February 2019 -- Silver Chips Print

silverchips A public forum for student expression since 1937 Montgomery Blair High School

February 27, 2019

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

VOL. 81 NO. 4

SNOWY SHENANIGANS

State Senator Will Smith to deploy overseas

By Kushboo Rathore STAFF WRITERS

District 20 Maryland Senator William C. Smith will deploy to Afghanistan effective March 29, nine days before the general assembly is set to end. He will be part of NATO-led mission: Operation Resolute Support, and according to Smith, he will return before the next legislative session begins in January.

During the last nine days of assembly, Smith will not be able to vote on the floor or as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee. “I won’t be able to vote in the last nine days of session and there are no proxy votes,” he said.

This deployment is not unexpected, with Senator Smith having anticipated it for the past few months. “When you’re in the reserves, you have what’s called a mutual short list...I saw my name slowly getting up the short list and I knew this was coming for the last six months or so,” he said. When he was informed of his deployment, there was a mix of feelings.

“I was excited and nervous and proud,” he said. “...I think it’s a

AVERY BROOKS

FRIGID FUN Blair seniors James Madden, Eric Moreno, and Sam Rose-Davidoff engage in a snowball fight after school. Earlier in the morning, MCPS issued a two hour delay due to emergency weather conditions from snowfall.

Administration considers single lunch block

By Kie Donovan and Uma Gupta STAFF WRITER

Blair administrators have been considering the consolidation of fifth and sixth period lunch into a single “skinny” block as the 20192020 school year approaches in order to make teachers more available for academic support and to curb poor attendance.

A final decision has yet to be made as administration continues to gain feedback from the Blair community and explore the logistics of a skinny period and collect stakeholder feedback from staff, students, and other groups that may be affected by the change.

Principal Renay Johnson said that, if the change is made, administration will contact families before the next school year starts. “We’ll notify families in the summer and

encourage as many kids as possible to pack lunch,” she said.

If approved by staff and students, a single lunch block will replace fifth and sixth period lunches in the 2019-2020 school year. Blair would still maintain a closed-campus policy, but the overall class schedule may be rearranged based on staff feedback.

Although administration has been discussing the possible implementation of a single lunch block since last year, the issue was officially added to the agenda this fall amidst concern about the lack of teacher availability for academic support. Teacher Fulbert Lewedia said the change could enable students and teachers to better coordinate academic support meetings.

“It might be a good idea, seeing as some students are not able to see all of their teachers if the teacher is teaching during lunch and if the students have only that lunch,” he said.

In addition to simplifying access to academic support, staff members believe that a single lunch block will improve student attendance.

Under the current system, some students skip their fifth or sixth period class to lengthen their lunch period. According to Johnson, they

NEWS A2

OP/ED B1

SAC

Soulja Boy back in the headlines

Sankofa destaca una leyenda afro-latina este año

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PACKED

Blazers

crowd

With a longer lunch that includes the entire school population, staff members hope to allow students to eat with all of their friends without having to cut class.

block, administration is also looking at how to accommodate roughly 3200 students into a single lunch period within a closed campus.

Wherever students are in the building, their safety and security during a single block is also a

Student accomodations

In addition to considering the potential benefits of a single lunch

the

Student

Activity

Center

see SINGLE LUNCH page A2

for

insidechips

Celia Cruz

LUCY MARTIN

often do this in order to see friends who don’t have the same lunch as them.

The resulting low student attendance during fifth and sixth period classes prompted serious discussion about a single lunch block, as students who “double-lunch” are at a higher risk of failing certain classes.

see WILL SMITH page A2

Has Soulja Boy finally reclaimed relevance?

KATRINA WARREN

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LA ESQUINA LATINA C1

SHASHI ARNOLD

Democratic Primary

Getting to know MoCoSnow

The best way for Democrats to beat Trump in 2020

A look behind the MCPS winter weather updates

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FEATURES D1

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CULTURE E1

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lunch

during

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fifith

period.

Silver Chips Print @silver_chips @silver.chips Silver Chips Print

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silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 Phone: (301) 649-2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Winner of the 2018 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown

Editors-in-Chief: William Donaldson Adenike Falade Managing News Editors: Mindy Burton Miranda Rose Daly Managing Op/Ed Editor: Lucy Gavin Managing Features Editors: Elise Cauton Marlena Tyldesley Managing Entertainment Editor: Arshiya Dutta Managing Sports Editor: Camden Roberts Ombudsman: Hannah Lee Page Editors: George Ashford Teddy Beamer Elias Chen Mira Diamond-Berman Kie Donovan Itamar Fiorino Prayag Gordy Uma Gupta Amanda Liu Ethan Park Khushboo Rathore Louis Rosenberg Sarah Schiffgens Paloma Williams Victoria Xin La Esquina Latina Editors-in-Chief: Amanda Hernández Jasmine Méndez-Paredes La Esquina Latina Editor: Lourdes Reyes Valenzuela La Esquina Latina Writers: Yesenia Cruz Yenmis Quiñones Executive Business Directors: Siena Butters Olena Zelinsky Business Staff: Preston Beatty Liang Lin Alyssa Ma Ray Mizui Merete Oakes Jennifer Ren Suveena Sreenilayam Managing Photo Editor: Avery Brooks Photographers: Emory Brooks Dede Greenfield Lucy Martin Elenora Rue Yekaterina Vakhromeeva Managing Media Coordinator: Aidan Lambiotte Managing Art Editors: Seoyoung Joo Sally Zhao Artists: Shashi Arnold Elaine Cheng Niamh Ducey Amy Krimm Kelley Li Kennedy Salamat Katrina Warren Gabe Winston-Bailey Ivvone Zhou Managing Design Editor: Hannah Lee Puzzle Editor: Sophia Weng Copy Editors: Sara Kleine Ollie-Angel Nono Catherine Rodriguez Ruby Santana Luna Warren La Esquina Latina Advisors: Dianette Coombs Maria Eugenia Tanos Advisor: Jeremy Stelzner Silver Chips is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the editorial board and are not necessarily those of the school. Signed letters to the editor are encouraged. Submit your letter to Jeremy Stelzner’s mailbox in the main office or to silver.chips.print@gmail.com. Concerns about Silver Chips’ content should be directed to the Ombudsman, the public’s representative to the paper, at ombudsman.silverchips@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

February 27, 2019

silverchips

A2 News

Administration considers a single lunch block Potential schedule changes coming to Blair next year from LUNCH page A1

consideration administrators are thinking out.

