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The Rubicon student news Volume 47. Issue 3. November 23, 2020 www.rubiconline.com
306 JOE BIDEN
232 DONALD TRUMP
270 to win
Biden-Harris wins battle for White House Students anticipate changes with new administration BELIEVE “IBIDEN IS SALAH ABDULKARIM THE RUBICON
Many problems plague the United States today, which is why the recent election created particularly high-tensions throughout the country. The race was not called until Nov. 7, five days after the count began. Due to many different concerns around the validity of ballots, counting was halted in some states and re-counted in others, making the process take longer than in previous election years. On Nov. 7, Joe Biden was announced as the official presidential elect for the 2020 election, making him the 46th president of the U.S. Since President Trump and President-elect Biden have many opposing viewpoints, much will change when Biden takes office. As seen in the debates, Biden intends to increase taxes for individuals with an annual income of $400,000+ and also plans to increase corporate income tax. Biden’s tax plan is just one of many changes that are expected to come as he takes over at the beginning of next year.
HEALTH CARE One major topic at hand is the pandemic and healthcare. With Biden’s presidency, changes will be made as to how both are handled by the government.
CLOSE TO THE MIDDLE ENOUGH TO KEEP THE CURRENT STRUCTURE OF HEALTHCARE. Ivan Starchook
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“The Trump Administration did a very poor job of handling COVID, they basically didn’t do anything and it’s coming back to bite them. Biden has already appointed a COVID-19 task force with a lot of very prominent scientists and infectious disease experts, so that’ll be very good,” junior Jack Hlavka said. “I believe that Obamacare works and that pushing it further to a Medicare for all program isn’t efficient or effective. I believe Biden is close to the middle enough to keep the current structure of healthcare as it is without pushing it further from the center,” senior Ivan Starchook said.
RACIAL JUSTICE An increasingly prevalent issue in the political and social justice climate is police brutality towards African-Amer-
SEASONAL DEPRESSION Feeling down because of the pandemic and the cold? You’re not alone, and there are ways to fight these feelings.
HEALTH pg. 7
IN THIS ISSUE:
ican people. After people flooded the streets of Minneapolis and other cities nationwide to protest the brutality that led to the death of George Floyd, Trump tweeted out, calling the protesters “thugs.” Later, during the first presidential debate, Trump refused to condemn white supremacy when asked directly if he would. “I share some similar viewpoints with Biden, for example, fighting for racial equality and basic human rights everyone is entitled to...I just don’t think Trump is a very thoughtful president, he doesn’t seem to care for equality and that’s what America stands for,” junior Katherine Bragg said.
CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change has been a global issue that continues to grow exponentially on a daily basis. “Biden is going to go back to the Paris Climate Accord, which I think is really important...Without it, there’s no chance the U.S. will have any sort of cohesive climate response until it is too late, it might already be too late. Even with the Paris Climate Accord there’s still a lot of work to be done, because it’s not enough. I don’t think Biden is necessarily the best candidate to deal with the climate. He’s not willing to commit to truly progressive climate
policies like banning fracking, and even that on its own is not enough, it’s just a first step,” Hlavka said.
COMPLEX VIEWS It is by no means possible for one candidate to please everyone, or for one candidate to fully align with one’s views; each candidate has their pros and cons in the eyes of every U.S. civilian “A pro for Trump, or rather what he did during his presidency: he appointed conservative justices, cut regulations, and lowered taxes. I believe those are all important. A con for Biden is his age, he’s clearly up there and it’s uncertain where his health will go within the next f o u r y e a r s ,”
Starchook said.
RESULTS
The nationwide election was close, ending with Biden taking the lead with 51% of the votes and 306 electoral votes as of Nov. 20 according to the Associated Press. SPA’s mock election, on the other hand, was heavily in favor of Biden, who had a total of 294 votes, followed by Kanye West with 36 votes, and Trump with 13. The examination of all candidates continues to be prevalent throughout the SPA community and the entire nation.
Eventful campaigns and ballot counting that lasted days made for an election unlike any other. Follow the events as they happened with the Election 2020 timeline at
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Photo taken from @joebiden on Instagram PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT ELECTS. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win the presidential election race with 306 electoral votes.
EVERYONE HAS A STORY
WHAT IS COLOR’S EFFECT?
Dive into the unique stories and experiences that make up the student body.
Different colors can evoke different emotions and memories. So, do we have a deeper psychological connection to color?
FEATURE pg. 10-11
1-3 - News I 4-6 Opinion I 7 - Health I 8-9 - In Depth I 10-11 - Feature I 12-13 - A&E I 14-15 - Sports I 16 - Good Question
GQ pg. 16
@TheRubiconSPA
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NEWS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Homeless population struggles in cold ADRIENNE GAYLORD THE RUBICON
Minnesota winters are known for their cold, snowy, brutality which is especially serious for people forced to face the chilly harshness head on without a warm bed to sleep in. The nearly 10,000 homeless people in the Twin Cities have already been struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, and as winter creeps around the corner new challenges creep too. “It’s harder to be homeless in the winter as obviously it is cold and therefore shelter becomes a large issue,” senior Tobi Polley said. Over the summer many new homeless encampments popped up around the cities. Parks such as Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Powderhorn have been settled by tents. As of now, the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board has acknowledged and permitted the encampments at Franklin Steele Park, Minnehaha Park, Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Park, and The Mall. The Board has been providing portable restrooms, hand washing stations, trash containers, and maintenance to those facilities at the listed sites, yet hundreds of people are still living outside or in tents all across the cities without access to basic amenities. In response to COVID-19, Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order protecting the encampments from sweeps and disbandment. Along with this executive order, Hennepin County has been taking action to secure more temporary and permanent housing for homeless individuals and families. More than 600 hotel rooms were contracted by Hennepin County, including rooms dedicated to people experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, for the homeless population. There has also been work to expand shelter capacities and provide hygiene stations around the cities. Yet along with the actions the MPRB has done to aid the home-
less population they have also made rules and restrictions that make their lives harder. “All of the empty schools, gyms, and college housing could be converted into temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness. Instead, the city has evicted encampment residents without notice and displacing citizens,” junior Ellie Murphy said. In MLK park the MPRB put up a notice informing the population they can’t burn fires or use their propane tanks. The city has been going after them for indoor fire safe heat generators and for religious ceremonial fires burned to honor a friend or family member’s passing. “They may call these encampments, but we’re a community,” a person living in the community in MLK park said. She said the homeless people have a union, and that they are working together across camps to help themselves in ways others won’t. The neighborhoods the encampments reside within haven’t been accepting
THE RUBICON PHOTO: Adrienne Gaylord HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT. Tents are set up in homeless encampments in the Twin Cities as the homeless population feels the effects of both the pandemic and the upcoming winter season. and the encampments receive violence and disrespect. Just the night before, a car of people knocked their trash bin into the street and caused a car accident. A woman emphasized that not only does it make a mess and endanger people, but the people in the surrounding neighborhood think that it was the people living at the encampment who caused the ruckus. With winter approaching, measures would need to be taken fast to care for the health and safety of homeless people. By the end of 2020 Minneapolis plans to have invested $55 million into new shelters and housing in preparation for winter. Some of these shelters
have already opened such as Maya Commons, some plan to open in December and some haven’t even started construction. These measures will be helpful, yet thousands will still be sleeping outside. That’s why communities and individuals find it important to provide donations such as coats, socks, blankets, undergarments, and hygiene products, and to volunteer to provide services for shelters and encampments. People at the MLK encampment emphasized a need for water, liquids, and non-perishable food that’s not in a can, such as chips or easy open tuna. They don’t have a can opener so canned food is difficult,
and even if they get it open they’re not allowed to make a fire or use a microwave to heat it up. But they are still incredibly grateful for all of the help and donations people have provided. They truly appreciate genuine respect and kindness. “People should do whatever they can to help the homeless population, so donate old clothes and plenty of food and water,” senior Ian Matenaer said. The Twin Cities homeless population has been handed continuous challenges as this year has gone on, and in the coming months the cold prepares to provide even more.
points out, COVID-19 is also generating increased need for local news organizations even as it becomes their undoing. “In today’s world, knowing what is happening in your own community with COVID-19 is very important,” Lutgen said. Communities that lose their local newspapers see real changes. Voter turnout goes down and misconduct from corporations and government officials goes up, according to a report by Pen America. But City Pages, with its focus on arts and entertainment, exposed more than political scandals. They also exposed local culture in a way that bigger newspapers don’t. “I know that a lot of restaurants and artists usually get their first bit of press from City Pages,” said Jones. “Without a local paper to that batch, for people who don’t have an audience yet, you’re just relying on who already has eyes and ears to set the tone and get their stuff out there. It makes popular culture less democratic that way.” Sophomore William
Moran, like many young people, doesn’t get his news from local sources, but understands the significance of the issue. “You’re pretty lucky to have a local newspaper in your city if you do have one,” he said. While the business model of a free, ad-supported, non-daily newspaper is falling out of favor, journalism isn’t; TV news is thriving, although increasingly conglomerated. The Villager’s website claims that they’ve already gotten “thousands” of subscriptions. Southwest Journal organized a successful fundraising drive over the summer, demonstrating the willingness of readers to pay when they know the local news they rely on is in danger of shutting down. Jones sees a place for government action in subsidizing local news. “We definitely have to find some source of funding, via government or taxes or whatever, that can keep journalists employed and doing what they need to do to keep everybody informed,” she said.
WAYS TO SUPPORT LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
Local newspapers go under during pandemic READ ALL ABOUT IT
-13% newspaper ad revenue in 2017 vs 2018
-8%
newspaper circulation 2017 vs 2018
INFOGRAPHIC: Maren Ostrem A Pew Research Center analysis demonstrated a sharp decline in ad revenue and circulation of newspapers from 2017 to 2018. COLIN WILL
THE RUBICON
A few years ago, Twin Cities-based investigative reporter Susan Du was asked how long she would stay at the local free weekly newspaper City Pages. She said she would “go down with the ship.” On Oct. 28, the ship went down. The Star Tribune-owned publication, which covered local news, food, and entertainment with humor, passion, and a touch of emotion for 40 years, is no longer in print due to financial constraints. On Oct. 29, a headline on their website
declared solemnly, “City Pages is dead.” Hannah Jones, a former news blogger for the City Pages website, was one of those most immediately impacted by the decision to close. “I went from getting ready to do blogs, trying to figure out what I was going to do first, to having a 10 a.m. meeting, and then realizing I would never do another blog for City Pages ever again,” Jones recalled. City Pages is not the only local newspaper that shut its doors in the fall of 2020. The Southwest Journal, which
provided a variety of coverage including vital voting guides for often undiscussed races such as school board elections, announced less than two weeks earlier that they would close at the end of the year. St. Paul’s Villager, founded in 1953 as the Highland Villager, recently announced that they would be offering a paid subscription rather than subsisting purely on advertising (which included annual ads for the St. Paul Academy open house). In fact, the crisis facing local journalism goes far beyond the Twin Cities Metro: since 2004, a quarter of American newspapers (2,100) closed, more than 2,000 of them non-dailies according to Penny Abernathy’s groundbreaking report on what she calls America’s “Expanding News Desert.” In 2018, United States newspaper circulation plunged to its lowest point since the Great Depression, according to Pew Research Center. But it was COVID-19 that was the final nail in the coffin for more than 60 U.S. newsrooms. As junior Isabel Lutgen
- visit their websites and read their papers - donate many newspapers take donations to sustain the reporting they do - get a subscription for a small monthly fee many newspapers allow unlimited access to their coverage - share their stories with friends and family sending a quick email of an interesting article to loved ones helps circulate stories and increase readership
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NEWS Upper school transitions back to full distance learning MADELINE FISHER THE RUBICON
Rising COVID-19 cases in Minnesota have prompted a switch back to full time distance learning for St. Paul Academy. On Tuesday Nov. 3, Head of School Bryn Roberts released an email detailing plans to switch back to the distance model starting on Monday Nov. 16. This change was produced by recent data collected by the Minnesota Department of Health indicating a significant rise is COVID-19 cases. According to the email, the SPA administration also considered a wide variety of sources beyond case numbers before making a final decision. The criterion provided by the Minnesota Safe Learning Plan indicates that schools should be closed once case rates per 10,000 residents of specific counties reaches 30 over a two week period.
