Rubicon March 2012

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e St. Paul Academy & Summit School 1712 Randolph Ave. St. Paul, MN Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

Winter Sports Sections Recap

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Piracy in the Music Industry Op/Ed

Sports

TECHNOLOGY Center 8-9

2 News

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

Students explore ways to live creatively on upcoming Speaker Day

Paralympic swimmer inspires with tale of determination and success

Visiting speaker tells of paralysis and perseverance

World leaders speak out against violence in Syria

Liz Rossman

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A&E Editor

The theme of innovation led the lectures and activities of Speaker Day in 2011, but another speaker day on Mar. 8 will focus around the theme of creativity.

Following last year’s speaker day, many students wanted a wider range in the field of speakers, asking for more presenters in the arts and creative fields. “We asked on the Opinion Board what people wanted to see next year, and they said more art fields,” Upper School Council delegate senior Sam Rosenberg said. In 2011, three out of twenty-three speakers involved in Speaker Day were involved in an artsrelated field: local hip-hop artist Toki Wright, musician and social networking expert Michael Lipset ‘05, and filmmaker Susan Bernstein. “We picked creativity [for this year’s theme] because it exists in all fields,” Rosenberg said.

Some weeks in advance, Upper Schoolers were given the opportunity to choose speakers that appeal to their own interests.

Speaker Day presents the opportunity for students to expand their knowledge of various studies outside the classroom through presentations from professionals.

Typically, Speaker Day occurs biannually, but USC opted to hold one this year because of the positive response to last year’s Speaker Day, according to Rosenberg.

Image from Google Maps

Ibad Jafri

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Photos credit: Hannah Ross

Paralympic swimmer Mallory Weggemann addresses the student body. Weggeman, paralyzed after an epidural injection at the age of 18, has won a multitude of Paralympic medals.

Liz Rossman

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A&E Editor

“Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit,” Mallory Weggemann, Minnesota native and Paralympics swimmer said.

Weggemann, paralyzed from the waist down since her freshman year of college, spoke to the student body on Feb. 28.

In the all-school assembly, Weggemann spoke to students about the importance of goals and confidence.

She participated in competitive swimming throughout her childhood. When complications in an epidural surgery left her paralyzed from the waist down, she sought to continue pursuing her passion. As a freshman in college, she shifted her focus to the Paralympic Games, competitions for disabled athletes that run parallel to the Olympic Games.

Weggemann was contacted by the school in part through senior Ceallach Gibbons, all-state SPA Sparks Swim Team captain, who met her at a convention in

the fall. “She told me her story... and I knew she lived in the area,” so Gibbons asked if she would speak, she said. “It’s an incredible story.”

Weggemann is ranked first worldwide in eight of nine paralympic events. She will compete in the 2012 Paralympics in just under six months. She was also among 19 finalists for the Women’s Sports Foundations’ Sportswomen of the Year, after winning six gold medals at the 2011 Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

Anoka-Hennepin schools replace discriminatory gay policy

Media scrutiny, political pressure bring end to controversial homosexuality stance Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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Music Scene Editor

After extensive media scrutiny, national outrage and two lawsuits, the Anoka-Hennepin County School district has voted to replace its Sexual Orientation Curriculum policy, which demanded total neutrality on LGBT topics, with a policy that requires fair treatment of all students.

The new policy uses broad language to avoid confrontation.

It requires that teachers remain neutral on political issues, without singling out LGBT topics. It also requests that, in their neutrality and during any political discussion, teachers “affirm the dignity and self-worth of all students.” The policy passed on Feb. 13 by a vote of 5-1.

The original policy stated that teachers and staff must remain neutral on all issues relating to student’s sexuality and gender identity. In the Anoka-Hennepin school district, all discussion of LGBT topics was barred from the classroom. Students who were bullied for their sexuality were unable to talk to teachers about the subject and, in many schools,

had trouble reporting bullying incidents.

Gay rights advocates across the nation celebrated the change in policy. “I feel like by creating this new policy, it’ll start a trend between public schools in Minnesota,” St. Paul Academy GayStraight Alliance president Zoe Gantman said. “Having gender and sexual orientation equality is one of the key factors in having a stable [sense of] humanity.”

A string of nine teenage suicides over two years by AnokaHennepin students who were bullied for their perceived homosexuality brought the AnokaHennepin County school district into the national spotlight and prompted lawsuits on behalf of the families of the victims.

Public outrage shook the district. In May 2010, state health officials declared the school district a “suicide contagion area.”

The US Department of Education began a civil rights investigation into the statute. In July 2011, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center For Lesbian Rights sued the school district on behalf of six students who complained that school administration did not intervene when they were

Photo Credit: Andy Monserud

Freshman Evan LeDuc reads an article in Rolling Stone magazine brought the gay neutrality policy to national attention. bullied. In a December statement, school district released an official superintendent Dennis Carlson statement saying that the article maintained that bullying played was a “grossly distorted portrayno role in the string of suicides. al” of the school system.

The district was further Despite the new policy, constunned by an early February ar- troversy in the district continues. ticle in Rolling Stone magazine The civil rights investigation and calling the now-defunct policy a lawsuit will continue, and sev“war on gay teens.” The article eral activists have denounced the told the stories of gay teens in the vague language of the bill, saying district, some of whom had com- there may still be room for antimitted suicide. It also emphasized gay bullying. Still, national news representative Michelle Bach- outlets have praised the new polmann’s role in the district. The icy’s improvement over the old.

Op/Ed Editor

As tensions in protest-torn Syria increase, calls for international intervention have been widespread. A UN Security Council vote debating intervention on Feb. 3 ended acrimoniously as Russia and China vetoed a UN plan that could have potentially ended the strife. The resolution would have supported an Arab League plan calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Despite the deaths of over 5,000 protesters as a result of a government crackdown, Assad has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, blaming the crisis on “foreign conspiracies.”

Russia has responded to criticism by holding steadfastly to its alliance with Syria and sending an envoy to the Arab nation. “It’s clear that efforts to stop the violence should be accompanied by the beginning of dialogue among the political forces,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“Today we received confirmation of the readiness of the president of Syria for this work.”

Russia is in the minority on its stance with Syria. Various countries have decried Assad’s actions and hinted at further UN action in the future. “Our message is clear, we will stand with the Syrian people,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said. “And it’s time for all the members of the UN Security Council to live up to their responsibilities instead of shielding those with blood on their hands.”

Britain joined such nations as France, Spain, Italy and Belgium in withdrawing their ambassadors to Syria in protest of Assad’s crackdown.

International discussion of intervention continues despite the UN stalemate. On Feb. 15, the French government restarted negotiations over the UN resolution.

France attempted to convince the Russian government to support the resolution after conducting meetings between French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and his counterpart, Lavrov.

The American government is concerned about suspected stocks of Syrian chemical weapons, and eager to get them away from any dangerous government. “We would certainly be prepared to work with any successor government to help them secure [and] control those weapons with the goal of destroying them,” American assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation Thomas Countryman said. As of yet, no formalized rebel government has arisen.

News 3 Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Pottery students turn art into charity Rachel Kinney

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Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief

At the end of the year, pottery students take home dozens of items to display their prowess.

Too often, cups, plates or bowls end up in the trash or collecting dust on a shelf. But recently an opportunity arose for St. Paul Academy and Summit School pottery students to create bowls to be used for a nobler cause.

The goal of Kingfield Empty Bowls, an event on Thursday, Feb. 9, was “ending hunger and homelessness in Kingfield…one bowl at a time,” according to promotional fliers. The Kingfield Neighborhood Association Board (KFNA Board) partnered with the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation (PCNF) to create the event. The KFNA Board “demonstrates and encourages neighborhood leadership, provides a forum for community participation and a structure to promote the vision and aspiration of the neighborhood,” KFNA Representative Sarah Milligan-Toffler said. PCNF focuses its efforts on ending homelessness.

Proceeds from the event were donated to Nicollet Square, a community and housing center helping homeless and hungry young adults ages 16-21. The money will be used to provide housing and support and is intended to help end the underlying causes of hunger rather than satiating it on a one-time basis.

Upper School Fine Arts teacher Bob Jewett found out about the event from SPA Assistant to Head of School Rebecca Miller, who attends Plymouth Church.

He enlisted eighth grade ceramics students to make bowls to be used for the Empty Bowls event.

His goal was to create 100 bowls, but with only a week’s notice before the event, Jewett’s students worked hard to get 41.

Photo used with permission from Marty Nash

Upper School Pottery teacher Bob Jewett examines student-made bowls in the pottery studio.

Jewett’s students made 41 bowls for a charity group that helps impoverished youth.

The students connected strongly to Empty Bowls because it benefited teens. “That really motivated [my students], to know they’re not far from that age,” Jewett said.

Attendees of the event chose a bowl, made by an SPA student or another potter, to be filled with soup made by volunteers from the Kingfield neighborhood. The bowls were then taken home as a reminder of the initiatives brought up at Empty Bowls. Over 200 people attended, and getting

donations was made easier by the large pottery scene in the Twin Cities, according to Jewett.

In the past, Jewett’s pottery classes have participated in other charity events, which usually involved selling pots to SPA students and donating money rather than donating physical items.