Security team leader Darryl Cooper voiced concern about handling nearly 3200 students at once.

“If an incident were to happen, to sort of get all of the kids out in an orderly fashion or to control the crowd, if there were an incident or a fight, would be a challenge,” he said.

Even with the consolidation of all Blair students into one lunch block, Cooper said that expanding security staff is not an option.

“That’s something that is bigger than just myself and Mrs. Johnson, and headquarters would have to approve additional staff, and I think with the way the county is now, I wanna just say ‘no,’” Cooper said.

If implemented, this change will allow students to eat on all levels of Blair. According to Building Services staff member Carl Lacey, allowing the entire student body to have lunch throughout the building will be difficult.

“Three floors. It’s going to be wild... security-wise, building service-wise, because you’ve got to be watching to see what [students are] doing,” he said.

Johnson said that she plans to add “cafe areas” to the second floor this summer and potentially to the third floor if a single lunch is approved. As of now, Johnson said that lockers will be removed from the second floor over the summer, and potentially from the third.

Nancy Valenzuela, another Building Services staff member, said that she does not think Building Services is ready to handle a single lunch block.

“The hallway is going to be really messy and you know it’s gonna be a lot of work,” she said. According to Lacey, an increase in Building Services staff is unlikely.

Entertainment

Students like freshman Adam

UMA GUPTA

Abadiga have mentioned that a lack of space may inconvenience more than just certain staff members.

“When you put everyone in one place it’s like a powder keg. Everybody is ready to explode cause there is no space,” he said. “It’s going to be basically chaos. Nobody wants that.” According to Johnson, such concerns about volume make sense, but can get exaggerated.

“It’s still going to be a lot of kids but it won’t be 3,200. Because you have the Edison kids who are gone and you have the half day kids,” she said. Regardless, administration hopes to combat a “powder keg” effect by finding creative ways to keep students entertained over the extended block.

Cooper said that by having food vendors come in to serve students or by adding to the snack bar, students may be kept better occupied.

According to Johnson, a single lunch block will allow many new options to be explored regarding entertainment.

“Students will be able to meet as a club during the school day, also get homework support, and also maybe have an activity in the gymnasium, basketball, soccer, but also see a film, or sitcom, or science documentary in the auditorium,” she said.

Clubs and publications

Aside from potential issues with managing and entertaining students, a skinny period lunch could also have damaging implications for several of Blair’s large student-run publications, such as Blair Network Communications (BNC) and Silverlögue. BNC teacher George Mayo expressed concerns about a possible need to downsize BNC staff next year as a result of the change.

“If we have to shove 70 kids into that skinny period everyday… we’re going to have to cut the number of kids who can take BNC potentially,” he said. “We simply don’t

have the enough equipment for the entire BNC group to be together at once.” Sophomore Aline Charkoudian-Rogers, who is currently on BNC’s staff, said that scheduling may also be an issue for Blair publications that meet every day.

“I’m in BNC and they need every day to make the show every day for the next day so I don’t know how that would work if there’s not a period that meets every day… and I know Silver Chips also meets every day so I don’t know how that would work,” she said.

If implemented without careful consideration for the many scheduling conflicts that could arise, a skinny period has the potential to limit student access to Blair publications, said Communication Arts Program (CAP) Coordinator Sarah Fillman. “Tenth graders can’t be part of yearbook because it would be during the tenth grade CAP block. And for Chips, there isn’t a space with machines that have the [editing] program [that is]... able to house fifty or sixty students at once,” she said. On the other hand, Elizabeth Duval, who teachers magnet biology, hopes that a skinny period will actually benefit student organizations, such as the various clubs seeking to meet during the school day.

“For clubs… instead of having to have two sessions and have two different people run two different [sessions], you just meet and that’s kind of lovely. I like the idea of the school having a collective time where everyone can meet. There are pros and cons, but I think it’s worth trying,” she said.

With the pros and cons in mind, Johnson said that administration is not willing to consider making the change unless the entire Blair community is on board. “We’re open to recommendations and suggestions and if we found out it’s not a good fit for Blair, we’ll just keep what we have…. If it’s not safe, if kids can’t get their food in time, we’ll keep what we have,” she said.

Sen. Smith to deploy on Navy mission to Afghanistan District 20 state senator called to active duty from WILL SMITH page A1

merits,” he said.

One of the long-debated bills tremendous honor to be in this that Senator Smith sponsors is SB position, so I’m excited about the 311, the End-Of-Life Option Act. It opportunity to serve.” is to be voted on before he leaves, Senator Smith has been a reserve Navy intelligence officer since 2010 but originally wanted to join the reserves after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Instead, he graduated college and joined the reserves, then moved on to political office. “I was in college during 9/11 and it had a profound impact on everyone in my generation,” Smith said. “...I am passionate about serving in the military.”

Before his deployment, his office has been working with the assembly on rearranging his schedule. “The committee chairmen across the assembly have been very accommodating of me in terms of moving up my legislative schedule and ensuring that I could have a good shot at getting my legislation through,” Smith said.

A temporary replacement is not an option for Smith due to the Senate Republicans’ recent rule change that prevents moving around committee members.

Senator Smith believes that this deployment will not affect his legislative agenda. “We’re going to accomplish everything we set out to accomplish that had a chance of getting a fair shot this year… I don’t and Smith believes that it will pass. think the deployment is going to “I think we’re going to get it through. affect anything with respect to the I think it’s going to be close, but

we’re going to get it through. I think this is a step forward for Maryland to take,” Smith said.

Although he is going to be overseas, Smith plans to continue to be

COURTESY OF WILL SMITH

involved with District 20 situations.

“My office will be able to handle constituent matters and I will be

in communication a couple times through email and maybe some town halls where I can do some Skype or FaceTime,” he said. His office will be in charge of handling day-to-day constituent matters, and he has been training and working with them for years in order to make sure that they were prepared.

During his deployment, Smith will also be leaving his wife and ten-month-old daughter. “I will miss her first birthday, and hopefully she takes her first steps before I leave, so I can see that, but I’ll miss a few milestones,” he said. “I’ll have intermittent internet access so I’ll be able to do facetime and all that other good stuff.” While he remains excited for his deployment, he hopes he doesn’t have to leave again. “I’ll be back and with any luck, I won’t have to go again,” he said.