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IT’S GOOD THAT WE’RE SWITCHING BACK TO DISTANCE. Bridget Keel
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Ramsey County recorded a case rate of 31.03 and Hennepin County a rate of 28.88 on Oct. 29. Accordingly, the SPA administration elected to transition to distance learning. Several suburban districts such as White Bear Lake, Centennial, Anoka-Hennepin and Spring Lake Park have implemented similar plans. Future plans include a return to hybrid learning on Jan. 19. However, this proposal is not guaranteed. “The question is going to be what happens after that January date, and I think that’s going to be driven by the numbers and by us looking at the
recommendations that the state has laid out,” Upper School Principal Max Delgado said. For many students, safety continues to be a priority. “I think going back to full time distance is probably the best choice,” sophomore Asa Zirps said. “Just because you know cases are already rising; that’s clearly an indicator that people aren’t being as safe as they should. So people should stay home so there’s one less environment in which they could get sick.” New ninth-grader Bridget Keel finds that distance learning makes it far more difficult for her to connect with her peers. “I’m new this year, so getting to know everyone has been important. It’s a lot harder over distance,” she said. “But I think it’s the right decision. I’d rather stay in person, ob-
THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Uptown businesses struggle to stay afloat
THE RUBICON PHOTO: Madeline Fisher Sophomore Naysa Kalugdan waves goodbye to the Randolph Campus as school transitions back to distance learning due to rising COVID-19 cases. viously, but I think it’s good that we’re switching back to distance and staying safe.” Although this transition may be disappointing for some, Delgado hopes to maintain SPA values through community connection. “I think advisory is going to be really vitally important in DL; that you have an opportunity to meet with your peers and your advisor in ways that are outside of the academic structure but still support your expe-
rience as a student,” Delgado said. “My feeling is that we’re going to have to continue to use those x-periods really effectively, for people to feel engaged with each other.” As well as a transition to full time distance learning for some of the winter, the administration is adding an extra two weeks following spring break. This time period provides an opportunity for families who plan to travel to quarantine following their return.
Nigeria’s EndSARS becomes global movement EVE SAMPSELL-JONES THE RUBICON
Since early October, protests against a police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad erupted after many incidents of brutality towards citizens in Nigeria. These protests share many similarities with the movements against police brutality towards people of color which have been occurring in the United States for years. “Much like in America, police brutality is a systemic issue that will take a lot of government reform to eradicate,” senior Elaina Parsons said. “I think that the system of police is inherently racist… The police system has been proven to be flawed and ineffectual against crime and is not an adequate response to many situations. They also cost a ton of money that could be invested in building up communities rather than just policing them.” SARS was formed in 1992 to combat crime using officers in plain clothing and vehicles to surprise the hypothetical criminal. However, officers began to take advantage of the power that they had and harassed citizens in numerous ways. In the last three years,
Amnesty International documented 82 cases of brutality from the unit, including methods of torture. “I think that SARS has been abusing their power for far too long,” sophomore Ali Browne said. “No one deserves to face the violence that the SARS unit brought on Nigerians.” After the protests and unrest that followed the occurrences of unlawful arrests, harassment, and murder of citizens at the hands of SARS, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration shared with the public that they planned to shut down the unit. “The disbanding of SARS is only the first step in our commitment to extensive police reforms,” said Buhari in an Oct. 12 televised statement. However, those protesting weren’t reassured by this declaration, as the government had sworn to shut down SARS on numerous occasions beforehand. “It will never be enough to simply fire officers or get rid of the unit... the Nigerian government needs to address instances where SARS abused power and work towards change. Plus, they have sworn to
shut down SARS repeatedly and never followed through, which I think shows where their loyalty falls,” Browne said.
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SARS HAS BEEN ABUSING THEIR POWER FOR FAR TOO LONG. Ali Browne
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“While the government did put a ban on the SARS unit, there have been many reports that it is still active and causing violence.” Parsons said, sharing similar sentiments. “In response to the protests, the President has not given a definitive statement on whether the police unit will be disbanded. This, to me, is an ineffectual response especially because it has done nothing to end the violence that the SARS unit is inflicting on citizens.” News of the movement quickly spread around the world through the hashtag #EndSARS, though activists had been fighting against the unit for years. The protest
Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons People in Columbus, Ohio march through the streets to protest the Nigerian Special Anti-Robbery Squad. mirrored recent movements like the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, also fighting against police brutality towards people of color. “It is similar to American protests because it is linked inexplicably to police brutality and misuse of power. It is also similar because the protesters are calling for a disbandment of the SARS unit, as well as the fact the protests are peaceful until police intervention,” Parsons said. “Essentially, the Black Lives Matter protests and the EndSARS protests are not two separate events and are a part of a global movement against systemic racism and violence toward Black people.” “The largest similarities [between EndSARS and BLM] are the fact that the peaceful pro-
tests are met with violence and the cause for these protests [is] brutality coming from authorities,” Browne said. “It is important to recognize that Black lives matter everywhere, not just in our country where we feel more connected to and responsible for taking action… Supporting black lives only in the United States is surface-level activism in my opinion because if you aren’t putting the same energy and attention into global instances of the same sort of cause, then you aren’t doing all that you can to work towards change.” Though the quantity of protests has waned since October, there is still much unrest in Nigeria, and the problem that the protesters believe they face has not reached resolution.
THE RUBICON PHOTO: Hazel Waltenbaugh Chino Latino, a popular restaurant, closed due to the affects of the pandemic. HAZEL WALTENBAUGH THE RUBICON
Many businesses are struggling to stay alive as the effects of COVID-19 persist. Low economic trends, a change in customer presence, and the new reopening restrictions have all made life harder for entrepreneurs. Many small businesses were at financial risk even before COVID-19 worsened their struggle, leaving many temporarily or even permanently closed. Another factor that plays into the struggle for businesses specifically in the Uptown area is the unrest that has followed George Floyd’s murder and the overall aftermath of riots and looting that took place over the summer. This left hundreds of businesses in Minneapolis temporarily closed and boarded up as owners tried to figure out their company’s future. After experiencing financial struggles and looting damage to the storefront, the Apple store in Uptown Minneapolis announced the permanent closure of their storefront: “Our stores in the Minneapolis St. Paul area have served customers for 19 years and our nearly 500 team members look forward to helping our customers for a long, long time. Though we’ve made the difficult decision to permanently close Apple Uptown, all of our valued team members will be offered other positions within Apple and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers at our four nearby stores.” Chino Latino is another recent Uptown business closure, as they struggled financially to stay afloat during the pandemic. read the full story at
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EDITORIAL THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Validate emotions and losses, stay accountable I deserve this after everything we’ve lost senior year...
This was a bad idea. My grandfather is living with us right now...
I shouldn’t be here, but I didn’t want to be home...
EDITORIAL CARTOON: Noa Gross SPREADING LIKE FIRE. Increased state restrictions and national recommendations from the CDC send the consistent message to stay home. Each of us plays a role in keeping the community, in and outside of SPA, safe. EDITORIAL THE RUBICON STAFF With the transition back into full time distance learning, complaints and concerns about the extent and length of the pandemic are more prevalent than ever. It is important to not lose sight of the responsibility each individual has to the health of the St. Paul Academy community, whether at a distance or in person. Students are simultaneously distracted and bored, and rightfully so. Things look bleak. And as each day passes, it gets harder and harder to imagine a world in which the pandemic is never truly over. Major high school milestones are canceled. Nuanced connection is replaced with artificial-feeling Google Meets. Traditions are lost completely or reimagined in a virtual format. Nothing can be relied on, and every day brings more change. The idea that students need to just hang in there, embrace the opportunities for creativity, and learn from the exciting challenges is exceedingly frustrating, especially since COVID-19
has dominated students’ lives since last spring. This is not to say that moments of joy and light are not important during the pandemic, but tone deaf attempts at ignoring the gravity of the situation are unwanted and unnecessary.
IT IS CRUCIAL TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPACTS STUDENTS’ ACTIONS HAVE ON THE LARGER COMMUNITY. Looking back on the spring, it seems like it was almost easy to take the pandemic seriously. The mask wearing and the isolation seemed temporary and necessary. Now, people have become desensitized to the pandemic, learning to live with it rather than actively working to prevent spread. For context, on May 18, the day that Minnesota’s stay at home order was lifted, there were 15,668 recorded COVID-19
cases in the state. As of Nov. 15, there have been 224,000 cases in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, and they continue to rise at an exponential rate. So why are students taking the pandemic less seriously than they did in the spring? If anything, social distancing and safety precautions should be stricter than ever. This is not the case. At the moment, winter sports at SPA, many of them being intensively contact sports, such as basketball or hockey, are prepared to have a relatively normal season. Although students have been sent home from school, where they sat at a six-foot distance from each other while masked all day, athletes are being told it is safe to play a close contact sport in an indoor gym, where masks are optional. Additionally, although students are no longer coming to campus, many will continue to see friends and family outside of their immediate family in non-socially-distant ways that are simply unsafe and reckless. Students need to
hold themselves and each other accountable for their actions. Think back to that spring 2020 mindset. Ignoring the problem is not going to make it go away. Of course, this is not a blackand-white situation. For some students, it may be particularly difficult to remain at home. Students with difficult home lives may be unable to social distance, which is all the more reason that students who are able to social distance do so. It is also crucial to recognize the impacts SPA students’ actions have on the greater Twin Cities population. While many SPA students may be relatively unaffected by the less obvious effects of the pandemic, or be able to pay for the proper health care and resources should they need it, that is not the case for many. SPA students are by no means entirely isolated to the school environment — students go home, or to the store, and could inadvertently spread COVID-19 to more vulnerable people. Choosing to not social distance when one has the option to, is putting others at extreme risk. Being isolated and socially distant is hard. However, there is also no denying that if students want things to go back to the way they were, they first have to stop making irresponsible decisions, and become more comfortable making sacrifices that may be sad in the short term, but help the overall community in the long term. The concept of community unification has been preached exhaustively by the school, news sources, and politicians alike. While the message is old and stale at this point, the only way to have a united SPA community is for each and every student to commit to protecting and maintaining community health. We must use the privilege we have to do the responsible thing. We cannot think on an individual basis. Every single student and adult in the SPA community is struggling in one way or another. Yes, following social distancing and engaging in responsible practices is hard. Yes, it is different. We need to do it anyway.
MINI EDS
Many factors at play in transition to DL The move from hybrid back to distance learning has been met with contention amongst students. The fact is, as COVID-19 rates skyrocket across the country, staying in the building was never going to be long-term. While distance learning is immensely challenging for many students depending on their mental health and home situation, moving back to distance learning is the only responsible option. Short term, it is sad to say goodbye to in person school, but long term, it is the only way that things will ever truly get back to “normal” again. Students have every right to be disappointed, but attacking the administration for their decision is unfair and uncalled for, when there are a multitude of outside factors that have pushed them to make this difficult choice.
Fight pandemic at home, globally In November, two American companies released the results of two separate phase 3 trials for two separate COVID-19 vaccines, both showing over 90% effectiveness in combating the coronavirus. But it’s important not to forget that while the United States is offering free, widespread access to vaccines, those living in countries with limited healthcare services, especially people who cannot access or afford those services, will continue to be at a higher risk for a while yet. Donating to organizations like COVAX, which provides free vaccines around the world to those who need them, is the best way for those who live in developed countries to help fight this pandemic globally, not just in their neighborhood.
