APRIL 2013

Our mission: to enlighten and to entertain

Dulaney High School Timonium, Maryland

Volume 53, Issue 6 A CLOSE WIN

the griffin

See even more content on our website: http://my.hsj.org/griffin

Post plateau, cheating climbs

April 18, 2013

Lab day to return, impact history

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see page 7

#

TO KNOW

87

the number of students inducted into the National Honor Society March 27 “HONOR” ROLL

see page 8

# TO KNOW

3

the number of teacher reductions estimated for next school year. For more, see page 2

mattie gibbons, news editor cell phones for school work, so 15.8 percent of admitted cheatfter a two-year attempt they don’t seem to notice if we ers have been caught in the act. at discouraging cheating use them for everything. My The biggest variance is the 94.6 through the use of the phone has all the answers. It’s percent of seniors who admit to honor board, the percentage of just too tempting,” an anony- cheating, compared to 78.2 perstudents that admit to cheatcent of freshmen. ing jumped to 88.1 percent.

“It’s second semester, Top methods used for cheating This is a full six percent highmost of us already got into er than last year, according to college and no one cares 43 percent a Griffin survey. about anything anymore,” The most common source an anonymous senior said, use cell phone to find answers of the academic dishonesty unsurprised by the statistics.

26 percent proves to be friends; 91.6 “We’re not going to try if percent of students admit it isn’t necwriting answers on notecards or body friends to be their most comessary.” mon source when cheating.

For the 89 percent “That’s what friends are third year in copy assignments from classmates for. If we can help each other a row, math out, why not take advantage is the most common subof that?” an anonymous junior mous senior ject for academic said. said. dishonesty, Copying assignments from with 70.5 perDespite classmates not only remains the i n c r e a s e d cent of cheatmost common tactic when cheat- efforts ers admitting to ing, but 88.9 percent of students reduce cheatto cheating in admitted to it, up almost 10 per- ing, only math classes. cent from last year.

Cell phone use for cheating is also at an all time high; 43 percent admit to using smart phones see CHEATING, to find page 2 answers or text friends for answers during class.

“Some teachers let us use our

INGENIOUS cheating. One sophomore uses oragami paper to create small hexaflegons - mathematic marvels in of themselves, they flip to reveal several “secret sides,” where she writes math formulas. photo by jen siegel

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see page 9

2-3 4-5 6-7 8-12

news opinion sports features

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becca king, news editor he administration has found an efficient solution to the labs issue, according to assistant principal Randy Rothschild. Sophomores will have one day with a double period in chemistry, and the day before or after, their history class will be a double period.

Both the science and social studies chairmen have approved. Social studies chairman Richard Englar said that, while the system benefits the science department more, social studies can accommodate it.

“All the kinks haven’t been worked out yet,” Englar said.

While the new system allows for eight to nine labs per year, some teachers want 15 to 20 instead. Other concerns include handling sophomores in alternate science courses.

One teacher said the plan is unfeasible.

“That seems incredibly unlikely and overly optimistic to think it’s possible,” the anonymous teacher said, adding that students in lab chemistry could make up work missed once a week individually.

“It’s not for the sake of education,” the teacher said. “It’s for the sake of money.”

Finances were a major factor in the proposal, Rothschild said.

Plans are still in the works.

Immigration to U.S. brings hardship but hope

TEST STRESS?

INDEX

NEW DEAL FOR LABS. Students in Edward Lyons’s period 6/7 Advanced Placement Chemistry class conduct a lab. photo by christine mckinnie

photo from http://nandosigona.wordpress.com

becca king, news editor magine. You’re sitting at home, expecting another 24 hours of your normal routine.

Unexpectedly, your mom calls you over for “a talk.” Just like that, you are changing countries, changing cultures and changing your life forever.

It’s true for some here, such as Maria*, a sophomore.

Eleven years ago, her parents chose two male family friends to take her to the United States, she said. She traveled five days by car from Torreon, a city in northern Mexico battered by drugs and gangs, en route to the U.S. border.

She recalls periodically being told to pretend she was asleep when police officers would pull them over to check their car. The two men, acting as a gay couple, would say their daughter was sleeping in the back seat. They made it across the border in this way and eventually were able to meet with her parents who were living in the United States.

Was the approximately 340 mile drive worth the hassle? For Maria, the answer is yes. She had been separated for two years from her

mother, who traveled here seeking financial opportunities after being divorced. She now works as a waitress.

Similarly, Francesca, also a sophomore, says conditions in El Salvador drew her family here.

“Where I’m from, there are so many gangs and everything and so many people that kill you for no reason,” she said.

Francesca traveled with a visa by plane accompanied by her parents. After a devastating hurricane, her family applied for work permits and was able to live in the U.S. legally.

Having lived in California, Florida and Maryland, Francesca has found that starting her life over has not always been easy. Back in El Salvador, her family owned a company and was relatively wealthy.

“Coming here and not having anything, it changed their whole lives,” she said.

The challenges continue for her family.

Immigration recently detained her stepfather, she said, and her family learned that he will be deported. see IMMIGRATION, page 3

FYI: nhs blood drive

April 21 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Classic cafeteria

instrumental concert April 23 7:30 p.m.

Auditorium

sequel preview April 24 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Room 309

Find us on Edline under clubs.

choral youth forum: passing the torch concert April 25 2:30 to 4 p.m.

Auditorium

April 25 7:30 p.m.

Auditorium

fashion show April 26 7:00 p.m.

Auditorium

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the griffin

news

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: • The top methods for student cheating include using one’s cell phone to find answers, writing answers on notecards or one’s body, • More students admit to cheating in their math classes than in any other subject. The subject area with the fewest cheating admissions is social studies.

no 12%

about the survey

Have you ever cheated?

The anonymous, penand-paper survey of 285 students was conducted in a standard, honors and Gifted & Talented or Advanced Placement English class for each grade level. In the last two years, the survey was conducted in the same manner but questioned 324 and 380 students respectively.

yes 88%

april 18, 2013

Post plateau, cheating climbs CHEATING, continued from page 1 This statistic is followed most closely by 57.4 percent cheating in science courses.

Math department chairman Nancy Reigle said she was not surprised by the numbers.

“Students may turn to the back of the book and copy down the answers and say ‘Yup, I’m done,’” Reigle said.

Of admitted cheaters, 44.2 percent claim to have cheated in English classes. English 11 teacher Debra Hamilton said she has caught students cheating on homework, tests, quizzes and essays in her class. She noted three instances of plagiarism this year, in addition to eight students who were caught cheating on one particular homework assignment

Hamilton said she sees an equal amount of cheating in honors and Advanced Placement classes and has tried multiple methods to combat the issue.

“I put a unique spin on essays and make different copies of tests to prevent plagiarism and cheating,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton also caught one student with answers written on a hand during an AP test.

Some 26.3 percent of students admit to writing answers on note-cards or body parts.

Principal Lyn Whitlock said that while uncertain of the accuracy of the 6 percent increase in cheating from last year, there’s room to improve.

“We have certainly not stressed enough that learning is what is important,” she said. “Not a grade that will not prepare a student for their future.”

Playwrights, poets, multi-cultural writers win honors

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alex goldberg, staff writer ut of 450 total entries into the Young Playwright Festival Contest, sophomore Hannah Manley’s monologue “Watching” was one of six selected to be performed at Centerstage May 6.

Manley completed the two-page monologue as an assignment in English teacher Meekah Hopkins’s creative writing class.

The contest theme was “My America/My Baltimore.” Manley’s soliloquy featured a homeless man speaking to a police officer helping him off the street. The man describes his life and the many people who walk by him staring or point-

Community service now used as tool for discipline

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meghan reinhardt, copy editor tudents like freshman Josh O. are receiving community service chores rather than days spent doing busy work in the office.

Those chores typically include an hour of cleaning gum or cleaning up trash on school grounds This form of detention isn’t mandatory, but it is growing in popularity, principal Lyn Whitlock said.

But it still counts as drudgery for some.

“Yesterday I had to dust the lockers,” Josh O. said. “I don’t like doing that.”

Still, the locker dusting appears to have been the lesser of two evils. O. chose it over scraping gum. Some of the O.’s other chores have included removing fliers from hallways and picking up trash and other items

ing. He tells the officer that he has chosen a life on the streets.

Hopkins said Manley’s dry, dark sense of humor adds to her writing.

“I’m impressed that at age 15, she was able to write something that was valuable and showed enough perspective to be shown at Centerstage,” Hopkins said.

Three other students earned creative writing honors as well.

Junior J. Goudin won a Gold Key award for her poem “Untold Stories,” as well as two honorable mention awards for her poem “Unopened & Unanswered” and her fiction work “Ethereal Cabinet” in the Scholastic Art & Writing

WINNING

PLAYWRIGHT. Sophomore Hannah Manley completes an assignment in her period 2 creative writing class.

photo by mackenzie tewksbury

contest this year. Senior Hollianne

abandoned on hallway floors. He said that he can complete the assigned chores within 20 or 30 minutes, but he’d rather sit there for an hour.

