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Please RecycleSpectrum The Economic crisis influences the decisions students make during his or her college process.

Do Male Stereotypes Exist at Blake?

May

May 2009

2009

School NewsMay 09

02Spectrum

Spectrum Staff

Staff WritersKimi GoldsteinHannah Page

Bennett WintonJack Buchanan

Kasey BoydMason Hinke

Sutton HigginsEllie Alldredge

Taylor Rondesvedt

Contributing WritersEllie Scholz

Kimmer PotuznikMichael Carter

Sam MichelKolten Fischer

Allison ByePeter Olson

AdviserScott Hollander

Formally known as Swine Flu, the H1N1 virus has become a part of our lives

that cannot be ignored. The H1N1 virus is a respiratory disease commonly found in pigs and is almost a twin to the normal flu. The recent transfer from animals to humans has been setting off panic due to the uncertainty revolving around this vi-rus. In Mexico, the originating birth place of H1N1, roughly two-thousand and five-hundred people have fallen ill and about one-hundred and sixty eight people have died. It has now found its way into at least twelve states, here in the U.S., and is liable to spread rapidly. Minnesota is host to confirmed cases and both corresponding schools have closed. Our global community has taken obscure steps such as a ban of kissing in Egypt, thermal cameras in Japanese air-ports to detect a fever, and the attempt to purchase thirty-two million face masks in Britain. In contrast, President Obama

simply recommends for those who have contracted the virus to stay home and get better. Though the World Health Or-ganization has recently raised the alert level to Phase 5, meaning that a global pandemic is imminent, the uncertainty of what course H1N1 will take puts us on a day by day track. The question now is: how should we respond? As for the Blake commu-nity, it is the “School’s expectation that children who become ill should be kept at home,” as Head of School, John Gulla, wrote pertaining to the current situation. Blake has been in contact with physi-cians and receives information and up-dates from the Minnesota Department of Health in order to stay fully informed. In the event that someone in the Blake com-munity became infected, we would close school and turn to the Department of Health to guild us. Mark Bogursky stat-ed that, “it is hard to know what the real level of danger is… [but an infection in the Blake community is] not likely to happen.” The need for panic is not present, but the

need for constant vigilance is. Follow all the basic health rules that we tend to slack off on; such as hand washing, cover-ing your cough, avoid touching eyes nose and mouth, and avoid close contact with infected people. Also, take some greatly needed rest and recuperation time when feeling under the weather. “I think that, given the present situation,” resolved Mr. Bogursky, “teachers will accommodate those who are sick.” Take this advice and stay home for once, do not push through and go to class as so many of us do. Take a sick day, especially if you have any com-bination of these symptoms: aches, chills, fatigue, fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, vomiting. We needn’t panic, but we can not afford to slack off on these crucial health guidelines. We do not know what is to come in our Blake community, nor in a global sense, so do not dwell on the “what if ’s” of the unknown future, rather, take each day one at a time, washing your hands and covering your cough.

The H1N1 Virus EnsuesKimmer Potuznik

Contributing Writer

Mihika HemmadyEditor In-Chief

Hayden BrobergEditor In-Chief

Mike GrahamOpinions

Bailey DunningVariety

Nina KellyOpinions

Shorty BullockSports

Caroline GagneNews

Michelle GriffinFeature Editor

Thomas WinslowCopy Editor

Bailey DunningSection Editor

As many seniors embark on their respec-tive senior programs, Claire Brown

‘09 chose to intern at the Reporters Com-mittee for Freedom of the Press in Wash-ington D.C (RCFP). “The Reporters Commit-tee for Freedom of the Press was created in 1970 at a time when the nation’s news media faced a wave of government subpoe-nas asking reporters to name confidential sources.” The RCFP is a non-profit commit-tee that works solely off of donations and the sales of its publication. RCFP provides free legal services to journalists. While interning Claire has had nu-merous articles published on the website, one of them being a report on Roxana Sa-beri. Saberi was put in jail while journaling in Iran. Claire also wrote an article about Barack Obama withholding abuse photos. These are the types of situations that the RCFP reports on. After interning at the RCFP, Claire will shadow a New York Times reporter for a day.

A Journalism Dream Becomes

a Reality

Claire Brown ‘09Journalism InternRCFP

Change is a word we’ve been see-ing a lot lately. Change in the

world, in the country, in the econ-omy, in the government. But what about change that’s a little closer to home? Just a few weeks ago, the sophomore and junior classes vot-ed for their class presidents. Both classes heard speeches from mul-tiple candidates and voted on the one they felt had their class’s best interests at heart. Jack Schnettler ‘11 was elected by the sophomore class and Kiley Naas ‘10 by the juniors. But what pushed them to run? Jack says he ran because he wanted to help make sure that the class of 2011 has the best possible atmosphere for them to succeed as they go into their Junior Year. Kiley stated, “Frankly, I was motivated by our hard work over the past three years and inspired by our ambi-tious goals to make our fourth year of high school a phenomenal one.” Both candidates agreed that they want to see change in the Blake Upper School, and that they really wanted the input of their peers. Jack says his biggest goals are “to achieve greater class unity, I hope to reform Forum so that it is more public and efficient, and I hope to represent 2011’s opinions to the best of my-

ability.” Blake is a great school, where teachers, students and ad-ministrators are all able to come together and work towards improv-ing the community as a whole. Kiley says that one of her biggest goals is to make sure that the class of 2010 will continue their work in the community outside of Blake, at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. She says, “The project has allowed us to work together and use our talents outside the walls of Blake. I believe we can leave a legacy both at Blake and in the community at large; both pieces being essential in eternalizing the 2010 name.” The Blake community has always been involved in many service projects, and it is one of the best ways our school can impact those around us. Both leaders said that greater class and school unity is also important. Between the two of them, their ideas of a more public Forum, CPR classes, a new Playaz club and more school-wide events will all bring the posi-tive change that Blake needs. Each class is different and both 2010 and 2011 have great ideas to bring to the table. It’s also important for the members of both classes to remem-ber that this change won’t occur un-less they push for it. So congratula-tions Kiley and Jack, and good luck next year!

Taylor RondestvedtStaff Writer

Class Presidents for Change

School News 03Spectrum

May 09

Blake’s Colors Become a Little More Green

Rethinking College ChoicesEllie Scholz

Contributing Writer

Kimi GoldsteinStaff Writer

Thisspring,theBlakecommunitysus-tainedaconsciousefforttomakethe

process of our daily education slightlymoreenvironmentallyfriendly.OnEarthDay 2009, studentswere encouraged toswaptheircarkeysforbikehelmetsandbravethetreacherousbikepathsinsteadoftheexpresslaneon394.Inadditiontothis great demonstration of eco-aware-ness, conscious students and facultymemberssuccessfullyinstallednewrecy-clingbinsthroughouttheUpperSchool’shallways. The Earth Day biking initiativewasplannedby theBlake “GreenTeam”andtalkedupinassembliesintheweekspreceding April 22nd. Sign-up sheetswere posted near the main office, onwhichstudentsandteachers listedtheirnames and their estimatedmileages fortheircommutes.Accordingtoonecount,therewere67bikes,fiveskateboardsandonerazorscooterhangingoutaroundtheUpperSchoolonEarthDay.Helmetswereseen attached to backpacks throughoutthe halls and the wind-blown hair ofmany studentswasn’t necessarily an in-tentional look. Many students reported