THE RUBICON St. Paul Academy and Summit School • 1712 Randolph Ave St. Paul, MN 55105 • rubicon.spa@gmail.com • www.RubicOnline.com • @TheRubiconSPA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CHIEF VISUAL EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR BEATS MANAGER NEWS EDITORS OPINIONS EDITORS HEALTH EDITOR IN DEPTH EDITOR FEATURE EDITOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR SPORTS EDITORS GOOD QUESTION EDITOR ILLUSTRATOR
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Megan Erickson
OPINIONS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Hold assault perpetrators and colleges accountable LIZZIE KRISTAL THE RUBICON
The college experience is often labeled as the perfect opportunity to venture outside of comfort zones into a world of education and experience. The reality isn’t so ideal. College campuses have many things that violate a safe learning environment, specifically sexual assault. There can be no denying that sexual assault is present on college campuses. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 20-25% of cisgender college women and 4% of cisgender college men report sexual assault. These rates are even higher for transgender and nonbinary people. Additionally, few of these incidents are ever reported. One in five college women who were sexually assaulted reported it. The Chicago Tribune investigation of these cases found that only 7% resulted in arrests and 2% resulted in convictions. Schools should do as much as they can to prevent sexual assault, but the responsibility of an assault never falls on a university or a victim. The abuser is the only one to blame. Newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s history of college campus sexual assault cases perfectly demonstrates the mishandling by blaming a
college instead of an abuser. In the 2019 case Doe v. Purdue, an anonymous woman with the placeholder name of Jane Doe reported two accounts of sexual assault from her boyfriend with the placeholder name John Doe. The university’s Dean of Students sided with Jane without talking with her or hearing her personal statement. Following, John was suspended and his Navy ROTC scholarship was taken away. Barrett then responded by
A GOOD EDUCATION AND SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT CANNOT BE SEPARATED questioning the university’s response to the incident, saying the Dean unfairly sided with Jane simply because she’s a woman. Barrett found it perplexing how the Dean could have fairly supported Jane since she hadn’t consulted with her at all. John then stated that Title IX (a law that prevents discrimination, harassment, or violence against students based on sex) was violated because he was unfairly discriminated against because he’s a male, later backed by Barrett. Here, not only did Title
A 2019 survey at Brown University found that
30.2% 24.5% 8%
of transgender, genderqueen, non-binary, and questioning students (also includes students who did not list gender)
of female-identifying undergraduates
EVELYN LILLEMOE
As the snow begins to pile up and temperatures start to plummet, it is a crucial time to think about the homeless population. Hennepin and Ramsey counties have both failed their homeless citizens. According to census data and the Family Housing Fund, the majority of new apartment buildings built in the past few years have not been affordable for at least half of the population of the Twin Cities. Affordable housing needs to be a priority because homelessness cannot be a permanent option. At the very least, St. Paul and Minneapolis need to act fast to provide safe shelters for people as winter approaches. According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, homeless people of any age die three times more often than the general population, a statistic that did not take into account COVID-19. While St. Paul and Minneapolis sit idle or prioritize other things, people will die. St. Paul and Minneapolis have not simply failed the homeless population with inaction, they have actively hurt these communities. In Hennepin County, law enforcement has bulldozed homeless encampments in multiple Minneapolis parks. In October seven people who were forced to leave the park they were living at and whose belongings were destroyed filed
the spirit of the community through its stories while inspiring deeper conversations. Above all, we stand for integrity in our pursuit to inform and engage our readers.
PUBLICATION INFO The Rubicon
is published eight times a year. We distribute 750 copies of each issue to the Upper School which are available for free.
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it is always preferable to use names when reporting, there are times when it is necessary to protect those we report on. In the case of a student, the use of grade level as a name designation (i.e. Sophomore Student) will be the preferred method of anonymity.
BY LINES credit the individual who
conducted interviews, drafted, revised and fact-checked an assigned story. Shared bylines are given to joint effort assignments, with reporters listed alphabetically by last name. Stories that include supplemental materials include a credit at the bottom that states
Remember the real story THE RUBICON
reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact since arriving at college
INFOGRAPHIC: Jenny Ries Many have worse sexual assault records than the rest. Source: colleges browndailyherald.com Brown University, for example, has one of the highest rates of sexual assaults and had 41 cases of rape in 2016 IX fail to protect the victim, be safer on campus, because but Barrett shifted focus a good education cannot towards the university’s be separated from a safe handling. College campuses environment. Students should can implement many safety get to know people before policies, but they shouldn’t take spending alone time with the blame for cases in which them since most cases are the abuser is fully at fault. Title acquaintance-assaults (abusers IX should protect victims, not were already acquainted with potential abusers. victims). Additionally, students Not applying to a college should adopt the buddy system because it has bad policies and listen to their instincts. surrounding https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence sexual assault is Colleges can implement fair, because https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence a good education awareness programs, like Lorem ipsum and safe learning environment bystander intervention and cannot be separated. However, safety training. They can blame cannot fully fall on also create security systems colleges because the abuser that respond efficiently and is at fault. Colleges should consistently. Both students and be enforced to take as many universities should do as much prevention-based steps to as possible to prevent sexual ensure safety, and Barrett’s assault, but the responsibility presence on the Supreme for true prevention cannot be Court will not help make sure held by either parties and only that happens. by the abuser. There are always ways to
a class action lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union Minnesota and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. According to the ACLU, the residents at the parks being bulldozed were given little to no notice of the destruction of the encampments and among what was thrown away were keepsakes, identification cards, blankets, and clothing. The dismantling of homeless encampments was in response to complaints of assault, but these actions are not a solution to those problems, which will likely continue to happen, just in a different place. Ramsey County and Hennepin County need to do better. There needs to be a focus and urgency to provide affordable housing and safe temporary shelters. While it is unlikely that these crucial changes will happen any time soon, there are ways for individuals to support people who are homeless in the Twin Cities. The People’s Laundry Mpls is a mutual aid organization that provides laundry services and clothing to people in need. Many other larger organizations also accept donations including Greater Twin Cities United Way, People Serving People, and Street Voices of Change. It is important that students do not cast a blind eye to the homeless population in the Twin Cities and do what they can to support people who are homeless when elected officials refuse to take the necessary steps.
POLICIES, MEMBERSHIPS AND AWARDS OUR MISSION We strive to capture
THINKING OUT LOUD
JENNY RIES
of male-identifying undergraduates
Twin Cities fail to appropriately address homelessness CHIEF VISUAL EDITOR
5
Thanksgiving 2020 is canceled. Instead of seeing this as a loss, why not see it as a pause, an opportunity for people, particularly white people, to reassess a national holiday that many are devoted to largely out of habit? In the interim, we should consider not only the true origins of what we call Thanksgiving, but also what continuing to celebrate it represents. Historian David Silverman explains that the real story behind Thanksgiving centers around an alliance between the Wampanoag tribe and the Pilgrims. This alliance was characterized by colonial land expansion, exploitation of Wampanoag land, resources, and people, and epidemics of European diseases within the Wampanoag population. He describes how the colonial narrative around Thanksgiving ignores thousands of years of Wampanoag history before the arrival of European colonizers. It erases historical trauma from exploitation and violence at the hands of European colonizers passed down through generations of Wampanoag, and the strength and resilience of the tribe in the face of repeated colonial abuses. So what does Thanksgiving really celebrate? Colonial violence and exploitation. Erasure of indigenous voices, history, trauma and resilience. It’s possible to celebrate loved ones and gratitude without it being in the context of a holiday glorifying colonial exploitation. So, when the last Thursday of November rolls around, remember whose land you live on. Donate to organizations uplifting indigenous communities. Don’t let another year go by when the real story is forgotten.
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6
OPINIONS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Use caution in addition to a mask SALAH ABDULKARIM THE RUBICON
Switching from in-person school, to distance, to hybrid, and then back to distance has made this year a challenge academically, socially and mentally. Last spring, flight travel was restricted, restaurants closed, many states shut down, and the virus has yet to be defeated. In fact, data shows the spread of the virus across the United States has grown immensely. The US had below 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day up until Mar. 17, when a total number of 2,797 new cases were reported by the CDC. On Nov. 17 a total of 159,508 new cases were reported in the US, a 54% increase from Nov 8. Given these statistics, one thing is clear: the spread of COVID-19 has not slowed down, and will not slow down until everyone does their part to keep themselves and the community around them safe. As the school transitions to a distance plan again it’s important to remember that we’re doing it to avoid contact with others and reduce the spread of the virus. The risk of catching and/or spreading the virus can only be mitigated if all—not just some—guidelines are followed, including maskwearing and social distancing.
The coronavirus is an airborne pathogen that can be spread by inhaling, which is why it is important to properly wear masks and socially distance yourself when exposed to others. Droplets or aerosol particles, too small to be visible to the naked eye, that contain the virus can be released when an infected individual coughs, sneezes or even just speaks. Masks are worn to catch any particles that may be released from an infected individual or to stop any particles from entering an uninfected individual’s nose or mouth. However, a lot of masks are not effective in doing so. The N95 mask is the most effective mask to battle COVID-19 as it blocks approximately 95% of these small particles, but there has been a shortage of these masks, and those that exist are essential to front line workers who come into direct contact with infected individuals. Cloth masks have been deemed the safest mask for the general public as they allow for breathability without a vent that could allow particles to escape. It’s recommended that these masks be washed regularly to cleanse them of any particles that may be on the outside. Particles can still penetrate through masks and
remain in the air, which is why it is best to stay a distance of at least six feet apart from people at all times and remain outside of closed and indoor spaces with others as much as possible.
THOUGH MASKS ARE AN IMPORTANT PRECAUTION TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19, THEY DO NOT REMOVE ALL RISK. While masks are a very important step to help stop the virus from spreading, there are other means by which it could be spread, which is why it is important to maintain proper hygiene. Avoiding touching the outside of masks or other surfaces, such as doorknobs, hand railings, etc., reduces the risk of exposure, as does washing one’s hands afterwards before touching the face. Studies have shown that just one infected person can infect an additional 409 individuals in the span of just 35 days if they do not follow all precautions. If they do follow precautions,
THE RUBICON ILLUSTRATION: Noa Gross The CDC recommends both wearing a mask and social distancing to prevent coronavirus infection. Cloth masks have been determined to be the most effective mask for the general public. they could only infect up to around 16 people. If someone is infected it is important they are aware, let people who may have come in contact with them know, remain home for a minimum of 14 days, and take the proper precautions to limit contact with others.
Properly wearing a mask, following social distancing recommendations, maintaining proper hygiene and keeping up with CDC guidelines are all necessary to keep the people around you safe.
Case closed: open gradebook would be detrimental
ILLUSTRATION: Jenny Ries Open grade book grading increases academic stress by promoting fixation on grades. JOHN BECKER THE RUBICON
As an open grade book has been a lingering desire for many students at SPA, utilizing a close grade book rather benefits a students ability for greater achievement and maintaining a healthy mindset. While the idea of an open grade book may be appealing to some, in reality, it would simply increase anxiety about less important assignments for students. Through various technological apps, constant access to a student’s grades lies at one’s fingertips, which at the forefront seems very useful to constantly monitor one’s
progress. However, the constant access of grades through an open grade book increases anxiety and may facilitate addictive technology habits. Gerard Dawson, of the EdTech series reports that there is a “variable award” when regarding technological addiction, which is why when a person receives a notification there is an immediate reaction to check the notification. The curiosity about the specifics of the notification becomes overwhelming, and difficult to ignore. Now, say for example a student receives a C on a test which will then be factored into their overall grade,
lowering it. The student has no knowledge of when the grade will be manipulated within the grade book, yet the student understands that it eventually will be. This causes addiction in relation to grades as the students anxiously refreshes the site to see the fluctuation that one test score had, ultimately defeating the purpose of a focus on learning but rather causes a fixation on self-worth. A common misconception regarding an open grade book is associated with higher achievement of a student. This is assumed, yet, has no statistical data in which supports this conception. The theory is that with an open grade book, students and parents alike, would have access to all assignments and tests, ultimately allowing a student to keep track of progress, and take proper action when needed. This however has no relation to a higher accomplishment rate, as there are no statistical studies that depicts the betterment of a students grade, and could even hurt them. This is because with a closed grade book it allows a better teacher-student relationship. For instance, at SPA, for a
student to see their grade, they must ask the teacher to send a grade report. However, other than it solely being on behalf
THOUGH THE IDEA OF AN OPEN GRADE BOOK MAY BE APPEALING, IN REALITY IT WOULD CAUSE FIXATION ON GRADES. of a grade report, it allows for students and teachers to see how they might be doing in relation to the class. Which ultimately allows for students to obtain help if needed, therefore, allowing the student a better chance at succeeding than constantly refreshing a page. Grade books don’t accurately reflect student performance with an eye to equity, painting students with the resources to game their academics on an uneven playing field with students without these resources. Each teacher grades differently, which can benefit some rather than the majority. One example of this is seen through traditional university
grading, “they rarely recognize how traditional approaches to grading frequently result in perpetuating achievement disparities -- advantage in higher-income and privileged students with inflated grades, while lowering grades for under served students and painting a misleading picture of performance.” This flaw can be credited towards averaging a grade. A student who enters with a basic understanding of a subject compared to a student who has not previously been exposed to it is already at an advantage over the other student, while the student with no understanding, who eventually comes to proficiency, shows minimal growth as the earlier grades hide the growth a student achieves. At the forefront having an open grade book seems very resourceful, however, it creates access to grades through an open grade book increases anxiety and may facilitate addictive technology habits. This will ultimately alter a students perception of oneself, interpreting one’s worth through the success of their GPA.