Whitlock appears favorable to punishment options.

“The point of detention in the first place is to help someone reflect on their behavior and change it in the future,” Whitlock said. “As long as the purpose is served, the method isn’t a big deal.”

This method is relatively new. It was tested last year, but the administration is using it more this year, Whitlock said, due to its increased effectiveness.

On a related note, suspension rates here have dropped. Last year’s overall rate was 3.4 percent. This year’s rate is 1.5 percent as of Feb. 1, the most recent figure available. Note that this year’s partial figure doesn’t include rates for late spring, which is when student behaviors requiring punishment tend to rise.

“Our goal is for nobody to earn detention. That would be perfect,” Whitlock said.

Gauss won a honorable mention for her poetry collection “Speechless, In a World of Change, Anger, The Tenth Bicycle, Pocket Valley.”

Senior Minwei Cao’s World Artists Experiences contest entry “Please Do Not Misunderstand” was chosen for an anthology to be published this month. Cao was invited to attend the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in D.C. for a celebration.

Additionally, Hopkins received a Teacher Pin from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers for her achievements in education and “success as a teacher of Gold Keywinning students.”

Security camera, monitor debut

A NEW monitor in the front office depicts the scene outside the school’s front door April 11. Connected to a security camera, the system awaits installation of Raptor software and should be operational by August. It can be used to track visitors, student lateness and more. For more, see our website. photo by carol hallinan

staffers at work. above: former principal Maynard E. Keadle right: Former guidance department chairman Bill Bressler photos from heritage yearbook

The teaching staff here will be reduced by three, but it’s unclear which departments will be cut, principal Lyn Whitlock said. This is fewer teacher cuts than have been implemented for each of the past two years. Still, some teachers are bracing for larger classes. Science chairman Steve Shaw said that next year, the science department will see its highest class enrollment in about five or six years. English chairman Beth Benzinger also said English class sizes will expand.

REGISTER FOR 5K Registration for the Dulaney Lionheart 5k and kids’ one mile run continues until May 1. At press time, 12 people had signed up. The race will be held 9 a.m. May 3 at the track. Eight Samsung Galaxy tablets will be awarded as prizes. Registration—$20 for students, $30 for adults —can be completed via Edline.

VOTER REGISTRATION Senior Usjid Hameed is supervising a voter registration drive April 23, to be held outside the classic cafeteria through C and D lunch shifts. U.S. citizens at least 16 years old must bring either a photo ID or a social security number to register.

IT’S AC UPDATE The “It’s Academic” team defeated Atholton and Aberdeen high schools at WJZ-TV studios April 10.

Comprised of seniors Clayton Cuddington, Erol Hoke and Anna Jensen, the team scored 605 points despite a shaky start and earned their spot in a semi-final match May 11. Their playoff episode will air May 18 at 10 a.m. on channel 13.

secretary Carol Ann Leyh said.

English teacher and former counselor Brian Boston remembers Keadle for his support for the school.

“He was at every sports event, every play,” Boston said.

Keadle was also on the announcements most mornings with some accolade or superlative. And he always ended the announcements with his adage, “At Dulaney we do it better.”

Former guidance department chairman Bill Bressler died March 17 following complications from emphysema.

Bressler attended the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. He worked at several Baltimore County schools before working here for the last eight years of his career.

Described as funny and easy-going Find us on Edline under clubs.

Senior Naomi LaRondeKing will compete in a national debate contest Memorial Day weekend, following her April 6 debate team victory. She and fellow senior Lisa Ann Tang swept at the team’s last meet. Separately, sophomore Yusuf Mahmood earned second place (and a cash prize) at the club level of the Rotary Club of Hunt Valley’s Four-Way Speech competition April 10.

ANTI-BULLYING DAY

School community mourns deaths of staffers, teacher’s wife

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STAFF REDUCED

SPEAKERS DOMINATE

OBITUARIES:

franny brancati, kyra twohy & becca king, staff writers ake the Best Better.”

That was former principal Maynard E. Keadle’s motto.

Principal here from 1971 to 1989, he died March 19, following complications from surgery and diabetes.

“I think everyone remembers him holding his glasses on top of his head and looking intently at you while he made his point,”

NEWS LINE

by his friends, Bressler was well-liked by students and faculty alike.

“He was very, very funny and was one of those people who appreciated a good joke,” Boston said. Guidance counselor Donna Fritz recalled how she would laugh every time she spoke with Bressler.

After decades of counseling, Bressler was an expert at his field.

“He had this encyclopedic knowledge of colleges,” Boston said.

Julie Kuhlman, wife of art department chairman Jim Kuhlman, and mother of two, died March 12. She died in her home in Fallston, where she was surrounded by family. She had endured a long fight against breast cancer. Jim Kuhlman spent many weeks on leave to be by his wife’s side.

Spectrum will mark the Day of Silence on April 19 and Speak Out Day on April 22.

The Day of Silence is national event that brings attention to anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment in schools, junior J. Gourdin said. On Speak Out Day, participants will wear neon colors and speak out against bullying and violence.

INCREASED SPIRIT Attendance at this year’s spy-themed Sports Night increased by a third this year over last, according to student government organization sponsor Stacy Jones. The March 13 event drew 160 people; organizers expected 200, she said. For more, see our website.

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news

the griffin

Immigration brings Annual film hardship but hope viewing proves IMMIGRATION, continued from page 1

“The thing that hurts me the most is knowing that when they took him, it was in front of my little brothers,” Francesca said.

Her mother plans to take her younger brothers and go back with her husband. Francesca must remain in the United States because, if she were to leave, she would not be able to come back legally. She plans to stay with her grandparents until the age of 18 and pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.

Christina*, another sophomore, came to the United States from Honduras at age 6,. She had hoped to once again share her life with her mother from whom she had been separated for six years.

Her mom had sought a better life in the U.S. after separation from her spouse.

“Practically the first six years of my life, I didn’t live with her, so I didn’t really remember her,” Christina said.

Accompanied by her grandfather, she came both on foot and by car. Ironically, the plan was to allow the immigration police to catch them—a safer approach. This proved more difficult than expected.

Finally able to reach the police around the border between Texas and Mexico, Christina and her grandfa-

ther showed their papers and passports and were able to pass into the U.S. Pamela*, another sophomore from El Salvador, remembers her struggle with the language barrier.

“It took me about two years to learn English,” she said.

Pamela and her mother made two attempts to reach the U.S., travelling by bus and car from city to city. The second time, they reached the Rio Grande river and tried to cross using a raft, but found themselves lost. A man came across the two and was able to provide directions towards the border.

Pamela and her mother eventually reached immigration police who, after processing, allowed them to pass into the U.S. A benefit of her new life is safety. Pamela recalls that back in El Salvador, men would walk in the streets threatening to rob and rape other women, arousing fear for many.

But there are still difficulties.

“I used to run around in Salvador and have freedom.

Here I was like stuck and going nowhere,” she said.

learning tool

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becca king, news editor young child’s corpse bobs in the Rio Grande. Police patrol ponders an issue: whichever country’s shore the body washes up on will be responsible for the formal homicidal investigation. This isn’t just some thriller movie. This is reality, portrayed in the documentary “Which Way Home.”

The film depicts factual accounts of adolescents and their journeys from Latin American countries, across the border into the U.S. And sometimes back again. Because of the subjects’ ages, many students have found their stories riveting.

“It’s heartbreaking to see their struggle,” said sophomore and Spanish IV student Kira Stiers. Stiers said that before watching the video, she assumed

april 18, 2013 most immigrants to the United States of the dangers they may face riding were adults. the train and crossing a desert, but Spanish teacher Jen Audlin, who they want to go “even if it means stressed that immigration to the Unit- risking their lives for an uncertain fued States is a “multi-faceted and com- ture,” Brantigan said. plicated” issue, said “’Which Way Home’ gave me a new perthat she and other spective on what true Spanish teachers have played the documenhardship is,” Brantitary in their classes for gan added. the last two years.

These hardships are not uncommon. AcIt’s easy for stucording to a public dents to form a quick radio report, about opinion on immigra7,000 kids attempt to tion, Audlin said, but cross the Mexico-U.S. once they analyze it border illegally every in depth, they realize year. Hispanic immithat it’s much more grants are the largest complex. growing segment of Sophomore Annie Brantigan, also a the U.S. population. photo from imdb.com During the video, Spanish IV student, recalls some of the most memorable Audlin often paused for discussion. segments: a young boy crying after Brantigan recalls one such occurrence abandonment by a smuggler and a when a classmate posed a question.