meetinginachosenlocation,thenbikingtogethertomakethe10+mileridealittlemore enjoyable. Senior Franny Quirs-field remarked tobikingaficionadoandteacher,Jon Dicus,“NowIknowwhyyoudoiteveryday.” The atmosphere of the UpperSchool reflected this same enlightenedsentiment throughout the day. Studentsrollerbladed from class to class and at-tempted bike stunts outside the JuniorLounge(Caroline Gagne ’10 canattesttoone successful, albeit bumpy, ridedownthe stairs). Some particularly dedicatedstudents, includingMargaret Chute ’09andKathryn Vincent ’09notonlybikedtoschool,butalsobikedtotheirlacrossepracticeattheMiddleSchoolaswell.Withtheweatherwarmingup,studentsareen-couragedtocontinuepracticingenviron-mentally sound transportation, whetheritbebiking,skateboarding,rollerblading,orcarpooling.Anyeffortmakesadiffer-ence. The Outdoor EnvironmentalClubsponsoredaT-shirtscreen-printingevent forEarthDay aswell. InpreviousyearstheOECsoldpre-printedshirtsanddonatedtheproceedstoagreencause.Inthe spirit of reusing, this year, studentsand faculty brought in old T-shirts, on

which the 2009 Earth Daydesign was printed for asmallfee.WhilethenumberofT-shirtsprintedwaslow-er than those purchased inpreviousyears,OECadvisorChris Mitchellbelievesthatchange takes time and that“it was easier for studentsandfacultytobuyanewandprovided shirt in the pastcomparedtoapersonalandreused one this year thatwas screen printed only.”Perhaps with more notice,thegreenEarthDayT-shirtdrive will continue to besuccessfulinyearstocome.A friendly reminder aboutthenewrecyclingbins:readthesignscarefullyandonlyput the acceptable materi-als in the designated re-ceptacles! With effort fromeveryone, Blake can trulycall green one of its schoolcolors.

The economic crisis has raisedpricesfor everything, even college. But in

additiontoraisedtuitionrates,whatwasthe impactoncollegedecisions?Fortu-natelyforthescholarsoftheBlakecom-munity,themostselectiveandendowedcollegeswere the least affected by thisnation-wide financial slide. Now thatthemadnessofthisyear’scollegesearchhasendedfortheseniors,wecanfinallyspeakfreelyaboutthetopicwithoutfearofangryglaresfromnervousapplicants. Thisyearhadoneofthehighestnumbersofapplicationsever.Therewereabouttwomillionhighschoolgraduatesandoftheseabout60%wentontoap-plytocollege,asopposedto40%intheearly1990’s.Frank Sachs, headof thecollege-counselingdepartment,believesthere are two primary reasons behindthis dramatic increase in applications.First,theincreaseofapplicantsmaybeattributedtostudentswhoapplytomorecollegesasaresultoftheincreaseofun-certaintysurroundingadmissiontotheirfirstchoice.Second,collegesaremakingtheapplicationprocesseasier.Moreandmore colleges are switching over to theCommon Application, which makes it

easytosendthesameapplicationtotwo,three,oreventenschools.ResearchersatCornell University conducted a study tomeasure thehowsignificantlyswitching

totheCommonApplicationhasincreasedapplications.Theresearchers foundthatthecollegesthatadopttheCommonAp-plication increase their applications by

5.7 to 7 percent. Colleges also increasetheir admissions by 4.3 to 5.9 percent,and raise their enrollments by 3.7 per-cent.Althoughadmissionsaredrastically

increasing,acceptanceisnotalostcausebecausecollegesarealsoacceptingmorestudentsthaninpastyears. If need-blind schools discontin-

uetheirpolicyasaresultoftheeconomiccrisis,whathavetheydonetomakecol-legemore affordable? Oneway collegesaccommodatedprospectivestudentsthisyearwasthroughincreasedfinancialaid.Collegesarefocusingmuchmoreonmer-it-basedaidthantheyhaveinthepast.Itsnotjuststudentswhoscorewellontheirstandardized tests thatwarrant thisaid,but also students who are dedicated tootherfacetsofschoollife,likeleadershiproles.Inaddition,manyschoolsareoffer-ingfinancialaidfornootherreasonthanincentive for students to choose theircollege.Mr.Sachs,withonlyahintofsar-casm, refers to this as a “discount”. Likeany business selling a product, collegesmustpayattentiontothedemandoftheconsumer.Itappearsthatconsumersareresponding. The college counseling de-partmentbelievesthatoverallthisyear’sseniorsarepayingmoreattentiontothefinancialaidofferedtothemandtheseof-fersareplayingamuchmoresignificantroleintheirultimatedecisions. It seems likeMr. Sach’s favoriteslogan, “College is a match to be made,notaprizetobewon,”isappropriatenowmorethanever.Thisyearstudentsmustnotonlyfindacollegethatmatchestheirdesiredlocation,academics,andsize,butalsotheirpricerange.

A curious observer checks out the class of 2009’s impressive college choices

Hayden Broberg

The new recycling bins that have been placed around the school as a result of earth day.

Hayden Broberg

OpinionsMay 09

04Spectrum

Hannah PageStaff Writer

Ahhh,itsspringagain.Snowhasmelt-ed,birdsarechirping,andAPexams

have started. Butwhat’s this??!! The in-cessant, repetitive bounce of the play-ground ball, the Venus Williams-esquegruntsofexertion,theanguishedscreamsofthosedamnedtowaitthelonglineforanother eternity. Foursquare is back inaction. This sport of champions, playedwith unusual skill here at the BlakeSchool,isenteringitsspringseason.Nowthetopplayersdustofftheirheadbands,practice their spins, and let all the hardwork over thewinter pay off. Perennialtitans of the court, of the likes of Kol-ten Fischer’10 and Tom Madsen ’10,are joinedbynewcomerssuchasAman Irfanullah ’12, clearly attempting tomatch his brother’s legendary prowess. The essential skills required forfoursquareareagility,reflex,andaccura-cy,whichexistindifferentproportionsinthe foursquare elite.Matthew “Xerxes” Crocker ’10 exhibitscrushing forceanddevastating spin on his volleys that areunmatchedashestandslikeatreerepel-lingallassaultsuponhim.Fischershowsanequalifnotgreateramountoffinesse,blinding speed, and athleticism, whichwhencoupledwithhisfriendlydemeanormakeforastunningplayer.Madsenshowsanapproximatelyequalmixoftheseattri-butes,coupledwithanimmenseskillforplayingthepoliticsoffoursquare.Young

players such as Khyle Eastin ’12, Mi-chael McGrath ’12,andShoubhik Sinha ‘12,havetakenthisleadershiptobecomesuccessfulplayers,learningtheessentialadagethattoberespectedyoumustearnrespect. Thislearning pro-cess,inwhichfreshmandis-coveritisnotappropriateto get out anupperclass -men who ismuch bet-ter than youand who justsaved you,has made itso that Blakefoursquare isatitsfinest. Sincemy freshmanyear, the firstyear of four-squareplayedsince 2003,f o u r s q u a r etechniqueshaveevolved considerably. From evil serveswhichgotyououtinasplitsecond,comerounds which slowly build into a cli-max,with theplayers tryingharderandharder,pushingeachother’sboundaries,until theweak link is found.Behind theback hits, once the rarefied province of

mastersquarer’s,arenowcommonplace.Spinsareusedextensivelymakingitnighimpossibletopredictwheretheballwillbounce. Feet, hands, elbows, and headsareallusedbothforstyleandoutofdes-

peration. Anemphasis onpower hasbeen replacedby an empha-sisonform,onhow cool themoveisorhowskillfulthevol-ley, althoughthe JV Courtdoes attractthe power hit-ters who areincreasinglyout of step inthebigleagues.This evolutionof the game,o c c u r r i n gas the skillof the play-ers increase,has servedto create a

more fun, skill-based game. The politics of foursquare havealso changed. From an exclusive clubpopulated by upperclassmen, the courthasbecomeanexclusive clubpopulatedby skillful players,most of who are up-perclassmen.Entrancetothefoursquare