7
HEALTH
How to cope with seasonal depression
HAZEL WALTENBAUGH THE RUBICON
Minnesota winters bring dark days with little time to be outdoors. With a pandemic stillpresent, this winter could leave some struggling more than before to cope with seasonal depression. Seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that occurs the same time each year. As winter approaches and daylight hours get shorter, many find themselves feeling fatigued, less motivated, lacking enjoyment, or with an overall decrease in mood. SAD is different from diagnosed depression in the sense that it is a looser term. Depression is something many struggle with throughout their lives, while seasonal depression can come and go depending on different factors. Seasonal depression, being a type of depression, comes with similar symptoms; “One may feel more tired, sleep more, have difficulty concentrating, see changes in their appetite (craving more starchy and sweet foods), experience changes in mood such as feeling more irritable, sad, and more easily upset in general. Loss of interest in activities you previously enjoyed, not feeling like socializing or feeling like you can’t do things as well as you typically do are also symptoms of SAD,” said US counselor Emily Barbee.
With the pandemic, many have experienced these symptoms which can make it harder to understand what they mean. “I think many of us already have some amount of these feelings from adapting to the new lifestyle demands of COVID. While SAD impacts about 5-6% of adults, ‘winter blues’ are much more common- affecting around three times as many people.” Barbee said.
GET THIS “ IFEELING OF
NUMBNESS... THIS REPEATING CYCLE OF EMOTIONS. Hobbs
”
Lillygreen Sophomore Hobbs Lillygreen explained how he is affected by his depression. “I usually get really tired or have little motivation for stuff. Sometimes I get this feeling of numbness, where it feels like this repeating cycle of emotions,” said Lillygreen. COVID-19 has added these symptoms to people’s lives, especially as students are moving back into distance learning. This winter, it may be especially difficult to find ways to interact
with people outside the household, which can be another contributor to depression. “Now is a good time to draft your schedule for distance learning. Try to take a walk before your classes start so you absorb critical rays of sunshine. You’ve heard this from adults many times, but I would be remiss not to mention how important it is to get exercise and sleep and balanced nutrition,” said Barbee. Staying on top of a sleep schedule can also be helpful. Make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep. With screens being a big part of students’ lives right now, students may be on their computers all day, on top time spent on other devices. Breaks are important, but may not be effective with screens. “Write a list of what you can do during breaks from homework/classes to take a break, preferably activities that don’t involve more screen time,” Barbee said. SAD is typically related to decreases in sunlight, which is why it’s common in the winter months. Taking vitamin D supplements or using a light therapy lamp may help combat SAD symptoms. Students moving into distance learning with winter being right around the corner could mean lots of indoor, socially isolated time. Reaching out to friends and getting out of the
THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
ILLUSTRATION: Noa Gross CABIN FEVER. Staying home because of COVID-19 will inevitably make seasonal depression all the more difficult. house may help keep life flowing smoothly. “Since you’re probably going to spend a lot of time in your room, I would suggest making it a place you enjoy being,” said Lillygreen. “Having new hobbies... is a good way to stay busy.” Reaching out can also be helpful, whether that be to friends, family, or a professional. “If you’re noticing the winter blues are making it hard to complete homework, log into class, stay in touch with friends or get out of bed, please reach out to Ms. Short or me. This is a temporary condition,” Said Barbee. Finding people to connect with, getting out of the house, setting aside specific times to relax, and devoting time for mental health check-ins are effective strategies in combating SAD, and will overall keep life flowing smoothly.
How to combat seasonal depression PLAN YOUR TIME Keep a schedule during distance learning and incorporate outside time. STAY ON TOP OF YOUR HEALTH Get regular exercise and make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. SEEK WHAT YOU’RE LACKING FROM LOST SUNLIGHT Try vitamin D supplements or a light therapy lamp if you can. REACH OUT If your symptoms inhibit your ability to cope, talk to a friend, tell a trusted adult, or reach out to a professional.
New body narratives create space for self-acceptance The American people are constantly bombarded by two parallel and contradictory sets of instructions about THE RUBICON their bodies. On one side, there is diet culture: the idea that the path to happiness lies with this or that diet plan, that our bodies are never good enough, that we should constantly be seeking to reduce the amount of space one takes up. On the other side, there is the body positivity movement, related to the idea that any attempt to change our bodies is a form of self-hatred, and that we should learn to love them as they are. For those unable or unwilling to do either, the middle road is hard to find. “Body neutrality,” the practice of holding a neutral attitude towards one’s appearance and focusing on what our bodies can help us do, attempts to be that middle road. Created in 2015 by Vermont fitness instructor Anne Poirier, it portrays itself as an alternative to body positivity for those who feel the movement has become too commercialized and exclusionary in recent years, as well as a stepping stone towards complete self-acceptance. “There can be such pressure, I think, for people to claim to love their bodies when they don’t,” said Upper School Counselor Susanna Short. “And I want students to have permission to really do the hard work to develop an honest relationship with their body that hopefully can be positive, but at least isn’t negative.” Whereas body positivity tends to focus on how one can be beautiful and healthy, no matter their size or body type (a departure from its roots in the fat acceptance movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s, which primarily fought discrimination), body neutrality focuses on functionality. “I think it’s a really useful concept to think about all the ways our bodies serve us that don’t have anything to do with being decorative,” Short said. Short recounted the story of when she first noticed brown spots emerging on her hands and wrists as she got older and initially felt negatively about it, until she realized how much her hands had helped her do. “These hands have probably COLIN WILL
made a thousand pies in my life, [and] hundreds of cakes. How many hugs have my hands helped me give? [...] And when I think about it like that, I don’t have anything critical to say.” Junior Sevy Hayes, a member of the HerSpace affinity group for female-identifying students, believes in the importance of both movements. “They’re both great, but I think body positivity is more about being confident in your own skin and accepting who you are and how you’re built, less than how your body functions,” she said. In previous years, Hayes has helped HerSpace organize Love Your Body Day, a schoolwide, body positivity-inspired event that encourages students to focus on what they like about their bodies, rather than what they dislike. “The whole point of it is kind of just accepting our bodies as they are and accepting everyone is beautiful no matter what shape, size, anything,” she said. Hayes’ experience is that loving one’s body and seeking to change it are not mutually exclusive. “A few years ago, I was at a bigger weight, and I did decide to lose a ton of weight and I’m a lot more confident now, and happy with myself than I was,” she said. Sophomore Calvin He values a focus on functionality. “Nott being forced to care about how you look, not worrying about whether or not you’re going to be judged due to your appearance only, that’s nice,” He said. “Just because you stopped caring about how you look, you shouldn’t stop caring about your health, too.” Neither body neutrality nor body positivity can work for everybody, but the two movements needn’t necessarily be in conflict. “It’s strange, because I have read some articles where I feel like the two camps are fighting with each other, and you want to say, no, I think we’re all coming from a place of wanting people to feel calm and centered in their bodies, and we don’t need to make an either-or or contentious relationship,” Short said.
8
IN DE
THE RUBICON - N
GENDER NEUTRAL History of gender-neutral pronouns LUCY BENSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
JENNY RIES
THE RUBICON
Pronouns have been in use for centuries as a way of referring to individuals and groups of people in an abbreviated way. Within the former societal understanding of gender as a binary, singular pronouns he/him and she/her were generally seen as male and female pronouns, whereas plural pronouns were typically denoted a group. The meaning of gender-neutral pronouns, including they, has shifted to both a plural for a group and gender-neutral pronoun for an individual just last year when Merriam-Webster added it to the dictionary, recognizing this as a common use. In addition, other pronouns have been adopted for use as gender-neutral pronouns.
DISCRIMINATION Pronouns have often been at the center of cases of gender discrimination and transphobia, when an individual’s identity is disrespected and devalued through misgendering with the use of inaccurate pronouns. Sophomore Bev O’Malley uses they/ them pronouns but has bumped into some issues with how others use their pronouns. “My mom was really supportive about it, and remembers most of the time to use the correct pronouns,” O’Malley said. “My dad and stepmom were confused... they still didn’t understand why I wanted to use those pronouns and refuse to use them.” A BBC News article analyzed controversy over how the pronoun they should be used, with some maintaining that the pronoun can only be plural while others argue that the use of a singular they is not new. There are many instances of they being used as singular and gender-neutral in literature. The article cites the 1386 novel The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare’s 1599 play
Hamlet as examples of literary works using singular they. Linguist Emma Moore said that existing pronouns adapted to be gender-neutral have tended to be more widely adopted than new gender non-binary pronouns, as those pronouns have already been accepted as part of language.
“
IT’S NOT A DEFINING PART OF MY PERSONALITY THAT MAKES ME WHO I AM.
”
Morgan Riley Sophomore Morgan Riley acknowledged that for the older members of their family, adjusting to they/them pronouns is a learning curve. “It’s not ignorance on their part; it’s like having the apps on your Home Screen arranged a certain way for fifteen years and then having them moved around,” Riley said. “They’re still the same apps, but it’s different, and muscle memory makes it difficult to get used to.”
CULTURAL NORMS A Swedish study demonstrated the effect that language can have on cultural norms, in this case, the effect that pronouns can have on an understanding of gender. Swedish employs the gendered pronouns ‘hon’ and ‘han,’ equivalent to ‘she’ and ‘he’ in English. In 2014, the gender-neutral pronoun ‘hen’ was officially added to the Swedish language. years later in the study, almost 2,000 native Swedish speakers were asked to identify a gender-neutral cartoon, and the majority of them identified it as ‘hen,’ as opposed to using a gendered pronoun. Many adults today grew up without genderless pronouns in their day to day vocabulary. They have become more used and understood with younger generations. So-
cial media and a more interconnected world have allowed young people easy access to information on they/them pronouns. Commenting on the Swedish study, Efrén Pérez, a political psychologist at UCLA, said “Most people don’t have ready-made attitudes on most things we think are important. If your language nudges you in some direction, it should have some nontrivial effect on your opinion,” he said. “You could boil it down to, how does the language you speak affect how you see the world?”
NUANCED IDENTITY 9th grader Bri Rucker began identifying with she/they pronouns earlier this year. “I struggled with my identity for years now, debating between girl, boy, enby, or anything in between. Now that I’ve solidified it and even found a flag that matches, I’m a lot happier with myself.” Riley explained their journey to they/them pronouns and how some push back on this. “I’m neurodivergent, autistic to be exact, and I have trouble picking up on social cues. Since gender is, in this day in age, mostly a social construct, I never fully picked up on it,” Riley said. “I can see it now, but it’s harder to just shove myself into it after years of not understanding. Some people have said it’s just taking the easy way out—if it’s hard to understand, why try when you don’t have to? For me it feels different. While I truly did not understand what gender was then, I do understand now, I just choose not to associate myself with a social construct I feel like I don’t belong in.” Rucker notices that people often refer to them with she/her pronouns. “Something difficult about also going by they/ them is that people usually stick with she/her because they’re more comfortable with it, and of course, I am too, but it’d be nice to have some variety,” Rucker said.