The Senator is grateful for the opportunity that he has had to serve the Silver Spring and Takoma Park residents and said he hopes to continue do so in the future. “I am just very honored to have been elected to serve the people of District 20 and very honored to be able to serve in this capacity in the military and I just want to say thank you for their support and their well wishes, and I hope they know that I am working very hard on their behalf to the very least second I leave, and when I return, I will resume that hard work.” he said.

News A3

silverchips

February 27, 2019

Bomb threat investigations continue

Authorities suspect an app was involved

By Itamar Fiorino STAFF WRITER

Authorities are currently investigating a bomb threat incident that led to Blair’s evacuation on Dec. 6, 2018.

The threat was made to one of the main office’s primary secretaries, who followed MCPS protocol and tried to get as much information as she could about the caller. The call, according to the secretary, involved what sounded like a foreign individual threatening to detonate a group of four pipe bombs—two inside the school and two outside—within the hour.

Secretaries in such situations are instructed to take as much information on the caller as possible before hanging up, following the “telephone bomb threat checklist” they keep under their telephones. Questions include: “Where is the bomb right now,” “What does the bomb look like,” and “Why did you place the bomb?”

The sheet includes notes on the caller’s suspected age and gender, voice, familiarity, and background sounds.

After the call, the secretary promptly met with Principal Renay Johnson. Sharese Junious, Blair’s School Resource Officer (SRO), was called and a decision to evacuate the school was made. Police and K-9, accompanied by Commander William Montgomery, appeared on the scene after Junious called the third district police station.

The decision to evacuate is within the principal’s complete jurisdiction. After the decision is made, the connection between school and police is the SRO’s responsibility. “Whatever [Johnson] decides, my job is just to support her in that decision,” Junious said. “There’s no really right or wrong way to handle it, the biggest thing is she has to make a decision.”

Students were evacuated to their fire-drill destinations, and, following K-9 inspection,

COURTESY OF SILVER CHIPS ONLINE

WAITING FOR SAFETY Students gather outside for almost two hours due to a bomb threat on Dec. 6, while police search the building. were moved to the stadium for bathrooms and medical purposes. “The dog and the officers did the search with these ‘bomb-sniffing dogs’... and deemed that [the stadium] wasn’t a threat,” Johnson said. “That took about an hour. So then, students were moved into the stadium.”

Similar threats were made to three other Montgomery County schools within the week. “On that day, there was also a threat made to Springbrook,” Johnson said. “And the week prior, there were bomb threats at

Whitman and Churchill.”

Between the incidents at Springbrook and Blair, there were similarities. “What I was told from the detectives,” Junious said, “was that those calls had been made all over the country, and I think, as I was saying, they were stemming from outside of the country.”

As Junious explains, these costly incidents are difficult to respond to and call for quick decisions. “The problem was we were given a time limit. So, someone calls, and they tell you [that] at a certain time, this is going to

happen,” she said. “You have to make a decision right away. Either you all are going to shelter in place, or you’re going to evacuate the building” In these incidents, the urgency of the situation prompts responses with minimal knowledge of the situation. “There are so many unknowns, and you have to make a decision with a very small amount of information,” Junious said.

Following the bomb threat, a debrief among security staff involved discussion of future improvements. “After the incident is over, we actually sit down and have a meeting and say okay, ‘what went right,’ ‘what went wrong,’ ‘what can we do better?’,” she said.

Among these corrections, Blair has requested a large fleet of school buses to shelter students in the event of future extended incidents, according to Johnson. “I asked them to deploy buses to Blair,” she said. “So they would have to send 65 buses, so the kids can stay on heated buses until they can be picked up by parents.”

Johnson wants to ensure bomb threats will not continue into the school’s future. “A bomb threat, in general, is a very serious incident,” she said. “Students don’t always realize the amount of money that it costs for police to be deployed to campus… the hours of lost instruction… some students have fragile mental health, or fragile health, and need medication. It’s just a lot that goes into it.”

“We have staff members that may need to leave to pick up their children,” Johnson continued, “They need to stay on campus until we’re cleared to go back into the building, so it’s very expensive. It’s very detrimental to our health, safety, and wellbeing, and [it’s] time-consuming.”

The source of the bomb threats is still under investigation by a foreign municipality.

The investigators believe an app was involved in the call. “There’s an app; you pay a fee for someone in another country to make a call,” Johnson said. “That call is untraceable.”

Up and Coming March 1

March 8

March 9

March 24

Even Day and Early Release Day

Carnival of the Animals Music

Last day of Pennies for Patients

Swingin’ Sounds for Senior Citizens

Student and Teacher Awards & Honors Grace Cai, Daniel Schaffer, and Kevin Qian were named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists.

Alumnae Sarina Matson and Joanne Ha won an Honorable Mention at the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest.

Justin Haddad won a gold medal in Fencing Junior Olympics.

Eric Chen, Daniel Griegg, Arthur Hu, Cato Wang, and Lucinda Zhou placed top three at the Baltimore Rubik’s Cube Challenge.

Ashley Thommana placed second in the D.C. Regional Brain Bee. The boys’ swim team placed third at 4A/3A State Championships.

Alli Marney-Bell won first place in the 100 freestyle at 4A/3A State Championships.

Cindy Liu won an honorable mention at the Johns Hopkins Model U.N. Conference on Peacekeeping Operations.

Eric Chen, Arthur Hu, Neel Jay, Shwetha Kunnam, and Simoni Mishra won second place at the 2019 Chesepeake Bay Bowl.

Laura Cui, Katherine Lei, Alice Varughese, Sophia Weng, and Justin Zhang placed third.

Deeya Garg placed third in pole vaulting at 4A/3A State Championships.

A4 News Newsbriefs

Beltway expansion moves forward Maryland state officials have narrowed in on seven alternative plans to widen I-270 and I-495 and relieve congestion in the metropolitan area.

After submitting 15 preliminary plans in September 2018, state transportation officials have eliminated eight plans after undergoing a screening process where officials weighed criteria including projected revenues, efficiency and adaptability to a growing population.

With the exception of a “no build” option, each of the screened plans include creating monetized overflow lanes, either through High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes or Express Toll lanes to help mitigate the stop and go traffic plaguing the region.

The project has drawn scrutiny from groups and citizens opposing the expansion. “Adding toll lanes won’t remove congestion from existing roads,” said Ben Ross, head of the Maryland Transportation Opportunities Coalition, to the Washington Post last week. “In fact, for the toll revenue scheme to work, the state needs to make sure the traffic jams continue — because no one will pay tolls if the free lanes are moving at full speed.”