courtforayoungerstudentislikeabap-tismbyfire.Youaretestedtothebreakingpoint,yougetoutatyourfirsttimemanytimes, you are easily dispatched by anyenemyyoumake.Howeverifyousurvivethisonslaught, youarewelcomed, giveneasy serves, treated as an equal insteadof as useless space taking up the line(assumingyoudon’tuseyournewfoundfreedom to try and get people out bysurprise). Ifyouarealreadyestablished,youmuststaywithinthecurrenttoneofthegame.Toletlooseaviciousspininagame characterized by easy lobs is con-sidered bad form, andwill be punishedwithaquick trip to thebackof the line. Foursquareisback,itistrue,andasweputacloseuponthesquaringsea-son,allofussquarer’sandnonsquarer’swoulddowelltoreflectonwhattheinsti-tutionofBlake foursquarereallymeans.Achild’sgame,assimpleasitgets,asthepastime of future world leaders. Whatfoursquaresaystomeisthatwearestillhumble,thatwestillhaveapieceofourchildhoodroots,thatwehavenotbecomesoembroiledintheadultworldyet,incol-legeapplicationsandacademics,toforgetthat we are still really kids and still atourcore,thesameasthemillionsofchil-dren who play the game. Foursquare isultimatelyanexpressionofourhumilityandournostalgia,aswellasagame.Andso,squarer’softhepastandsquarer’softhefuture,allIhavetosayis“Gameon!”

Foursquare Bounces BackMichael Carter

Contributing Writer

Why Save It Up?

Wehave finally reachedamilestoneevery student looks forward to

witheagerness–thelastmonthofthelastquarter–andwiththefinishlineinview,homework is liable to make us squirmmore than ever. Everyone hopes for awelcome reprieve, the opportunity tospendtimeunderthesuninlieuofunderadesklamp.Buthowdoestheworkloadactuallyturnout?Obviously,Ican’tspeakfortheentiresophomoreclass, letalonethe whole student body, regarding thehomeworkloadduringthefourthquarterof this schoolyear. I can,however,pro-videsomeinsightintotheworkloadfromasamplingthatmayormaynotrepresentthemajorityofclassesatBlake. My schedule includes the typi-cal number of classes – six – with fiveacademicsandHealthclass.Ihavefoundthat theworkload in the fourth quarterdiffersgreatly from the first threequar-tersoftheyearregardingthetypesofas-

signmentsgiven.Astheyearcomestoaclose,teachersareracingtofitinasmanypapersandprojectsaspossible inorderto roundout thenumberof totalpoints

for final grades. Oneweek this quarter,IfoundmyselfworkingonanEnglishes-say, a Social Studiespaper, andaChem-istry formal lab – all-important, all as-signedwithin days of one another. Forthose students, to whomwriting comesmoreeasily,andwhothushavetheabil-ity to spend one or two nights on saidprojectandreap thebenefitsofanotherfewnightsfreeofhomework,thisshiftisasweetreprieveasspringfeverentersitsfinal,potentiallyhazardousstages.How-ever, for thosewhofindwritingmoreofachallenge,Iventuretoguesstheyhaveseenasubstantialincreaseintheamountoftimespentonhomework.TothisIcanonlyrespondbybeseechingteachers,forthebenefitofmanystudents,toswitchupthe work between nightly assignmentsand more formal papers and projects.This method will lead to a happy me-dium, in which no one sees a substan-tial increase inwork during the time oftheschoolyearwhenhomework isverymuchleastappreciated. Whateverthecurrenthomework

load,wewillallseeaspikeinstresslevelsinabouttwoandahalfweeks,whenfinalswillloomfrighteninglyclosereachdayaswecobbletogetherlengthystudyguidesand huddle in groups, review sheetsclutchedtightinsweatyhands.ForthoseofuswithAPteststostudyfor,thisstresshasalreadyarrived,andthefranticstudy-inghasalreadybegun. There are currently at severaldifferinglevelsofstressandworkloadatBlake.Therearethosewhoareenjoyingthe reprieve from nightly assignments,basking in the close proximity of sum-mervacation.Yetotherskeeptheirheadsabovethewaterastheynavigatethrougha sea of papers and projects, and somehavealreadybegunthefranticperiodbe-fore finals, studying for thoseAP examsthathavearrived.Ifyouareoneofthesededicatedstudents,don’tfeelresentful–soonerthanwe’dlike,everyoneofuswillbecatapultedintoafinalsfrenzy,andtheamountofstresswillleveloutamongtheBlakestudents,settlingatacomfyelevenorsoonascaleofonetoten.

Nina KellyPaul Koullick ‘10 shows off his foursquare skills.

Thomas Winslow ‘10 and Bailey Dunning ‘12 try to juggle the 4th quarter workload.

Nina Kelly

Opinons 05Spectrum

May 09

You might be surprised by the extent of cheating that occurs in school. Can

you, however, blame those amongst us who cheat? Our culture practically en-courages it. Indeed, our society worships those with money and fame. We even look up to those who get ahead at any cost. We value those clever ones who overcome tough obstacles in the process of win-ning. When surrounded by a society that worships its heroes, it’s easy to see how a little cheating here and there can be justi-fied in some people’s minds when the re-wards are so great. Cheating is alive and well amongst us at Blake. Plagiarism, cheating on tests, and copying homework occur frequently. Indeed, at a place like Blake, there has always been and always will be cheating. Considering the great pressure to be well above average, some might do whatever it takes to get ahead and get As. To some, getting a B at this school is considered failure. Add the pressure that some parents put on their children to be the best and you’ll find that otherwise good students do things they might never had considered. When I think about my childhood heroes, I find that there are a surprising number of cheaters amongst these sports figures in baseball, football, and cycling. How could I, as an eight year-old, distin-guish between the ones who were juicing on anabolic steroids and the ones who were playing fairly? I didn’t understand the subject of injecting performance-en-hancing drugs. All I knew was that cer-

tain players could hit the ball out of the park, run faster, strikeout batters and win repeatedly. These players were rich and lived the life that everyone dreams of. Who didn’t want to be them? Everyone celebrated them. Then there were the businesspeople that had tons of money, big houses, fan-cy cars and pri-vate jets. Again, who wouldn’t look to them as something to aspire to? I did. Consider the number of rich and powerful people in sports and business who’ve been re-vealed as liars that cheated in-vestors, regula-tors, friends and family mem-bers; it is shock-ing.I’ll bet at first these athletes thought that these drugs would enable them to recov-er faster from workouts and help themselves gain strength more quickly. They likely justified it to themselves as, “I’m only aid-ing what natural talent I already have. So, what’s the big deal?” or, “Look, every-one else is doing it, so what’s wrong if I

do it too?” Once they start however, it’s almost impossible stop. With the roar of the crowd or the photographers and au-tograph seekers mobbing you – there’s no going back. With our role models doing it, it’s no wonder that kids pick-up on how cheat-

ing is a way to get ahead. I know many of our par-ents have certain ex-pectat ions that come with a Blake education. The cost of a d m i s s i o n is so great that merely getting by with aver-age grades just isn’t ac-ceptable to some. That attitude held by many par-ents that, “if you are not perfect, you are a failure” practically forces some to cheat.