While for some Riley’s pronouns may be hard to understand, they don’t want to try and fit themselves into a box just for the sake of others. “But whether my gender (or lack thereof, I don’t identify as having one) is my lack of understanding of social things or my brain telling me I’m just not a woman or a man, I am the way I am. And while that could change, I would rather live life expecting things to stay the same than try to suppress my feelings to make others happy,” they said. With long held uses of pronouns in the gender binary, for some there are still some unknowns and questions. O’Malley expressed a wish they have for what more people knew about they/them pronouns. “People can identify with a specific gender and still use they/them,” they said.
NORMALIZATION Riley wishes that the use of they/them pronouns was more normalized. “I wish more people knew about it, but I also don’t want to make it something big you teach people about. You don’t have to make a whole lesson out of she/her and he/him pronouns. I wish it was just as normal to be they/them,” they said. Rucker also expressed that they feel people can wrongly categorize they/ them pronouns. “It’s not really a third gender, it’s more like transcending gender to a god-like state,” Rucker said. As Moore explained with they/them pronouns, people use the language they are familiar with, as they/them pronouns enter into the mainstream perhaps there will be a realization of Riley’s wishes. “All in all, I just wish that people realized I don’t really think about my pronouns all that much and it’s not a defining part of my personality that makes me who I am,” Riley said.
zie/zir
ve/ver
the and
What obstacles are posed
Language is an important way in w es people who identify with either b THE RUBICON in different places along the spectrum According to the British Psychological Society, there are t pending on how gender plays into the language: gendered lan In gendered languages, nouns are assigned specific genders (m according to the gender binary of the noun. In natural gender not gendered, but pronouns do reflect gender. Lastly, gender nine, and pronouns are not as differentiable as the languages French and Spanish are two examples of gendered languag nary or gender neutral person. ‘They’ is always translated as (group of only females). French people have started to use th adopted by the Academie Francaise, the French council that h pronouns, however, don’t solve the problem of their nouns one’s self or someone else as happy, one has the choice betwe Junior Maggie Baxter, who uses she/they pronouns, takes F “In French, I am fine using the ‘she’ pronouns and the noun the language is easier for me. But it doesn’t work as well for pe really isn’t a super accepted option. Like in English, we are re them pronouns that are more used and accepted in the lang heard of the term “ielle,” which combines both the male and am not really sure that that is super widely accepted or used,” ELOISE DUNCAN
% of U.S. adults w neutral pronouns nothing at all
1 in 5 Americans know som pronouns other t
52% of U.S. adul using gender-neu uncomfortable
9
EPTH
NOVEMBER 2020
LITY: PRONOUNS Rise in usage and feminism
ey/them d she/her
eh/em
he/him
ILLUSTRATION: Maddy Fisher and Evelyn Lillemoe
d by gendered language?
which gender is shown in society. However, in many languagbinary are represented by the language, while those who are m are not truly represented. three main categories that languages can be assigned to denguages, natural gender languages, and genderless languages. masculine or feminine), and verbs and adjectives can change r language, nouns, verbs, and adjectives, for the most part, are rless languages don’t categorize nouns as masculine or femis in the other categories. ges. In French, there is no official way of referring to a non-bis ‘ils’ (group of males or group of multiple genders) or ‘elles’ he pronouns ‘iel,’ ‘ielle,’ or ‘ille,’ but these words have not been handles matters of the French language. These gender neutral and adjectives all being gendered; for example, to describe een ‘content’ (masculine) or ‘contente’ (feminine). French at school. ns and adjectives that go with it, so that makes how gendered eople who use they/them pronouns all the time because there eally lucky to have they/ read the full story at guage. In French I have d female pronouns, but I online ” Baxter said.
RUBICON
who have heard of gender22%: a lot, 38%: a little, 39%:
meone who prefers than “he” or “she”
lts are comfortable utral pronouns; 48% are
Information from Pew Research Center
JULIA BARON
second nature to future generations.
“Used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary,” “used to refer to a nonbinary or gender-nonconforming person,” and “used to refer to a person whose gender or sexual identity does not correspond to the traditional binary opposition of male and female” are all definitions recently added to Merriam Webster, Dictionary.com and Oxford dictionaries definitions for the word “they.”
EXCLUSIONARY FEMINISM
THE RUBICON
DEFINE ‘THEY’ In 2019, the same year this definition was added to the Miriam Webster dictionary, “they” was announced as the word of the year. This announcement signaled the word’s substantial rise in usage as a singular pronoun for gender non-conforming or non-binary people. In their announcement, Merriam Webster noted “lookups for ‘they’ increased by 313% in 2019 over the previous year.” This increase in people aiming to understand the word beyond its usage as a plural pronoun has risen parallel to the number of people using they/ them pronouns. Although there’s limited research on the number of people that use they/them pronouns, a 2014 study in the United Kingdom revealed that 0.4% or 1 in 250 of respondents self identified as nonbinary, a number that has undoubtedly risen since. As usage of they/ them pronouns has surged, people have become more familiar with the terms, especially in younger generations. Pew Research Center has assembled data indicating that Generation Z is most familiar with gender neutral pronouns, followed by millennials and Generation X. Because language tends to evolve relatively quickly, Time Magazine predicted that along with other linguistic changes that are now widely accepted, they/them pronouns will be almost
As the acknowledgment of non binary gender identity and usage of gender neutral pronouns have become somewhat mainstream, it has urged feminists to rethink some aspects of their movement for gender equality. Junior Zoey Burkhardt explains the different ways in which the feminist movement has been exclusionary to transgender and nonbinary individuals: “There are three main ways the feminist movement tries and sometimes fails to include nonbinary people. One is by not including nonbinary people and being transphobic, another is by trying to include nonbinary people and not really getting it, and then there are feminist movements that understand how to include nonbinary people,” they said. Through criticism specifically of the Women’s March movement, feminist organizers have come to realize that trademarking pink pussy hats or the phrase “the future is female” may not be inclusive to the transgender and non-binary communities that are habitually excluded from aspects of the feminist movement. The pink pussy hat has been labeled as offensive as it reinforces the idea that vaginas and vulvas are synonymous with womanhood, and the color pink could be exclusionary towards BIWOC whose vaginas don’t resemble a pink color. Feminists have begun to reject these previous trademarks, and embrace the notion that their movement stands for equality regardless of gender.
EQUALITY Junior Maggie Baxter explained how the feminist movement needs to adjust in relation to non-binary individuals who deal with similar forms of oppression. “Non-binary individuals have been left out of the feminist move-
ment because there are still many women who consider the feminist movement exclusively for women and women’s progress. I think there needs to be a realization among many feminists that the movement is really about reaching gender equality for everyone, including non-binary individuals,” they said.
GENDERED TERMS Language is also an important aspect of how many see the feminist movement as being exclusive to non-binary and transgender people. Beyond pink pussy hats and the phrase “the future is female,” the topic of abortion access also tends to be spoken about in gendered language. “Topics such as reproductive rights and menstruation equity, which are central in the feminist movement, need to be de-gendered as not everyone with a uterus who is affected by these issues is a woman,” Baxter added. Burkhardt echoed this need, and explained why feminists shouldn’t speak in gendered terms when discussing issues that impact a range of people beyond women. “When talking about reproductive rights. The phrase “It’s a woman’s right to chose” is great, but it excludes all the nonbinary and trans people who can get pregnant and may need access to abortion. Feminist movements need to remember that access to birth control, abortion, and period products affects transmen and some nonbinary people,” they said.
WHAT’S NEXT? As the feminist movement has begun to refocus its message to include non binary and transgender individuals, and as non gender binary pronouns have become recognized in dictionaries and normalized in communities, the understanding of gender has evolved. What was once previously seen as a strict binary by many is now being recognized as a more fluid spectrum that encompasses a range of gender identities.
GRAMMAR OF PRONOUNS they / them / their / themself use “they” as a subjective pronoun use “them” as an objective pronoun use “their” as a possessive pronoun use “themself” as a reflexive pronoun They are talking. I listen to them. That is their backpack. ze / hir / hirs / hirself use “ze” as a subjective pronoun use “zir/hir” as an objective pronoun use “zirs/hirs” as a possessive pronoun use “zirself/ hirself” as a reflexive pronoun Ze is talking. I listen to hir. That is zirs backpack. ve / ver / vis / verself use “ve” as a subjective pronoun use “ver” as an objective pronoun use “vis” as a possessive pronoun use “verself” as a reflexive pronoun Ve is talking. I listen to ver. That is vis backpack.
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FEATURE THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
We talked to students across grade levels.
EVERYONE Goings values family EVE SAMPSELL-JONES
CHARLOTTE GOINGS
THE RUBICON
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PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Charlotte Goings Goings and her family spend quality time together on vacation.
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Spaulding learns life lessons from hunting
MADDY FISHER
Hunting has been an essential human practice for eons, a crucial piece of hunter-gatherer society. Now that hunting is no longer necessary for survival, it has become a sport—one that is an important aspect of sophomore Autumn Spaulding’s life. Her love for the sport is a recent development. “I can’t remember a single fall where I didn’t go on hunting trips. It was kind of like a family thing. My dad would always drag me along when I was really little, and I hated it at first,” Spaulding said. “As I’m growing older I’m beginning to appreciate it more. It’s become more of an independent thing where I can just be in nature, and feel like I’m doing something for myself.” In spite of her initial reluctance, Spaulding finds that hunting increases her confidence. “It’s like an accomplishment, regardless of whether I shoot anything. If I go up to the stand and I have something within THE RUBICON
There’s no better time to have a good relationship with your family than during a pandemic, and 9th grader Charlotte Goings knows that for fact. “It’s always just been a natural thing… we’ve always been close. I always know that I can go home and just be myself,” she said. Goings is quiet on first impression (which she gets from her father) but she becomes more outgoing in certain environments (which she gets from her mother.) Hockey is bound to come up in a conversation with her, but her family will be mentioned even more. It’s easy to see the value that Goings places on her family, even after only a few minutes. Goings is new to SPA, so she’s had to adjust to a new environment in the middle of the pandemic. She thinks the transition has gone well: “I went to Nativity [kindergarten] through 8th [grade], so I’ve been going to the same school my whole life with the same people, so it’s definitely different,” Goings said. “But [SPA is] nice. It’s like a new experience… learning new things and meeting new people.” Goings has been playing hockey since she was three. But, since she hasn’t been able to play due to pandemic-related shutdowns, she connected with her family more than ever. Goings lives with her mother, father, and brother who is a junior, not at SPA. Goings said the family dynamic is fairly laid-back. “We all like to make fun of each other… we’re all pretty funny,” she said. “My mom’s more outgoing… my dad’s quieter and less outgoing, more thoughtful. My brother’s like my mom… he’s really outgoing and just kind of a fun person.” Goings believes she got the best of both worlds in terms of traits. “Sometimes I’m more thoughtful and sometimes I’m more outgoing, so it just kind of depends. I feel like I’ve gotten a mix of both.” Goings said. The rest of Goings’ family lives far away so she doesn’t see them as much. Plus, the coronavirus has caused some disconnection between her immediate family and extended family. “I kind of have a small extended family, and none of them live in Minnesota, so we see them more on holidays and stuff like that,” Goings said. “It’s definitely harder [to connect with them during a pandemic] but we don’t normally see each other that often anyway, so it doesn’t feel as different.” The immediate family has found a lot of fun things to do during the extended amount of time they’ve spent together: “We play a lot of games together like bridge, and we have dinner pretty much every night together. And we—me, my mom, and my dad—watch the news every night together,” she said. Time she’s spent with family has taught her how to be a good person around others. “You learn the right way to interact with people and social skills, and stuff like that.” she said. “You just learn to like people a lot.” Goings shows that having a natural, easy dynamic with family can help ease some of the crushing quarantine boredom.