Last year students raised approximately $700 for charity with a pot sale. Ten years ago, Jewett’s advisory created bowls which they filled with fruit and donated to a St. Paul shelter for abused wom-

Editor-in-Chief

Governor Mark Dayton outlined his vision for the future of Minnesota on Feb. 15. In his second State of the State address, Dayton urged the Minnesota legislature to cooperate with his vision and focus on employment, reform in government services and education.

Throughout the speech, Dayton emphasized the significance of “building upon what has been done before us, not tearing it down.” Dayton focused on laudable parts of Minnesota and structured his proposed bills around these areas.

“I think that Dayton has a good idea. I feel, in general, that the entire atmosphere of politics and elections is focused on instituting new order. It’s too drastic to just cut and stop spending. The money we make now is not enough to cover our deficit,” senior Ashlee

“

Let’s take your best ideas and my best ideas and turn them into jobs!

And let’s do it now.

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Middle School meets a fellow by the name of Hill

Should you give Iowa a try?

Do you need to avoid “trouble with a capital “T”? Ever wanted to chase the Wells Fargo wagon down the street? How about learning to Shipoopi? The Middle School Theater is performing The Music Man Friday, Mar. 9 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, Mar. 10 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sarah Converse Auditorium.

Directed by Middle School Drama teacher Mary Kay Orman, this classic musical comedy features con man Harold Hill, played by eighth grader Jack Romans.

Hill convinces the citizens of a small town in Iowa that he will form a marching band to keep their children out of trouble. He brings music to the town and falls in love with the librarian, Marian Paroo, played by Nissa Rolf. Hill and Paroo, though at first suspicious of each other, eventually end up on the same side. But will they get away with Hill’s elaborate con?

The show features classic songs such as “Iowa Stubborn,” “Ya got Trouble,” “The Wells Fargo Wagon” and “Shipoopi.”

en. “It was a meaningful activity, and we had fun doing it,” Jewett said.

This was the first Kingfield Empty Bowls event, but MilliganToffler said it will be annual. Jewett plans to participate in upcoming years. He’ll be able to plan in advance next year and hopes for more involvement and a greater number of bowls. This support is welcomed by the KFNA. “We would love to have your support throughout the year,” MilliganToffler said.

Dayton focuses on jobs in State of the State address Rebecca Xu

Newsbrief

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton

Johnson said.

Dayton’s speech highlighted the governor’s first area of improvement: employment.

In December 2011, the Minnesota unemployment rate was 5.7%.

Though this is 2.8% below the national average, more than 168,000 Minnesotans cannot find jobs. According to Dayton, the Vikings’ stadium bill will create 21,700 jobs. Governor Dayton urged legislators to vote on the stadium as soon as possible to employ those workers.

“We can’t wait to vote on the stadium; it needs to get done now.

The more we dwell on it, the more muddled up our political system will be. With revenue not coming in, we need to get things done as fast as possible,” Johnson said.

Dayton’s proposed plan applies to all Minnesotans, including youth. The “Jobs Now” tax credit encourages businesses to hire recent college graduates and veterans. This proposal would reduce taxes for businesses while simultaneously put more Minne-

sotans to work. “[Unemployment] must be our number one priority. So, I say to legislators, let’s take your best ideas and my best ideas and turn them into jobs! And let’s do it now,” Dayton said.

“As somebody who has been unemployed and couldn’t find work... unemployment is difficult,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to see my older friends looking for jobs and not being able to find them. You can see their mental deterioration.”

Keeping up his collaborative approach to handling state issues, Dayton stressed the partnership between the legislature and his administration in implementing governmental reform. He also expressed his hopes for further collaboration in making public services more cost-effective and challenged his colleagues to make the government work better for Minnesotans, save money and reduce waste.

Supreme Court rearranges voting districts

Using data from the 2010 Census, the Supreme Court of Minnesota released its new congressional districts for the state of Minnesota on Feb. 21. Among the changes are the move of Washington County from the sixth to the fourth district and the shrinking of the seventh district.

The new district map was designed by the supreme court following Governor Mark Dayton’s vetoes of a series of plans passed by the Republican-controlled Senate. The new map looks more like the plan Democrats vouched for, which is similar to the old map, than the slightly different one Republicans pushed.

Representative Michelle Bachmann announced that she plans to run again in the sixth District, despite the fact that her Stillwater home is now in Betty McCollum’s fourth District.

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4 Opinion/Editorial Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Xu

Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief Rachel Kinney

Chief Visual Editor Dani Andrusko

News Editor

Andy Monserud

Op/Ed Editor Ibad Jafri

Sports Editor Aditi Kulkarni

Columnist Nick Volpi

Cover Story Editor Allison Wang

Feature Co-Editors Saif Ahmed Ellie Fuelling

Sci/Tech Editor Lucy Li

In-Depth Editor Alicia Little

A&E Editor Liz Rossman

Music Scene Editor

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

Online Visual Editor Nick Scott

Webmaster/Videographer Hannah Ross

Staff Writer

Asialy Bracey-Gardella Tommy Toghramadjian

Contributor

Emily Nordquist

Adviser

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Kathryn Campbell

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the student newspaper of St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Memberships Minnesota High School Press Association National Scholastic Press Association Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2011 Awards JEM All-State Gold NSPA First Class CSPA Gold Medal MHSPA Best in Show, 2004-2008, 2010

Staff Editorial

Students torn between work and play

Play. What does this word mean to us? We are constantly reminded that it is a great privilege to attend such a prestigious school. St. Paul Academy and Summit School provides us unique opportunities that we should not waste. We are instructed by our teachers, pressured by our parents and influenced by our peers to make the best out of these opportunities and focus on our studies. Yet the question must be asked: does such a rigorous academic environment allow us to leave room for play?

Seniors can answer this question easily. With college applications submitted, seniors have reached the summit of their high school career. They can afford to play Pokémon in the senior lounge and procrastinate with their homework. But can the same be said about other grade levels? The second semester of junior year is the busiest time of a student’s high school career. On top of piles of homework, juniors also take the SAT, ACT, and numerous AP exams and SAT Subject Tests during this time. There is no time for play; no time to fool around when you’re preparing for your future.

Dr. Stuart Brown challenges this mentality. In his book, Play – How it Shapes Our Brains, Opens the Imagination, and Shapes the Soul, Brown describes how play is essential to brain development and critical thinking. "The evidence is broad. It starts objectively by watching animals at play and seeing what it does for them - it improves their performance, immune system, their capacity to remember things. And if you follow that through to a human system, those same benefits appear to us - particularly in fertile imag-

Editorial Cartoon: Ava Gallagher

Far too often students are forced to choose between work and play, and pick the former.

Even if there is no time for play, we must make time. ination, in a sense of optimism, in capacity to persevere and to do things that you enjoy - are all byproducts of play,” Brown said.

Even if there is no time for play, we must make time. Play is not simply an automatic impulse for children; it is a necessity for living healthy and prosperous lives. In our attempt to follow our ambitions and strive for our aspirations, we must not neglect our well-being and sanity. We need breaks. We need short moments of respite from climbing that mountain if we ever want to reach the top in one peace.

This does not mean we should completely omit homework and studying from our lives. Homework should not be an excuse for play, but play should also not be an excuse for homework. Only a fusion of the two extremes can lead us to our goals.

The best part about this partnership is that it is easy to accomplish. Leave your homework for home and play Pokémon during your free period during the school day. When you’re tired of memorizing SAT vocabulary, get on your laptop and watch a few of your favorite music videos. Plan

Not your granny’s 2012 redistricting Birth control debate Grammy’s: awards brings discord as gets out of control rules are skirted commercialized This year’s Grammy Awards represented a deviation from the award shows of previous years, for better and for worse. While artists like Adele, Bon Iver, and Kanye West certainly deserved the awards they netted, it is difficult to see so many of the awards of previous years cut. Whereas previous years saw 109 awards, this year only 78 were handed out.

Most were awarded backstage, and only those received by those who can be called “big-name” artists - Foo Fighters, Chris Brown, and Taylor Swift - were given screen time out of the music industry’s commercial, rather than artistic, interests. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon said it best: "There's so much talent out here... and there's a lot of talent that's not here tonight. It's also hard to accept because you know, when I started to make songs I did it for the inherent reward of making songs, so I'm a little bit uncomfortable up here." It’s hard to blame him when so many other deserving musicians are going overlooked.

As of Feb. 21, Minnesota’s congressional district boundaries have been redrawn. The intentions are good: the five-judge panel wanted to encircle groups of people who have similar political, economic and cultural concerns and interests.

However, the redistricting should have leaned more toward prevention of polarization. The lines still follow political lines with only some mixing in the larger districts. Minnesota has missed out on the opportunity to increase competition within districts. Diversity of political opinions within districts will remain unseen.

Representatives are attempting to skirt undesired competition as well. Republican Representative Michele Bachmann has fallen out of the 6th district and into the 4th, where she would run against Democrat Betty McCollum, but she still chooses to run in the 6th district. Candidates shouldn’t be allowed to do simply dodge the fact that the redistricting was meant to apply to 2012 elections.

Republican candidates have recently been getting extremely riled up over what they view to be an attack on religious freedoms

by President Barack Obama. According to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Obama Administration “ordered almost every employer and insurer in the country to provide sterilization and contraceptives, including some abortion-inducing drugs, in their health plans.” The bishops - and by extension, Republican presidential candidates like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum - fail to take into account the word “almost.”