Empirical evidence indicates that there are many cheaters out there. According to Crisis on Campus: Confront-ing Academic Misconduct, nationally, around 50% of middle school students

and 70% of Highschool students admit to having cheated at one point. If these num-bers hold true at Blake, this means that out of your class of 125, 88 are guilty of cheating. 88 of your classmates have been taking credit for someone else’s work at some point, maybe even often! Accord-ing to Bushway and Nash, studies show that 20% of students start cheating in the first grade. It is unbelievable; this means that your 7-year old sibling is copying her friend’s ABCs. Well, that might be a bit ex-treme, but you get the point. It’s common amongst our he-roes; whom we want to emulate, we don’t want to let down our parents; who are ex-pecting great things from us, and it’s bet-ter to be liked by our teachers than to be the kid who frustrates them because they don’t get it. So, why worry about it? Well, there is ultimately a price for cheating. There are so many examples of athletes who’s bodies fail them when they hit their 40s and 50s and end up dying young be-cause of their drug use. Think of Bernie Madoff, who spent his 71st birthday in jail and will never again see the light of day. Yes, it might seem justified for some to cheat in a society where the stakes are so high, but there are also huge risks in-volved. You can literally throw your life away if you cheat. Cheating may seem all right in your mind because you see other successful people doing it, but what you might not yet see is that those people end up paying for it in one way or another. Oh, and let us not forget, it is just not right.up paying for it. Oh and let us not forget, its just not right.

Cheaters Always Win, Don’t They?Bennett Winton

Staff Writer

Hayden BrobergCassandra Ali ‘11 tries to sneak a peak at Perrin Burke’s ‘11 answers.

Political Cartoon: Hannah Page

FeatureMay 09

06Spectrum

A s humans get used to conditions, the conditions start to become normal. The effects of

gender are like an odor; we grow accustomed to that odor after some period of time. It is only after we walk into the fresh air and then re-turn to our original atmosphere that we can notice the odor. We have grown too accustomed to our belief that nowadays gender only de-scribes a person’s physical traits. The term “gender” and “sex” seem to be interchangeable. However, if we step outside our lives for just a minute, the limitations that gender places on us become noticeable. The discussion of gender roles, when it does occur, is usually cen-tered on women’s issues. The role of a women in society, no doubt, has been an important and controversial issue throughout history. How-ever, as a cohesive group we cannot ignore the vast impacts gender assumptions have on males, assumptions which negatively affect the lives of males across the spectrum, including here at Blake. Specifically, we chose to highlight the ways in which the male-stereo-

type affects high-school students in our daily interactions. Traditionally, the male-archetype dictates that males should be strong, stoic, confident, independent, brave and sometimes angry. Conversely, the female archetype calls for women to be dependent, beautiful, nice and caring. It is important to realize that these are the stereotypes. We all know people who break out of these paradigms. However, many people, balancing be-tween the two gender roles, tend to conform to these stereotypes. Yet, there is nothing inherent in our bodies that force these stereotypes. A brief glance at history divulges the origins of these gender roles. His-tory acts as manual, if you will, that describes how males and females should act. Indeed, there was literally a book written during the Indus-trial Revolution that dictated the same stereotypes we strive for today.

The primary effect of the drive to be mascu-line in males (the male archetype) is what Drs. Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, authors of the New York Times Bestseller Raising Cain, describe as the “Culture of Cruelty”. To sum-marize, as boys develop into adults they begin to sense competition between one another. As part of their normal mental development they begin to realize what kind of world they live in.

This realization results in a hypersensitivity about any differences from the norm: red hair, abnormal

height, the color of his socks, the shoes he wears, the length of his stride. As Kindlon and Thompson

put it, “anything a boy says or does that’s different can be used against him.” We ask the boys reading this article to con-sider their own lives. Surely most of our readers can recall specif-ic taunts or name-calling campaigns based on their differences. The male-archetype introduced also affects the rela-tionships that males create. But before we delve into the in-tricacies of these relationships, we find it warranted to dis-cuss relationships as a whole. Imagine two female friends: how they talk with another, how they demonstrate affection, what they do together for fun, what conflicts in their relation-ships are usually like. Then, consider the same parameters for males. At once certain marked differences between the two genders and their relations become apparent. These dif-ferences are also reflected in opposite-gender relationships,

specifically romantic ones. We focused on analyzing the con-sequences of the male archetype on the relationships of men. The relationships are categorized as male-male and male-female. The “Culture of Cruelty” mentioned above works symbioti-cally with the male-stereotype to diminish the potential of male relationships. We do not deny the close bonds males form; men certain-ly have friends, but instead we offer a comparative analysis between the status quo and a world without gender stereotypes. Currently, males are discouraged from showing emotion. A survey of the Blake

population found that 59.4% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “At Blake, it is looked down upon for boys to show emo-tion,” while only 1.9% strongly disagreed (38.8% Disagreed). The high per-centage of students at Blake who agreed with the statement proves that many or all boys in our school are emotionally restricted in some way. The world of sports gives us an easy situation in which we can see the effects of the male-stereotype. Participating in a sport in high school, whether it is varsity, JV, or C team is something that almost every student does at the Upper School. Sports are meant to be fun, competitive, character building experiences, but often the primary emphasis is placed on winning. Thomp-son and Kindlon remark that, “the sports culture that surrounds boys has as much potential to hurt their self-esteem as it does to promote it, because it rewards athletically gifted or above-average boys at the expense of other boys who may have other gifts less highly valued by their peers”. Obviously, we do not deny the reality of competitive-ness in today’s capitalist society, but the concentrated competition in athletics at such an integral age has unique consequences for males. Sports create an attitude of competitiveness that reinforces the male stereotype. Boys are highly known for their athletic achievements but rarely anything academic or artistic. In our survey of the Upper School students, we found that 67% of surveyed students believed that there is more pressure for boys to excel in sports over doing well academi-cally. One student commented, “we seem to value athletic achievements more than academic as a student body.” Another student stated, “in general boys who have excelled at sports are more socially accepted than those who are smart.” Even at Blake, where we are infamous for our focus on academics, the vast majority of boys are more strongly encouraged to perform better in athletics than academics or the arts. With such a high emphasis on sports, the “Culture of Cruelty” is ap-parent everyday in boys’ lives. Because boys are heavily ridiculed for devi-ating from the norm, boys are coerced into suppressing their emotions in order to remain stoic and strong. Thompson and Kindlon explain, “With every lesson in dominance, fear, and betrayal, a boy is tutored away from trust, empathy, and relationship. This is what boys lose to the Culture of Cruelty. What they learn instead is emotional guardedness, the wari-ness with which so many men approach relationships for the rest their lives”. This lack of emotional sensitivity combined with the highly compet-itive atmosphere of athletics breeds the Culture of Cruelty even further. Boys are often hazed or taunted in locker rooms. If you don’t be-lieve it, ask a few Varsity athletes about their experiences. For example, one school Thompson and Kindlon highlight reported that “some boys urinated on other boys’ belongings or into their shampoo bottles”. These accounts of harassment indicate the self-consciousness that boys have as they go through high school. This self-consciousness is masked and hidden to make sure that they do not appear weak to the other boys. Thus, the male-stereotype begins a cycle which only compounds the original effects. In addition, the male-stereotype coerces males into being homophobic. As boys attempt to hide their emotions and act dominant, boys who are not as stereotypically masculine as some are called “gay or “fag”. Our study indicated that 67% of students thought that if a boy

acts effeminately it is likely that he will be called “gay” or a “fag”. Indeed, this statistic confirms the vast effects of the male-archetype among boys and fur-thers the reach of the Culture of Cruelty. Like male-male relationships, male-female relationships also suffer from preconceived gender paradigms. Inherent in masculinity is a sense of pro-miscuity; a good male is a male who is able to en-gage in unemotional sex. Yet, in their analysis of the sexual satisfaction of adolescents, Norwegian re-searchers Willy Pedersen and Morten Blekesaune conluded that“respondents in commit-ted dating relationships were much more satisfied than were unattached re-spondents”. Here, masculinity runs direct-ly contrary to what promotes the most hap-piness within males. In this way, males are pressured to sacrifice the quality of their romantic relationships and happiness in or-der to conform to societal expectations. The choice to focus on the male gender role was not an arbitrary one. Not only did we feel it necessary to highlight an often forgotten segment of gender issues, but we also recognize the impor-tance males have in righting our ethically turtled gender-vessel. Empathizers of any power strug-gle - race, class, religion, age and workplace – all know that real change can only be instigated by the party with the most power. Males do not have to struggle; they don’t have to challenge gender norms. The system undeniably favors males; they represent 486 of the 500 Fortune 500 CEOs. We just demonstrated the impacts this same system has on males, however, to provide reason to fight. Indeed, our societal structure hurts both females and males deeply. We challenge the Blake commu-nity to consider how both the male and female ste-reotypes affect their lives. The Gender Studies class defines “Gender Studies Moments” as moments in which societal influence becomes incredibly clear. Do your best to notice these moments around you as you navigate our halls. We dare you to go even further; say something about these moments! The gender problem is more and more becoming one of a micro-scale, an insurgency if you will. We ask that you meet societal forces on the ground level to instill real change for the benefit of both genders.