Do any of the stories have happy 14-year old boy, Kevin, watching a woman and her daughter raped by endings?

Depends on your definition of a 15 men on the train.

The children in the video are aware happy ending, Audlin replied.

Engaging with students after inspirational presentation MOTIVATIONAL rapper.

Omekongo Dibinga, a motivational speaker and rap artist, chats with seniors Karen Romero and Ana Martinez March 25 in the satellite cafeteria. Dibinga spoke to an invited audience earlier that morning in the auditorium, addressing goal-setting and community. His appearance was sponsored by grants to enhance educational opportunities for minority students.

*In order to protect the anonymity of certain sources, subjects have been designated a false name.

photo by ali kochesfahani

Find us on Edline under clubs.

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the griffin

opinion

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Wary of Wikipedia Ah, Wikipedia. The most popular free online encyclopedia. There’s no doubt that it has the potential for diversity, but it can—and often does—provide inaccurate information.

Wikipedia’s content is user-generated; anyone who has access to a computer and the internet can edit it. Because of Wikipedia’s potential for inaccuracy, students should use it judiciously.

According to a study at California State University published in the Daily Sundial, 82 percent of students say that they only use Wikipedia for general understandings before diving into heavier research.

In an interview with Business Week in 2005, Wikipedia’s very own founder, Jimmy Wales, stated that he thinks Wikipedia should not be cited as credible information.

It’s true that Wikipedia does have a community of volunteer editors designated to regulate articles to keep them accurate. But what about all the inaccuracies they miss? Like The Griffin mentioned in February, a Wikipedia user recently found an article on a 17th-century Indian war and, with a bit more research, discovered it never even happened. The article had been on the site for 5 years. How this false article was able to slip past all the eyes of this supposed “community of editors” calls into question what other information flies under their radar.

I’m not saying we should consider Wikipedia the Judas Iscariot of Internet sites. It can still be useful for preliminary research, but we should use Wikipedia as a research guide, not as a credible source.

- Liz Gillum, sophomore

Hot about homework I come home from school after an excruciatingly long day, and running six miles at track practice and it is now close to six o’clock. You finally get to relax and lounge around stress free, right? Wrong. Now I have to complete 14 math problems, a chapter of world history notes, a chemistry lab, and an English paper. This isn’t my ideal evening. Homework should be restricted to small amounts per night because it lacks substantial benefit and causes harm.

Honestly, a lot of students complain simply because they don’t want to do work, but aside from that, many students and researchers alike have come to the conclusion that homework provides no benefit to students. In fact, it can be harmful for students. Claudia Ponte, in a article published in Time Magazine, concluded that more than two hours of homework per night in high school results in lower test scores, and having no homework results in the same. Even though homework can be beneficial in moderation, it often leads to confusion of students because they ask their parents for help. As mentioned in the Times article, this can lead to parents confusing students with different methods.

No matter how little or how much homework gets assigned to students, there will be some who do it, and some who don’t. Homework doesn’t help students.

So why not limit it to smaller amounts where a larger percentage of students actually do it and still leave time for kids to be kids?

- Pierce Robson, sophomore

april 18, 2013

Exploring benefits of amnesty

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thea zurek, features editor York Times. In this economy, can we afford to throw away he morning her life changed, Janna Hakim was fast billions of dollars and millions of jobs, especially considerasleep. As she snoozed, immigration agents knocked ing that deporting all the immigrants living here illegally on her door jarring her awake and tearing her happy would cost $206 billion and take five years? Deportation makes no sense, morally and economically. family apart.

Unbeknownst to Janna, her That’s why I applaud President mom—who made her meals, gave Obama’s proposed immigration her hugs, tucked her in at night— bill. It allows anyone living here was here “illegally” The last illegally to apply for a temporary time Janna saw her mom, she visa. After eight years of living in the U.S. with their temporary visas, the was stuffed in a gritty prison cell. And then? She was shipped immigrants can apply for green cards 5,696 miles away, back to Paland legitimate citizenship. estine. And Janna’s family fell Seems logical. Instead of deporting all these immigrants—hurting the economy apart. and families—why not give them visas? PresiHer 13-year old brother started OP-ART: wetting the bed. Her 15-year old dent Obama’s opponents say we shouldn’t ofbecca king brother joined a gang and abused fer amnesty to those living in America illegally because drugs. Her disabled father grew deit’s rewarding them (with citizenship) for breaking the law, but let’s get real—they’re already being rewarded for it. pressed. And 16-year-old Janna began running a family.

At our current rate of deportation, it would take 70 years to deport all those living illegally in America. That Every year, roughly 200,000 incidents like Janna’s (reported in the Huffington Post) play out across means most will never be punished—in fact, they’ll the country. have kids and grandkids by the time we get around to Sure, that’s sad, but it was those parents’ decision to deporting them, and with an estimated half million more break the law. They got what they deserved, right? Wrong. illegal entries into the U.S. every year, that virtually guarBecause they’re not the only ones being punished. antees that we will never be able to punish them all.

We can either rage about illegal immigration for milSome 8 million American jobs depend on economic activity from those living here illegally, according to a Uni- lennia or we can accept that immigrants here illegally are versity of California, Los Angeles study. They contribute people, too—people who do a lot of economic good for our $15 billion dollars a year to Social Security, says the New country—and approve Obama’s immigration program.

Empires & Education: Electing a board

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jenny ingliss, opinion editor re you occasionally troubled by an urge to become Dictator of the United States? Look no further than “Star Wars” for a step-by-step guide. In just under 15 minutes, you too can begin a sweet life as ruler of the nation. According to the movie, all you need to do is boot the lawmakers. Either shut them up, or make them do what you want. Voila! You’ve got your own evil empire.

Strangely, the county Executive uses this concept to exert control over BCPS. If Kevin Kamenetz had a polished, shiny silver platter in his dining room, the Board of Education would be sitting neatly in the center. This is because he has the power to submit members for appointment to the Board of Education. There is one student member, whose presence ensures the county’s students get fair and adequate representation. The rest of the 11 members get their jobs by obtaining a nomination from Kamenetz. The result? Decisions made by the Board miraculously, inexplicably, inevitably align with the county executive’s views.

Apparently we’ve got something against checks and balances. Of course, I’m aware the solutions proposed by the current board are always the best for the entire county. It’s why several high schools in the county still don’t have air conditioning. It’s why students are getting suspended for

having cheesy plastic toys that vaguely resemble guns, says junior Kathy Chen. It’s also why BCPS proposed spending $400,000 more on renovating cooking labs than on improving handicapped access ramps to schools, according to the 2012 budget report on the county’s web site. Kudos to our Board of Education.

A bill to fix this recently made it to the General Assembly. The proposed bill allowed each district to elect one member to the board, and let the governor keep four of his appointed representatives.

This hybrid board would have included seven elected members, one student member and four appointed members.

Those numbers sound far more balanced than our unanimously appointed Board.

Somehow, the bill failed Feb. 19. As the Dundalk Eagle reports, it was one vote short of progressing to the Maryland Senphoto from imdb.com ate, where it was almost sure to pass. But a handful of dedicated state senators have agreed to re-introduce the measure next year.

It’s high time we have a say in how the board operates.

It has control over budget, school property and policymaking, yet has little accountability to the community. Until Kamenetz is stripped of his power over the Council of Kamenetz (excuse me, I meant Board of Education), don’t fool yourself into thinking your feedback makes any difference.

EDITORIAL:

For more opinion articles, including Maya Hoke’s take on space exploration and Austin Vong’s plea to end cruelty to elephants, see our website.

cLARIFICATION To February edition: In “Fault-free Wi-Fi comes with high price tag,” (page 1) tech liason Amanda Lattimore actually said that improving Wi-Fi in the building could cost almost $100,000.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:

@dulaneygriffin

Dulaney High School 255 E. Padonia Rd. Timonium, Maryland (410) 887-7633 co-editors Aysha Khan, Anna Jensen deputy editor Ali Kochesfahani business managers Yejin Yoon, Kyra Twohy adviser Maria Hiaasen The Griffin’s mission is to enlighten and entertain.

Lockdown drill procedures need tweaking for efficacy

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ttention everyone: Please follow these instructions in an orderly manner to enhance the effectiveness of safety drills and, therefore, our safety.

Baltimore County: The county instructs teachers to have paper on the windows of their classroom doors in case of a lock down drill, or, heaven forbid, intruder. But, the county asks that teachers make sure the paper is flame-retardant in case of a fire. What?

Does this make sense to anyone else?

Administration: The administration should schedule these drills in a more timely fashion. For example,

they should schedule hurricane drills during hurricane season. The administration should also put more emphasis on the severity of the drills instead of just quietly coming on the PA and making an inaudible announcement.

Further, they could strive to make the drills more varied and spontaneous.