The law makes an exemption for "certain non-profit religious employers" that satisfy a four-part test. These institutions essentially include churches, synagogues and religious primary and secondary schools. In all actuality, religious institutions are not forced against their will to provide care that goes against their belief.

an activity night with your family to play some classic board games.

Go to the movie theater with your friends on the weekend and watch the newest releases. Play exists all around us, just as the time for play does too. We only need to realize its significance to our lives to see it.

Play does not only consist of playing games and surfing the Internet. We can also play with our most passionate hobbies. Drawing a picture, kicking a soccer ball, and solving math problems are all forms of play. As a caution, though, competitive activities are not classified as play. The stress and anticipation of competitive activities often stress individuals where play relaxes. True play relieves stress. It does not supply it.

For our health, for our sanity and for our aspirations, we need to allow play to enter our lives.

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STAFF the rubicon

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

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Editorial Policy

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

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

Opinion/Editorial 5 Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Infographic of the Month

In light of recent discussion regarding Internet piracy and its place in our society, The Rubicon polled both students and teachers to gain a greater understanding of piracy. Who pirates material? What is most often pirated? The answers may surprise you. Overall, males were found to pirate content more than females, while a vast majority of individuals had some experiences with content obtained illegally.

No matter what one may think, the Internet is the most significant vehicle of content that society possesses.

Happy web-browsing!

Illustration credit: Rachel Kinney

Politics and pirates and panic, oh my!

Debate over Internet piracy and sovereignty of entertainment industry rages on Saif Ahmed

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Staff Writer

The argument and panic spreading across the Internet over the shutdown of Megaupload is very childish and short-sighted.

Internet users’ unquenchable thirst for free media will lead to diminished quality in media and the loss of thousands of jobs.

The concepts of intellectual property and copyright have been an issue for many years. When VHS and cassette recorders containing media were originally released to the general public, the music, movie, and television industries immediately became wary of piracy and illegal copying. Fortunately, they have survived and have been able to maintain a large presence in the

media business. For this reason, many supporters of legalization would say that anti-piracy laws are unnecessary. However, the exact opposite is true; enforcing these laws would help ensure the survival of the entertainment industry. We don’t live in the 1980s anymore. With newer technologies for copying and reproducing coming out everyday, lawmakers need to produce and enforce new laws preventing this.

Online piracy is a threat to the millions of entertainers and individuals involved in the entertainment industry. People including artists, managers, studios, and promoters all have their jobs and lives at stake. When media is pirated, potential profit is taken away from all of these people.

Some argue that copying media is “not really stealing” because

the dictionary definition of stealing requires a physical object to be taken. But when piracy slashes profits to the degree that it has, theft has clearly been taking place. The United States government needs to step up to the plate and do their job of defending the entertainment industry. It’s hard enough to enter the entertainment industry and make money, but with products being copied and redistributed, the original makers stand to lose so much.

So before you say that the government is destroying your personal freedoms by restricting your ability to copy the works of the music, movie, and television companies, consider this: If we didn’t take steps to prevent piracy, would there be anything left worth pirating?

Enforcing these laws would help ensure the survival of the entertainment industry.

Andy Monserud

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News Editor

The panic is due because those industries, as they stand, are over.

Yes, people still watch movies, still listen to music, still read, but the dawn of the Internet has the potential to—and has already begun to—bring about a new renaissance of art. Piracy may be taking profits from record labels, but the Internet has created a new generation of musicians who don’t need big corporations to fund their art because they can publish via YouTube and other engines. Big publishing companies lament their loss of profit, but authors and readers alike rejoice at the availability of books online much cheaper or even free. Television continues to thrive on Hulu alongside countless free web-shows all over the Internet. Hollywood has not yet succumbed to the power of the ‘Net, but numerous independent filmmakers

have, creating a new zeitgeist for that overlooked sector without behemoth corporate studios controlling their every move.

Perhaps such sharing destroys the concept of intellectual property, but there is no way to curb such a change anyway. Critics of sharing say that if theft continues, artists will stop working because they will have no motivation, but they’ve continued so far. Intellectual property theft has existed for as long as intellectual property itself. Has there ever been a global artists’ strike because nobody was buying their work? Ask any artist why they do what they do. It’s not about the money. Artists create art because they love it, and they will continue to do so.

Perhaps the days of big money in art are gone, but that does not mean that the art itself is gone, and it does not mean that the artists are now starving for funds.

Civilians, politicians, and producers of our media alike should take a moment to seriously think about the possibilities as well as the perils of a copyright-free world, because from where we stand, it seems inevitable.

Perhaps the days of big money in art are gone, but that does not mean that the art itself is gone.

Illustrations credit: Alicia Little

6 Sports Littler dominates the ice despite disability C S C St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V

lassic partan olumn

Since his arrival, junior Matt Littler has been a valuable teammate for the Academy Boys Hockey team.

Aditi Kulkarni

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Columnist

America’s favorite pastime, the game that united a country and represented all that it stands for is back. Well, almost. Baseball season is set to begin this march and our Spartans will be looking to start it off with a bang. The baseball team is coming off a successful season which saw them finish 16-6 overall. Their season came to a devastating halt in the second round of the section playoffs against St. Paul Como High School. The Spartans are eager to come out strong and have a great season.

However, the fact remains that four seniors graduated. These seniors played a key role on the team for multiple years and will undoubtedly be missed. This next generation of Spartans will be a young team but a hungry one at that. The roster is rich with upcoming talent which should provide for a very interesting dynamic on the field. If these young guns are able to maximize their potential, it will be a fun season for the Spartans.

The Spartans will be lead

by Junior captains Matt “ICE” Fiedler and Spencer “Spegly” Egly. These two incredible athletes will need to provide leadership and guidance. Egly and Fiedler will both need to do their fair share of work from both the mound and the plate to make sure the Spartans can go far in the postseason. Senior leaders Daniel “House” Porter and Paul “Chicken Kiev” Micevych will be the hungriest guys in the locker room as they look for their last slice of glory pie before graduation.

The Tri-Metro Conference will once again be tough but several teams, such as St. Anthony Village, are facing a similar situation as the Spartans. The main competition will once again be Minnehaha and St. Anthony. Another great game to go to will be the classic rivalry against Blake as usual.

It is still too soon to tell what this team can do this spring but they are definitely going to be something to watch out for.

Captain ICE says it best when he claims that “if we play up to our full potential, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be the first SPA baseball team to make the state tournament.” Go Spartans!

Junior Forward Matt Littler was passed the puck in the Spartan’s zone. He got by two guys and then entered the other team’s zone. He cut to the middle of the ice in the high slot, shot between two defenders, and shelved the goalie. It ended up being the game winning goal.

Littler transferred to St. Paul Academy and Summit School from Champlin Park High School after suffering from a congenital sensorineural hearing loss; SPA offered smaller-based classroom sizes which was a better environment for Littler to be in.

“My parents were looking for a better school academically for me, and [SPA] was kind of nice because they had a good hockey program,” Littler said.

Despite the large homework load compared to Champlin Park, Littler has adjusted remarkably well to SPA. “I like the small community and everybody’s friendly,” he said.

Athletes of the Month

Nick Volpi

Sports Editor

Some of the main difficulties Littler encountered in his transfer to SPA were the Minnesota State High School League’s rules on transfer students, but after explaining his disability, MSHSL complied.

Littler also has a goal of playing Division 1 hockey in college.

“I haven’t really talked to any schools too specifically, but I’ll most likely have to play Juniors first,” he said. “Most players who want to go play Division I hockey in college go play Juniors first.”

Littler has stood out as a valuable player for the Academy Boys Hockey Team. “Matt is a very skillful hockey player, but I think most of all he’s a very hard worker and is very dedicated to the team. He wants the best for the team and wants to team to get better, so he’s a very good leader,” junior captain Cameron Causey said.

The Spartan men had their last game on Feb. 24 in Sections against Mahtomedi. They lost 5-1, ending their season with a devastating loss.

“It was really dissappointing because we definitely have potentional on our team,” Littler said.

“Maybe it didn’t happen this year, but next year we’ll have a really good shot at it.”

O’Brien scores her 1000th career point

Photo Credit: Nick Scott

All Hockey Photos Credit: Chris Causey

Matt Littler takes a shot from just inside the offensive zone in the Spartan’s hockey game against Johnson Senior High School. The goal ended up being the game winning goal.

By the Numbers concussions assists 25

16 32

3

jersey number goals 17

penalty minutes

started playing hockey

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Nelson gets second in sections,heads to state

Photo Credit: David Matenear

Jenna O’Brien dribbles up court in a against Trinity on Feb. 28, 2013. The team won 28-15.

Matt Nelson took 2nd place in sections for the 50 meter freestyle. He competed in state on Mar. 2 and 3.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School senior Jenna O’Brien scored her 1000th career point as a varsity basketball player for the Spartans on Feb. 10, 2012. O’Brien is the second person in Varsity Girls Basketball history to reach 1000 points, accomplished only by Niambi Mitchell who graduated in 2009. What makes this feat even more impressive is that O’Brien sat out for most of the basketball season last year due to an injury. Since being a member of the Varsity Basketball team since 7th grade, O’Brien has made her way to the top.

