Online Beats 2015-2016 Fall Semester
HerSpace’s mural encourages body positivity
A spray of sunny, multicolored post-it-notes adorn the body-shaped mural, surrounded by doodles of planets, flowers, food, cute animals, and other random, animated drawings. In commemoration of National “Love Your Body” Day on Oct. 14, HerSpace, a student group focused on issues relating to women, decided to hang up a poster with an outline of a body across from the Dean’s office and provide students with post-it-notes so they could write what they loved most about their bodies and stick it on to encourage body positivity.
“Body positivity is a big part of being comfortable as women. It affects all genders but it’s a big issue with women, with the way women are depicted in the media and how women are sexualized and expected to be a certain way,” co-president Maggie Vlietstra said.
Although becoming comfortable with one’s body and learning to accept it, flaws and all, is very difficult for most people, Vlietstra hopes thinks that the mural is “something we can do to reverse the flow of negative body things people hear all the time from media, and even from the people around them. [The mural is] a simple way for us to combat it,” she said.
Junior Muneil Rizvi also stuck a post-it-note on HerSpace’s mural, which he believes gives people “an opportunity [to appreciate their bodies]. You should be comfortable saying whatever you want about your body whenever you want…people should be able to be comfortable with their bodies.”
HerSpace’s goal for this project was to provide the community with a visual representation of body positivity, so students wouldn’t forget about the issue as fast.
“[I hope students will] see all these things on this body and it will be pretty powerful,” Vlietstra said “there’s something about writing [what you love about your body] down, and actually committing it to paper that makes it seem a little more real…it’s not a requirement that you must love your body, but it’s really nice if you can.”
“Body positivity is a big part of being comfortable as women. It affects all genders but it’s a big issue with women, with the way women are depicted in the media and how women are sexualized and expected to be a certain way,” co-president Maggie Vlietstra said.
Although becoming comfortable with one’s body and learning to accept it, flaws and all, is very difficult for most people, Vlietstra hopes thinks that the mural is “something we can do to reverse the flow of negative body things people hear all the time from media, and even from the people around them. [The mural is] a simple way for us to combat it,” she said.
Junior Muneil Rizvi also stuck a post-it-note on HerSpace’s mural, which he believes gives people “an opportunity [to appreciate their bodies]. You should be comfortable saying whatever you want about your body whenever you want…people should be able to be comfortable with their bodies.”
HerSpace’s goal for this project was to provide the community with a visual representation of body positivity, so students wouldn’t forget about the issue as fast.
“[I hope students will] see all these things on this body and it will be pretty powerful,” Vlietstra said “there’s something about writing [what you love about your body] down, and actually committing it to paper that makes it seem a little more real…it’s not a requirement that you must love your body, but it’s really nice if you can.”
People for Animal Welfare and Safety raises money for Animal Humane Society
Tins of carefully frosted cupcakes, brownie squares, and rice crispie bars monopolized a lunch table, sold to sugar-obsessed students by PAWS, People for Animal Welfare and Safety, the student group that has been known to conduct many bake sales in order to raise money for pets in danger.
[Bake sales are] one of the easiest ways to fund raise. The Animal Humane Society appreciates money more than object donations, so that they can use the money to get whatever they need at discounted prices,” co-president junior Samantha Bluhm said.
However, although the bake sale’s proceeds, a grand total of $310.10 are all going to the Animal Humane Society, co-presidents Samantha Bluhm and Shelby Tietel are planning on taking the club in a different direction this year. Their plans for the future include conducting more bake sales in the spring, but they are also doing campaigns in order to raise money for animals besides those who are conventionally known as “pets”, i.e. dogs, cats, fish and so on. “We are doing a campaign right now for the orcas in Seaworld. We are going to do a project with companion animals next and are doing another wild animal project as well,” Bluhm said. Although the Animal Humane Society usually just helps pets, or companion animals, Bluhm and Tietel plan to aid a larger variety of animals this year.
“[We have] refocused our goals for the club. Rather than just focusing on companion animals, as the former presidents did, we are focusing on all kinds of animals,” Bluhm said.