shooting range it’s like, I did this, even though I didn’t pull the trigger or release my arrow,” Spaulding said. Currently, Spaulding hunts with a 42-pound compound bow, a rifle, or a twelve gauge shotgun. Although she typically hunts in Minnesota or South Dakota, Spaulding has also traveled to New Zealand for the sport where she shot a sika stag, a species of deer native to much of East Asia. Spaulding said hunting is far more of an intellectual pursuit than most people realize. Somewhat similar to the game of chess, the sport requires forethought, patience, and strength. This aspect of the sport is part of the reason she has grown to love it. Although hunting is a significant part of her life, Spaulding often feels out of place in the historically male-dominated sport. “If I’m having a conversation with someone and I’m asked what sports I do and I bring up trap shooting, nine times out of ten the person will be like, ‘oh, you don’t look like someone who
would go trap shooting.’ It shows a lot about the messages ingrained in people,” Spaulding said. “I kind of started feeling the need to prove myself.” This feeling initially created a sort of insecurity that Spaulding often struggles with. Despite the challenges this feeling produces, she’s found an advantage to the sense of displacement: “I think that it’s definitely made me a better hunter, because I will practice outside of the season because I want to prove myself,” Spaulding said. “Just because I’m a girl, it doesn’t mean that I’m not a good shot and I can’t handle this.” Even though she has come to terms with her own identity, the rest of the world has not. From endangered species to gun laws, hunting is regularly surrounded with controversy. For Spaulding, much of such debate manifests in training and the importance of ethical shooting. “There are many people and types of hunting that are unethical and it’s a huge problem,” she said. “I’m
NACI KONAR-STEENBERG
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FEATURE THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
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Konar-Steenberg de-stresses in the kitchen
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Naci Konar-Steenberg Konar-Steenberg enjoys some fresh hot pannekoeken. LUCY BENSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In the stress of a school year divided between in-person and distance learning, junior Naci Konar-Steenberg finds some peace in pannekoeken. Otherwise known as a Dutch
baby or Dutch pancake, Konar-Steenberg regularly finds himself making these in his free time offscreen. “Often, we won’t have something to do during advisory... what I’ll do is I’ll go downstairs. And I will make [it],” Konar-Steenberg said. “I
just started making those, and they’re good, they taste like pancakes. You can put syrup on them and everything.” But distance learning and pannekoeken is not where Konar-Steenberg’s passion for cooking begins or ends. “I’ve been doing this for a while. A lot of people in my family like to cook,” he said. “I’m mostly the kind of person who makes savory dishes and foods that are salty. My sister is more of a dessert person. And my brother is really good at making an array of dinner food very well.” But even though his entire family enjoys cooking, Konar-Steenberg appreciates working on his own. “I like making a dish by myself, seeing it through to the end,” he said. He also feels there are many joys to cooking. “I love cooking because there’s no feeling quite like setting the table for a meal you made yourself,” he said. “A lot of the time it feels like there are two different categories of food: the type you eat at home, and the type
you eat at a restaurant. Cooking, for me, breaks the divide.” He started cooking at the age of eight motivated by a realization he had early September one year. “I kind of had an experience that was basically how most teenage vegans and vegetarians started being vegan,” he said. “I wondered ‘Hey, you know, actually shouldn’t we be treating animals better? Even if we’re going to kill them for food we should be treating them better.’” Shortly after for his birthday his mom got him the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “I read it, read it through again, and I was like, okay so it is possible to eat meat in a more ethical way,” he said. “And I thought, you know, I guess if I just cook, I know more about how my food is being made.” He also tries to be aware of where the ingredients he gets come from, whether it’s his local community garden, a co-op, or the farms where the food is grown. Ethical eating is central to the way Konar-Steen-
berg cooks, eats, and de-stresses. “I know one person eating a burger made from a cow that lived freely versus one that lived in a factory might not change everything,” Konar Steenberg said. “What is more likely is substantial legislative action will do more than that.” But still he makes the decision to eat ethically anyway. “I don’t think it’s good to do something bad because the alternative wouldn’t accomplish anything,” he said. “And in this case, the alternative actually accomplishes a lot. He reemphasized how he wants to make a difference even if it’s not evident in the numbers. “Maybe it’s just one less chicken in an eight inch cage or one less cow in a warehouse, but it’s taking action to do what you think is right, which I think is a lot.” From pizza to pannekoeken they can all be found, ethically sourced, in Konar-Steenberg’s kitchen.
HAS A STORY These are a few.
AUTUMN SPAULDING a hunter, I’m around guns quite frequently, but I do believe that gun laws should be stricter. Often, people will take unethical shots, which is any shot that doesn’t kill the animal quickly. As a hunter, I have to make sure my shots are ethical.” Spaulding argues that hunting helps the ecosystem: “[Hunted game is] meat that hasn’t been processed, that hasn’t been shipped somewhere, that hasn’t been fed and farmed. In that way, hunting can reduce waste,” she said. “Also, through the sport of hunting, a lot of land and natural prairie has been preserved. The amount of the population actually shot is limited, so wildlife and their ecosystems are preserved.” Ethical controversy has made Spaulding comfortable discussing such issues and has allowed her to view similar discourse from different perspectives. Whether or not hunting features prominently in her future, Spaulding believes the lessons it taught her will always be a part of her identity.
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JUST BECAUSE I’M A GIRL DOESN’T MEAN I’M NOT A GOOD SHOT.
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Autumn Spalding PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Autumn Spaulding Spaulding showcases the sika stag she shot this season.
Read profiles about Gabriel Bangoura and Matthew Degnan at
RUBICON online
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Hefner offers virtual tap lessons, forms connections ELOISE DUNCAN THE RUBICON
Senior Rylan Hefner is a true triple threat: he excels in sing- ents sometimes after the lessons. There’s one family whose ing, acting, and dancing. He expanded upon his love for tap and parents are both tap dancers themselves, so there was kind musical theater by joining a Saturday morning tap class at Zenon of more pressure for that lesson initially because I really Dance in downtown Minneapolis the summer before his soph- wanted to make sure I was teaching their kids, the right tap omore year, and even started teaching his own classes over the moves. And now [the parents] have had fun getting back into summer. tap dancing a little bit with their kids. One of my adult stu“[Tap] was the first dance style dents this summer, she isn’t takthat I actually took an actual dance I AM STILL ABLE TO INTERACT WITH ing lessons with me anymore class in. I’ve always just loved how unfortunately, was a tap dancer THEM AND KEEP THE SPIRIT OF it’s just such a classic of musical thewhen she was in middle and ater, which is something else that I high school and so she wanted DANCING ALIVE THROUGH OUR have always loved. I’ve been fascito get kind of back into it this nated by Hollywood movie musical summer, and that was really VIRTUAL LESSONS. tap dancers and more modern tap fun to connect with her,” Rylan Hefner dancers who are kind of bringing it he said. into a new, more rhythmic style of During the summer dance. I love the idea of being able to kind of use yourself as a sort Hefner was able to bring the classes right to his of percussion instrument,” he said. students’ front yards, but as the weather has gotThis past summer Hefner brought his love for tap dancing into ten colder, he has moved into virtual teaching his community. He noticed that parents with young kids didn’t on Zoom to continue his lessons. He wasn’t have a lot to do over the summer due to the pandemic, so he planning on teaching into the fall, but his decided to start teaching weekly 30 minute lessons to those in- students and their parents showed a desire to continue the lesterested. sons because it provided a fun activity for them to do and was “I put out an ad on the Next Door neighborhood app just say- a consistent and loved part of their schedule. ing ‘hey my name is Rylan, I have been dancing for a few years, “I thought if people were still interested in this, I might as I am gonna teach tap dance around the neighborhood this sum- well continue teaching as long as I can. So about a month ago I mer, contact me if you’re interested,’ and I made a website. I would moved all of my lessons online. I set up meetings with a Zoom come to their house and bring my tap shoes and a board for each call and got it at an angle so it shows and focuses on my feet so of us to dance on that I would set up six feet apart. I would just they can see the more intricate pieces of the dances I am trying teach them some basic skills to begin with, we would do some to teach them, which is a bit more difficult than in person. But I dancing to music towards the end of the lesson, and at the end am still able to interact with them and keep the spirit of dancing of summer I was able to teach an actual piece of choreography to alive through our virtual lessons,” he said. most of my students,” he said. Hefner has brought his love for tap dancing into making strong Through his weekly lessons, he has connected with 20 students connections with his community and sparking a love for tap in the from around 13 different families. The youngest person he taught people around him. He has found ways to work around the challenges was three years old, and his oldest student was 55. The connec- posed by the pandemic, and has continued to enhance both his own tions he made are a part of what makes teaching so much fun for skills in tap dancing and the skills of those parhim, due to the range of people he reaches both through students ticipating in his lessons. PHO and their families. TEM TO SUB “It is really fun to connect with the students and with the parwhil PTING MITTED T e te BY: achi AP. He Ry f ng t ap s ner sho lan Hefn tude w e nts o s his sk r ills utdo ors.
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Online star parties hosted by Bell Museum
THE RUBICON PHOTO: Julia Baron The presentation shows light pollution from cities. JULIA BARON THE RUBICON
While traditional parties can’t be attended in the COVID pandemic, what can be, are virtual star parties. Hosted by the Bell Museum, virtual star parties are meant to celebrate the night sky through documentaries on conservation, sharing tips to examine the solar
system, student showcases, and live telescope observations. Strategically designed to help viewers forge a connection to the night sky, even on a cloudy night, the Bell Museum’s star party was interactive, engaging and scintillating. The party started out with Saving the Dark, an inspiring documentary
by Srirum Murali. The documentary focused on the dangerous effects of light pollution, not just for intrinsic values of human enjoyment, but for animal safety, people’s sleep patterns, and human survival. Numerous experts explained how light pollution is a detriment to bird and sea turtle safely, and provided examples and resources on how people can combat this issue. They explained that fortunately, light pollution is one of the only types of pollution that is easy to solve. Simple ways for individuals to combat their role in light pollution is switching to LED lights, turning exterior light off when not using them, and, for buildings near the beach, investing in sea turtle friendly lights. Next in the star par-
ty was a presentation on sketching called “Using Sketching to See Deeper,” run by Sarah Kommand, the Bell Museum Planetarium Programs Coordinator and Jerry Jones, the Astronomical League Coordinator for the Minnesota Astronomical Society. They continually emphasized that having artistic ability is not a necessity to sketch the night sky. The goal was only to use sketching as a strategy to observe the sky more closely and with detail that might be initially seen. There were sketching worksheets available and the leaders clearly instructed viewers on how to use online programs to see different constellations, such as Auriga and Perseus. Next on the star party agenda was student presentations by Meridith
Wieber, a fourth year astrophysics and physics major, and Andrew Surine, a second year astrophysics and entomology major. The students provided in-depth showcases on the astronomy work they’ve completed, such as an internship with NASA and a project on how to develop insects as astronaut food called the Martian Entomophagy Project. The showcases were visually engaging, as well as being accessible to anyone. The grand finale of the star party was supposed to be a live showing of the telescope from the Bell Museum’s observation deck, but because of the cloudy weather, the University of Minnesota Planetarium team gave a presentation on the life cycles of stars instead. Although disappointing
to not be able to see the night sky live from a telescope, this presentation was an interesting alternative that detailed how stars have very different life cycles based on their mass, which is determined by the amount of matter in their Nebula. Although the November star parties concluded on Nov 14, more opportunities to engage with the night sky through virtual presentations hosted by the Bell Museum will be available in December. There is currently a virtual star party scheduled for Dec 18 from 8-9pm, where astronomy experts will guide viewers through the night sky on their live streamed telescope. Free registration will open soon from Bell Museum’s website.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020 SERIES REVIEW
Netflix series falls into teen stereotypes
FAIR-USE PHOTO FROM: @netflix “Social Distance” represents safe socialization with Zoom hangouts. ADRIENNE GAYLORD THE RUBICON
Imagine being an executive at Netflix headquarters. A studio zooms in to pitch their new quarantine binge show, and after hours of reading the difficult script this line, spoken by a par-baked Gen Z stereotype, comes up: “And now he’s single and he’s simping for you, and you’re too shook to do anything. Like, are you even the main character right now?” It’s even scarier to watch the poor teen actor bearing an eyebrow slit and hair with blue tips recite this line on Netflix’s original “Social Distance.” It’s a wonder it got green lit as this show is host to some of the most cringe worthy cajoling available to stream.