This season, O’Brien is the scoring leader of her team this season and averages 13 points per game.

Upper School senior Matt Nelson participated in the Boys Swimming and Diving state championships this year on Mar. 2 and 3. After an outstanding performance at sections on Friday, Feb. 24, Nelson qualified for the state tournament. Swimming the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 22.53 seconds, Nelson placed 2nd in sections. He and Highland Park High School teammate Danny Wojta both participated in state.

However, as of press time, The Rubicon did not have results on the competition.

Sports 7 Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Winter Sports Section Recap Nordic Skiing

Boys Hockey

Girls Basketball

Photo Credit: Chris Causey Photo submitted by Lily Rogers-Grant

Despite the all but nonexistent snow cover, the Nordic Ski team did well in the final competitions of the season. Section competition was held at Battle Creek Nordic Ski Area on Feb. 7.

The team took 5th place in section competition, and freshman Ellen McCarthy placed high enough to move on to the state competition, where she took 78th of 118. “It went really well,” junior Ariana Amini, who took 22nd overall, said. “I was so happy.”

Varsity Boys Hockey sections began on Feb. 21.

The Spartans began their section competition bid on Feb. 24, with a 5-1 loss to Mahtomedi.

Even after an 8-14-3 season, the team was still optimistic. “I think that if we play well, we can beat anyone,” junior Karl Hommeyer said. “Recently, we’ve brought it together and been able to close out games and beat some teams that we haven’t beaten for a while.”

Fencing

Boys Basketball

Photo Credit: Nick Scott

Varsity Girls Basketball hopes to emerge from a losing record in time for section competition.

“We haven’t won very many games, but I think right now we’re a new team,” freshman Maddie Flom-Staab said. Freshman Alexis Irish agreed: “I think sections are like a new season and... a new start for us, and I think we can do pretty well.”

Alpine Skiing

Photo Credit: Marcy Gast

Photo Credit: Wafa Qureshi Photo Credit: Nick Scott

St. Paul Academy and Summit School hosted the state fencing tournament on Feb. 25-26.

“We have a lot of promising young fencers,” junior Francesco DiCaprio said before the meet.

Promise breeds prowess: the team was highly successful at the tournament, placing especially high in the various group events. Men’s epee took third in its competition, and men’s sabre took second. Individually, Marie Siliciano took first in women’s epee, DiCaprio took fifth in men’s sabre, and senior Eddie Xie took fifth in men’s epee. “We did pretty well,” DiCaprio said.

Sections are still in the grey for Varsity Boys Basketball. Competition is scheduled to begin on March 5, and eighth grader Dalante Peyton has high hopes. “Sections, I think, are going to go really well for us, and I hope we can get some wins,” he said. Basketball garners a lot of attention, which Peyton hopes will be increased by home games during section competition. He also says that the team’s performance could be improved from last year, when they lost in the second round.

SPA took 15th place in Alpine sectionals on Feb. 10. While no skiers went to state, freshman Peter Baker was very close to the cutoff.

Though there were no non-family SPA spectators, sophomore Jonathan Sogin still enjoyed it. “It’s a fun day,” Sogin said. “You’re out there and it’s tense and it’s a really good time.”

Boys Swimming & Diving

Girls Hockey

Dance Team

Photo submitted by Alev Baysoy Photo Credit: David Matenear

The Trojans, St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s and Highland Park High School’s cooperative boys’ swim team, had sections in late February, with preliminary competition on Feb. 22 and section finals on Feb. 24. Even before section finals, Nelson was proud of the team’s achievements, including those of Highland Park captain Daniel Wojita, who took first in the 200- and 500- meter freestyle races. “It’s been a pretty good season,” he said.

Varsity Girls Hockey had a somewhat disappointing end to an otherwise satisfying season when they lost to Minnehaha in the first game of section competition. The team, St. Paul United, is a partnership with Visitation and finished with a 15-10-1 record. “We had a really good season,” senior Kristen Knutzen said. “We expected to do a lot better in sections than we did.” Despite finishing on a low note, the season was impressive- the team walked away with its best record in over a decade.

Photo Credit: Mallory Haugen

The Varsity Dance team did not experience a happy ending this season. Originally, the Blue (kick) and Gold (jazz) teams were supposed to perform at the Dover-Eyota high school in Eyota, Minnesota, for sections. The season was cut short by scheduling conflicts and miscommunications. A performing kick or jazz team must have at least five performers to compete. Due to injuries, standardized tests and other commitments, the Spartan Dance team could not fulfill this standard and had to drop out of sections and state.

Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

Technology Time drain Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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book is temptingly close.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, youth today spend, on average, seven and a half hours on media, three and a half hours of it multitasking with other media. This is a jump of over an hour and a half from just 2004. While students are doing homework, almost half of them watch TV, one-third talk on the phone, and over twenty percent are on the Internet. Six percent somehow manage to play a video game during homework.

Even more common than any of these is the odd pairing of homework with music. Eighty-four percent of high school students listen to music while they are working on homework, and they don’t find it distracting. Freshman Isabella LeBlanc listens to music “the way a lot of people listen to music while they work out. It just motivates you, helps you keep going. “ Her friend, freshman Asfar Sandozi, concurred: “Music sometimes helps me do my homework faster.”

But not all media use goes as well with homework. Junior James Hargens, for one, lamented the effects of the internet on homework. “[You’re] looking at the clock, and saying, ‘I’ll do this for fifteen minutes, half an hour,’ and then you

By December 2011,

St. Paul Academy and Summit School keep moving the time table. It’s worrisome that there’s not much regulation on how much media a kid can use. There’s just that mentality of procrastinating.”

Freshman Eva Perez also often found herself distracted by sites like Facebook and YouTube. “It’s sort of a release from your brain working out. You kind of go into autopilot while you’re on there.”

Many students who find themselves unable to focus note the role social networking plays in their distraction. Social networks are able to keep people in touch with each other by keeping us informed about friends’ lives. Social networking is key to the social lives of many an introvert. But it’s also a painful distraction for many students.

We, as a nation, love to multitask. But virtually no scientist would support multitasking as a good idea. The human brain is not capable of focusing on several topics at once, just switching between them. Doing multiple tasks at once is really just switching between them quickly, never being able to focus for very long on any one. According to a University of London study, people lose ten IQ points when distracted by phone and e-mail messages, double the loss resulting from marijuana use.

For teens 13-17:

Multitasking doesn’t improve productivity; studies at MIT show it decreases productivity by 40%.

Our computer-based minds are busier than ever, but we’re actually getting less done.

So, how do students as busy as those at SPA resist the temptation to do several things at once or to watch the Internet out of the corner of their eye? There’s plenty of ways to start. Some students just need a good reminder, like a grade report or a clear goal, to keep them on track. Some students need a nightly timetable that gives them breaks and rewards for getting their work done in time.

For students like Perez, who find themselves victims of Facebook’s magnetism, social interaction before homework can keep them on track. “I think every human has a social need. Once I’ve taken care of that need, I don’t feel that desire to go on Facebook.”

For those who need more of a push, programs like Freedom and Cold Turkey can improve your productivity by blocking particular websites as assigned. For those too hooked on the Internet, SelfControl continues blocking websites for the time assigned, even if the computer is restarted.

The Internet isn’t evil. It isn’t de-

Cell phone usage

by GENERATION:

Pinterest is founded on

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stroying society. The Internet is a hammer you can use to build your mind or to hit yourself over the head with. The difference is knowing how to manage your time on the Internet, knowing what works and what doesn’t.

“

The human brain is not capable of focusing on several topics at once, just switching between them. Doing multiple tasks at once is really just switching between them quickly.

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ots of conventional wisdom about the Internet isn’t true. Studies have shown that web browsing actually improves memory. A report showed that students who browsed the web for about thirty minutes a day had improved test scores.

And studies have shown that students who use more social networking also socialize in person more. But one thing has held true: the Internet is changing the way you think.

Sound scary? It’s not really.

Studies have just shown that people’s minds adapt to the Internet by allowing them to switch between mindsets quickly. People today are better than ever at multi-tasking. This can be useful for people who have to manage several things, but isn’t always fun when people are trying to focus on typing in Word when Face-

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St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

Peep into this sugary new store

Walking into the new Peeps store at the Mall of America, one is met with a sugary sweet scent and intense colors. “People are addicted to Peeps,” Peeps and Company Sales Associate Wally Ex said. “There are even Peep fanatics who come in to purchase historic special-edition Peeps worth $100.”

“

I’ve loved Peeps since I was a little kid, and going to the store brings me back to my childhood.

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senior Anna Olson

Senior Anna Olson serves herself strawberry Mike and Ikes at the Peeps store located in the Mall of America. “I’ve never seen a store that specialized in just Peeps,” Olson said.

Allison Wang

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Cover Story Editor

Hot Tamales, Mike and Ikes and Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews fill the store with an intoxicating sugar-sweet scent. Cute, campy apparel and fun little gifts take up the space between and a friendly store mascot greets the large crowd of youngsters, adults and seniors. But the customers are not here to purchase candy, clothes or

gifts. They are here for the Peeps.