One way to do that would be to have some drills during lunch periods. The administration should have homeroom teachers explain to students what to do in case of a lunchtime drill. Those teachers possess this knowledge, don’t they? If not, the administration needs to guide them.

Teachers: Teachers need to take these drills much more seriously. Instead of

news editors Becca King, Mattie Gibbons features editors Jessica Hung, Thea Zurek opinion editors Jenny Ingliss, Katie Walters sports editors Drew Van Wagner, Joe Pezzulla chief technician Leander Bechtold deputy technicians Rashid Taleb, Alex Boellner photography editors Emily Park, Jen Siegel online coordinators Lily Klein, Beth Vita, Alicia Winton copy editors Malik Peacock, Isabel Griffith, Meghan Reinhardt, Nick Bond Find us on Edline under clubs.

being irritated about the loss of class time (Sorry, Advanced Placement instructors!), they should actually see the value of the drills in case of a crisis. Teachers should enforce student behavior by actually punishing those who don’t follow the rules. Teachers should make students stop talking, and needless to say, they should stop talking themselves.

Students: Students should realize that these drills could actually help in case of an emergency and should understand the value in practicing them.

They should realize that less talking will mean fewer drills.

The Griffin welcomes story ideas, commentaries and letters to the editor. These may be brought to room 115, placed in Maria Hiaasen’s mailbox in the office, or emailed to dulaneygriffin@bcps.org. All submissions are subject to editing and must be signed. The Griffin Editorial Board makes all final decisions regarding content.

Interested in advertising in The Griffin or purchasing any photos seen in this issue? Use the same contact information.

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the griffin

opinion

april 18, 2013

Tax to curb CO2 worth the price

OP-ART: katie walters

ten percent sane Skip make-up, save planet

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annie brantigan, contributing writer xtreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy happen nearly every month and cause tragedy and destruction each and every time.

The blanket of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a convection oven surrounding our earth, and unless we do something to stop it, the temperature will continue to rise.

One solution is decreasing the amount of carbon we release into the atmosphere. This solution tends to be unpopular because it requires so much sacrifice, but isn’t our planet’s and its inhabitants’ health worth it?

Despite great opposition, Congress needs to pass a carbon tax to save both the environment and the economy.

The phrase “carbon tax” is nearly taboo in Washington lately as it involves the issue that politicians disagree on most: raising taxes. But the facts are im-

possible to ignore. According to Global Warming Fast Facts, the last two decades have been the hottest the earth has seen in over a millennium. Climate change is causing more than one million species, including polar bears, to face extinction.

Every ton of carbon dioxide we emit traps more of the sun’s heat in our atmosphere, thus the logical solution is to curb our emissions. But with petroleum products still cheaper than alternatives, no one is inclined to stop using these harmful fuels.

This is where the carbon tax comes into play. The idea is simple: taxing the carbon content of fossil fuels would increase their price, which would decrease fossil fuel consumption in the US, which leads to use of alternative energies to power our lives, which leads to less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which means life on our planet will continue

for millennia to come.

Many who oppose the carbon tax can’t see past the “tax” part. They say that increasing taxes stifles economic growth especially taxing something like oil and gas which everyone uses.

Over time, a carbon tax will reduce the cost of energy as it paves the way to development of cheaper and more sustainable fuels of the future. The tax revenue could help with the transition of energy sources, investing in research on alternative energy and creating new jobs. It could also go towards paying down our nation’s debt, a hot button issue today.

We are the world’s leading contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and we need to be the ones to lead the world into a cool, clear and clean energy future.

Let’s raise awareness, lobby the government and put an end to global warming.

Endangered predator Prioritize ocean depths needs more protection over distant galaxies

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sam goetz, contributing writer ach year, about 100 million sharks are killed by humans, according to How Stuff Works. That doesn’t say a whole lot about our nation’s morality. We must take a stand to stop this slaughter.

Government agencies should enforce more regulations to protect the vital shark population.

Yes, I said vital.

People will pay a lot of money to see sharks. With today’s technology, people can dive with sharks and take a peek into their daily life. Sharks yield significant revenue yearly around the world. Bahamas, 78 million dollars. Maldives, 38.6 million dollars. Canary Islands, 22.8 million dollars (all stated by Shark Savers, Inc). The list continues.

Sharks are needed in almost all marine ecosystems. Like bouncers at a bar, they’re necessary to keep the place under of control.

Turtles eat sea grass. Since tiger sharks eat turtles, the sea grass won’t be overgrazed. Without the tiger sharks, however, sea grass could be effaced from many parts of the world, says Shark Savers.

Besides that, sharks eat weaker and sicker fish.

By lowering the amount of disease spread among fish, gene pools become stronger and there are larger numbers of healthy fish, according to a CNN article by Mike Coots.

Above all, sharks are treated inhumanely every day. Sharks often get caught in nets intended for other

fish and are killed.

Also, many sharks are victims of shark finning, which is when fishermen catch sharks, cut off their fins, and throw the decapitated carcasses back into the ocean.

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kalie paranzino, staff writer ver half our planet has yet to be explored.

Oceans cover over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface; 90 percent of this vast underwater world remains u n e x plored by man. Given the delicate balance of our ecosystems, understanding our oceans is vital to our understanding o f

How do you expect a shark to swim without its fin?

OP-ART: To make things kaeli o’connor even worse, sharks produce almost the least amount of offspring of o u r any fish in the sea, says the world. In 2012 National AeroFlorida Fish and Wildlife nautics and Space AdminConservation Commission. istration was given a $17.7 Thus, the shark population billion budget—while the takes a long time to recover National Oceanic and Atfrom many deaths. mospheric Administration The bottom line is this: received a $560 million budsharks don’t receive enough get. The U.S. Government protection. should make funding NOAA Washington ought a bigger priority over fundto implement more ing NASA because it will inregulations to protect crease our understanding of sharks here and overseas. our world and make human This would help restore the beings better able to protect shark population back to the Earth and ourselves. normal and set a precedent Beneath the beautiful blue for future protection. surface of our oceans, an inDo your part by spreading credible treasure chest lies the word about sharks. And teeming with more than if you really want to get 50percent of all plant and involved, you can donate animal species on Earth that money to organizations provide countless benefits to such as Shark Savers. our world. Half of Earth’s oxygen is produced by the pho-

tosynthesis of aquatic plants and 12 percent of our global food supply is derived from fishing. Research has shown that in the last 50 years, the number of fish species has declined by 50 percent. Overfishing not only disrupts the entire ocean ecosystem, but also diminishes a vital source of food and protein for humans, creating a global disaster.

Fifty-three percent of Americans live within 50 miles of the coastline, a 30 percent population increase from 1980. As a result, ocean pollution and habitat destruction have greatly increased, negatively impacting the whole ocean ecosystem. We need to be educated to combat these issues.

One of NASA’s major focuses has been to discover extraterrestrial life. NASA recently spent $2.5 billion to launch Curiosity, a rover that landed on Mars in 2012 to uncover evidence of potential life and bring it back to Earth.

How do you determine the existence of life? The presence of water. We are spending so much time and energy trying to find water on other planets, when have barely explored our own planet’s water.

While NASA is an important and highly respected organization, the exploration of our own planet should take priority over the exploration of distant planets and moons whose impact on our daily lives is too little to quantify.

Before investing our time, our energy and our resources in the discovery of another world, we have a vast undersea world to discover right here, on our own planet.

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thea zurek, features editor s observant individuals and the Hubble Space Telescope have noticed, I don’t wear makeup.

The main reason is that I have no idea how.

Applying makeup, something that the other 3. 25 billion female denizens of Planet Earth seem to have no issue with, something that I’ve seen six-year old children do, not to mention Sarah Palin, is Greek to me.

I’m cosmetically challenged, foundationally dysfunctional, masacra-ily messed up. A slug understands Shakespeare better than I do cosmetology.

Just look at these instructions from The Beauty Department blog on how to make your lips look fuller.

“Trace the two lines of your philtrum using NARS Larger Than Life Liner in Rue Bonaparte.”

To me, this sounds like some horrible medical catastrophe—“I’m sorry Mrs. Johnson, but your son’s liver is 80 percent philtrumed and is leaking Bonapartes all over the hospital floor.”

My sister will take one look at the same instructions and go, “Oh, trace the philtrum, that’s easy! Now what color should I flipperdyzig the hoozergits?”

The one time I attempted to use eyeliner, I ended up drawing myself a moustache and calling it a day.

But you know the old saying: “If you can’t beat them, research and publicize an ecological disaster that will horrify and disgust them.” Which is why I was so overjoyed—I mean, deeply saddened—to hear about the palm oil controversy.