Each episode of the show follows a new group of characters in a small snapshot of their COVID-19 pandemic filled life. Starting April 2 2020, they focus on how the pandemic has affected the lives of people with various backgrounds. Some stories focus on really difficult topics, but unfortunately the writing and acting is atrocious and makes scenes that are intended to be touching hard to watch. They’re covering issues many care deeply about, yet bastardizing them with kitschy appeal makes. There’s no need for quirky Instagram comments in a story about a man isolated with his alcoholism, or a comic relief funeral home worker in a story about a family struggling with the loss of their father. The characters are accessible to a niche group of people, assumably liberal early thirty-somethings who get tired sometimes from being so woke, yet the show acts as if it’s displaying diverse perspectives. An episode that really pushes it over the edge in an obvious manner is epi-
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pounds of clothing on average thrown away by Americans.
INFOGRAPHIC: Lizzie Kristal Information from Environmental Protection Agency Secondhand shopping is a great way to recover the massively wasted clothing. CATHERINE HOOLEY THE RUBICON
As climate change and sustainability become more relevant topics in pop culture, teens are applying those changes into the world of fashion. There are websites and apps that are being used to sell clothes in a more sustainable way, such as renting clothes temporarily or buying secondhand clothes. Rent the Runway, Haverdash, Gwynnie Bee, and many more are all clothing rental sites. Rent the Runway is one highly known website that sells designer clothes along with more affordable clothes. Haverdash is a site which is more affordable and is also reliable. Most of these websites require subscriptions, making it a slightly harder process to get started on these sites,
sode seven, ‘everything is v depressing rn.’ Which has a cast of completely Gen Z characters whose dialogue was made presumably ten minutes after a writer downloaded TikTok, and is dripping with misplaced teen slang and motifs. The show also attempts to preach the experiences of; the elderly, gay men, alcoholics, and POC. It seems to be providing the “unique” perspectives its viewers want to see, instead of the actual rough experiences of people overlooked in the media. If the writers had instead chosen to share the actual stories of people struggling with the global pandemic, as told and informed by people’s real experiences, this show could be really beautiful, but instead it’s a collection of imagined hypotheticals by people with limited insight into the environments they’re writing about.“ Social Distance” was quickly thrown together just to fill a desire for pandemic themed television content. Feel free to keep “Social Distance” more than six feet away.
RATING: 2/5
ALBUM REVIEW
Sam Smith misses with repetitive beats
FAIR-USE PHOTO FROM: @samsmith Sam Smith’s album cover shows its layered meaning. LUCY BENSON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
For fans of slightly unconventional music mixed with ballads and pop, Sam Smith’s new album is the perfect place to be. Smith’s “Love Goes” released Oct. 30, tells stories of love, loss, and different forms of heartbreak. This is the artist’s third studio album, their first album release since they dropped “The Thrill of it All” in 2017. The album fluctuates in tone but overall is somewhat somber as Smith explores break ups and their aftermath. The album’s title “Love Goes” is fitting to a main theme of the album’s tracks: not being the right person for your significant other. Smith emphasizes
the particular heartbreak when they wanted a relationship to work out but it ended. The titular track gets to the center of this conflict as Smith and Labrinth sing the course and ending of a relationship: how it can be both hard and necessary. Toward the end of the song the beat switches, turning the song from a slow ballad into something dance-worthy. Smith explained that this ending felt freeing to them. “The ending is big, and when the beat comes in, you can dance to it. It’s almost like coming home to yourself,” Smith told Apple Music. But the by far most attention grabbing song is “Young,” which sets the tone for the album’s mix or heartbreak and self exploration. The beat is unlike any others in the album and serves as the perfect jumping off point for the journey that is “Love Goes.” From beginning to end, Smith is able to captivate the listener by jumping between more upbeat pop radio sounds to Celine Dion-esque ballads. Throughout the album a gentle sadness per-
vades even in the more upbeat songs. Smith’s album is not without notable features. Burna Boy, Labrinth, Normani, Calvin Harris, and Demi Lovato all lend their talents to their tracks. A standout featurette is the track Dancing With A Stranger with Normani. The two have incredibly compatible voices making the song a perfect blend of their talents. While Smith’s melodies are moving, their tracks individually lose the listener as they become annoyingly repetitive in lyric and sound. It tends to lull the listener into boredom with some of the individual songs. Songs like “Diamonds” and “Another One” fall into this category. It is, however, a deeply emotional and charming album. Despite the themes they deal with, Smith’s album is to tread with hope and self-empowerment and love. While Love Goes, Smith is growing to love them self and becoming stronger in their own person.
RATING: 3/5
Want to save the planet and look good doing it? Seek out rental sites, secondhand apps but the rest is fairly simple. Some websites allow the shopper to pick what they would like to rent, while others allow the shopper to make a wish list and they will send an assortment of the clothes monthly. Although these pieces usually cost less money and are sustainable, there are a few downsides. If a shopper really likes a piece of clothing, they are still not allowed to keep it, which is hard for some shoppers. That can benefit clothing stores, though, because if a renter decides they like the item then they can buy a similar product. Buyers also have to keep the clothing clean and stain-free, which is difficult for some. Depop and Poshmark are both apps where people can buy and sell second-hand clothes from across the country. No subscription or membership is needed for these apps because they are second-hand buying rather than rental. A seller can download the app and upload pictures of their clothing. Then, shoppers on the app will be able to see those listings and make offers, allowing a compromise between the two. “I usually just sell old clothes that I don’t need but I don’t really sell enough to actually make money from it. For sustainability I definitely think selling or donating and also buying second hand is better than just throwing away clothes,” sophomore Maya Ketema said. Ketema sells her clothes on Depop and even though she doesn’t make a huge revenue, she continues to sell her clothes because of the environmental benefits.
Although it is possible to make a large amount of money on these apps, students at St. Paul Academy use these apps for many different reasons. “I originally began doing it because I wanted to switch up my closet and make money from old clothes I would’ve otherwise thrown away,” Katherine Bragg, a junior at St. Paul Academy, said. Clothing production is one of the many ways that the earth is becoming polluted. The many factors that go into the fashion industry make it a major contributor to carbon emissions, usage of water, chemical spills, and much more. These problems all come from the process of making the actual clothing, so when someone buys a product that has already been produced and not a brand new item, it helps reduce damage to the climate. Clothing also fills up landfills, because many unused pieces are simply thrown out. If these clothes are reused, then they will not litter the earth with perfectly good items. “I definitely do recommend reselling because it’s quite easy to do and can help you save a lot of money when cleaning out/switching up closets,” said Bragg. Although these are small steps, they are in the right direction for sustainability, and if enough people try to reuse clothes that have already been produced, there could be significant effects on the environment.
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SPORTS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Captains practices may become winter season JENNY RIES
THE RUBICON
With captain’s practices beginning, captains from each winter sport reflected on their hopes and fears for the seasons ahead. Accommodating COVID-19 protocols will look different for each sport, with some experiencing minimal changes to captain’s practice plans and others having to restructure them. As of Nov. 18 Governor Tim Walz put winter sports on pause, so the seasons are still pending changes.
ALPINE According to senior captain Fiona Rucker, the alpine ski team was still in the process of figuring out what captains practice will look like this year. “Currently, we’re trying to see basically what the interest level is and what we can reasonably do,” she said. “We were planning captains practices, but we’re not sure if those are still happening or not,” she said. In terms of challenges, Rucker said, that practices are “a lot more difficult to set up, and you have to do a lot of stuff online and kind of gauge the interest level and the plausibility of different practices.” The alpine team will still make an effort to bond with each other despite the traditions lost to COVID-19. “I feel like we can come up with new traditions this way. We’ve got to be a little more creative here so I think it’ll make some new things happen, and I’m pretty excited about that,” Rucker said.
NORDIC Senior Isabel Toghramadjian reflected on the adaptability of training for nordic skiing. “We don’t have it fully planned for this year yet, but in the past what captain’s practices looked like are a run, and then maybe some core, or gains, outside on the field,” she said. “I think
most of it will be safe to do in the pandemic, [since it’s] outside it’ll be easy to [socially] distance... I’m not thinking that things will change in the actual way that our practices run.” Nordic’s adaptability to COVID-19 protocols has drawn new members to the team. “I’m excited to see what our team looks like this year, because I think our team has been growing the past couple of years,” Toghramadjian said.
FENCING
The fencing team does not anticipate having captain’s practices this year. “There wasn’t the option for captains practices. ...this year it is pretty clear that wasn’t an option for us,” senior captain Luka Shaker-Check said. Shaker-Check mentioned that captains’ participation in planning regular practices will also be limited. “Captains do have some control over what happens in normal practice, but typically that suggestion is something we talk about with the coaches before,” he said. “These captains’ suggestions are limited due to the limited time we have in practices.” Though practices will be limited, Shaker-Check plans to bring the team together virtually. “This season I am looking forward to hosting virtual team dinners. I feel like outside of practice team gatherings are important but COVID means we can’t hang out in person, so I will try to hold virtual gatherings,” he said.
GIRLS BASKETBALL As one of the most high risk winter sports in terms of COVID-19, girls basketball captain’s practices will require many changes this season. “Basketball is one of the highest risk activities for COVID,” senior cap-
RUBICONLINE PHOTO: Will Schavee Seniors Michael Bagnoli, Evan Thissen, Frank Tsiouvaras, and Bobby Verhey participate in a drill while wearing masks. tain Rashmi Raveendran said. The team is uncertain what their season will look like this year. “Right now, it’s pretty unclear, because both MSHSL and our athletic department are still kind of figuring out what to do,” Raveendran said. As such, Raveendran said that the captains have two potential plans for captain’s practices.
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IF IT MEANS WE CAN PLAY HOCKEY WHILE KEEPING EVERYONE SAFE AND HEALTHY IT IS WORTH IT.
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Michael Bagnoli
“If we have to do completely distanced, we’ll do Zoom workouts... and get out a workout PDF at the start of the week that people can do and keep on track,” she said. “If we are allowed to be on campus, then we would probably have to figure out all of these different fitness drills that we can do and we would wear masks the entire time and try to find a way that we can play, but still stay distanced.” Raveendran looks to the captains practices and the season ahead as a challenge of “figuring out how to still bring what I love about the basketball program to such new circumstances,” Raveendran said.
BOYS BASKETBALL For the boys basketball team, senior captain Ivan Starchook discussed how COVID-19 precautions will affect players’ experiences. “The biggest difference is that we have to wear masks during our
games, and adjusting to that is tough. On the bright side, our lungs will be made of steel by the end of the season,” he said. For Starchook, the goal is for the team to get some playing time this season. “I’m honestly most nervous about a potential cancellation or suspension of the season,” he said. “The only thing we’ve really adapted so far is the mask policy, we’ve still been trying to maximize our time on the court and playing as much as possible,” Starchook said.
BOYS HOCKEY The boys hockey team has already begun practices with COVID-19 protocols in place. A set number of players are allowed at each practice and in the locker rooms, with required sign-ins and temperature-taking each practice. Masks are mandatory on and off of the ice. “Some of us experienced this during the soccer season, so we are somewhat used to it. Nonetheless, it is difficult, but if it means we can play hockey while still keeping everyone safe and healthy, it is worth it,” senior captain Michael Bagnoli said. It is unclear if the team will be allowed to continue to play. “The main difference between this year and previous years is all the uncertainty… with the way COVID is going, our current plans could change at any moment. It is stressful not knowing how the season will end up,” Bagnoli said.
GIRLS HOCKEY Since COVID-19 cases among girls hockey players placed many players in a two-week quarantine, the team has not been practicing, and will not have any more cap-
RUBICONLINE PHOTO: Jonas Bray Senior Adam Holod dribbles the ball during captains practice. tain’s practices, senior captain Allison Audette said. “What I was most nervous about was having people on the team test positive, which would obviously put a stop to practices. This, unfortunately, happened, so the remaining captain’s practices have been canceled,” she said. “The biggest change so far with the hockey season is that we weren’t able to start as soon as we normally do. Captain’s practices started late, and tryouts are scheduled for November 30, when they would normally be around Halloween,” she said. Like other sports, when the team returns there will be accommodations to incorporate COVID-19 protocols into practice. One example that had already been implemented is that the team “started off captain’s practices with the adjustment of wearing masks in the locker room,” Audette said. With the team returning to practice, she said, “Hopefully, we will still have a season, even if it looks a lot different… that is what I am looking forward to the most.” Though accommodating COVID-19 protocols will look different for each sport, each team will attempt to maintain team spirit and connection for their winter seasons this year. Whether or not winter sports will resume is still subject to changes and announcement from Walz.
