November 2021 Issue

Page 1

the

RUBICON

Friday, Nov. 19, 2021

the student newspaper of St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Ave St. Paul, MN 55105 Volume 49, Issue 3

rubiconline.com

@therubiconspa

Enbridge attempts to silence Line 3 protesters ORION KIM

THE RUBICON

After reports in mid-October that pipeline owners paid police to target Line 3 protesters, students are fighting back. Freshman Annie Zhang said, “Enbridge trying to silence protesters is an infraction of the first amendment that grants everyone freedom of speech which includes the right to protest.” Enbridge is the company responsible for replacing the pipeline that runs 1,031 miles from Hardisty, Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. According to their website, the initiative created 8,600 jobs over a two-year period. Still, the construction of the pipeline has received civil backlash since the beginning of its reconstruction in 2016. The reason for this is that the pipeline runs through Indigenous land, violating the rights of the people who occupy it. According to stopline3, an organization attempting to raise awareness and stop its construction:“The pipeline spans across the Leech Lake and Fond du Lac reservations and the l855, 1854, and l842 treaty areas.”

RUBICONLINE PHOTO: Zekiah Juliusson

NEW FENCE: Construction on a fence around the SPA Upper School began Oct. 25 to protect the fields from damage and secure the campus.

NEW FENCE INSTALLED TO PROTECT FACILITIES ZEKIAH JULIUSSON RUBICONLINE

CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO: Fibonacci Blue

PROTECT OUR EARTH. The line 3 pipeline runs across Indigenous land, crossing many bodies of water and critical wetland areas. Protesters are worried about oil spills and the threat it poses to keeping the environment and major bodies of water clean.

Not only does the pipeline cross Indigenous land, but also crosses a number of bodies of fresh water. According to MN350.org, “Line 3 will cross critical wetlands and 200+ additional bodies of water, including the Mississippi River, twice.” The risk of oil spills and other contaminants is of concern to water protectors. Enbridge has a history of oil spills. According to the Oil and Water

Don’t Mix organization, On Jul. 25, 2010, one of Enbridge’s Line 6B pipeline ruptured. It took 17 hours for Enbridge to detect the breach in the pipeline and start repairs. Many people think the risk of an oil spill is not worth the jobs Enbridge creates. One of these is sophomore Declan Monahan. “I think that there is no reason for Line 3 to pass through indigenous land, and the environmental risk is not

worth it for the marginal impact it is going to have on energy,” he said. For these reasons, the reconstruction of Line 3 has sparked many protests. Some of these protests intensified, and in some cases, protesters broke equipment. In an attempt to stop these protests, Enbridge paid $2.9 million to the police for them to regulate and arrest protesters. According to the Pipeline Legal

Action Network, “Police have arrested more than 900 demonstrators opposing Line 3 and its impact on climate and Indigenous rights.” Junior Yash Kshirsagar said, “[Silencing protesters] doesn’t create a good image for Enbridge. By silencing them, it seems to cause more of a stir than Enbridge anticipated. By doing this they devalue the basic rights that protesters have.”

Student tour guides highlight community and facilities

RUBICON PHOTO: Salah Abdulkarim

WELCOME TO MY HOUSE. Student tour guides, faculty, and guest families gather in The Huss Center Nov. 14 for the fall open house.

SALAH ABDULKARIM EDITOR IN CHIEF

With plenty of open houses around this time of year, admissions relies on the help of students

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to show prospective families around campus. The student tour guide aspect of admissions has been a long-standing tradition: “Students have led

CHANGE THE WORLD Sophomore Class Leadership Council offers service recommendations as their peers complete service hours. Read more in News.

tours at the lower school since the 1970s...Originally, the philosophy behind the tour guide program was to share the school’s confidence in our public speaking program and to show that we value the student perspective,” Senior Associate Director of Admissions Julie McGlincey said. Student tour guides take pride in showing visiting families around the school and sharing their perspectives. Senior Greta Magnuson said, “I have gone to SPA for my whole life so I feel like I have a very good understanding of

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the school...I like showing people around the Schilling Center...I try to take families around the Huss Center, and my favorite part would be showing people elective classes. There’s typically more visually interesting things to show prospective parents rather than just learning content from a board or video.” With many bases to cover across, academics, athletics, and facilities, this process is more challenging than it may seem. “This is my first year [touring] in high school,” junior Jack O’Brien said. The biggest challenge

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The Rubicon staff scoured the halls, asking, “What brings you joy?” You answered. Read more in Feature.

IN THIS ISSUE:

can be structuring the time to the family, he said. “It can often be pretty difficult because the people you’re guiding around the school when the family doesn’t tell you a lot about their interests.” Touring is not an easy task, especially with the many tours and open houses that take place, student tour guides play a large role. “We offer three Admission Open Houses on each campus through the admission season. They are in October, November and January. Tour

Construction on a new fence around the Randolph Campus athletic fields is underway with the purpose of protecting the fields. The project began on Oct. 25 and will conclude next week following issues surrounding damages caused by dogs and other traffic in the neighborhood. Head of School Bryn Roberts said, “The construction of the fence came after a long conversation that was really about the cost for the school community of having the fields open to everyone any time of the day or night.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, the community started using the fields as a dog park where one could often find 30-40 dogs at a time. The fields were often left destroyed given the number of dogs and their owners on the fields, many of whom would not clean up after their pets, making some of the fields unusable. Mary Saul lives near the school and used to bring her dog to the upper fields at night. She said, “At the beginning of the pandemic, it was a safe place to go and allow your dog to exercise and socialize while the owners could social distance as well as get some desperately needed socialization. It continues to be that even today. We have FENCE CONT. ON P. 3

TOURS CONT. ON P. 2

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WHY I PLAY High school participation is at an all-time high nationally. Learn why Spartans chose their teams. Read more in Sports.

1-3 - News • 4-6 - Opinion • 7 - Good Question

• 8-9 - In Depth • 10 - 11 Feature• 12-13 - A&E • 14-15 - Sports • 16 - Music


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