The Male Archetype at Blake: A Gender Studies Analysis

Mike Graham & Caroline GagneSection Editors

“At Blake, I think you either need to stand out a lot athletically, or be really smart. I think for guys, they get the idea that they will be ‘cooler’ if they excel at sports.”-gender studies survey

FeatureMay 09

07Spectrum

A s humans get used to conditions, the conditions start to become normal. The effects of

gender are like an odor; we grow accustomed to that odor after some period of time. It is only after we walk into the fresh air and then re-turn to our original atmosphere that we can notice the odor. We have grown too accustomed to our belief that nowadays gender only de-scribes a person’s physical traits. The term “gender” and “sex” seem to be interchangeable. However, if we step outside our lives for just a minute, the limitations that gender places on us become noticeable. The discussion of gender roles, when it does occur, is usually cen-tered on women’s issues. The role of a women in society, no doubt, has been an important and controversial issue throughout history. How-ever, as a cohesive group we cannot ignore the vast impacts gender assumptions have on males, assumptions which negatively affect the lives of males across the spectrum, including here at Blake. Specifically, we chose to highlight the ways in which the male-stereo-

type affects high-school students in our daily interactions. Traditionally, the male-archetype dictates that males should be strong, stoic, confident, independent, brave and sometimes angry. Conversely, the female archetype calls for women to be dependent, beautiful, nice and caring. It is important to realize that these are the stereotypes. We all know people who break out of these paradigms. However, many people, balancing be-tween the two gender roles, tend to conform to these stereotypes. Yet, there is nothing inherent in our bodies that force these stereotypes. A brief glance at history divulges the origins of these gender roles. His-tory acts as manual, if you will, that describes how males and females should act. Indeed, there was literally a book written during the Indus-trial Revolution that dictated the same stereotypes we strive for today.

The primary effect of the drive to be mascu-line in males (the male archetype) is what Drs. Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, authors of the New York Times Bestseller Raising Cain, describe as the “Culture of Cruelty”. To sum-marize, as boys develop into adults they begin to sense competition between one another. As part of their normal mental development they begin to realize what kind of world they live in.

This realization results in a hypersensitivity about any differences from the norm: red hair, abnormal

height, the color of his socks, the shoes he wears, the length of his stride. As Kindlon and Thompson

put it, “anything a boy says or does that’s different can be used against him.” We ask the boys reading this article to con-sider their own lives. Surely most of our readers can recall specif-ic taunts or name-calling campaigns based on their differences. The male-archetype introduced also affects the rela-tionships that males create. But before we delve into the in-tricacies of these relationships, we find it warranted to dis-cuss relationships as a whole. Imagine two female friends: how they talk with another, how they demonstrate affection, what they do together for fun, what conflicts in their relation-ships are usually like. Then, consider the same parameters for males. At once certain marked differences between the two genders and their relations become apparent. These dif-ferences are also reflected in opposite-gender relationships,

specifically romantic ones. We focused on analyzing the con-sequences of the male archetype on the relationships of men. The relationships are categorized as male-male and male-female. The “Culture of Cruelty” mentioned above works symbioti-cally with the male-stereotype to diminish the potential of male relationships. We do not deny the close bonds males form; men certain-ly have friends, but instead we offer a comparative analysis between the status quo and a world without gender stereotypes. Currently, males are discouraged from showing emotion. A survey of the Blake

population found that 59.4% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “At Blake, it is looked down upon for boys to show emo-tion,” while only 1.9% strongly disagreed (38.8% Disagreed). The high per-centage of students at Blake who agreed with the statement proves that many or all boys in our school are emotionally restricted in some way. The world of sports gives us an easy situation in which we can see the effects of the male-stereotype. Participating in a sport in high school, whether it is varsity, JV, or C team is something that almost every student does at the Upper School. Sports are meant to be fun, competitive, character building experiences, but often the primary emphasis is placed on winning. Thomp-son and Kindlon remark that, “the sports culture that surrounds boys has as much potential to hurt their self-esteem as it does to promote it, because it rewards athletically gifted or above-average boys at the expense of other boys who may have other gifts less highly valued by their peers”. Obviously, we do not deny the reality of competitive-ness in today’s capitalist society, but the concentrated competition in athletics at such an integral age has unique consequences for males. Sports create an attitude of competitiveness that reinforces the male stereotype. Boys are highly known for their athletic achievements but rarely anything academic or artistic. In our survey of the Upper School students, we found that 67% of surveyed students believed that there is more pressure for boys to excel in sports over doing well academi-cally. One student commented, “we seem to value athletic achievements more than academic as a student body.” Another student stated, “in general boys who have excelled at sports are more socially accepted than those who are smart.” Even at Blake, where we are infamous for our focus on academics, the vast majority of boys are more strongly encouraged to perform better in athletics than academics or the arts. With such a high emphasis on sports, the “Culture of Cruelty” is ap-parent everyday in boys’ lives. Because boys are heavily ridiculed for devi-ating from the norm, boys are coerced into suppressing their emotions in order to remain stoic and strong. Thompson and Kindlon explain, “With every lesson in dominance, fear, and betrayal, a boy is tutored away from trust, empathy, and relationship. This is what boys lose to the Culture of Cruelty. What they learn instead is emotional guardedness, the wari-ness with which so many men approach relationships for the rest their lives”. This lack of emotional sensitivity combined with the highly compet-itive atmosphere of athletics breeds the Culture of Cruelty even further. Boys are often hazed or taunted in locker rooms. If you don’t be-lieve it, ask a few Varsity athletes about their experiences. For example, one school Thompson and Kindlon highlight reported that “some boys urinated on other boys’ belongings or into their shampoo bottles”. These accounts of harassment indicate the self-consciousness that boys have as they go through high school. This self-consciousness is masked and hidden to make sure that they do not appear weak to the other boys. Thus, the male-stereotype begins a cycle which only compounds the original effects. In addition, the male-stereotype coerces males into being homophobic. As boys attempt to hide their emotions and act dominant, boys who are not as stereotypically masculine as some are called “gay or “fag”. Our study indicated that 67% of students thought that if a boy

acts effeminately it is likely that he will be called “gay” or a “fag”. Indeed, this statistic confirms the vast effects of the male-archetype among boys and fur-thers the reach of the Culture of Cruelty. Like male-male relationships, male-female relationships also suffer from preconceived gender paradigms. Inherent in masculinity is a sense of pro-miscuity; a good male is a male who is able to en-gage in unemotional sex. Yet, in their analysis of the sexual satisfaction of adolescents, Norwegian re-searchers Willy Pedersen and Morten Blekesaune conluded that“respondents in commit-ted dating relationships were much more satisfied than were unattached re-spondents”. Here, masculinity runs direct-ly contrary to what promotes the most hap-piness within males. In this way, males are pressured to sacrifice the quality of their romantic relationships and happiness in or-der to conform to societal expectations. The choice to focus on the male gender role was not an arbitrary one. Not only did we feel it necessary to highlight an often forgotten segment of gender issues, but we also recognize the impor-tance males have in righting our ethically turtled gender-vessel. Empathizers of any power strug-gle - race, class, religion, age and workplace – all know that real change can only be instigated by the party with the most power. Males do not have to struggle; they don’t have to challenge gender norms. The system undeniably favors males; they represent 486 of the 500 Fortune 500 CEOs. We just demonstrated the impacts this same system has on males, however, to provide reason to fight. Indeed, our societal structure hurts both females and males deeply. We challenge the Blake commu-nity to consider how both the male and female ste-reotypes affect their lives. The Gender Studies class defines “Gender Studies Moments” as moments in which societal influence becomes incredibly clear. Do your best to notice these moments around you as you navigate our halls. We dare you to go even further; say something about these moments! The gender problem is more and more becoming one of a micro-scale, an insurgency if you will. We ask that you meet societal forces on the ground level to instill real change for the benefit of both genders.