Peeps and Company opened their second retail store at the Mall of America on Dec. 17, 2011, following their first 2009 store opening in Maryland. Located just inside the West Market entrance to Nickelodeon Universe, the store features an eye-catching store design, a large yellow Peep sitting on top of a bright yellow store that’s hard to miss and plenty of colorful peepin’ treats.

The store truly is an engag-

In 1953 the first box of Peeps is made

ing experience, featuring a Peep monument that lights up in pink, green, blue and yellow. Many samples are offered, customers receive a complimentary bright yellow Peeps and Company hat and a relaxed, yet chirpy, ambience oozes from the store.

“I’ve never seen a store that specialized in just peeps,” senior Anna Olson said. “I’ve loved Peeps since I was a little kid, and going to the store brings me back to my childhood.” Along with Peeps, other items are offered as well. Peeps and Company is a branch of Just Born, Inc., so shoppers can also purchase Just Born brand candies like Mike and Ike, Hot Tamales and Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews. Consequently, the store features a Hot Tamales station with a “How Hot Are You” meter that rates customers’ hotness from Lame-O to Blazing. “The ‘How Hot Are You’ meter is a creative way to market their flavors of Hot Tamales and it’s not usually something you see in a candy store,” Olson said. In addition, shoppers can fill

In 1977 Peeps and Company offers marshmallow teddy bears

their desires for a sweet treat at the Mike and Ikes station, offering Mike and Ikes in a rainbow of different colors.

If edible objects, apparel or accessories aren’t your thing though, people always manage to find a soft spot in their hearts for the Peeps mascot. “When we have the Peeps mascot come out, kids will come out and hug and kiss the Peep, saying things like, ‘I love you Peep,’” Peeps and Company Sales Associate Wally Ex said. Pictures and signs of affection are always welcome to Peep, who comes out every Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

But for the inner Minnesotan Peep fan, Peeps and Company has become a store to cherish and appreciate. “People are addicted to Peeps,” Ex said. “There are even Peep fanatics who come in to purchase historic special-edition Peeps, worth $100.”

With a Peep in every color, Peeps and Company truly is a welcomed addition, open all year round, not just on Easter.

In 1999 the first national Peeps commercial airs on TV

All Photos credit: Allison Wang

The giant Peep, which lights up in different colors, greets customers as they enter the Peeps store.

Do you love Peeps? Make a diorama!

Every year, local newspaper The Pioneer Press offers a Peeps diorama contest.

Contestants build a diorama filled with Peeps. Diorama subjects generally deal with popular culture such as singers, movies, scandals and big news stories. Last year’s winner was entitled “The Great Minnesota Peep Together” and was an intricately decorated State Fair set with colorful Peeps riding Ferris wheels and buying cookies.

In 2011 a Peeps store opens at the Mall of America Photo credit: Hannah Ross Peeps facts used with permission from www. marshmallowpeeps.com

F e a t u re 11 St. Paul Academy and Summit School Feb./Mar. Vol XXXIX. Issue V. Hugo turns the clock back...then slows it way down Despite its visual appeal, the film tells the wrong story in a sluggish fashion Tommy Toghramadjian

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Staff Writer

Hugo,w based off of Brian Selznick’s award-winning children’s book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” tells the story of Hugo Cabret, a Paris orphan around the turn of the century, who is trying to fix a mechanical man left behind by his dead father.

Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives in the machinery of a Parisian train station’s clocks. He winds them daily, in lieu of his missing uncle. His greatest fear is the lame Station Inspector (Sasha Baron Cohen) who dedicates his life to tracking down homeless children and sending them to orphanages.

When Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley), an elderly toy shop owner, takes the notebook Hugo is using as a manual to fix the automaton left behind by his father, Hugo goes to the old man’s goddaughter Isabel (Chloe Grace Moretz) to help him regain the book. Along the way, Hugo discovers that Isabel has the last item he needs to get the automaton working again.

The secret of the mechanical man leads them to uncover the past of Isabel’s godfather, and learn Melies’ role about the beginnings of the moving picture industry.

Butterfield does a convincing portrayal of a stubborn, lonely and secretive street child living in meager fashion off of unwitting Parisians. While Hugo waits in

Photo used with permission from www.hugomovie.com

Hugo (Asa Butterfield) and Isabel (Chloe Grace Moretz) look on as the automaton reveals its secret. This scene marks a turning point in “Hugo” from a charming mystery to a tedious flashback.

the cold outside Isabel’s window to enlist her help, the pitiful way he clutches his shirt about him and the misery in his eyes truly make the desperation of his existence much more realistic and visceral than scenes where he improbably goes on adventures in the city library or movie theaters with Isabel.

Cohen’s slapstick physical comedy as the station inspector and his affected accent bring the only humor to be found in Hugo.

His hapless attempts to woo a

flower seller, his self consciousness about his metal leg brace, and his outbursts toward captured orphans (telling them they don’t need a family) try to put some depth of character behind his comical villainy, but only add more awkward situations for him to put himself into.

Hugo is one of those rare movies that is actually noticeably improved by 3D. The spinning gears of the giant clocks Hugo winds and the labyrinth of machinery and ladders in which he lives lend

themselves well to enhanced visual effects. Otherwise, the film has little appeal after the scenes in which Hugo tangles with the station inspector and toy shop owner.

The “history of the movies” back story is unengaging and disappointing after the drama with which it is uncovered. There are seemingly hours of clips from Georges’ studio showing actors in outlandish costumes prancing about in oafish imitation of aliens and monsters. The charm

and mystique of the initial setting fade as the stakes get lower and lower for the protagonists. The story that the viewer truly cares about — Hugo seeking a message from his father — is shoved from view and left unresolved while Melies and his wife treat their artistic past as a painful secret .The cinematography is charming, but the story is a flop.

Hugo seems to entirely lack a theme or moral. The motif of time, shown by the ticking of many clocks and swinging of pendulums adds some old-fashioned class to the movie, but otherwise the movie has a dime-a-dozen “orphan finding a home” plot line too common in children’s stories. Rather disappointing, on the whole.

Hugo’s appeal is mostly limited to a young audience who will enjoy the bumbling antics of the station inspector and the cunning of the youthful protagonist, but the nostalgic feeling of the film might also endear it to a few parents who come along to watch.

The low stakes and drawn out recollections will probably bore older children to tears, but Hugo is worth a view for its visual appeal and compelling original setting, especially for those who enjoyed the book. The mild PG rating makes it appropriate for all ages, but the lukewarm story probably should keep more jaded young viewers out of theaters.

Nostalgic movies make a reappearance and revisit social issues

Renovated classic movies bring back childhood memories

Disney movies reveal corruption in society

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Photo credit: Alicia Little

Queen Amadala (Natalie Portman) sits on her throne. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace was released in 3D on Feb. 10.

that “animation itself is kind of timeless.”

Contributor Sophomore Emma Chang falls in the category of lifelong “Lion King” fans and A “Timeless Tale” never said that she “really enjoyed fails to bring back nostalgic watching the movie again in feelings; a childhood mem- theaters, primarily because ory, an old obsession, or a “I have liked the story since once new discovery. Revisit- I was little and not much had ing these tales at an older age changed about the movie beoften provokes the same kind sides the fact it was in 3D.” of feeling that looking at old CNN coined this feeling of yearbooks provide. Whether desire to reconnect to an old Disney’s “The Lion King,” story when stating that “nosor 20th Century Fox’s “Star talgia [won] again,” when the Wars,” certain stories reso- movie poured in $29.3 milnate with people deeply and lion, beating movies such as stay with them forever.

“The Help” and “Contagion” Producer, Don Hahn, during its first weekend. So, spoke excitedly of the tech- it’s no surprise that Disney nologic advances appearing decided to bring back another in Disney’s 2011 release of classic movie this January, as “The Lion King 3D,” saying “Beauty and the Beast 3D,”

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Emily Nordquist

hit theaters with a goal of “[intensifying] viewers’ emotional responses,” through the newly enhanced 3D technologies. Students like junior Marie Siliciano, although not seeing the movie in theaters, said that they would be “interested in revisiting the familiar princess story” and renting the movie that can now be taken home on DVD and Blu-Ray. Three other revamped movies to look out for are “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,” releasing this February, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” hitting theaters March 2, and “Mirror Mirror,” coming out on March 30. It appears as though this coming spring really will bring new life to the theaters.

Emily Nordquist

Contributor

Disney first presented “Beauty and the Beast,” a story of love and adventure adapted from a French tale written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont in 1991.

Catching the attention of millions across America, this film quickly became known as a Disney classic and entered the pool of well known and adored children movies alongside “Cinderella” and “Snow White.” Now, over 20 years later, Disney advertises for “a new vision of a tale as old as time.”

The movie’s production notes read that the goal of the movie was to “dimensionalize the film to intensify the viewer’s emotional responses.” However, many question the truth in this statement, as avid film watchers like junior Serena Hodges think that “Disney just wants to make money off of kids wanting to relive their childhoods,” and wish that “new technologies in filmmaking, like 3D, would be used to reflect today’s society and steer away from retelling the same stories that actually portray questionable gender and race stereotypes.” Although she did enjoy the lightheartedness of Disney’s 2009 “Princess and the Frog,” one of the few Disney movies that features an Afri-

can American princess, “I would have preferred to watch a Disney movie that actually focused on race or societal issues rather than just watching Disney attempt to portray black Louisiana in a nonoffensive way,” Hodges said. Others, such as junior William Brower, a dedicated member of Film Club, would like to see “film move in a direction that reflects the way our generation wants future generations to perceive the world.”