The screened plans are currently undergoing a complex federal and state review before being presented to the public for feedback through workshops this April.

Athletic Scholarships for Montgomery College Montgomery college will begin to offer athletic scholarships for its NJCAA Division Ian’s Division II teams this year.

After over 70 of competing in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III conference, it was announced last September that teams would either be elevated to the Division I or Division II level.

While a DIII college may offer no athletic related financial assistance, a select number of scholarships may be offered under DII or DI programs.

According to NJCAA regulations, DII college may offer athletic scholarships, but scholarships are limited to tuition, books, fees and up to $250 in course required supplies. DI scholarships can grant full athletic scholarships (tuition, books, fees, room and board), up to $250 in course required supplies and transportation costs one time per academic year, to and from the college by direct route.

Teams now competing at the Division II level include Montgomery College volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, and softball team. men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s outdoor track and field, and women’s outdoor track and field have been similarly elevated to Division I.

Proposed “Next Gen” 9-1-1 System State legislators are looking to overhaul Maryland’s 9-1-1 response system, updating the 50 year old current infrastructure to a “Next Generation 9-1-1” system.

The NextGen911 system would add a variety of new features to contact emergency reponse directly, including text-in and image and video features. These new additions would update a 50-year-old response system which legislators say is increasingly out of touch with modern society.

“People are always asking me, why is it that the pizza guy can get to me and 911 can’t?” said state Sen. Cheryl Kagan told WTOP. Kagan has been working toward implementing the NexGen system since 2017 and recently submitted bills for the 2019 legislative session to begin the statewide transition.

Transitioning to NextGen statewide would cost an estimated $13 million, much of which would come from new policies and changes in 911 funding.

Newsbriefs compiled by Elias Chen

February 27, 2019

silverchips

MCPS adopts new pre-K through grade 8 curriculum

By Amanda Liu STAFF WRITER

The MCPS Board of Education unanimously approved the purchase of new prekindergarten through grade 8 curricular materials on Jan. 8. The new external curriculum, which will provide English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics instructional materials that align more closely to Common Core standards, was prompted by results from a 2018 curriculum review by Johns Hopkins University.

The curriculum is designed to improve equity among students by ensuring that students are studying material at the appropriate level—at least on-grade level and possibly above, according to Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Ananya Tadikonda. “If they fall behind there [are] a lot of remedial measures in place to make sure that when kids are in fourth grade, they’re reading fourth grade texts,” she said. “If we don’t do that… we create opportunity gaps and achievement gaps in terms of who’s reading at what level.”

The new curriculum will incorporate more culturally diverse modern texts designed to reflect the diversity within MCPS, according to Jeanette Dixon, chair of the Board of Education’s Fiscal Management Committee and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee. “When people know each other’s stories… they’re more likely to be empathetic and treat everyone fairly,” she said. “It’s really about educating and being open to other experiences from people who are different from themselves.”

The English curriculum is expected to promote critical thinking skills. “If you read well you write well, and you learn more,” Dixon said. “[The curriculum] will im-

prove student comprehension.”

In mathematics, central services staff will also consider accelerated options that include compacting grade levels into a single year for mathematics.

There will also be increased use of online learning

resources, such as digital practice information and textbooks, to supplement student learning.

According to Navarro, the new resources will standardize class lessons and tests. “These new purchased materials have a very specific sequence of what to do, what students are expected to do, what lesson everyone is gonna do,” she said.

The curriculum will be implemented in waves by cohort and subject area. Throughout the past several months, schools have been grouped into two cohorts based on determined interest and necessity.

The first cohort of 77 elementary schools and 24 middle schools, including Pine Crest Elementary School and Silver Spring International Middle School, will implement the new material during the

2019-2020 school year. Blair will be among the first cohort of high schools to adopt the new Algebra 1 curriculum. All other schools will implement the new material during the following 2020-2021 school year. While all teachers will gain digital access to professional materials this spring, only Cohort One teachers and administrators w i l l u n derg o in-

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tensive professional learning this sum-

mer.

The MCPS decision to adopt a new curriculum was based on results from a Johns Hopkins research study conducted in March of last year. According to the Board of Education, the study results recommended “the purchase of externally developed curricular and instructional materials” with strong materials “for struggling or advanced students, as well as various resources for special needs and English-language learners.”

In response to these recommendations, MCPS developed a Request for Proposal (RFP) containing mandatory requirements for an externally developed pre-kindergarten to grade 8 curriculum. The

RFP requirements included explicit material for students with special learning needs, second language learners, and highly able learners.

It also requested material that is culturally responsive and relevant, contains a balance of digital and print, and provides parents/guardians with a greater access to the curriculum.

MCPS received 34 external curriculum proposals (19 ELA and 15 mathematics) by the Sept. 28, 2018 deadline of the RFP. These proposals were reviewed by EdReports, an external educational organization, for adherence to the mandatory requirements of the RFP. Sixteen remaining proposals were then reviewed by a team of 118 staff members, including teachers, paraeducators, instructional specialists, and administrators.

Each product was again evaluated in several areas, including student/ teacher materials, assessments, digital media, and cultural responsiveness. The proposals were then publicized for review by the public, garnering over 1,700 responses from parents/guardians, teachers, and students. After conducting additional vendor interviews, central services staff made final product recommendations to the Board of Education.

Four external vendors were selected for different grade levels and subject area. Eureka Math by Great Minds and Benchmark Advance

by Benchmark Education Company were selected to provide material for pre-kindergarten to grade 5 mathematics and ELA materials, respectively. Illustrative Mathematics by LearnZillion and StudySync

by McGraw-Hill Education were selected for grades 6, 7, and 8 mathematics and ELA, respectively.

These recommendations were presented to the Board of Education on Jan. 8 and Feb. 12.

N-word passes and swastikas found at Churchill Racially motivated events spark call for action

By Paloma Williams STAFF WRITER

Teachers at Churchill High School discovered the distribution of papers that were labelled as a pass to use the N-word on Feb. 8.

The passes were distributed among white students, jokingly implying that they were allowed to use the Nword in conversation. Three days before the incident, on Feb. 5, two swastikas were found drawn on a desk. At Churchill, white students make up 50 percent of the student body and black students 8 percent.