Although this week’s Mystery Athlete stands at 6’, 165 pounds, his presence

is more than enough to make freshmen cower before him. Whether it be in the hallways or out on the tennis courts. If you’re lucky enough you might even catch Mystery Athlete polishing his Nadal like serves while rocking old school basket-ball jerseys, which he collects as one of his many hobbies. Besides volleying in his throw-backs, when no one else is around Mys-tery Athlete likes to bring out the inner rural side of himself. He likes to listen to country music. It would appear, however, that his peers do not let him get away with this simple hiccup; instead they impose their opinions on him by calling him “inappropriate words”. It might be up to you other country fans out there to console Mystery Athlete’s damaged soul. Mystery Athlete rushes home after school to watch television programs such as Ar-rested Development and the notorious Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It is now that I would like to issue a personal apology to the ladies of The Blake School, because it would appear that Mystery Athlete holds no interest in just any lovely lady for his dream date. In his dream date, Mystery Athlete would require one thing and one thing only and I quote, “not my girlfriend… Tara Reid. Not the modern Tara Reid… American Pie Tara Reid”. It would seem that Mystery Athlete holds only the most exquisite taste in his favorite actresses. It would seem that Mystery Ath-lete is a strong believer in the quote: “ANY-THING IS POSSIBLE!” as he claims that

the greatest moment in sports history was Kevin Garnett (not the Boston Celt-ics) winning the 2008 NBA Finals. When asked whether you are born to dangle or whether you can work to dangle, Mystery Athlete instinctively re-plied, “People are born to

dangle… you can’t just pick it up like a sport”. When Mystery Athlete pulls up by those big yellow buses parked next to the courts on which he displays his po-tent tennis talents, you might just get to

hear the distinct twang of Alan Jack-son streaming out in highly amplified

sound waves. Naturally he’ll be rolling in his 2001 Jeep Laredo, which he said

is his dream car and thus feels no need to dream of owning any other whip he could get his hands on. Mystery Athlete draws inspira-tion from fictional characters such as Pop-

eye the Sailor Man, a hero to us all. His reasoning for why Popeye means

so much is just an-other in-dicator of M ys te r y Athlete’s g r e a t -

ness, “Popeye the sailor gets Olive the girl every episode. The guy is a pimp”. When asked how

much he could bench press Mystery Athlete sub-

tly reiter-ated how his body is in peak physical c o n d i -

tion, by coolly re-

plying, “I don’t lift”.

Mystery Ath-lete demon-

strates that he is clearly a gentleman and a scholar, by

looking up to heroes such as Christopher McCandless, who’s journeys chronicled in Into the Wild inspire us all. As a senior, Mystery Athlete has played a very prominent role on some of the tennis teams of years past and will no doubt be relied on for leadership and athleticism in this years campaign. He has tasted victory, in winning the boys soccer state championship, and knows that he wishes his entire tennis team to achieve that same level of greatness this season. Lastly I asked Mystery Athlete the question that burns not only in the minds of all of you reading this article that is currently illuminating your soul, but in the minds of those who have ever been as lucky to catch a glimpse of Mystery Ath-lete lay a finger to his racket. I asked him “How did you get to be so good?” Mystery Athlete took only microseconds to have a response ready and blindsided me like Todd Bertuzzi after the whistle, “God gave me the talent, but I would rather be good at school than at sports. God never gave me the academic part…” Sensational. It would appear that Mystery Athlete is as good as surveying his own heart, mind, and soul as he is surveying the courts on which he dominates. Mystery Athlete is his own man. He listens to country, plays tennis in throwback ball jerseys, and wishes he could be like Popeye. However, he lets none of this define who he is, because he knows that to allow that to happen would be to degrade his complex humanity in the most inhumane of ways. So go to a tennis match and see if you can spot the player with the aura surrounding him. If you can you’ve just found this issue’s Mystery Athlete. Get to looking…

SportsFeb 09

08Spectrum

Mystery AthleteKasey BoydStaff Writer

Where is the love? I don’t even know. Where did it go? What happened

to the days when we used to lace up our boots, tie our skates, throw on our kit, and let the butterflies of our stomachs lift us into a dangling state of mind? When did sports stop being fun? The answer can only lie within. Passion, love, and dedication are all words synonymous with athletics. Each of their meanings, however, may be mis-construed depending on one’s ambition. Imagine yourself participating in your most recent athletic contest. Chances are there was an instance where you were not pleased with your performance, caus-ing yourself to lose your focus and con-

centrate solely on your mistake and what you could have done to rectify it. Clearly, you are concerned with your own per-formance. By directing your focus to an occurrence of the past, you consequent-ly miss out on what is happening in the present. In my opinion, sports have become far too serious. A prominent example of this level of severity is found in today’s youth athletics. There is a fine line be-tween dedication, and absurdity. Dedica-tion is directly proportional to the time one spends practicing his or her own sport. Now, if they are truly passionate about this sport, then this should be an absolute joy of theirs. The line is drawn when the child is no longer enjoying what they do, and they are solely participat-ing to prepare themselves for the future,

missing out on present opportunities completely. We need to play our sports in the present. The present, in relation to time, is a gift. It is given to us each day, and it is our choice as to how we will embrace it. Take a look at soccer star Ronaldinho as a young boy. He had no fear of his op-ponents; he just wanted to score goals. He wasn’t concerned with the fact that he would later be crowned player of the year for two years in a row and win a World Cup in 2002. He embraced soccer for what it was, and we can all learn from that. Those of you who may be opposed to my argument might suggest that great athletes, such as the Olympians, had dreamt of their feat throughout their childhood, and they could not have gotten there if it weren’t for their ambition. This

is true, ambition is a great thing, but why not play for today? Do the best you can do at this moment, and from that success will come. Also, keep in mind why you started playing in the first place. For fun! If you make a mistake don’t dwell on it, shake it off and prepare yourself for what is to come. To quote Brazilian winger Robinho, “People take football too seriously. Some-times you just need to laugh at yourself.” Words to live by my friend. Robinho, liv-ing the dream, playing in England – one of the top footballing stages in the world, suggest that we laugh at ourselves more. And this is key; don’t sweat it. Just throw on your kit, and get ready to dangle some kids and ‘nipe some sieves, for there is no better feeling than to do what you love to do.