About 70 percent of cosmetics contain palm oil, a binding agent found in makeup brands like Cover Girl, Sephora, Clinique and Lancôme, according to the World Wildlife Federation. To make room for palm oil plantations, 300 football fields worth of extremely biodiverse rainforest is cleared every hour,

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“If you can’t beat them, research and publicize an ecological disaster that will horrify and disgust them.” according to Say No To Palm Oil’s site. Not only does this brutal deforestation put dozens of endangered species at risk of extinction, but it also worsens river pollution, land erosion and climate change.

I propose that instead of going green for Earth Day this year, you should go bare—wear no makeup for 24 hours. True, if you skip your daily makeup regime, your tiny imperfections will be revealed to the world, like the second nose on your forehead that tells Yiddish riddles. But be brave, my double-nosed companions! It’s only one day. I mean, I look like the love child of Dobby the House Elf and Gollum (with a sprinkling of fruit bat), so if I managed to last 16 years without wearing makeup, you can last one day.

Besides, true beauty isn’t lipgloss —ironically, it’s the places we’re destroying to produce the lipgloss.

True beauty is a place where nobody worries about college applications or GPAs or relationships or philtrums. The sloth snoozes and algae grows on its back and the sloth emits carbon dioxide and the algae turns that carbon dioxide into oxygen which the sloth breathes back in, and because of them climate change is slowed down and billions of people can breathe and the whole world is kept precariously, perfectly in balance, all because of that little, totally oblivious sloth. And isn’t that sort of amazing, in this fast-paced world where everyone’s trying to be smart and successful and pretty and skinny and popular and perfect? That there’s still a place where you can be perfect without trying, that you can do exactly what you want to do and it’s the right thing to do?

Isn’t that sort of crazy and ridiculous and impossible and wonderful? Isn’t that beauty?

So wear your pimples and blotches like war paint and march into school proudly on April 22, confident that you’re an important part of the war to keep the world beautiful.

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sports

april 18, 2013

Lions best Bobcats in season opener from the bleachers Fired up fans get fiscal and health results drew van wagner, sports editor

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rom Wild Bill Hagy’s O-R-I-O-L-E-S chants during the late 1970s to our traditional “O” chant during the National Anthem at home games, O’s fans know how to express themselves.

Turns out, doing so might just be good for you.

Avid sports fans are less prone to depression and alienation than people not dedicated to following major sports events, a March article in the York Times reports. Quoting a University of Massachusetts researcher, the article goes on to say that huge sports fans also have higher self esteem.

What do fans here think about the benefits of cheering on teams like the Orioles?

“It helps a lot,” junior Adam Sulpar said. “It’s a time when you don’t have to worry about anything and can focus on watching the feats of someone else.”

But the baseball enthusiast suggested there’s an even better way to ward off depression and stress – playing sports.

“Maybe this is a man thing, but I feel like I need some sort of physical abuse. I need to be on a field or on a court, whether it’s tennis, hockey, racquetball – that’s a great abusive sport.”

Of course, plenty of fans around here got fired up for March Madness. It was nearly impossible to walk into a class or cafeteria just before spring break without hearing who was putting what team in which bracket. Sophomore Colin Miller was among

“It’s a time when you don’t have to worry...and can focus on watching the feats of someone else.” those in on the excitement.

“You get energized over the close games, and it helps relieve your stress so when you do your homework you don’t mind as much,” he said.

“It can lead to better grades, getting into a better college and having a bigger house,” sophomore Colin Miller said.

Brackets participant and fellow junior Carter Dettor said the number of teams involved enhances the exuberance of March Madness. Of course, winning helps too. And he should know.

Dettor picked three out of the four final teams accurately in the NCAA tournament. He also accurately picked Louisville as the winner of the championship game against Michigan. He’s $85 richer for it.

“It feels spectacular,” he said after collecting his cash. “It was not just against my (17) group participants, it was a nationwide competition, and I did better than most people in the whole country.”

Spoken like a man with healthy self esteem and not a trace of depression.

BOYS BREAK OUT ON TOP. left: Freshman Alex Wood winds up to pass to his teammate down the field, in hopes of advancing the play. right top: Senior Robbie Mathey takes a check from his Bel Air high school opponent as he cradles the ball. right bottom: Junior Brent Lamdin dashes to beat a Bobcats player for a loose ball early in the game. The Lions won the March 21 match 11-7.

photos by jen siegel

Fierce faculty fans explain their fervor

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months before football season franny brancati, staff writer o matter what sport began. season it is one thing Other intense sports fans remains the same, Du- include English teacher Dirk laney teachers bring their team Frey, who wears his Capitals spirit. But who can claim to be jersey every Friday and every the most enthusiastic sports fa- game day. Also, Tech ed teachnatic? er Casey Lowe has zealously Math teachers Victoria Brack- supported the Orioles through en and Stacey Jones thick and thin say they are the and for the past biggest Ravens fans 13 years, it’s been in the school bepretty thin. Lowe even tried out as cause they dressed identically in Raan infielder for the vens gear, multiple Orioles right after he graduated coltimes a week, all season, without lege.

While a study (see ever repeating an outfit. “We still “from the bleachdressed identicalers”) shows rely while I was at English teacher Dirk Frey sults that benefit photo by mazen knio Jones, she’s skepsurgery,” Bracken said.

Spanish tical.

“Did you watch those Ravens teacher Meghann Ervin proved her commitment to the Ravens games last season?” by planning her wedding this past January around the Ravens Staff writers Lily Klein, Alex playing in the Super bowl, even Moore and Mazen Knio also though the date was set about 6 contributed to this report.

photo by will evans

meghann ervin, jen siegel

Club swimmers compete in state championship meet

COMPETING AT STATES.

Sophomores Aleem Mirza and Andres Arbelaez fill out a March Madness bracket during lunch in the classic cafeteria before spring break.

WE’VE GOT SPIRIT.

clockwise from top: Math teachers Stacy Jones and Victoria Bracken; Spanish teacher Meghann Ervin; tech ed teacher Casey Lowe photos by stacy jones,

above: Senior Leander Bechtold pulls ahead in the butterfly leg of the 400 yard individual medley at the Maryland State Championships. Bechtold placed 4th in the event held at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. top right: Freshman Raphael Bechtold accelerates past an opponent in the men’s 13-14 100 yard butterfly. He took first place. bottom right: Sophomore Grace Hansen competes in the 100 yard backstroke.

Hansen said she improved her times significantly, earning a personal best on the season. photos from bechtold

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sports

Baseball steals decisive win over Loch Raven

the griffin

april 18, 2013

athletes

month

Sun shines on tennis court

emily sweigart, staff writer onsistency.

A key element of tennis that helps sophomore Helen Sun dominate.

“She is consistent with a strong forehand, and is especially tough against powerful opponents. It is as if she is saying, ‘I need to make them hit one more ball’ in her head,” varsity tennis coach photo by jen siegel Sharon Spangenberg said.

Spangenberg added that Sun tunes out all distractions so she can focus on the game.

Teammate and doubles partner Yelin Feng competed with Sun in their regional game last year. She defines Sun as a friendly, encouraging and smart player.

“She is kind to everyone and has been a good player ever since the start,” Feng said. Sun has unconditional support for her teammates and dedication to the game, according to Feng.

Sun started playing in Chicago for the Naperville Racquet Club at age seven. Along with the school team, Sun said she plays almost every day over the summer, taking lessons twice a week during the offseason at the Greenspring Racquet Club.

Sun said perseverance is what makes her stand out from the crowd.

“In tennis, there is always a goal I have to reach - to get the ball over the net and win the point,” she said.

Sophomore and teammate Matt Laird called her one of the best girls on the team. Her style is hard to compete against, he said, because she’s consistent and aggressive with her baseline style a la Victoria Azarenka, a professional player from Belarus.

“She likes to wear out the other player rather than overwhelm them,” Laird said, describing her ability to keep pounding the ball back over the net time and again.

Senior Casey Lim praised Sun for her versatility.

“She’s really bubbly all the time. Helen does so much; she’s in Robotics, and tennis every day. And I’m pretty sure she does BSYO along with it.”

Although Sun still has two more years until graduation, she plans to extend her career through college.

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DOMINATING THE DIAMOND. left: Junior Kurtis Ewers lays down a sacrifice bunt at the varsity baseball team’s April 9 game against Loch Raven. The Lions, 6-4 as of press time, took an early lead over the Raiders and won the game 20-5. right: Senior Kris Ewers winds up before throwing his fastball. He threw three strikeouts. At the plate, Kris Ewers picked up 4 R.B.I.’s, hitting a double and a single in the bottom of the first inning. photos by jen siegel

Laxers eke out narrow win over Perry Hall

Fielding star drives offense Freshman Mel Gandy (white jersey) stretches for the ball in order to control the draw at a home game on April 10 against Perry Hall. Gandy hit two last second shots to tie and then win the game.

The team, 4-1 as of press time, lost to Hereford 14 to 4 on April 12.