[Bake sales are] one of the easiest ways to fund raise. The Animal Humane Society appreciates money more than object donations, so that they can use the money to get whatever they need at discounted prices,” co-president junior Samantha Bluhm said.
However, although the bake sale’s proceeds, a grand total of $310.10 are all going to the Animal Humane Society, co-presidents Samantha Bluhm and Shelby Tietel are planning on taking the club in a different direction this year. Their plans for the future include conducting more bake sales in the spring, but they are also doing campaigns in order to raise money for animals besides those who are conventionally known as “pets”, i.e. dogs, cats, fish and so on. “We are doing a campaign right now for the orcas in Seaworld. We are going to do a project with companion animals next and are doing another wild animal project as well,” Bluhm said. Although the Animal Humane Society usually just helps pets, or companion animals, Bluhm and Tietel plan to aid a larger variety of animals this year.
“[We have] refocused our goals for the club. Rather than just focusing on companion animals, as the former presidents did, we are focusing on all kinds of animals,” Bluhm said.
Science Alliance lays the groundwork for a successful Science Olympiad season
Science Olympiad, the most prominent competition Science Alliance participates in, has quite an intimidating history. Involving 7,400 teams from every state in the U.S., Science Olympiad is known to be both highly competitive and enjoyable for it’s participants at the regional, state, and national level.
The exact date for this year’s regional tournament is not yet known, but according to Science Alliance co-president Navodhya Samarakoon, it will occur in the third week of January.
Although Science Alliance was fairly successful last year in this tournament, they’ve started out this year with a very specific goal when it comes to Science Olympiad: to prepare extensively, and in a more effective fashion.
“Last year it was more independent and people just individually prepared [for Science Olympiad]. We still made it to state, but this year we would like to be prepared earlier on,” Samarakoon said.
Samarakoon especially wants club members to have a better idea on what specific areas they should focus the most on, considering the events at Science Olympiad tend to be very broad and therefore very difficult to effectively study for (ex. “Green Generation”).
Club members receive many benefits from participating in this competition: “[students] take the knowledge they learned in the classroom…and apply it to a competition. It’s challenging,” Samarakoon said. As for the tournament itself, Samarakoon speaks for the whole team when she says “[I want to] win. And have fun. But mostly win.”
The exact date for this year’s regional tournament is not yet known, but according to Science Alliance co-president Navodhya Samarakoon, it will occur in the third week of January.
Although Science Alliance was fairly successful last year in this tournament, they’ve started out this year with a very specific goal when it comes to Science Olympiad: to prepare extensively, and in a more effective fashion.
“Last year it was more independent and people just individually prepared [for Science Olympiad]. We still made it to state, but this year we would like to be prepared earlier on,” Samarakoon said.
Samarakoon especially wants club members to have a better idea on what specific areas they should focus the most on, considering the events at Science Olympiad tend to be very broad and therefore very difficult to effectively study for (ex. “Green Generation”).
Club members receive many benefits from participating in this competition: “[students] take the knowledge they learned in the classroom…and apply it to a competition. It’s challenging,” Samarakoon said. As for the tournament itself, Samarakoon speaks for the whole team when she says “[I want to] win. And have fun. But mostly win.”
Muslim students gain access to Friday prayer room
Pristine white walls, mirrors lining the room, and…prayer rugs? Even though the space may be unconventional, the makeup studio in the Huss Center is doubling as an area to have weekly Friday prayer during tutorial. According to Islamic teachings, Muslims are asked to have their afternoon prayer in a mosque, or place of worship on Fridays. Since this is nearly impossible for students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, as they cannot leave school to go to a mosque every week, a group of parents of Muslim students and faculty (Jill Romans, the Middle School Principal, Chris Hughes, the Upper School Principal, and Karen Dye, the Diversity Dean) set aside the makeup studio for Friday (or Jummah) prayer during tutorial. During Jummah prayer, a short talk is given by the person leading the prayer, who is also known as the Imam. After the talk, another person gives the Athan, or call to prayer, after which attendees stand in lines and start the prayer, following the Imam’s movements. Both middle and upper school students are welcome to attend. On September 11th, the first Jummah prayer was held.