According to the PTA president and former Justice Department civil rights attorney Bruce Adelson, incidents of discrimination are on the rise. “The FBI reports that the number of bias incidents has risen substantially over the last two years, and that includes a number of bias incidents in Montgomery County,” Adelson said.

The N-word passes, to many at Churchill, were seen as a source of humor. “It started off as a high school joke but then like kids started taking it seriously,” Tan Hun Nguyen, a senior at Churchill said.

“As teenagers being teenagers they thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t funny at all,” he said.

Historically, the N-word has seldom been considered funny.

“There are certain…what I like to call ‘third rails’ in American life [that] you just don’t go near… and the N-word is one of those words because of its very negative, hurtful history,” Adelson said. “How different people of different generations perceive the meaning is a very

important question and something that I think remains to be discovered in full.”

Soon after, the administration at Churchill expressed dismay at the incident. “I am deeply disappointed and appalled that any student in our school would choose to engage in such a racist, hateful act,” Principal Brandice C. Heckert wrote in an email

measures enacted following the incident, Churchill students were educated on diversity and acceptance.

“The administration… made a video stating ‘We are churchill’ and talking about how we can make the school a safer place,” said Nguyen.

The names of the students who distributed the passes remain anonymous. “The punishment will match the severity of the action and w i l l be in alignment with the Student

to parents regarding the distribution of N-word passes. “This behavior is disgraceful and does not reflect the values expected of Winston Churchill students.”

The comical distribution of N-word passes left students like Nguyen alarmed. “I felt ashamed because I thought as students of Churchill we would’ve been more mature about this and not be taking it as a joke,” said Nguyen. In the first of a series of corrective

SALLY ZHAO

Code of Conduct,” Heckert said.

The PTSA held a meeting Feb. 19 in response to the racial insensitivity present in the recent events at the school. “We need to acknowledge and accept there is a problem we need to discuss,” Churchill Cluster Director Dr. Peter Moran said at the beginning of the forum.

The forum aimed to ascertain the impact these events had on members of the Churchill community. “The main purpose of our open forum last night was to have a very open, frank dialogue and to hear from students and parents… [so they can] express how they feel about this and what the appearance of N-word passes or the N-word at Churchill means for them,” Adelson said. Dialogues such as these allowed students and parents to express their perspective on perceived problems within the community and culture at Churchill.

Adelson believes these discussions are a key step in generating proactive solutions. “I think it’s very important to have open dialogues,” he said.

“It’s important for MCPS, the police, and the school administration and the school principal to hear that so they can best tailor their response.”

The discussion is a start to a larger solution at Churchill. “The school is actively engaging with students, with staff, to discuss these issues with them. I think that’s critically important, that has not always happened at Churchill in the past, but it’s happening now, and it’s a very vigorous engagement,” Adelson said. During the forum, Heckert shared plans to generate student ideas on how to address racism and create a 20-point plan of action to further address the problem. The forum also served to educate students on various issues. “It made kids realize that what they did was wrong and that they should be more mature and more respectful towards other students [and] adults in the building,” Nguyen said.

February 27, 2019

Op/Ed B1

silverchips

Is it ever okay to doxx anyone?

Doxx: (slang) to publicly identify or publish private information about someone especially as a form of punishment or revenge.

YES:

NO:

Doxxing is a toxic pursuit of justice

Anonymity promotes fringe groups The indirect consequences of doxxing are normally the most fear-mongered. Swatting, for instance, where masses of armed SWAT teams show up to falsely reported crimes, is illegal. Doxxing, the action that opens Pandora’s box for crimes like these, is not.

Perhaps the connection between this crime and its facilitation should exist. Perhaps it should not. But regardless, answering the question “is it never okay to dox anyone?” may not simply lie in the presentation of a counterexample, AVERY BROOKS but rather an analysis into the action’s

By Itamar Fiorino implications over the STAFF WRITER long run.

Doxxing is scary, but the reality of a doxx-less world is even scarier. Online anonymity, or pseudonymity, fosters an increase in herd extremism.

Here, for argument’s sake, we will focus on white supremacism, but these themes can ultimately be translated to any marginalized group.

White supremacism is born and raised online—part of the reason why it is so hard to estimate their rally turnout (enter the “Unite the Right” rally failure of 2018).

Since the mentality toward it is generally negative, the cover of a computer screen is the perfect environment for a white supremacist’s hate. This trend leads to a phenomenon called online disinhibition, when social inhibitions that are normally present in face-to-face interactions are loosened.

There are plenty of parallels to disinhibition. The phenomenon is the core reason for why stock markets bubble, and for why an individual in a convertible is much less likely to flip someone off than someone in a van with tinted windows. This detachment from real life allows for mild whims to be extenuated.

A vivid example of this can be seen in the 2006 case of Nicole “Nikki” Catsouras, an 18-year-old who died in a high-speed California car crash. After her grisly accident photos were leaked, a mass of internet trolls, hiding under the shade of their screens, attacked her family by repeatedly sending them these images. One email, entitled “Woo Hoo Daddy,” was sent to them, saying “Hey Daddy I’m still alive.” The at times cold and impersonal nature of the internet is what makes these ludicrous messages common, the same going for political extremists.

In crowds like the “Unite the Right” rally, the individual is lost. As George Pat-

ton, an American World War II general, said, “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

Doxxing, as dirty as it may seem, essentially blows the cover from the extremes, or at least, retains this possibility as a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Simply put, people tend to become less attached to a chosen identity when they cannot express it in public for fear of exposure.

When scientists studied the effects of crowd mentality on people walking in random directions, they discovered that in the typical crowd, only 5 percent actually determine the crowd’s direction, while 95 percent follow. If the effect of crowd mentality in fringe groups is even nearly as influential, the removal of online anonymity could mean a lot fewer people screaming “you will not replace us.”

Rebuttals against doxxing often claim that this loss of attachment is not genuine.

When it comes to the indirect effects of doxxing, one argument would say that by simply reducing the supply of extremist ideas presented, you are also limiting the amount of genuine extremist sentiments. In these situations, any reduction in the “5 percent” leads to a net loss of fringe supporters.

Doxxing’s direct effects also mitigate this concern. While most Americans are instinctively against doxxing, similar expository actions happen on a daily basis in newspapers and are left unquestioned.

When a journalist seeks information on someone that concerns the public interest, nobody bats an eye. But when someone is doxxed, outrage ensues.

Here, there should be a clear distinction between disagreement and oppression. When oppresIVON sion is at play, any reducNE Z HOU tion in extremism benefits society.