For more on Gandy and her twin, and fellow teammate, Mackensie, visit our website. photo by jen siegel

Sophomore bounces back from knee injury

Sophomore P.D. Stein practices passing mechanics at a April 9 work out. photo by kalie paranzino

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kalie paranzino, staff writer he’s back and ready to attack, well actually, to defend.

After tearing her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) running hurdles at a summer track practice July 30, sopho-

more defender P.D. Stein made the varsity lacrosse team. As a freshman, Stein played junior varsity soccer, ran indoor track and played on the JV lacrosse team. After that successful year, Stein set her mind to making varsity lacrosse as a sophomore.

As her friends say, anyone who knows Stein knows that when she wants something, she doesn’t stop until she gets it.

After her Aug. 30 surgery, it was hard to keep her off of her feet.

“I would have done suicide sprinting for hours. I was so bored and wanted to run so bad,” Stein said.

Three months later, she was able to gradually begin running again.

She wasted no time getting back into shape.

Getting fully cleared only four days before the March 1 tryouts, Stein had to compensate for months of lost training time. Nerves aside, she went for it, and made it.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Stein said. Her track family, who was with her at the time of her injury and along the road of recovery, was right there to share in her excitement and celebrate the end of her seven month long jour-

ney.

“It felt like I had come full circle,” Stein said, describing the feeling of being back on the field as amazing. While she has made quite the comeback, the repercussions of her injuries are still felt on the field.

“I still feel a step behind on defense,” Stein said, now working twice as hard to get a step ahead, driven by her willingness to learn.

“She is ready to step up and contribute in any way possible to this team,” said varsity head coach Kristi Korrow.

“Except for her knee brace, you wouldn’t even know she was injured,” senior teammate Kaeli O’Connor said.

This is exactly what Stein wanted to accomplish this season: not allow her injury to define her.

As she continues to improve her footwork, defensive skill, and lateral movement, she is motivated by the skill levels of her teammates and the team unity on and off the field.

“If I got zero minutes of playing time this season, I would get so much better just from practicing with these amazing athletes,” Stein said.

kevin roughan, staff writer s a four-year veteran player on the varsity baseball team, senior Bobby Donald knows what it takes to contend for a state championship and compete at a high level.

“The dedication and commitment that he’s put into the program over the last 4 years has put him photo by jen siegel in the position that he’s in now,” senior captain Ryan Gentry said.

Donald attributes his preparation in the offseason to BFS five days a week and hitting on Mondays. Practice with a private swing coach from Johns Hopkins has also helped his skills throughout the offseason.

“Bob worked hard this offseason to improve his speed not just for the outfield but also for base-running,” senior captain Bryce Harrison said. “When it comes to hitting, it’s hard to find somebody who can hit as well as Bob.” He has met with his batting coach for one hour, twice a week, for the last three years to work on his mechanics and bat speed. Last season, Donald had a batting average of .368 with three homeruns and 21 RBIs as featured in the Baltimore Sun. Junior captain Kurtis Ewers said that Donald is key to their offense, placed in the middle of the lineup to drive other runners home.

“He has also done a great job getting to balls in the outfield this year; he cuts off the ball in the gaps that turn triples into doubles,” Ewers said.

Head Coach Ryan Wolfsheimer said that he has high expectations for Donald this year. Wolfsheimer says two of Donald’s top qualities are leadership and execution.

“I see him competing to be the best player in the county, an all-metro player too,” Wolfsheimer said.

Donald was originally interested in playing for Towson University’s Division I baseball team until the team was cut due to finances. Now, Donald says he is undecided and still looking at Division III programs at St. Mary’s University and Salisbury University.

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For junior varsity athletes of the month Liz Gillum and Garrett Day, visit our website on Edline under clubs.

photos by jen siegel

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8

features

Grades here may be inflated, some say

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mazen knio, staff writer hen the administration announced that more than 1,000 students had made the honor roll last winter, not everyone got excited.

“If that many kids are making honor roll, how much of an honor is it?” Advanced Placement history teacher John Wagner said.

Wagner and fellow A.P. teacher Phil Bressler shared their concern at a meeting of the Academic Pipeline Committee.

“We were just wondering if some grades were giving a false sense of where kids really are,” Wagner said.

A handful of A.P. teachers, including Bressler, said scores on the A.P. test make a reasonable indicator of the grades students should earn.

“If everyone is getting an A, but five people fail the exam, that’s not right,” Bressler said. “It shouldn’t work that way.”

Bressler said that most kids should be getting C’s, because a C is average. But now that C’s have become perceived indications of failure, it’s no longer average.

Science department chairmen Steve Shaw said a major problem with grade inflation is integrity: when students think they are performing well, he said, they stop trying. When a student has re-

april 18, 2013

the griffin

ceived straight A’s in a class, he or she often decides to fail the final exam, he said.

Not all teachers see grade inflation as an issue, including mathematics teacher Donna Weber.

“If teachers are padding grades with meaningless assignments that have no merit or substance to them, I think that’s a problem,” Weber said.

“But I can’t see that or catch wind of that happening in our building.”

With so many people making the honor roll, many students agree it has lost its meaning.

“It’s not really in honor. It’s cool in homeroom if you get a certificate – my homeroom teacher makes us stand up – it’s a nice part of your day but after that it’s not really that significant at all.”

Weber disagrees.

“I think the more people that make honor roll the better,” she said.

She added that she knows that most of the people on honor roll truly deserve being on it.

One remedy for grade inflation suggested by some students is the implementation of a “plus or minus” system. This would attribute a + or – sign to a letter grade depending on its percentage.

Students aren’t only ones in need of sleep

“‘If that many kids

are making honor roll, how much of an honor is it?’”

For more see our website.

photo by erin briggs

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nick bond, copy editor here’s just not enough time in the day,” biology teacher Amy Chilinguerian said. She said she goes to sleep every night around 11 p.m. and her alarm sounds at 4:45 every morning.

Several of Chilinguerian’s colleagues agree - sleep deprivation affects teachers just as much as it impacts their students.

A Ball State University study shows that about 43 percent of U.S. teachers sleep for six hours or less each night and 64 percent said they feel drowsy during the school day.

Many teachers find their time stretched between grading, their families and other social obligations.

Chilinguerian devotes her time to raising her family. She said her baby and 5-year-old son keep her from sleeping on time.

Find us on Edline under clubs.

History teacher Kathleen Skelton said she’s kept busy between spending time with her two grandchildren, taking care of her house, caring for her dog and grading papers. Between Skelton’s five Advanced Placement history classes, she can have as many as 150 essays to grade at once, which she said can take over 37 hours.

“I feel like there are two separate days – school and everything I have to do afterwards,” Skelton said.

Many teachers’ work days are drawn-out due to grading papers, creating lesson plans, coaching sports and participating in afterschool activities.

Science teacher Karl Geckle coaches the varsity soccer team in the fall. During soccer season, he gets less sleep and often feels more tired, he said.

Math teacher Lynette Roller said

every week she has dog training, Bible study and social events after school. She then spends up to two hours grading papers and preparing lessons before she can get some rest.

Social studies teacher Jason Boyle coaches the track and cross country teams. Though he typically goes to bed around 11 p.m. and wakes up at 4:20 a.m., Boyle said he stays up late on the nights before big meets to write psych sheets to motivate his athletes.

Half the teachers surveyed admitted to experiencing daytime sleepiness and either missing work or making errors at the workplace due to sleep deprivation.

Roller said her sleep deficiency can sometimes cause her to be less patient with students, while Chilinguerian said it makes her more forgetful.

With these statistics, it comes as no surprise that coffee is the drink of choice for many teachers. For some, it’s the only way for them to stay awake during the day.

Skelton, Chilinguerian and Roller all say that they drink several cups to keep from dozing off during the day.

“I drink a constant flow of coffee until two in the afternoon,” Chilinguerian said.

Other teachers find refuge from their hectic work schedules on the weekends and use this time to catch up on necessary sleep. On the weekends, it’s all a matter of sleeping in.

“I wake up at seven on the weekends, and I’m fine,” Skelton said.

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the griffin

features

april 18, 2013

How warriors, worriers confront stress

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franny brancati, staff writer he authors of the new book “Top Dog: the Science of Winning and Losing� report that stress levels are determined at least in part by biology.

People with the faster version of the gene COMT are known as warriors because in their bodies, higher levels of dopamine caused by a lot of stress get cleared quickly, so they can work efficiently under pressure. Worriers, people with the slower version, tend to panic under stress.

Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman report that while warriors excel under stressful situations, worriers have a cognitive advantage under normal situations.

Plus, worriers can actually handle stress; they just need training (practice tests). Both warriors and worriers may benefit from friendly academic competition, the authors say.

Below, a local warrior and worrier describe their styles of study and more.