Jack BuchananStaff Writer

Bring Back The Fun

Shorty Bullock

Unsung heroes of Blake athletics, Ju-nior Varsity athletes are often over-

looked. They work hard in practice ev-eryday, compete against the same schools and have just as much fun – if not more – than their varsity counterparts. For sports like cross country running, swim-ming, skiing and track, the JV teams train with the Varsity team. The difference be-tween JV and Varsity can be as little as a second on a 5K race. For sports where JV and Varsity are two distinct teams, tryouts at the be-ginning of the season separate athletes. JV teams are sometimes viewed as the group of students who are just ful�illing their athletic requirement. However, JV athletes are more often than not some of the most dedicated, intense and fun-loving athletes at Blake. According to Meredith Burns ’11, a member of the JV soccer team, JV is “a team with all differ-ent abilities so you can come in with any knowledge level and really improve. Be-ing a JV athlete isn’t usually an intense experience,” she says, “but if you get to be

very good or if you barely missed making varsity you can still play up and get expe-rience in varsity games.” A de�inite advantage to being on a JV team,

besides the more laid-back atmosphere, is that the coaches are dedicated to help-ing individual athletes improve. Often

times, because varsity teams are made up of the best athletes in the sport, the fo-cus is more on team success than speci�ic individual growth. Playing time on a Var-

sity team is therefore based on a player’s skill. According to Kylie Kaminski ’11, a member of JV lacrosse, “our lacrosse

team bases playing time not only from actually being on the team or being good at the game, but showing up for practice and putting forth a good effort.” JV teams place the emphasis on trying hard and getting better as opposed to being natu-rally good and having a perfect record. JV teams are places where im-provement and learning really happen. This atmosphere makes them important in feeding players into Varsity teams, a fact that is often underappreciated. How-ever, the fact that JV teams are often over-looked makes them “the perfect place to just have fun and stretch your ability lev-el”, says Kaminski. “JV has less pressure to win so if you mess up it’s not the end of the world. You can really learn from your mistakes and just have fun playing a sport that you love.” JV athletes are always enjoying themselves and JV teams offer great op-portunities for anyone to try a new sport or get better at a current one. They are, Burns reiterates, “a very positive expe-rience. You learn a lot and have a lot of fun.”

Sports 09Spectrum

May 09

Respect the JV

Blake Wins Two Coaches-of-the-Year Mason Hinke

Staff Writer

Sutton HigginsStaff Writer

During the winter sports season, Blake was proud to have won two state ti-

tles in swimming and girl’s hockey. Both teams won as a result of hard work, dedi-cation, and commitment by not only the players, but also by the coaches as well. Kris Rosenberg, the coach for the state champion Bearstangs was honored as the 2009 Class A coach of the year, while girl’s hockey coach Brano Stankovsky was recognized as the Girls Class A coach of the year. The Bearstangs had a record-breaking year, which was highlighted by defeating the four-time defending state champion, St. Thomas Cadets. It was a close meet, which involved a St. Thomas disquali�ication in a relay. However, the Bearstangs still would have won by one point, regardless of the relay result. At the end of the season, Mr. Rosenberg said, “We are especially proud to have built what is considered a state boys swimming and diving powerhouse.” This powerhouse of great swimmers from Blake and Breck didn’t just fall into the lap of Coach Rosen-berg, however. Their state championship was won and earned through hard work and their effort in practice turned into victories when they needed them most. Austin Gromatzky ‘11 said about the coaching style of Kris Rosenberg, “He’s got the mentality of a drill sergeant coupled with the friendliness of Jack Buchanan

‘10. The workouts are brutal but the pay-off is huge.” His coaching style de�initely was bene�icial for Blake as a team, but it also helped individuals achieve their maximum potential. George Humphrey ’11 said, “He knows exactly how each per-son swims and how they can improve on that. He also knows so much about not only the physical, but also the mental side of swimming, so he pushes us to work on both of them.” A mental advan-tage is key in many sports, especially individual sports like swimming, and Rosenberg’s keen awareness of all parts of swimming contributed to the Bearstangs accom-plishments. Overall, Coach Rosenberg was a great coach for the Blake-Breck swim team and without his leadership skills, the season might not have been as great of a success as it was. Coach Stankovsky was also a great coach for the Blake Girls Hockey team. They had another successful sea-son, which was capped off by defeating Warroad High School for the state title. Throughout the season, they tied for �irst place in the Tri-Metro Conference and

scored the most goals in Blake history, lighting the lamp 222 times in 31 games. Throughout coach Stankovsky’s 11-year tenure at Blake, he too has established another Blake dynasty, having won State two out of the past three years. These wins have been earned through hard

work and dedication to the sport. Coach Stankovsky has almost done too good of a job. Most of the games have become un-interesting after the �irst period because of the huge leads and shut-out victories this season, in-cluding a 7-0 victory over Mahtomedi in the State A semi-�inal match-up. Like the swim team, the Girls hockey team worked hard to achieve their goals. They looked at a poster before every practice

and game that said: “Quick Starts, Com-munication, Stops and Starts, Awareness, Team Unity.” Their practices went 100%, whether it was warm-ups, 3 v. 3s or a scrimmage. However, the practices were accompanied with friendly coaching from Brano Stankovsky. Hillary Crowe ’11

said, “He cares about his play-ers more than anyone I’ve ever met. He not only wants his players to become great hockey players, but also teaches us to be great people.” She also had many sto-ries of Saturday practices where he would bring doughnuts and orange juice. Through his hard, but caring

coaching style, Coach Stankovsky led the girls team to a well-deserved state title, and also was well deserving of his Class A coach of the year award. The Blake School was honored to have two successful winter teams dur-ing the past sports season. While we all saw the great victories of the athletes, few knew about the great accomplishments that the coaches had. They were a big part of their team’s success.

Caroline GagneThe JV lacrosse team has many swing players who provide leadership while giv-ing some rest to the Varsity players

Kris Rosenberg (right) and Brano Stankovsky (left) are honored with coach of the year awards

Mason Hinke

Do you ever wonder what the new on-line sensations are? Well, twitter is

not what you’re looking for. Twitter is a new online blogging website that enables the practice of stalking. Seriously. The toolbar on the home page has the options of: ‘Home, Profile, People, and Find Peo-ple’. Who else, but stalkers, would want to ‘find people’ and check up on what they are doing every fifteen minutes? On Twit-ter, you can set up a user account and can blog, or “tweet”, in one hundred and forty words or less. You can also post photos, which is a bit of a bonus… but it doesn’t compensate for much.

Twitter has a feature that allows you to “follow” people -- which is a stalk-er-adjective and when you are “following” someone you get notifications after every one of their blog posts. There is no doubt in my mind that some random guy in Ven-ezuela is sitting at his computer, waiting for the cute, innocent ten-year-old’s new-est “tweets”. I have proof. I have Twitter, and every single day some random per-son with the Twitter name of “coolguy” or “raveboy” sends me a message just to let me know that they’re going to begin following my tweets. At least you aren’t required to fill out any personal informa-tion in your profile - yikes! There are some benefits to Twit-

ter, such as lots of celebrities use it. Since stalking is acceptable if its someone who’s actually important (and not underage...) Twitter is the place to go! The coolest people, such as Britney Spears, Obama, Michael Phelps, Lance Armstrong, and Oprah are all tweeting their every move, every minute, of every day. I’ve admit-ted to having Twitter, but at least I don’t post when I’m going to the bathroom, or that I’ve just finished eating the most de-licious bag of pretzels that was ever pro-duced. And at least I don’t stalk people I don’t even know. When websites like Twitter be-come popular, it can be dangerous for younger kids who are more affected by

more mature media. All younger siblings want to be like their older brothers and sisters. I know fourth and fifth graders who are on Facebook, which is absolutely ridiculous. Kids that young are prone to getting cyber-stalked and sexually ha-rassed online. Though it seems a simple blog website couldn’t do a lot of damage, you’d be surprised at the amount of pri-vacy at stake if you use one. Even Face-book has potential for the occurrence of random creepers. Just watch out for people by the name of, “Carlos Venezu-ela” and “coolguy” and feel free to stalk Chris Crocker and Oprah as much as you please.

