -Drew Fawcett, 12

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Vol. 2 No. 2

PLUGGING IN FOR THE NIGHT

Written by Andrew Johnson Design and Illustration by Webster Lehmann 28 - Aureus

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I

t’s impossible to ignore the grip smartphones have on our lives. For better or worse, we have handheld computers that are available for use 24 hours a day.

While most people are aware that there are negative effects, it is not clear to many what they are and their possible seriousness. Chief among these detrimental effects is using a phone before falling asleep.

According to Business Insider, exposure to the blue and white light exuded by phones prevents the brain’s release of the hormone melatonin.

This hormone along with serotonin are the two main chemicals that induce sleep. In fact, if the cellphone use before bed becomes routine for years on end, it can permanently alter our “internal body clock” causing unnecessary drowsiness and weariness during light hours and potetial long term health risks.

Have you ever wondered why it takes unusually long to fall asleep? It is most likely due to late night phone use.

Evidently, this problem may be far more serious than inconsistent sleep schedules. As silly as it seems, our livelihoods may be a risk. According to Cosmopolitan and Dr. Anne Marie Chang, a poor night's sleep has been associated with more detrimental conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. What’s more, a severe lack of melatonin has been linked to an increased risk of various forms of cancer.

Adequate amounts of sleep on a regular basis are not only essential to mental and cognitive health, but to physical wellbeing as well.

Phone addiction is gripping. Phones are designed to be addictive: from the colors it displays, to the constant excitement our phones give us.

Here are some ideas to build habits that will get you away from the phone

and ready to sleep: 1. Plug in your phone for the night in the kitchen or living room a few minutes before walking to your bedroom and beginning your pre-sleep routine. Lay in bed and fall asleep naturally and easily.

2. Instead of trying to ignore the need for stimulation, find a different and more healthy alternative before bed, such as reading a book.

By engaging with an inhand book, you no longer have to worry about your melatonin levels or your heart melting down.

3. If you can’t resist the urge to use your phone, try turning off the blue light in the preferences or deleting social media for the night.

Simple fixes like these will do wonders in preserving your internal body clock that allows the best version of yourself every day. Take a break from your phone, and watch your restfulness and health rise because of it.

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SPRING 2018 Written by Ellie Findell Designed by Webster Lehmann

SUGAR SH

CHAMPIONING THE G

White Chocolate: White chocolate isn’t really chocolate. Most people either love it or they hate it. It’s kind of like the middle child in a family. White chocolate doesn’t qualify as real chocolate because it doesn’t contain chocolate solids (also known as cocoa powder). It is typically made from a blend of cocoa butter, milk solids, sugar, milk fat, and lecithin – a fatty emulsifier. The only thing that makes white chocolate at all chocolate-like is the cocoa butter, which is pretty flavorless. It’s difficult to know where exactly white chocolate comes from, but some artisan chocolate makers believe that it was simply a way to make use of excess cocoa butter.

So really, people that eat white chocolate are just being environmentally conscious with their cocoa butter consumption. White chocolate can be made two ways – at home or professionally with spices. DIY white chocolate is often safe for people with chocolate sensitivities to eat and can easily be made dairy free.

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Milk chocolate: An article was recently published in Is Better Than Dark, The End.” The olate or Dark Chocolate is better is Post even published a poll on their that Hershey’s bars should be eaten. to be beat by milk chocolate with tuals that write for The Washington Chocolate, by definition is supposed mix of cream, sugar and cocoa. Milk chocolate laws while another Dark Chocolate and its antioxiChocolate has always been the true fuss option that the mind first goes process is basic, but the product

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HOWDOWN:

GREATEST CHOCOLATE

The Atlantic called “Milk Chocolate debate between whether Milk Choca centuries old one. The Washington twitter account, ranking the order Milk chocolate came in second, only nuts. Even the under paid intellecPost know which chocolate is best. to be unhealthy with its glorious Chocolate follows those unofficial unnamed chocolate deviates (ahem, dant loving cross fit addicts). Milk chocolate and is the traditional, no to when it thinks of chocolate. The tastes oh so delicious.

Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate is definitely the underdog in the fight for who’s the best chocolate. It has a higher percentage of cocoa solids and little to no dairy content. The bitter taste of chocolate is much more prominent in Dark Chocolate because of the increased presence of cocoa. It contains a specific antioxidant called polyphenols. Thankfully antioxidant addicts aren’t the majority of our population and so Milk Chocolate still reigns supreme. While The Washington Post rated Milk Chocolate one of the top chocolates. Dark Chocolate was rated in last place taking the coveted spot behind going to the fridge for the dreaded apple. There are many arguments against Dark Chocolate but one has to admit that it goes well with many things: oranges, coffee, and lonely nights on the couch watching Friends. Dark Chocolate has even taken on the coveted super food status due to its reported ability to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and delaying the onset of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

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Vol. 2 No. 2

THE THINGS Written by Flannery Enneking-Norton Designed by Quinn Christensen

A field of sunflowers literally brightens the landscape, each yellow and orange petal creating an aura of warmth that radiates from the hillside.

It is as if fragments of the sun are captured in those tiny florets.

Sunlight is an essential part of life: it provides the energy for photosynthesis in plants, and promotes vitamin D production in humans. The bright light provides an overall mood boost.

Sunflowers, so aptly named, provide that same lightness even on a cloudy day. The soft warm hues of the flowers call to mind the same beautiful and energizing light from the sky, only here on Earth. To touch the petals is like touching a piece of the sun. A field of sunflowers looks like a curated collection of individual sun rays, all shining for the observer. But more than embodying a sunny disposition, sunflowers are intricate organisms.

The broad flowers and tall stems give sunflowers a sort of imposing

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WE CAN LEARN FROM “A field of sunflowers looks like a curated collection of individual sun rays, all shining for the observer.” force; though a positive one at that.

Stems typically grow ten feet tall, but the tallest recorded sunflower was over 30 feet. Each flower head is actually made up of tiny flowers called “florets.”

These florets form a mesmerizing spiral, like an optical illusion. Only it is no such illusion: the spiral is by mathematical design. Each floret is oriented at 137.5 degrees toward each other, and the

number of left and right spirals are consecutive Fibonacci numbers. On a typical sunflower, there are 34 spirals in one direction, and 55 in the other.

Apparently, math can be beautiful too.

If one were to observe a field of young sunflowers on a clear summer day, they would notice the flowers moving. Like a tanner moving themselves with the sun’s travels, young sunflowers orient themselves to maximize their exposure to the rays by following the sun’s trajectory across the sky. This is a phenomenon known as heliotropism. It is quaint to think the young flowers, like the young of any kind, follow the sun as others might follow their mothers. In reality, however, the moving plants can be explained by the growth patterns. One side of the stem grows during the day, extending and pushing the flower head in the direction of the sun, while the other side grows at night, returning the flower head to neutral. Upon maturation, the

stems become more rigid and the flower heads are typically fixed in an eastward orientation. But until that day, they grow with the sun. Sunflowers teach us to grow toward the source of light in our lives; whatever brings joy and strength is something good to be grounded in.

The beauty of the sunflower can be explained by science; it can also be appreciated from afar. Their simplicity and sunniness is more than meets the eye, just as every person has a more detailed mechanism underlying their disposition and life. But imagine how much lighter the world would be if we manifested those rays of sunshine? If we too emulated as pieces of the sun? So grow where the brightness is, especially when young, and brighten someone’s day like the flower does.

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Vol. 2 No. 2

AUREUS

STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Webster Lehmann DESIGNERS Sharee Roman Noah Raaum Quinn Christensen Iya Abdulkarim Mimi Geller Nitya Thakkar Lucy Sandeen PHOTOGRAPHER Chloe Morse WRITERS Flannery Enneking-Norton Ellie Findell Tristan Hitchens-Brookins Andrew Johnson Isabel Saavedra-Weis Isabel Gisser Nitya Thakkar Mimi Geller Jack Benson

ADVISER Kathryn Campbell COVER ART & DESIGN Webster Lehmann

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EUS The feature magazine of The Rubicon St. Paul Academy and Summit School

1712 Randolph Avenue St. Paul MN 55105