The Warrior: Senior Erol Hoke

photo by jen siegel

Combating student anxiety over testing

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alex ebright & alex moore, staff writers weating, shaking, inability to breathe, rapid heartbeat. These are each symptoms of test anxiety.

The condition, which can range in severity from a few butterflies in the stomach to cardiac arrest, is when “anxiety prevents students from showing the professor what they have learned and know,� according to the website for the counseling center at Minnesota State University. It happens in high school, too.

Guidance counselor Emanda Lenet says she has students come in to her office almost daily that are suffering from test anxiety. “I often see students physically struggle

“I don’t really freak out,� senior Erol Hoke says about tests. Warriors like Hoke keep a level head under pressure, seeming to succeed with little effort.

Before senior year, Hoke studied a few hours a week; once

to breathe because their anxiety is so bad,�

Lenet said. She has even had a student come into her office and throw up.

Some 61 percent of students are affected by test anxiety at some point in their academic life, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Robin Allen, a volunteer who tutors Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) students here, frequently assists students who struggle with test anxiety.

Both Allen and Lenet say that it is important to confront test anxiety by developing skills and specific methods to prepare for tests.

Methods should be based on the student’s individual needs, preferred method of learning and level of anxiety. For some, that includes visualizing success just prior to test taking. For others, it’s budgeting time for ample study or getting help with organization or internaliz-

senior year started, studying became practically non-existent, he said. That’s a common characteristic of warriors. “I don’t study,� Hoke said. “If you just do the homework you normally know the stuff better.�

By synthesizing information as he goes, Hoke avoids the cramming and stressful situations worriers are plagued with. “I trust both myself and the instruction I’ve gotten,� Hoke said.

The Worrier: Sophomore Casey Proefrock

“I freak out when I get a lot of work at once because it just seems like it’s like unbearable at first,� sophomore Casey Proefrock says. A worrier, she struggles to balance her workload with sports and extracurriculars. By the time she starts studying, Proefrock is already stressed and pressed on time. “When I don’t study as much,� says Proefrock, “I get a worse grade than when I do study.� Proefrock attacks her most challenging class, Advanced Placement World History, by doing countless practice tests and doing her homework as diligently as time allows.

But what really classifies worriers is their attitude while completing homework and tests. “I just get myself all worked up,� says Proefrock.

ing test taking strategies, like skipping and coming back to difficult questions.

But just because you get upset at test time, doesn’t mean you have test anxiety, math teacher Nicole Barton said. “There is a difference in being prepared, participating in class, doing the homework, and studying as compared to the students who need more time,� Barton said.

While she provides accommodations for students with 504 plans due to real test anxiety, she added that she sees a fair number of students who just don’t truly prepare for tests.

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left: Math teacher Nicole Barton photo by ali kochesfahani

above: Guidance Emanda Lenet photo by alex wright

counselor

10 features

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post

just amazing. Amazing talent and a beautiful voice.

I usually listen to music in the late afternoon when everyone leaves, and I’m tying things up.

At home, I don’t get a lot of quiet time for that. I like a lot of different things and definitely don’t have a favorite genre. I just put headphones on and lie back.

JOHN KOMOSA, new guidance department chairman, moved here from Landsdowne High School this year after Brian Boston stepped down to move back to the English department.

Komosa sat down with staff writer Natalie Baker to talk about what he’s been up to recently.

following? I find the whole debate over drone use interesting. Although some of it was politically motivated, it does raise the question of whether or not our policies are keeping pace with our technology. There is so much animosity in the current political climate...I don’t think law and policy makers take time to think about this topic unless it serves to knock the other guy down. There is a slippery slope with personal rights and ethics, and it deserves some proactive attention.

reading? “Far from the Tree” by Andrew Soloman. It plays off of the metaphor of how people refer to their children and the saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” As parents, even educators, when you have students and children that you work with who are like you, it’s easier. But when you have students and children who are more horizontal from you—“far from the tree—it’s more challenging. This book starts with the personality and temperament issues and then moves to very different things, such as deafness and mental illness, or different sexual orientation. It’s academic, but really good. I’m interested in the psychology of teaching.

I would rate this book as a four out of five.

If it was less academic and more narrative it would be a five.

eating? Pizza is my thing. My whole life.

I could eat it every day. My new favorite pizza place is Joe Squared down on North Avenue. They have a clam pizza and an arugula and prosciutto pizza that I love.

I’ve never really met a piece of pizza that I didn’t like. It’s all good stuff to me. changing? The biggest change is me be-

ing here. I came from Lansdowne High School and was there for 12 years. I was a veteran and knew the lay of the land.

Coming here, I had to learn new things, watching? “House of Cards,” a Netflix telebut it’s been very positive. I live in the vision series starring Kevin Spacey.

Towson area, so the commute has been a He’s the House majority whip in Conlot better for me. This place is great, the gress—a psychopathic, manipulative photo by jen siegel students are wonderful, a lot of the staff is person. He does despicable things, but outstanding...Catching up with the volume he’s likeable at the same time. And his wife is just has been hardest. When things happen, they happen as bad. It dives into this behind-the-scenes political in a big way. I need to keep up on the little details world, and it breaks the fourth dimension. He’ll stop all the time, otherwise it can get overwhelming. I and talk to you and be like “can you believe what have more students now, and juggling the time is this guy is saying right now?” I like that connection a challenge. The college process is big – there is a that it establishes. I’d rate it as a five out of five. much larger percentage of students here who go to listening? Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Espe- four year schools. It’s hard to make space for other ranza Spalding, who is a jazz, bassist vocalist. She’s things.

april 18, 2013

Things do bump in the night

I

ben merenbloom, staff writer t may sound like an April Fool’s joke, but to those involved, it’s anything but.

“Was it a spirit? I don’t know.

I just know there were two eyes staring me right in the face, and I couldn’t move.” That’s the recollection custodian Eric Broadus has from a night months ago when he was working in the fitness lab. As he rested from chills and a terrible headache, he dozed off for a few minutes. He awoke, immobilized, the lights flashing on and off. Two eyes stared at him.

Broadus and fellow custodian Tammy Leisenring said they have sensed a spirit’s wanderings.

Leisenring first saw the ghost when she began working here.

She was alone one night in the new wing and felt something.

“Something’s there,” she said, re-

THIS WEEK ON

the really good show On Episode 26 of the school podcast, the Really Good Show, alumnus Octavius J. Johnson discusses his role in “Coldwater.” The film, released March 10, debuted at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival in Texas. The following are short excerpts from the interview: Q: Tell us about your movie.

A: “Coldwater” is a film by Vincent Grashaw. He’s the director, writer and producer. It’s about how juvenile delinquents are abused in rehabilitation centers.

It’s called “Coldwater” because

calling her thoughts. “Something or somebody’s close by.” She turned and saw a petite, faceless African American girl. She has seen the ghost many times. She is is always wearing the same double-breasted jacket.

Seeing the ghost has become routine, she said. Some nights she parks a boom box on a cart in the hallway, playing the radio loudly to ward off the ghost. Still the ghost continues to appear.

Broadus has experiences of his own with the ghost. Once when working the second shift, he found bare footprints across the floor he had just mopped. He had just walked to another part of the same hallway and saw no one, so he figured it was a ghost.

“I don’t investigate,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not qualified; that’s not my expertise.” that’s the name of the rehabilitian center – Coldwater Facility.

Q: I saw the trailer and it looks like a psychologically tense drama. Is that safe to say?

A: Psychologically? Physically!

It’s a violent movie, but it’s for a cause, showing that this is really happening. I just like being a part of things that advocate for the better, and acknowledge things that are really going on in the world and trying not to ignore them.

To listen to the full interview, visit: http://thereallygoodshow.com Follow The Really Good Show on Twitter: @dulaneypodcast

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the griffin

11 features

an among us: Lifelong dancer develops distinctly smooth style

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ben merenbloom, staff writer ance, dance, karate, singing and more dance. That’s the typical week of sophomore Ali BasyeFeatherson.

She began dancing at age 2 with her mom at a Mommy and Me class. She first remembers dancing at a restaurant, performing a Middle Eastern belly dance with her mom, a Middle Eastern belly-dancing teacher.

From there, her dancing took off. She now dances 13 hours every week at three different venues. She dances a combined

seven hours in class at school and at MidAtlantic Youth Ballet. The other six hours of dancing were spent at rehearsals for the school musical, “Curtains.”

Dance teacher Deborah McWilliams calls Basye-Featherson a “graceful” dancer.

“Her individual style comes through in her choreography that she creates for class.”

McWilliams said.

Friends agree.

“Everything is very legato with her.very flowing, not choppy, like other dancers,” friend and fellow sophomore Brady Widener said of her dancing.

“Everything is very legato with her...very flowing, not choppy, like other dancers.”

“Her height allows her to create nice lines as she moves and she seems to really enjoy performing,” McWilliams said.