RUBICON PHOTO: Jenny Ries Junior Sonja Ross jogs during nordic practice.
What is Governor Walz saying about youth athletics? -All in person activities, practices, tournaments, etc., must cease entirely for four weeks -“I support youth sports and I understand the issue; does impact kids...But what we’re seeing is asymptomatic spread in those communities by kids that come home and inadvertently infect others,” Walz said.
SPORTS THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Element Gym offers safe, beginner-friendly boxing
THE RUBICON PHOTO: Evelyn Lillemoe Element Gym is located on Fairview ave in Saint Paul. They are currently offering free trial boxing classes for new members. EVELYN LILLEMOE
CHIEF VISUAL EDITOR
Element Gym is a boxing gym in St. Paul. It was founded by Dalton Outlaw in 2011 who created the gym to serve as a place where boxing could be accessible to everyone. The gym has many classes that focus on boxing, kickboxing, yoga, and more. For those who are interested but not ready to commit, there is a free trial option for your first class. Signing up is a little confusing as there are many sections on the website, but the easiest way is to go to the classes section of their website and click sign up from there. To sign up it is required to make a MindBody account but that process is pretty simple. This review focuses on the Group Fitness class-
es - Boxing+Impact. The class is from 12:00 to 1:00 every day of the week. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, gloves were provided by the gym, but now they are requiring everyone to bring their own gloves, though they sell hand wraps onsite for $10. In addition to the new gloves rule, the showers are closed, classes are limited to 15 people, and masks and social distancing are required at all times. The gym is in the Fairview Business Center just left of the entrance. For those coming for the first time, it will be beneficial to come at least 15 minutes early. The instructor was extremely helpful and accommodating to new students introducing the basics of boxing at the
THE INSTRUCTOR GAVE POINTERS TO STUDENTS ON FORM AND TECHNIQUE. beginning of class. The class itself began with warm-ups that focused on strength, endurance, and moving while maintaining a boxing stance. Next bags were brought out, one for each person, in order to practice some drills. The drills included practicing boxing basics such as switching between an orthodox, or right-handed, stance and a south-paw, or left-handed, stance, and slipping which is a tech-
nique to avoid punches. After drills, there was a freestyle time. This was likely more beneficial for those who know more boxing techniques, but for newcomers, it was a good time to get more comfortable with new techniques and start to use them together. Finally, the class finished with more strength exercises. When class was over, everyone cleaned the area they were working out at, as well as their bag with disinfectant spray and paper towels provided by the gym. Overall, the class provided a good workout and a welcoming atmosphere. There was a lot of support for those new to boxing as the instructor and the environment was very welcoming to new students. The techniques taught were basics, but extremely important when building up to higher boxing abilities. The instructor gave personal pointers to students on form and technique which was very helpful. The class went by quickly, but provided a thorough workout. The welcoming environment, attention to newcomers, physical difficulty, and educational value of this class were just some of the reasons this gym is one that everyone needs to check out.
Murphy aims for personal connection over statistics
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Brian Murphy MAREN OSTREM MANAGING EDITOR For new head varsity hockey coach, Brian Murphy, filling the position at St. Paul Academy seemed like a full-circle moment. “My first coaching job was actually at SPA when I was 20 or 21 years old, I was still in college... I was really, really young,” he said. Murphy went to SPA for a few years in elementary school and many of his family members have graduated from the
school. “It’s kind of a perfect situation for me, because I started my coaching career there 18 years ago… After researching the school and just the philosophy of the athletic program, I thought [the position] would be a home run… It really from the bottom of my heart, means a lot to me to be back there,” Murphy said. As far as his coaching philosophy goes, Murphy tries to remain focused on the players, rather than results. “These kids are going through challenging times right now... with what’s going on in the world. So I think our job as coaches or leaders is to make kids better people. Period. I’m not really focused on wins and losses… I think that starts with developing or creating a culture of standards that we can apply through the varsity and JV throughout the next cou-
ple years in the program,” he said. As with many winter sports, the future of the 2020 - 2021 hockey season is uncertain. “I think the biggest thing right now is hopefully we have a season, knock on wood, with regards to COVID,” Murphy said. Assuming the season carries out as currently planned, Murphy wants to provide a safe space, outside of the stressors of the larger world. “We want to make sure the kids are having fun every day. Going to the rink every day to practice or a game should be an escape from reality,” he explained. Murphy’s biggest concern right now is the ability to connect with his players. “Going into a new program, being on year one of the program, we haven’t really got to develop a relationship with
kids, just because of the COVID-19 protocols, and not having a lot of dialogue with the kids... I want to get to know all the kids on a personal level,” he said. The pandemic threw off the team’s plan for summer practices, so the team is less comfortable around each other than they normally would be at this point. Even if the season does not happen the way he hopes, Murphy is committed to being a steady presence in his players’ lives. “If it doesn’t work, then I’m there for the kids 110% regarding anything in their life that they need from me,” he said. “That’s what inspires me. And that’s what I love about coaching is to make a difference in these kids’ lives and impact them in the future.”
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College recruiting process adapts to COVID-19 NOA GROSS
The college application process is never easy or particularly enjoyable, but 2020 seniors are faced with the added challenge of applying to universities during a global pandemic. Specifically, one aspect of the college application process has been hindered more so than others, athletics recruiting. Mary Hill, director of college counselling and academic planning at SPA, described what a “normal” recruitment process might look like. “It’s important that they [student athletes] identify their interest in recruitment at least during their junior year, if not before, and just start a process of outreach to coaches at colleges of interest…whether it’s a combination often of just writing an email with the past resume of athletics, and usually also completing athletics recruiting questionnaires, most colleges have basically tried to convey that the student needs to take initiative,” she said. While student initiative is important, for students of all grade levels looking to continue a sport during their time at university, competitions are usually crucial in connecting with coaches of different colleges. As SPA students grapple with shortened seasons and fewer competitions, juniors and seniors in particular are feeling the effects of COVID-19 athletic restrictions. Senior Jax Wittenberg is currently working through his application as a fencing recruit. “At the moment what it looks like is a bunch of zoom calls, phone calls, and emailing, Just figuring out the last small details,” he said. Despite his current success within the recruitment process, Wittenberg is still very aware of the effect the pandemic has had on collegiate recruitment. “This is different because it’s all been virtual and it’s much harder for coaches to have easy contact because [typically] you’re in a room with like 10,000 people at a national event. And there’s coaches, everywhere they’re walking around, they’re watching everything, they’ll come up to you. What my typical year would look like is that I would go to those tournaments, and I would see the coach, talk to them, have a meeting with them there, and then, after the tournament, in the time that I’m not seeing him we’d be emailing, and probably zoom calling. But, it’s become much more virtual instead” He said. Although Wittenberg is happy with the school he chose, the process felt much less secure then he would have hoped. “I would have visited college, I would have met the team, I would have, you know, talked to the coach, I would have seen the facilities. That hasn’t happened, and so it’s been a lot,” he said. But despite all the challenges athletes have faced Hill offers some sound words of advice and hope. “The first thing is that they’re [student athletes] not the only individual to have lost out on their sports seasons, that it’s a pretty it’s a system wide kind of thing… .I think the recruiters out there will just give you a lot of grace, saying, whenever you’re sports resuming, and you’re able to compete, stay in touch with us,” she said. The message across all the interviews was for athletes to stay connected and be their own publicist. If a student is looking to get recruited it will fall on them to reach out and actively engage with their coaches. “It is very important to just keep the lines of communication open, to keep coaches updated about what you’re aiming for in your process, how you’re trying to work on your fitness and your athletic skills, even if you’re not competing in a full on season… I think coaches just look for that sense that you are going for it, that you’re proactively going after it. And I think that’s what you can still do, even if we’re in distance learning,” Hill advised athletes interested in potentially participating in collegiate sports. Students beginning the college athletics recruitment process during these turbulent times should remember to reach out, stay engaged, and enjoy their sport. THE RUBICON
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GOOD QUESTION THE RUBICON - NOVEMBER 2020
Is there a deeper meaning to color? What are its psychological connections?
ILLUSTRATION: Salah Abdulkarim EYE DON’T SEE IT. Each person has a different perception of color, one may see it one way and remember someonthing another won’t. JOHN BECKER THE RUBICON
Behind the bright and beautiful colors that illuminate the world, there is something rather important relating to a person’s brain, yet, the most influential abilities of color have often gone unnoticed. Various studies have determined that colors have physiological effects. Colors can inflict emotions, impacting the amygdala in the brain. Since the amygdala is related to reflexive emotions such as anxiety, happiness, and stress there is an unknown correlation between colors and mood. It all comes down to personal perception. A memory can bring forth emotions; so can a color. US Science teacher Cathleen Drilling knows her husband, US Math teacher Olaf Lakin will like anything she picks out, if it’s orange. She said, “Mr. Lakin does have a favorite color, which makes it very easy to shop for gifts for him. His favorite is orange because that was one of his high school colors growing up, so he has that strong memory from his childhood tied to that color.”
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HIS FAVORITE [COLOR] IS ORANGE BECAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF HIS HIGH SCHOOL COLORS GROWING UP, SO HE HAS THAT STRONG MEMORY FROM HIS CHILDHOOD TIED TO THAT COLOR. Cathleen Drilling
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Orange, is a color known to portray cheerfulness and it acts as a stimulant according to Knedra Cherry. However, it is difficult to find a commonality behind the perception of various colors through people, as age and where they live tend to be variables from which differentiate various perceptions. This difficult commonality comes from a USA survey which demonstrated that Americans favor various colors, but the color blue remained the most favored color in the states at 44%. There are many factors behind this, but it may be because blue has a relatively strong soothing effect, which may be the reason that the sight of oceans and lakes, 49%, is more liked than forests at a minimal 19%.
Kenneth and Cherie Fehrman, along with Marcel Zentner, found that the older a person grows, the more likely they associate colors with childhood memories. Another physiological effect noted is climate: where people live influences why people love and hate certain colors. “I feel having a favorite color is a thing that people talked about when I was younger — you know, like the first day of school stuff --so I would always have an answer ready. I think I would say red. However, as I’ve aged then I don’t really have a preference anymore, although if asked, I’ll say red rather than being a downer and saying that I don’t have a favorite color,” Drilling said. A study conducted on the color red found that it signifies action or
activity. Red is the most prominent color on the spectrum, and it grabs attention swiftly. The study also found that while red socially signifies love, as one grows older negative connotations of the color red, like anger, may be more apparent. Genetics can alter the perception of colors, especially for those without color vision. For instance the color impairment of red-green. Passed down through a mother, typically to a son through the 23rd chromosome makes it difficult to distinguish colors such as reds, greens, browns, and yellows. However a study done regarding the perception of colors by Cherry found that the emotional response regarding a clear sky was the same for people who are color blind and who are not. The study found that wavelengths reciprocated through our lenses created the same calming effect because regardless of what is seen, the psychological effect of colors and their ability to elicit emotions is social. Influencd both by memory and the physiological, perception of different hues help color the way one sees the world.
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My favorite color is navy blue because it reminds me of all the good memories with my friends at lakes during the summer. -Eli Conrod-Wovcha
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Lavender is a calming color that reminds me of the spring. It also reminds me of a shirt from elementary school that my mom bought me for my birthday. -Esther Allen
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My favorite color is gray because it’s one of my dad’s favorite colors. I also like it because the Clevland Cavaliers’ gray jerseys look really nice. -Simon Assefa
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My favorite color is a pale green. It’s gentle and beautiful. I remember having picnics in my old house’s backyard under a tree with pale green leaves. -Eliza Farley