The internet, as shown in Facebook’s deletions of fake-name accounts and in anti-anonymity bills, is converging to a less anonymous state, where users are held accountable for their words. Doxxing is simply a shortcut.

The reason for the recent surge in white supremacists may not actually be a mass appearance, but rather a communal push. In other words, individuals with extremist views are not appearing out of hiding; they are disappearing in a sea of people with similar problems.

Since the birth of the internet, online vigilantism has manifested itself in the practice of doxxing. Employed by all sides of the political spectrum, doxxing has been used to expose the identities of anyone from those who marched at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville two years ago to a rape victim at Columbia University, and is legal permitting that the information shared was obtained through publicly available resources.

Despite the legality of the practice, doxxing poses a dire ethical dilemma in AVERY BROOKS our perception of

By Sarah Schiffgens justice and anonymity in the digital age, STAFF WRITER and is ultimately guiding our generation down a path of depravity due to the practice’s premature yet heavily consequential nature.

Subject to error and misidentification, doxxing can take a devastating toll on its victims. In the three days following the tragic Boston Marathon bombing, Reddit incorrectly pinned Brown University student, Sunil Tripathi, as the bomber.

His name spread like wildfire across news sites and social media, and while Boston Police later correctly identified the suspects, it was found that Tripathi was already dead by suicide. Kyle Quinn, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas, was forced to stay at a colleague’s home when his address was leaked online after being incorrectly identified as a white supremacist at the infamous Charlottesville rally. The innocence of both of these men has been proven, but their accusations often get more prominence than the debunking of such claims, permanently scarring their public identity.

Even in cases where a subject is correctly identified, the lack of context surrounding a simple image or 15-second video can lead to misunderstanding and a misdirection of justice. Take, for example, the Covington Catholic boys in the video that went viral this January: a seemingly perfect example of white, toxic masculinity imposing on a peaceful native protester. The internet went

into a frenzy, tracking down the students in the video and leaving them vulnerable to an onslaught of hateful messages and threats.

However, once the full video of the incident was released, it became obvious that the boys were defending themselves from harassment from other groups at the event and had been approached by the native protester—not the other way around.

While pictures and videos can evoke strong emotions in the viewer, a doxxer often lacks an accurate grasp on what exactly occurred and the role of a particular individual in that event due to a lack of context. There are simply too many holes in the story, as photos or short videos clips should never be the sole basis for publicly and permanently condemning someone.

Victims of doxxing are often ostracized by their own community and families, and become vulnerable to online and physical harassment. In a study conducted by professors at the University of Chicago and New York University, it was found that in the majority of doxxing cases, a doxxing victim’s address, email, phone number, or family information were released. Several extremists have been fired from their jobs upon being doxxed and struggle to find another form of employment, as the consequences for being doxxed are often disproportionate and life-long. This now begs the question: who ‘deserves’ to be doxxed? Some may argue that extremists who declare their beliefs publicly have it coming to them, but it then becomes necessary to draw a distinction between targeting someone who is inherently a threat to society versus someone one simply disagrees with.

Because of internet permanence, there is virtually no room for those who are doxxed to recover from their mistakes or abandon their hateful ideology, meaning the notion that exposing the identities of extremists online can allow them to change their beliefs is a complete fallacy. In reality, those heavily indoctrinated by extremist ideology will likely retreat into their online echo chambers with contempt, and feel anger towards having their character defamed rather than remorse for their actions, according to Jared Colton, a professor of ethics and technology at Utah State University, in an interview with WIRED. Doxxing has not been proven as an effective means of suppressing hateful ideology, and the implications of the toxic practice ultimately affect every party involved.

The majority of doxes have been conducted under the pretense of justice, but when people become afraid to publicly express their beliefs for fear that they themselves, their family, or even those who look like them or have a similar name may be at risk, it becomes near-impossible to affect change. Ultimately, we may only be fanning the flames.

voicebox Adia Keene Junior

Jack Hariston Sophomore

Peter Zelinsky Freshman

Navaeh Montgomery Senior

Geffen Bendavid Junior

AVERY BROOKS

“[Yes]...if you put your information so it’s publicly available online, you can’t be upset when people gather it.”

“[No]... it’s just morally wrong to subject someone to that sort of punishment.”

“[No]...everybody has a right to keep their information confidential, even if it’s the government who needs it.”

“No, I think people need to have their own privacy, and people should respect that.”

“[Yes]...if they behave in a way that could potentially hurt someone else.”

silverchips

B2 Op/Ed

February 27, 2019

A media sensation gripping the nation

Readers and reporters should be held accountable for the quality news media

By Uma Gupta STAFF WRITER

AN OPINION

With newspapers falling out of business faster than ever and online competition intensifying, money has more power over the press than ever before. News outlets once sought exclusively to inform the public, but they now fight to capture the elusive interests of a new generation.

Through media sensationalism, the industry has found a way to capitalize on the waning attention spans of a new generation.

Mark Feldstein, a professor at the University of Maryland who teaches about the history of mass media, defines sensationalism as “journalism that hypes stories to get more impact.” Although it is easy to point fingers at the press for this “hype,” the public is also responsible for its prevalence in today’s media landscape.

Any industry extant in a capitalist society is ultimately controlled by the will of the people. According to Feldstein, the media industry is no exception. “Journalism is run for profit by and large in this country, and so you can blame the media outlets.... but ultimately it also comes back to the citizens,” Feldstein said. “What are people going to buy? If people didn’t want that sort of tabloid stuff, no one would sell it.”

Often, sensational content tends to be the most alluring. Sure enough, a Buzzfeed study of 2016 election coverage found that during the last three months of the presidential campaign, the 20 top-performing fake news stories on Facebook received more “shares, reactions, and comments” than the 20-top performing election stories from reputable sources.

Far more attention-grabbing than standard news stories, fake news spreads like wildfire amongst readers. Even in the realm of “real news,” scandal holds a special appeal. According to a case study of articles printed in New York Times 69 days prior to the 2016 election, the Columbia Journalism

Review found that out of “1,433 articles that mentioned Trump or Clinton, 291 were devoted to scandals or other personal matters while only 70 mentioned policy.”

When readers consistently read and

is little overlap between sources frequented by consistent conservatives and consistent liberals. Thus, sources seeking to appeal to a particular side of the political spectrum can manipulate stories to attract readers with

share dramatic content, profit-driven news outlets have no choice but to increase their production of such stories. In the arena of politics and partisan reporting, readers and the media alike fall further into the trap of sensationalism. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, there

similar beliefs.