If you think the amount of time she dedicates to dancing is impressive, add this to the equation: Basye-Featherson is involved in eight different types of dance.

Tap, jazz, ballet, belly dancing. And that’s just half. She also does ballet on pointe shoes, lyrical musical theater jazz and jazz/hip-hop.

Her favorites? Tap and jazz.

“You can separate yourself from daily life and be someone different.

There’s more freedom; you don’t

april 18, 2013 have to follow set rules,” she said of her favorite parts of dancing.

As if that were not enough, BasyeFeatherson also sings and takes karate.

In “Curtains,” she sang Broadway jazz with an ensemble for about four hours every week.

As a dancer, Basye-Featherson has an interesting take on the recent viral Harlem Shake.

“It’s not dancing. It’s shaking. It’s embarrassing for those involved, therefore it’s entertaining,” she said.

But she’s certainly not egotistical and overconfident about dance, she said. She just wants people to have fun.

“You don’t have to be awesome. You don’t have to be good, but everyone c a n dance,” she said. photo by jen siegel

Chemistry student adds smarts, creativity to cookies

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Sophomore Anna Johnson (pictured right) baked carrot cupcakes (pictured above) for a St. Patrick’s Day lunch party.

photo by jen siegel

alyssa engelman & alex goldberg, staff writers riple chocolate mousse trifle, powdered sugar chocolate truffles and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Sophomore Anna Johnson bakes all of these and more.

“She’s the best baker in the whole school,” sophomore Michelle Ko said.

Ko said her favorite treat is the German chocolate cake Johnson once made to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

“I had never even heard of German chocolate cake before she brought it,” Ko said.

The chemistry student even found a way to mix science into her projects. Once while making a chocolate mousse cake, she produced a small explosion, sending chocolate flying everywhere.

“I looked in the mirror and I looked like a mud man,” Johnson said.

Her makeshift double-boiler caused chocolate to heat up quickly and bubble.

“It jumps out of the bowl and onto anything and everything nearby, creating an awfully sticky mess,” Johnson said.

A perfectionist, Johnson only uses Hershey’s for bittersweet and semisweet baking chocolate and Toll House for regular chocolate chips. She refuses to use milk chocolate in any of her recipes because she said it is too sweet.

Of all the treats she makes, Johnson said she least enjoys baking cupcakes and muffins.

“I cannot stand filling each and every little cup,” she said.

Although she may not like making cupcakes, she loves to eat them. Her favorite cupcake is a black bottom (the recipe for which, can be found on our website), which is a chocolate

Find us on Edline under clubs.

cupcake with a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling .

“I love those, even though you have to fill each cup with batter and then again with the filling,” Johnson said.

Johnson began baking in eighth grade when her younger brother asked for a “yummy dessert.” They didn’t have any store-bought sweets at home, so she said she decided to make oatmeal raisin cookies with chocolate chips. They were a hit.

“The oatmeal container had a recipe on it, and I started out with that, but quickly got fed up with it and did it my own way,” Johnson said. She added that it took over seven tries to get the perfect cookie recipe.

Baking may be a fun hobby for Johnson, but she doesn’t plan on pursuing it as a career.

She said she has considered opening a bakery but only after she goes to college.

the griffin

12 features

april 18, 2013

Foreign students share global experiences

Perspectives from abroad. left: Sophomores at the International School of Uganda relax outside between classes. photo by morina above: Sophomores Isabella Parrotta, Confidence Nwanga and Lyra Morina share a laugh in the library in March.

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jenny ingliss, opinion editor et’s face it: our school isn’t the most captivating place.

And we’re not alone. Billions of others around the globe are also in your boat. Of course, their boats are slightly different, because teaching methods and philosophy vary from country to country.

Sophomore Confidence Nwanga arrived January of last year from Nigeria. He attended the Federal Government College of Nigeria, where students lived on campus and were expected to work diligently.

The atmosphere was “very strict,” recalled Nwanga. Teach-

ers at the high school were treated “as if they were gods” and were never criticized during class.

“The teacher can flog [students] if they act crazy,” he said, adding that the heavy discipline kept classroom behavior stellar.

He attributes his strong work ethic to the stringent expectations at the Government College.

Still, the rigid order of the classroom didn’t squelch conflict between students. Away from the teachers’ watchful eyes, seniors would hunt for stray underclassmen to beat up. The reasons were of a whimsical sort: seniors who “feel they have been disrespected” were the ones that terrorized

the younger students, Nwanga said.

Sophomore Lyra Morina also moved from Africa. Originally from the European country of Kosovo, she spent the past six years in Uganda, at the private International School of Uganda.

“You felt like you were outside,” she said, when asked to describe her school. The 32-acre campus featured curving paths and tropical plants, lending a pleasant and natural feeling even while indoors. “It felt so much better.”

Another large difference was the way courses are organized, Morina said. Each subject is offered as a blanket course, which is taught

in segments. For instance, during a given year of math, students would work with a mix of geometry, trigonometry, and algebra.

This allowed the following year to build upon work from the previous year.

Fellow sophomore Isabella Parrotta said she misses the close-knit community she had at the School of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.

“It was so surreal,” said Parrotta, “because you make closer friends in one year than you did in 11 years somewhere else.” Parrotta’s graduating class totaled 40 students, so everyone knew each other and formed intimate friendships. Even teachers knew their

photo by alex wright

students personally.

“Teachers are a lot like your friends. They treat you as equals,” she added, saying that she frequently Skypes her French teacher and keeps up with local events on St. Croix.

The darker mood of Dulaney was clear from day one. Parrotta said she was pushed on the middle staircase, and she was surprised to hear students using racial slurs in the hallways.

“I felt like I was guilty until proven innocent, versus innocent until proven guilty,” she said.

Golden twins commit to benevolence

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Sophomore olivia golden pauses with an Rwandan student during her trip to the African nation last summer. She and her sister continue their work to fund schools around the area.

photo from golden family

gina lee, staff writer or nearly 6 years, sophomores Sophie and Olivia Golden have funraised to provide education for 10 kids in Rwanda, Africa.

The twins’ older sister started the now government-sponsored program Kids for Compassion over five years ago.

“To me, becoming a government official meant that this small organization was becoming even more real, that more people were going to hear about these 10 kids,” Sophie Golden said.

They are developing an official board. Olivia Golden will handle the media resources; her twin will organize finances and publications.

Other boards will follow in later months.

The Goldens’ work has provided educa-

scene

review:

Training your brain to memorize stein.” Using interviews and handy kyra twohy, business manager & tricks from his mentor, Foer engages andrew abell, contributing writer uring the ancient Greek and the reader with humor and creativRoman periods, memorizing ity. For me this book was a wakeup a poem verbatim call that encouraged me was a skill of art where to start small with grocery lists, 20 cards, and acheivers were praised the first 22 presidents. and lauded. But today, Foer on the other hand memorizing is not an important “art”, it’s more of accomplished feats a convenience for 5 perlike full decks of cards in less than two mincent of the population. utes and names of 100 Whether it’s reciting a Shakespeare monologue, a people he just met. His dreaded poem or familiarelaborate memorizaizing yourself vital dates tion skills will not only help your recollection of the Cold War, memorization is just tedious. photo from goodreads.com but your intelligence.

His process is “etching” Why memorize a grocery list when you can easily take a pic- pictures into his brain for everything ture of it on your iPhone? Technology he has to remember. Are those math has eliminated our need for memori- formulas just too much? Lost in hiszation, but what happens when you tory dates? Foer’s new perspective on memory helps transform “nothing lose your phone?

Joshua Foer chronicles his goal to special” to Olympic quality. participate in the Memory Olympics, in his book “Moonwalking with Ein- overall rating:

tion for children ages 9 through 24, covering primary school to college education. How do they raise the money? Simple fundraisers such as lemonade stands, bake sales and craft sales. But as the number of students wanting to enroll increases, the Goldens plan to hold larger events and raise $12,000 for the year.

The Goldens were able to meet the children in person when they visited Rwanda last summer.

“I was able to develop a personal relationship with them,” Olivia Golden said. “I found out what their dreams were and what they wanted for their future. So being able to actually know these kids I’ve been helping inspires me to work even harder because of this personal connection.”

dulaney

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PROM-POSAL. Social studies teacher Phil Bressler’s Advanced Placement Economics class watches as Bressler wembraces senior Sai Vedati after senior Patricia Bai accepted Vedati’s in-class invitation to prom March 22.

Just prior, Bressler had asked Patricia, “Is it hot in here?” to which Bai had said, “Yeah, kinda.” Bressler immediately shed his ski jacket and turned around to reveal a poster taped to his back, reading “Patricia, will you go to prom with me? -Sai.” Bai said she would and accepted treats from Flavor Cupcakery as several members of Vedati’s Advanced Placement Biology class peered through the doorway.

photo by yejin yoon

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