Although questions regarding the actual creativity and morality of messages portrayed in renovated Disney movies arise, the need for a relaxing and comforting film remains necessary once in a while. Junior Mara Walli said that, “sometimes I just need to sit back and watch a cute princess story to escape stress and other worries.”

So, for those of you with Netflix needing to step back into the days of no homework and standardized testing, snuggle up for night of “Beauty and the Beast,” or “The Little Mermaid.” With all of the up close and personal 3D special effects, perhaps this movie will literally put you back into your childhood days. Yet, for those that find the “timeless tale” a misinformed take on society perhaps a night of “Family Guy,” will serve you well, as the characters joke about and comment on the funny, but sometimes corrupt aspects of life.

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

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

S t

u d e n t s j o i n The game’s path to booming popularity r h e W o r d s F w i t h Playing Scrabble in an electronic fashion r f r e n z y i e n d s

Rachel Kinney

Words with Friends can be played on iPhones/iPads, Facebook or Android phones. It Managing Editor is different from Scrabble because of the elecOnline Editor-in-Chief tronic platform it has. On Words with Friends, you can play multiple games at once with different friends and can even send them messages, to trash-talk or encourage, during the game. Senior Margaret Merrill usually has four or five games going at once. “I like that I’m playing with people that I know, instead of the computer,” she said.

Photo Credit: Nick Scott

Junior Julian D’Rozario plays Words with Friends on his iPhone, starting with I in the center and forming words off of it. The app can be downloaded for free.

Newtoy, Inc. created Words with Friends in August 2008, basing it on the board game Scrabble. Zynga, a social network game developing company known for creating FarmVille, acquired Words with Friends in 2010 from Newtoy, Inc. By the end of that year, more than two million people played the game daily. The game began in an iPhone format and has since expanded to include iPads, Android phones and, most recently, Facebook in August 2011.

Words with Friends is essentially Scrabble in electronic form. It is begun in the same way: players each get dealt seven letter tiles, the first player must play a word on the board that has one letter tile on the central star, and then every succeeding word must share a letter with a word already on the board. You can create more than one new word at a time if they are formed simultaneously using existing letters, but every word that is created during your turn must be real. For example, if the word ENDING has already been played vertically, you can create three new (small) words by playing TO vertically next to the E and N, thus creating not only TO but also ET and NO. This brings us to the next rule: words must be in the Words with Friends dictionary. This dictionary is a bit different from the Scrabble official dictionary, so avid Scrabble players might get angry when one of the strange words they’ve memorized for Scrabble doesn’t count on their iPhone game. “I like Words with Friends better because it’s actually structured, whereas in Scrabble people make up words,” freshman Jesus Vega said. Words that never count include proper nouns and words that require apostrophes. Some players use online word creators in which they plug in letters and receive words they could make, but others believe that’s cheating. While Merrill thinks it’s okay for people to use them, “I think it’s more fun to come up with words on my own,” she said.

The board has various tiles with special benefits. For example, DL will double the scoring of whatever letter is played on that tile, but not if a word you play includes a letter on a special tile that was first placed on a previous turn. When calculating your score for a turn, you do count the scoring of every letter, even those that you are building on, just not any extra double letter scores or any other special scoring. These points add up fast, to the delight of players including Vega: “One time I made a word and it was 120 points, but it was only four letters,” he said.

If you happen to get lucky and use all seven tiles you have been dealt in one turn, you gain an extra 35 points. If you need better letters, you can trade in however many you want for new letters. This would be your whole turn. Words with Friends ends when one player has no remaining tiles in their hand, and there are no more left to draw from either. The player who does have tiles remaining must subtract the letter scores from their total score and add them to the player who went out’s score. Then, whoever has the most points wins.

Five sophomores write for the DNA Day Essay Contest Ellie Fuelling

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Feature Editor

Many students would cringe at the idea of writing a scientific research paper in their free time, but a select few sophomores in Honors Biology gladly took the opportunity to write for this year’s DNA Day, an international essay contest hosted by the American Society of Human Genetics.

Sophomores are given the option to write a short, scientific essay on a genetics topic. Last year, junior Aditi Kulkarni won an honorable mention for her writing on Neanderthal genes found in human DNA. This year the essay contest is once again being offered by Upper School Biology teacher Tina Barsky. “Our students in general here are good writers, so this allows them to combine interest in genetics with their good writing skills,” Barsky said.

Barsky is allowed to submit six essays and so far sophomores Charlotte Hughes, Vittorio Orlandi, Cynthia Zheng, Kristen Datta and Lucy Li are interested.

“I wanted to do the DNA Day essay because of the experience,”

sophomore Charlotte Hughes said. “I have never really written a scientific analytical paper before and I liked the idea of a contest devoted just to that.”

The topic this year corresponds exactly with the Biology curriculum. “We’re right in the midst of our molecular biology unit which has to do with how genes are expressed,” Barsky said, “so it’s right in our curriculum.”

Hughes is interested in gene regulation and described it as, “a step beyond just DNA, but also how it makes humans, who we are.” Hughes is specifically interested in how the environment can effect gene regulation, which is the focus of her essay.

Every year Barsky has students in Honors Biology participate in a gene technology project that includes looking at advances in gene therapy and gene transfer.

“This year the essay topic coordinated so well with what we’re doing in class that those students who are interested in entering the contest are going to be able to use the topic they did for their project and take pieces of that and rework it into the essay,” Barsky said.

After presenting their DNA project posters in front of their

Photo Credit: Lucy Li

Sophomores Charlotte Hughes, Vittorio Orlandi, Cynthia Zheng, Kristen Datta and Lucy Li (not pictured) write for the DNA Day Essay. “I wanted to do the DNA Day essay because of the experience,” Hughes said.

classmates, they can take some of that information and craft it into an essay. “It really works well for them because they can do research in one topic area and do a class project but also get information that they can use in their essay,” Barsky said.

According to the ASHG website, “In the last 20 years, genomic research has uncovered many new types of gene regulation that earlier researchers would never have imagined.” This is the idea that the essay question is based on, and students need to explain

how these processes are important to early development, normal cell function or abnormal cell function.

Barsky is confident in the writing abilities of her students but she also knows it’s a lot of work.

“You have to write in a very tight, scientific style. Students who write the essay are expected to go out and to do a literature search and to read a scholarly journal on the topic,” Barsky said.

Prizes start at $100 for honorable mention winners and go all the way up to $1,000 for the

first prize winner. Teachers also get prizes: first, second, and third places receive money for classroom laboratory genetics research. “Even if I do not receive a place or an honorable mention, I still will have the experience and can say that I know how to structure and write a scientific paper,” Hughes said.

After Kulkarni’s honorable mention in last year’s contest, Barsky is excited for this year.

“We’re off to a good start,” she said.

I n - D e p t h 13 Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

To be the very best!

Pokémon catches attention among students once again The power that’s inside Rebecca Xu

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Editor-in-Chief

It began as a hobby. As a child, Satoshi Tajiri had a fondness for catching and collecting insects and tadpoles. Then it sprouted into an idea. Over time, Taijiri developed his idea of catching creatures so that he could share his joy with children all over the world. Now, it’s a world sensation. And so, the world of Pokémon was unleashed.

Although geared towards children, Pokémon has a different type of audience at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. For the past few months, upperclassmen have become engrossed with, if not completely absorbed into, the world of Pokémon. Surprisingly, juniors’ and seniors’ merchandise of choice is not the newly released Pokémon Black and White games, but Pokémon FireRed, a remake of the original Pokémon Red video game. “Teenage boys are bored with school and it’s easily accessible. You can get it straight off the Internet,” senior Zoe Gantman said.

Pokémon, short for Pocket Monsters, is a video game, anime, manga and card game created by Japanese video game designer Satoshi Tajiri. It revolves around the concept of catching, training and battling creatures called Pokémon. However, that’s easier said than done. There are currently 649 different Pokémon, classified into 17 types. It takes a lot of time to properly catch and train Pokémon, which is the thrill and purpose of the Pokémon

journey.

“Pokémon is so popular because there’s so much complexity to it.

You can never really complete the game. There’s so many different Pokémon and so many different things to do,” sophomore Michael Wilkens said.

The resurgence of this popular 1990s game brings back nostalgia with both the game and anime alike. Pokémon owes its international success to the anime series, which is dubbed and released in 74 countries. The Pokémon anime currently has 732 main episodes and 15 movies all centered around one trainer: Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town.

On his tenth birthday, Ash went to Professor Oak’s laboratory to receive his starter (first) Pokémon. Like most beginning trainers, Ash was supposed to have left Pallet Town with either the fire lizard Charmander, water turtle Squirtle or grass dinosaur Bulbasaur. However, because he overslept, Ash was left with the stubborn electric mouse Pikachu. Ash quickly befriended Pikachu and began his long-awaited Pokémon journey. On their way, Ash and Pikachu meet numerous exciting people and creatures and uncover the many mysteries of the Pokémon world.