Take, for example, coverage of a 2017 Ipsos poll on attitudes towards Trump. An article on Breitbart News Network covering this poll ran the headline “Poll: Public Overwhelmingly Supports Trump Push to Limit Migration,” while TIME explored the

SALLY ZHAO

same poll results under the headline “Most Americans Don’t Think President Trump’s Immigration Ban Will Make Them Safer.”

Through their headlines, each source tells a starkly different story based on the exact same information. These headlines, in turn, tell each side of the political spectrum only what they want to hear. The implications of such reporting grow dangerous when news becomes indistinguishable from partisan narratives.

Instead of heaping blame exclusively upon the media industry, readers must acknowledge that their consumption of information is inexorably linked with its production. Just as papers should refrain from overcovering irrelevant scandals, the public should limit demand for such stories before complaining about their prevalence in society. Sophomore Lily Creekmore, for instance, says that she tends to get only halfway through an article before ceasing to read any further. “I’m curious about the headline, and then I find out what the headline is about and then I don’t care anymore,” she said.

At times, readers will not even make it that far. A study published in Forbes found that 59 percent of people share links without even clicking on them first. This means that readers are less and less interested in what an article has to say, and more so in an eyecatching snippet of information.

In cases such as the reporting on the aforementioned Ipsos poll, one must be careful not to hastily condemn the media alone. Readers trapped within partisan echo chambers make themselves susceptible to false narratives and perpetuate the publication of such stories.

In an age where it takes no more than a few clicks to spread a sensationalized story, both the media and its consumers have a responsibility. For individuals, it is to pursue quality content and read beyond headlines.

For the industry, it is to produce quality content and refrain from sensationalizing stories. Will each side fulfill its role in order to uphold the quality of public information?

To beat Trump, Democrats need a clear vision In 2020, voters should choose a candidate with wide appeal

By Prayag Gordy STAFF WRITER

AN OPINION

So far, 12 major candidates have filed for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

As many candidates lurch further to the left, they should remember that they must eventually win the entire electorate, not just the whitest and most male bloc of the party: far-left activists.

In a December report, center-left think tank Third Way analyzed 476,405 advertisements Democrats ran in competitive races during the 2018 midterm cycle; they determined that voters wanted moderate candidates, not unelectable Democratic Socialists.

“What we found was that Democrats were stunningly disciplined in their communications to voters: running on mainstream, pocketbook issues (not left-wing populism), and refusing to get distracted by Trumpdriven chaos in the news,” Political Analyst David de la Fuente wrote.

Democrats capitalized on healthcare to win the House of Representatives, and it promises to be a major issue leading into 2020. Some candidates, such as Senator Kamala Harris, have expressed support for single-payer healthcare, a disastrous proposal which would end private insurance.

“Let’s eliminate all of that,” she said, handily dismissing more popular coverage increases in favor of what Forbes described as a costly and quality-reducing plan that has never worked in the United States.

Third Way found that crucial voters do not support the far-left healthcare model.

“In swing districts, Democrats heavily leaned into protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act—not promoting singlepayer health care,” de la Fuente wrote. “In fact, more Democratic ads were run that explicitly opposed single-payer than supported it.”

Increasing coverage, however, was

popular across the spectrum in 2018, Third Way’s Senior Political Analyst Ryan Pougiales said. “[It wasn’t] high-in-the-sky, what can we do with healthcare ten years down the road, [rather] what can you do to help save me money on my prescription drugs and

backed a federal jobs guarantee, and no Democrats in swing districts called for free four-year college. These left-wing policies have little-to-no support outside of liberal bastions like New York City and Southern California—Americans want a pragmatic can-

SHASHI ARNOLD

expand access and lower costs today,” he explained. “Those are the issues that really drove through, and that’s the agenda that will really resonate in 2020 as well.”

In a David Binder Research survey of these voters, less than a quarter fell in line with Harris’ proposal, and support for Medicare-for-All was cut in half when voters were informed of its consequences, like potentially doubled payroll taxes. Democrats did not win the House on single-payer healthcare, and they cannot regain the White House with it, either.

The same holds for other policies. Only nine percent of battleground midterm voters

didate who can actually follow through on realistic promises, not someone like Harris or Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Politicians like Senators Bernie Sanders and Warren may promise the world, but former Vice President Joe Biden, on the other hand, recognizes what can and cannot be done: Universal basic income is undignified and unamerican, he rightfully said, and he has never made shallow calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other moderates—like Montana’s Democratic governor Steve Bullock—realize that working with the other party is essential to popular, effective governing.

54 percent of Democrats want to move forward from the center, not from the farleft-wing. And they have a point: Democrats won back the house in 2018 because of moderates like Ben McAdams (UT-4), Xochitl Torres-Small (NM-2), and Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), not because of insurgent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), who threatens red-state Democrats with far-left primary challengers.

“Groups like [Ocasio-Cortez-aligned] Our Revolution and Justice Democrats have an agenda that resonates in places like Brooklyn… but they don’t have an agenda thus far that really works in places outside of the coasts and the urban hubs,” Pougiales said. “They didn’t contribute a single member to increasing our support in the House, or really in governors’ mansions or anywhere else for that matter in 2018. It’ll be helpful, I think, if they focus more on increasing our ability to enact a Democratic and progressive agenda rather than on intraparty squabbles.”

Democratic candidates simply cannot win in 2020 with left-wing populism and socialism—and the voters would rather they not try. According to Third Way, only 17 percent of battleground Democrats want a Democratic Socialist nominee, while 70 percent believe the party should reach out to a large variety of voters.

With a moderate candidate, Democrats can also widen their tent for the future. If the Republican party continues its fall into right-wing populism, the Democrats can further rein in moderates disgusted with the new GOP. If Democrats choose wrongly to nominate a candidate in a leftist mold of Trump, wealthy independents—say, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz—could decide to run for president. Though it is unclear from whom such a candidate would take more votes, why speculate? Instead, Democrats should nominate the type of candidate their party—and the country—wants: a moderate.

silverchips

February 27, 2019

Opinion B3

My Blair: Personal Columns Adiba Chowdhury for SMOB

By Adiba Chowdhury

BLAIR JUNIOR & 2019 SMOB CANDIDATE

Hey! I’m Adiba Chowdhury, I’m a junior here at Blair, and I’m running to be your next Student Member of the Board of Education. I was born in New York; since I moved here, I have attended Pine Crest Elementary School and Eastern Middle School’s Humanities program. My family and I are Bengali Muslims, and I lead a regional Muslim youth debate team. I’m co-president of OneBlair, I’m a member of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association (MCR-SGA) Education Policy Department, and I’ve been in SGA since sixth grade.