Sophomore Adnan Askari was one of the students present for the event.
“Overall, it went much better than I expected. More people showed up than I imagined,” Askari said.
Askari likes that the prayer space has remained a quiet and private area for Muslim students: “all I want this to be is a prayer space, not a tactic to publicly announce SPA’s acceptance of students of all religions and cultures,” he said.
Although Askari is wary of the over-attention this prayer space may get, he’s happy that the option exists for Muslim students. “I hope it continues to be a place for students to pray, and nothing more,” he said.
Sophomore Adnan Askari was one of the students present for the event.
“Overall, it went much better than I expected. More people showed up than I imagined,” Askari said.
Askari likes that the prayer space has remained a quiet and private area for Muslim students: “all I want this to be is a prayer space, not a tactic to publicly announce SPA’s acceptance of students of all religions and cultures,” he said.
Although Askari is wary of the over-attention this prayer space may get, he’s happy that the option exists for Muslim students. “I hope it continues to be a place for students to pray, and nothing more,” he said.
Ed Sheeran has concert-goers dancing like idiots
“I encourage you to dance like an idiot.” With these promising words, Ed Sheeran launched into his set at the Xcel Center Energy Center in St. Paul Minnesota on Tuesday, September 15th 2015. Sheeran’s plaid shirt, casual trope of instruments (basically just him and his guitar for most of the songs), and endearing banter made for a wonderfully laid-back, yet adrenaline inducing concert. It felt like everyone – even the people sitting in the back, like me – were part of the experience.
The enormous screens behind Sheeran had both beautiful song-related visuals (including scenes from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug for “I See Fire”) and images of him on stage, which was really helpful since it was nearly impossible to actually see him onstage from the back.
The opening acts, Jamie Lawson and Christina Perri, also charmed the audience with “I Wasn’t Expecting That” (Lawson) and “Jar of Hearts” (Christina Perri). Sheeran also sang two mashup songs, “Take it Back” with “Superstitious” (Stevie Wonder) and “Bill Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers). He also mixed “Don’t” with “No Diggity” (Blackstreet), the classic mashup song, which felt a little tedious – he probably could have been more creative with that.
Christina Perri reappeared on stage to sing “Be My Forever” with Sheeran; causing the audience to smile so hard their faces hurt from the sheer cuteness of it all. The Xcel Energy center was a fairly good venue for this concert, as there was more than enough room for everyone and the sound
carried pretty well.
However, the music was occasionally much too loud, especially during “Human” by Perri and “Bloodstream” with Sheeran. Attending this concert was definitely worth the terrible parking – most of the songs had the audience on their feet, cheering and dancing along with Sheeran, spellbound by his evocative melodies and vibrant stage art.
The enormous screens behind Sheeran had both beautiful song-related visuals (including scenes from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug for “I See Fire”) and images of him on stage, which was really helpful since it was nearly impossible to actually see him onstage from the back.
The opening acts, Jamie Lawson and Christina Perri, also charmed the audience with “I Wasn’t Expecting That” (Lawson) and “Jar of Hearts” (Christina Perri). Sheeran also sang two mashup songs, “Take it Back” with “Superstitious” (Stevie Wonder) and “Bill Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers). He also mixed “Don’t” with “No Diggity” (Blackstreet), the classic mashup song, which felt a little tedious – he probably could have been more creative with that.
Christina Perri reappeared on stage to sing “Be My Forever” with Sheeran; causing the audience to smile so hard their faces hurt from the sheer cuteness of it all. The Xcel Energy center was a fairly good venue for this concert, as there was more than enough room for everyone and the sound
carried pretty well.
However, the music was occasionally much too loud, especially during “Human” by Perri and “Bloodstream” with Sheeran. Attending this concert was definitely worth the terrible parking – most of the songs had the audience on their feet, cheering and dancing along with Sheeran, spellbound by his evocative melodies and vibrant stage art.