Like Ash, many SPA students also aspire to be great Pokémon trainers. With each new video game released, their quest continues because they “gotta catch em’ all.”

Gotta catch ‘em all

- 14 Billion Pokémon trading cards have been sold in over 40 countries since their release - The Pokémon franchise has made 25.7 Billion dollars in its lifetime - Half of Nintendo’s Pokémon profits come from Japan alone

Andy Monserud

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Photo Credit: Nick Scott

News Editor

Nintendo has been publishing Pokémon games in the U.S. since 1998. What gives these creatures such staying power, whether in the television series, the trading card game, the endless knick-knacks, or the best-selling games? And what is the cause of their new popularity among St. Paul Academy and Summit School students?

Junior Sophia Myers-Kelley, who plays Pokémon at least once a week, said the appeal of the video-game creatures is twofold.

“They haven’t screwed with the story too much,” she said, so the nostalgia factor is still strong, “and you can choose if you want to get the cute Pokémon, if you want to get the strongest Pokémon...that makes the game unique for each person.”

Some fanatics take Pokémon to a whole new level with international competition. Junior Cameron Murray is one such enthusiast. He competed and placed within the top 10 in a worldwide competition which he played in via the wireless Internet on his Nintendo DS. “Pokémon is the greatest game on the face of the planet,” Murray said, adding that he also enjoyed being able to compete with other players across the globe.

Not everyone is happy about the resurgence

of the cute, powerful and extremely addicting creatures. Senior Lauren French is particularly irked by the enthusiasm of some players. “I think it’s annoying when people scream names in my ear that I don’t know,” she said.

“Like Mewtwo. What is Mewtwo?”

The Pokémon craze isn’t restricted to the video games. Pokémon are also featured in a myriad of other products, including a hit television show, several movies and thousands of toys. “Pokémon has all these good movies and childhood memories that stick with everyone,” Myers-Kelley said.

Junior Ian Rolf is deeply involved in Pokémon, but not just because of nostalgia. He’s been playing for over a decade, and now he’s creating his own Pokémon video game using RPGbuilding software. Though it’s taking some time because he’s still not entirely used to programming on the enormous scale typical of Pokémon games, he says that he’s learning as he goes. He hopes to get a small demo out

by March, which will be “nothing expansive, just a trial thing to see what people think.” He plans for the trial to include a story and map up to the first gym, but is still looking for a writer for the grander scheme of the story.

All this points to the fact that Pokémon is here to stay. Even if Nintendo stops making games, the fandom lives in everyone who has ever watched, caught or collected their favorite fictional mosters.

Illustrations Credit: Alicia Little

Who’s that PoKéMoN? Sharpedo

Piplup

Jeron Mariani, junior,

“He’s a tank of a water Pokémon who can also learn dark moves that are really powerful, so he can take out anyone.”

Eevee Zoe Gantman, senior,

“It’s so cute! It reminds me of my puppy.

It’s awesome because it can evolve into five different things.”

Eva Perez-Greene, freshman,

“He’s the cutest Pokémon you could possibly ever see, he’s so adorable!”

Snorlax Muk Adam Lurie, senior,

“What’s there not to love? He’s a huge Pokémon, and he has two jobs in life: blocking paths and sleeping. Those are awesome!”

Phillip Swanson, sophomore,

“I can get a level 100 Muk easily and beat the elite four [trainers] in 10 seconds.”

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

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

Bravo Shows bring fashion home

The fashion industry continues its forays into mainstream and commercial pop Op/Ed Editor culture via the commercialization and superstar development of models and ventures into the music industry. Yet no offshoot of the fashion industry has captivated audiences as much as television shows. The drama, mystique and pure aesthetic beauty that people gain from these shows offers a unique experience that no other industry can replicate. This winter and spring, fashion-related television have experienced changing trend, from the super-hit produced reality competition shows such as Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model to shows that look intrusively into the day-to-day and client-to-client lives of fashion industry leaders. Either way, television viewers interest in the past years, and, this year, it’s reached its cultural peak.

Ibad Jafri

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Lifetime

VOGUE Liz Rossman

A&E Editor

Remodeled

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It’s the Kitchen Nightmares of the fashion world, but instead of Gordon Ramsey, Remodeled features Paul Fisher, the down-to-business, swearing-machine,worldrenowned modeling agent for the likes of Naomi Campbell and Stephanie Seymour. All rolled into one forty-five minute television frenzy, Remodeled follows Fisher and his team of modeling agents and assistants as they travel across America fixing chaotic modeling agencies while finding new models to send to Fashion Week. Another reason to watch? Fisher and his team travel to Minnesota in the premiere episode to help the financially struggling Minneapolis agent Brita Jackson.

The Fashion Fund

Welcome to the wonderful world of reality...actual reality.

The Fashion Fund is the what any major network would like to sink their big-commercial hands into. The show takes The Fashion Fund, a internationally renowned competition hosted by CFDA /Vogue, and makes it television. The CFDA and Vogue, in association with Break Thru Films, launched the documentary series inside the highly-successful The Fashion Fund.

The Fashion Fund follows the six-month competition of contestants, including fashion and jewelery designers Pamela Love, Altuzarra and Suno, as they compete and design their way to a mentorship and $100,000.

America’s Next Top Model The success of Tyra Banks knows no boundaries. America has known that for years, but Banks broke new ground when she created America’s Next Top Model in 2003. The show features 10-14 model contestants and has inspired numerous spin-offs, including America’s Next Top Model: Allstars and a clothing partnership with Walmart. This season, Ameria’s Next Top Model: British Invasion, heats up the competition as American and British models face off to win the “top model” prize.

“I stopped watching it because listening to the models sometimes [made me] want to tell them [to calm down].

You have to have a really entertaining person, and if you don’t have that funny model who’s making fun of everything and pointing out how ridiculous it is you think, ‘Why am I watching this?’” Claire Flom-Staab said.

Junior Cam Murray echoed this sentiment. “This show is literally about absolutely nothing,” Murray said of what he finds to be a “superficial” production.

Yet in spite of whatever flaws may exist in ANTM, Tyra seems intent on moving forward as glamorously as possible. In fact, fresh off of obtaining a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, it seems that her business model can continue to be profitable, now more than ever.

All photos used with permission Bravo TV

Any fashion addicts interest will be piqued at the mention of Lifetime TV’s Project Runway. Since 2004, supermodel Heidi Klum has dazzled audiences as the host of this reality show which sees 12 or more fashion designers competing to design a new garmet presented in a runway show each episode, hoping to escape elimination. The show, the most successful “fashion” show on television, has already inspired spinoff’s including Project Runway Allstars, video games, and shows in over 15 different languages. “I’ve liked it because I love watching the designers come up with their original designs,” junior Claire FlomStaab said. “It’s super fun to see them intense and struggling and Project Runway it makes you feel like you’re doing things even when you’re all alone on the couch doing absolutely nothing productive.”

The Rachel Zoe Project

Although it does not conjure the same name recognition as ANTM or Project Runway, Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project has become a television heavyweight in its own right. The Rachel Zoe Project revolves around Zoe’s daily life as she attempts to juggle her private and professional lives while running her business, which has continued to expand as a result of the publicity surrounding the show. Like any well-known television program, TRZP has its own “I die”-hard fans.

It’s a Brad Brad World After all of the success seen by The Rachel Zoe Project, it was inevitable that a spin-off series would have to be produced at some point. That spinoff comes in the form of Bravo’s reality show It’s a Brad Brad World, in which Brad Goreski, former Style Director for Rachel Zoe, Inc., attempts to grow the business that he started after parting ways with Zoe.

M u s i c S c e n e 15 Feb./Mar. 2012. Vol XXXIX. Issue V.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

IS PIRACY STEALING?

Allison Wang

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Cover Story Editor

Is downloading music really infringing copyright laws? Is it plagiarism or is it just downloading a free copy for your enjoyment, an illegal but innocent gesture with no intent of harm? And if pirating music is morally okay, should music become free for all listeners? Are consumers and music listeners entitled to free music, just like free news articles or free YouTube videos? A new generation of listeners are beginning to challenge conventional answers to these questions.

To cut to the chase: only 37% of music consumed in 2009 was paid for, according to the NDP Group, a leading market research company.

This influx of music piracy has contributed to a decline in music sales. According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), after Napster’s emergence as a major site for peer-to-peer file-sharing in the late 90s, music sales have dropped 53 percent. From 2004 to 2009 alone, approximately thirty billion songs have been illegally downloaded, according to the RIAA. So when do burning, ripping and downloading music cross the legal line?

Legally, it is only permissible to make a copy of a protected recording for personal use. The U.S. Copyright Act states, “No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on... non-commercial use by a consumer.” If a user is making a copy of a CD for their own personal use, that is considered legal. However, as soon as the user burns a recording for the purpose of gift, sale, or lending, the recording is no longer considered “personal use” and selling the recording would be considered “commercial use.”

But what does personal mean today, anyway? Right now, almost any music can be streamed for free without any legal repercussions, whether it be through Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube.

When it comes to personal ownership of the music, the waters become a little murky.