Walking through the halls at the Blake School is somewhat different

than walking through the halls at other schools. Not only do you hear kids engag-ing themselves in intellectual conversations about the eco-nomic crisis, environmental issues, colleges and generally topics that most would not ex-pect teenagers to talk about, but also the halls of Northrop are filled to the brim with art-work. Not just any old artwork, but exquisite work of Blake students themselves. Sometimes it seems like students overlook all the talent that surrounds them everyday. From drawing to ceramics to photography, the halls of Blake showcase the hidden talent of so many stu-dents. In such a stressful at-mosphere that often seems to emphasize academics, sometimes the im-portance of the visual art is lost. It is not the skill level of the artist that matters, but the creativity that is expressed. Of course

there are some who are naturally gifted, and the recent exhibit on display in the Martha Bennett Gallery showcased some of their work. The reception for this new exhibit was held on May 8th before Open Mic Night. This amazing exhibit show-cased the work of seniors in the Studio

12 class. Pieces from throughout the year were arranged in the maze of the white backgrounds of the gallery. It is actually part of the seniors’ assignment to decide how to arrange and lay out all their hard

work in the gallery. The pieces shown in the show are a whole year’s work of the seniors of the Studio 12 class. In fact, Studio 12 is the only visual art that is offered as a full year course. Some of the projects that were done by this talented class were to

copy a piece of non-western art, but then create another piece that reinterprets the meaning of that original piece of work. This project required that the students to hone their skills to make a replica of a

work of art. Then use their creativity to explore the meanings of that piece to re-interpret it in their own ways. Some of the work in the gallery was pieces created at the “Live At Blake Figure Studies”, inde-pendent classes that study the art of the human body. Other pieces were from the

assignment to explore the mean-ing of representation. Students were asked to express their per-sonal understanding of “repre-sentation” through visual art. Jim Spector, the advisor of the Studio 12 class, explains that a whole year’s preparation is put into this show. It was remarkable to see how talented and dedicated the students of the Studio 12 class are to their passions. So next time you are rushing through the halls completely stressed out and tired, slow down to a walk and take some time to read a didactic of photograph that catches your eye or take a look at

a painting one of your peers creat-ed. The visual arts at Blake may not

have a state tournament or a final perfor-mance, but they are part of what makes this school unique.

VarietyMay 09

10Spectrum

Gallery Brings Character Back to Blake

The Art of Twit-StalkingAllison Bye

Contributing Writer

Ellie AlldredgeStaff Writer

Hayden Broberg

I’ve always won-dered what dog food tastes like

Hmm, I think I’ll go see for

myself

Later... So how was it?

Kinda tastes like chicken

Really?

Did I say chicken? I

meant poop.

Tim & Tom: Peter Olson

Variety 11Spectrum

For Mother’s Day dinner this past Sunday, my family went out to this

well-known breakfast spot in its new downtown location. Greeted on the entry staircase by a chandelier adorned with real knives and other sharp cutlery, the feel of the restaurant is, well, definitely unique. The red and black décor, accom-

panied by rather “out-there” artwork give Hell’s Kitchen a mysterious and inviting allure. Having heard great things about the food, I was fairly excited for our meal, however I ended up finding the menu slightly disappointing, although maybe more appealing for the adventurous eat-er. Instead of normal hamburgers, they proudly served bison patties (which are, of course, much healthier…but still not that enticing), and rather than the bistro-

typical Heinz, the Kitchen offered its own recipe of spiced tomato ketchup, which I was too scared to try. I settled on having a waffle with fruit, sort of a breakfast-for-dinner approach, and I was genuinely im-pressed – I’d order it again for any meal. The rest of the food was good as well, al-though the portions seemed slightly sin-ful. The service was less impressive. Our waiter was slow, awkward and delivered beverages by reaching through our booth

between heads rather than just bringing them to the end of the table like a normal person would. If prompt service is what you’re looking for, consider a different restaurant (I’d personally recommend the Uptown Diner on Hennepin). The food in “Hell” was good; I’m just not sure if it was good enough to go back.

May 09

Movies With Sam and Kolten

Dining in HellKimi Goldstein

Staff Writer

Sam Michel and Kolten FischerContributing Writers

There comes a time in one’s life when one must make tough choices. Paper

or plastic? Twilight or some other time- wasting activity? Ronald McDonald or the BK King? Ah, yes, these are the choices you will face in life (if you have not yet already), but every summer we face the most daunting choice of all: which sum-mer movie to watch! There are so many movies to see, each providing its own form of entertainment. This summer the choice will prove to be especially daunt-ing, with big-budget action movies, raun-chy comedies that are awkward to watch with your parents, animated wonders and Harry Potter. We have the little research necessary to bring you a somewhat reli-able look at this summer’s biggest block-busters.

Action Terminator: Salvation (May 21): Chris-tian Bale looks to add another blockbust-er franchise under his belt in a reboot of the hugely successful movie that made Arnold a governor. Predicted reaction: The movie is so vi-sually stunning and realistic that Kolten thinks Sam is a terminator sent back from the future. The battle begins.Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

(June 24): Giant fighting robots + Megan Fox - Shia LeBoooof screaming uncon-trollably for 2 ½ hours = pure, mindless enjoyment. Predicted reaction: Sam and Kolten are speechless for a week.

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra (August 7): Yet another motion picture based off of a Hasbro franchise. Directed by the same director as The Mummy, we expect great special effects and action. Too bad it has actual actors in it instead of toys. Predicted reaction: We lose all remain-ing respect for Channing Tatum, who plays the character of Duke. We sort of liked him in Step Up. But he’s not dancing here, so we don’t like it.

Comedies

Year One (June 19): Michael Cera contin-ues to play the awkward kid who some-how gets girls (see Superbad, Juno, the one with the playlist). Jack Black joins him as they travel back to the beginning of time. We also hear the kid who played McLovin’ is in it.Predicted reaction: We love all movies with McLovin’.

Brüno: Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat) returns as his second alter ego, Brüno, a gay Austrian fashion designer in quest to offend everyone.

Predicted reaction: Sam awkwardly sees it with his parents. Worth it.

Funny People: Adam Sandler, Seth Rog-en and Jonah Hill (fat kid from Superbad) join forces with Judd Apatow (director of Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin) for this comedy (with some drama) about a dy-ing comedian. Although it sounds sad, Apatow says it will be his funniest film to date. Predicted reaction: Kolten leaves the theater with empty Kleenex boxes. He laughed and cried.

Kids: (Our Favorite Section)

Up (May 29): It’s Pixar. If that’s not per-suasive enough, it’s in 3-D and (according to early screenings) it’s Pixar’s best film to date. And it’s Pixar. They made WALL-E. ‘Nuff said.Predicted reaction: Mind-boggling. Hi-larious and intelligent. It’s a Pixar movie. That should be enough.

Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs (July 1): Anything with Ray Romano as a woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo), and the squirrel that can’t find his nut, Scratch, is worth the $12 price for a 3-D ticket. Predicted reaction: Since this is the third movie of the trilogy, we think the squirrel

gets its nut.

Harry Potter: We can’t really define what genre this movie is. It’s part action, part romance, part drama, full British. We could never understand the British lingo they use, (“bloody hell Hermoine”) but we really don’t care. Predicted reaction: Fan boys/girls worldwide cheer as Harry and Ginny kiss. SPOILER ALERT. Cheers!

Predicted belly flop of the Summer: Dance Flick (no comment)We also recommend: Public Enemies (Johnny Depp, Christian Bale), Inglouri-ous Basterds (Brad Pitt) In conclusion, fellow movie watchers, we don’t expect you to follow this. After all, you can’t see all these mov-ies, especially when ticket prices are so high (and the whole recession going on). Please do know that we don’t try to over-analyze movies because that’s not what summer movies are about. Summer mov-ies are perfect for first dates (we recom-mend The Proposal on June 19) because you can avoid the awkwardness of the seat dividers and watch a movie for two hours, and you can be “that guy” who texts during the movies. It’s the perfect escape for you this summer. That’s all folks.

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Doin’ Da Stanky Leg

With D.J & Stu