Some artists and consumers believe that all music should be free. Famed indie band Radiohead created a pay-what-you-want system for their 2007 album In Rainbows. By doing so, Radiohead generated a larger fan base, more apt to buy their other albums or attend one of their concerts. Artists like The Weekend and Das Racist have generated considerable buzz with free online mix tapes and made a living off live performances. Relying on free music means that instead of generating their revenue from music sales, artists will have to rely on live concerts to make money.

Many students are sympathetic to music piracy. For example, senior Joe Klein believes that even though music piracy is illegal, the users have no intent of harming the industry. They just want the music at a cheaper cost. “Piracy is different from theft. If I take your car and it’s not there in the morning, that’s theft. Piracy would be me taking a copy of your car and leaving so you still have your car in the morning,” Klein said.

On the other hand, many con-

sumers and artists want to maintain the intellectual integrity of an artist’s work. They were the ones who created the music and therefore, consumers should respect copyright laws like they do for books. But the biggest opponents to music piracy are ones who have the most to lose: the giants of the music industry.

The advent of piracy and its rampant popularity is magnified by the power the music industry holds over listeners. So extensive is the oligopoly’s control that, according to CNN, 80% of the U.S. market is dominated by the “Big Four” music labels: Sony, EMI, Warner, and Universal.

This corporate control prevents recording-industry competitors from entering the market. Copyrighted music allows only one firm to profit from sales, and only the media giants who are able to compete for air time on the radio prosper, while independent recording companies are pushed to the side or sucked up in mergers.

This dominance means that “a lot of the money you’re paying for albums is going to the provider rather than the artist,” sophomore Michael Wilkens said. He believes that artists don’t get as much recognition as they should be getting.

Companies like Apple, Microsoft and Sony use digital rights management (DRM) to limit music sharing between users.

DRM technology inhibits usage of copyrighted content after sale.

Advocates believe that it helps protect copyright laws and prevent piracy. For these industry giants, piracy resembles a moneysucking machine, taking away revenue from should-have-been sales, but the problem is much more complex than that with free streaming, free samples and free burning.

So what does this mean for the music industry? With the changing music atmosphere and attitude towards a monopolistic market, the music industry will have to adapt to the changing climate.

That means generating a strategy that works in a synergistic manner with piracy. Piracy can be a positive by expanding fan bases, especially with social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Free music also can act like an advertisement for artists, drawing in more listeners and fans to their concerts.

Generating a culture of piracy acceptance and working with the advertisement industry to generate a profitable source of income are both ways to open up the music industry. Listening to consumers and creating a market of free flowing prices for music may be a way to generate more income, which can help determine the equilibrium price at which consumers are willing to pay for music. According to Victor Keegan, a technology writer for The Guardian, “The future lies in capitalizing on the whole musical experience.”

Some elements of this new system are already afoot. DRMfree digital music stores like eMusic and Amazon MP3 are competing with iTunes. Applications like Spotify and Pandora allow users to stream music by either paying or having to listen to a few ads. And social networks like Songkick and Last.fm let people recommend songs to friends and show them where to stream them.

1991>>

Grand Upright Music v. Warner Brothers Records ruled that Biz Markie’s use of samples infringed on copyright laws. Samples from there on had to be cleared.

1993>> The Motion Picture Experts Group invents the MP3 file.

1996>>

DJ Shadow releases the first all-samples record, Endtroducing.

1999>> In A&M Records

v. Napster, a District Court ruled that Napster was responsible for the copyright infringement on its site.

Napster goes bankrupt.

2001>>

The iTunes Store revolutionizes the sale of digital music files.

2003>>

The RIAA cracks down on piracy with 261 prosecutions of individuals.

2004>> Musician Dan-

ger Mouse releases the free mix tape The Grey Album, which mashed up The Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album.

EMI Records was unable to stop its release.

2012>>

SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA draw major protests; Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.

Content on new Fray album sounds frayed Lucy Li

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Sci/Tech Editor

The Fray is disappointing. It’s a shame, really. They sound boring—their main instrument alternates between the piano and drums—but they have such excellent lyrics and themes behind their music.

Best known for singles “You Found Me” and “How to Save a Life,” The Fray released their third album, Scars and Stories, on Feb. 7, 2012. Brendan O’Brien, who had previously worked with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, produced the album. In Scars and Stories, The Fray’s usual melan-

choly tone amplifies to an aggressive level as they explore the stories behind the scars that the band mates share.

Like in previous albums, the Fray’s songs fit in two categories: the slow, sorrowful piano ballads and the fast paced, drum rock beats with some guitar added in.

Of the two, their ballads are stronger, which have clearer melody and direction. The faster-paced songs all sound so much alike that after awhile, listeners may fumble to remember which one is which without recognizing the lyrics.

However, the album has some good moments. The quiet phonelike trill and the rhythm of guitar behind the drums in “Rainy Zurich” successfully conjure the idea

Cover Image: The Fray

of someone dancing in a downpour in loneliness.

The Fray is characterized by not only the lead singer Isaac Slade’s shiny bald head but also his dragging, pain-ridden voice. The great question this album raises is: Can he only sing with the lyrics hang-

ing on him like a wet rug or did he intend to smear all of the worlds into one phrase to keep his listeners guessing? His falsetto is okay, although it sounds strangely similar to Coldplay’s Chris Martin’s.

When it comes to the lyrics, Scars and Stories leans toward gloomy topics, such as the prison cell mentioned in the song “I Can Barely Say,” the constant loneliness felt in “The Fighter,” and the broken brothers in “1961.” Luckily, The Fray isn’t always down in the dumps. They show a brighter side to such as in “Turn Me On” and “Heartbeat,” which has lyrics relating to love that line up with much of today’s mainstream pop. However, even as they lean toward emo lyrics, some of The

Fray’s messages in their music still end up being better than their sound. For example, The Fray uses a creative sibling metaphor of East and West Germany during the Cold War in “1951.”

Overall, their music grows repetitive. The Fray should evolve and change more between albums, since this album sounds too much like their previous ones.

They aren’t revolutionary in the music industry and don’t leave their comfort zone. Perhaps in their next album, their scars would heal with a more joyful edge, and they could try experimenting with more instruments and rhythms to mix things up a bit.

Monopoly

Life

Risk Chinese Checkers

Trouble

The old-fashioned way

Mancala

History of the World

Checkers

Gaming

With March and April showers, many of us may be stuck indoors. But don’t just stare at your computer screen all day—below are some board games to keep you interacting with your friends the old-fashioned way.

Candyland

Every seventh period on Friday, seniors Rebecca Xu, Noah Mische, Amelia Parker, Ella Coon and Rachel Yost-Dubrow play History of the World with Upper School History teachers Tom Fones and Ben Danielson. “You learn what civilizations existed where and during what period of time,” Mische said.

In this game, players travel through seven epochs. Each epoch has seven empires. Players score points based on the amount of expansion and cities their empire(s) have.

Players are represented by a certain color of tiny tokens shaped like people with different types of weapons. “I have no strategy in this game whatsoever other than just place and attack,” Yost-Dubrow said.

Photo Credit: Lucy Li

Seniors Rachel Yost-Dubrow, Ella Coon, Amelia Parker, Rebecca Xu and Noah Mische play History of the World with History teachers Tom Fones and Ben Danielson. “This game is all presence,” Yost-Dubrow said.

Chutes and Ladders Mouse Trap

Strategizing with royalty

Earning the big bucks

Chess originated 1,500 years ago from India, and its popularity remains today. The rules, although not as straightforward as other games, are easy to learn. “I like it because it’s a strategic game. It requires planning and it’s constantly challenging,” sophomore Nate Truman said.

The goal is to put the king in checkmate—that is, in a position where the one player can capture the other player’s king and the king can’t do anything to avoid it. Pieces capture and move based on their identity. Kings can only move one space in any direction, while the queen can go in any direction as she wants as long as there is nothing in her way. The rook can move up and down and side to side, while the bishop moves diagonally. Knights can only move in an L shape and the lowest rank, pawns, can only move forward one space, but can capture anything on the diagonal spaces in front of it.

Even though chess seems like a boring game, it can get the gears of the imagination running, especially for sophomore Sam Carlson. “The queen was the beast of the field,” Carlson said, applying his childhood passion for army men, “and the pawns were like drones that you throw in. Then, they get blown up so you can actually get your real guys in to blow up the rest of the field.”

Maybe you aren’t the business type, but you can at least pretend to be one while playing Monopoly.

“Making money is really fun,” Carlson said. “Making the most money is even better. It’s a great feeling to be rich.” A classic since 1904, Monopoly requires players to roll a dice and move clockwise around the spaces on the edges of the board, buying “properties” as they go along. If a player lands on property already owned, he or she has to pay “rent.” Landing on a Community Chest or Chance space means the player must draw one of those cards, which can result in gaining or losing money. Just don’t end up in jail—players have to roll doubles or pay a fine to get out.

This game has even shown up in some of SPA’s classes. For example, the Upper School French 31 classes once played the French edition of Monopoly.

Sorry

Follow us @TheRubiconSPA on Twitter

Scrabble

Sci/Tech Editor

Last Word

Chess

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Apples to Apples

Lucy Li

Yahtzee

Take over the world in seven epochs

Front Cover Design: Dani Andrusko Back Cover Design: Rebecca Xu All icons used with permission from gettyimages

Backgammon

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