Being at Blair is a unique experience. It’s incredibly diverse, and I’ve really enjoyed it here; the clubs I’ve joined, events I’ve participated in, classes I’ve taken, and friends I’ve met have all been amazing. I’d do a shoutout, but that seems a little extra, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

We’re also incredibly divided. We judge others based on whether they’re in a program or not, what classes they take, what social identity they have, their economic status, etc. That’s true for any one of us—and no individual person or group should take the blame—but there is so much more we can do to lessen this divide and ensure that we all have equal opportunity.

That’s why as SMOB, I’ll increase funding for our ESOL and FARMs programs, come through on long-needed technology updates, initiate building repairs, and start nutritional programs. I’ll ensure that the cur-

riculum of every class align across on-level, honors, and AP classes; and I’ll require cultural competency sessions and mental health recognition training so that we can openly discuss racial and mental health barriers. I’ll expand a program created by OneBlair named Conexiones, in which ESOL students and students learning Spanish work together to teach basic Spanish vocabulary to teachers, all to encourage ESOL student inclusion. I intend to expand electives, promote project-based learning, end teaching solely for tests, diversify what we read, and modernize our health curriculum so that we can all succeed at school.

Lastly, many of our voices have been ignored, often because we simply don’t have the opportunity to discuss what’s wrong. We all have concerns with our system, and I’ll provide opportunities to give students a platform to voice their concerns. I’ll report directly to school SGAs, so that we can discuss plans that will directly impact your needs.

I’ll expand town halls, events, and media communication to increase student outreach. I’ll also hold Advocacy Hours, which are structured and accessible dialogues and/ or workshops for students so that we engage with a variety of issues, including racial barriers, school safety, and inclusion.

Leading dialogues and various events at Blair and across the county has meant that I’ve broadened my perspective on our school system, and it’s why I value hearing directly from my peers on issues that matter to us. With your support, I’ll take that experience to the SMOB position, because I’m working for change, with you.

Suicide matters. Our lessons should reflect that.

By Aviva Bechky, Isabella Fan, Ivy Liang, and Anika Seth BLAIR STUDENTS You never know who could be thinking about ending his or her life. It could be the person across from you in sixth period whose name you barely know, or it could be your best friend.

That’s why suicide prevention programs must be given thoughtful attention and care.

Unfortunately, based on our interactions with Blair students, parents, and teachers, this sentiment was not conveyed through February 6th’s suicide prevention lesson at Blair.

As a school, we’ve begun removing the taboos around suicidality and mental illness, thanks to the efforts of teachers, counselors, and administrators at Blair and nationwide.

However, it is imperative that our community become proactive instead of staying reactive. That starts with analyzing the methods our school is using to combat mental illness and suicide in order to improve our current programs.

The robotic dialogue and awkward phrasing present in each of the four sets of materials, one for each grade level, detracted from the seriousness of this issue.

By all means, experiences with the training varied from class to class. Some teachers went above and beyond, creating flipcharts, discussion questions, or other ways of engaging students in a conversation. A class discussion will almost always be more impactful than staged videos or worksheets detailing fabricated conversations.

Ostensibly, more time and energy was devoted to the active shooter training from several months ago, as evidenced by the staff

meeting dedicated to the training, teacher instructions being provided weeks prior, and the lesson entailing well-thought-out discussion questions.

It almost feels like these lessons propagate the misconception that physical health is more important than emotional health.

It’s not.

Moreover, it is challenging to hold any lesson of a sensitive nature during homeroom. Of course, in a school of over three thousand students, scheduling is difficult, so we understand why implementing the suicide prevention program into homeroom made sense; however, students aren’t familiar enough with their peers in this environment to have an open and honest discussion.

What if we followed an approach similar to other MCPS high schools, where counselors meet with students once every quarter to discuss emotional health, mental illness, and suicide prevention during a normal class period? The lesson would be more conducive to discussion due to familiarity with peers and the presence of staff professionally-trained to discuss mental health with students.

Students walked away from the suicide prevention lesson with the false impression that the school does not care. Despite this, there is not one person in this school who wants signs of suicide to go unnoticed.

That’s why we are aiming to make our concerns known to the administration in order to improve these programs.

Our schools are heading in the right direction, but there is always more to be done.

The purpose of school is to teach us to be functional members of society. To do that, we have to ensure our students stay alive.

What do you think?

Feel free to access our feedback survey via the QR code to tell us what you think about Silver Chips!

Letter to the Editor Blair should embrace dialogue

By Dr. Jesse Tarbert BLAIR PARENT

Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to the December 2018 cycle Pro/ Con: “Do CAP and Magnet benefit the student body?” and the January 2019 cycle lead editorial “Moving the discussion forward.”

All of this is to say that the Silver Chips editorial staff should be commended for starting this process with their decision to cover such a sensitive topic—and also for their willingness to reflect on the impact of that decision.

I was therefore dismayed as I read the letter to the editor written by STEM Magnet Math teacher Jeremy Schwartz, “The Pro/Con was a ‘hatchet job’ and ‘outright discriminatory,” in the January 25 edition.

As an educator myself (I teach history at Loyola University Maryland), I realize it can be difficult to strike a balance between encouraging critical discussion and offering constructive criticism if students seem to miss the mark.

Unfortunately, Mr. Schwartz’s ill-considered letter failed at both tasks. Rather than offering any sort of coherent argument, Mr. Schwartz’s letter instead relied upon unsupported assertions, logical fallacies, and unseemly invective. By dismissing Ms. Roberts’s Op/Ed as a “hatchet job” and “hit piece,” Mr. Schwartz gave the impression that he was more interested in questioning Ms. Roberts’s motives than in assessing the points she tried to make. While it is alarming to see a teacher address any student in this manner in a public forum, it is also amusing to see that Mr. Schwartz has unwittingly provided evidence to support Ms. Roberts’s position.

Going forward, I hope that the faculty and administration at Blair will embrace this opportunity to show students that it is possible to engage in reasoned discussion even when the topic is sensitive and the questions hit close to home.

The Pro/Con in the December 5, 2018, edition of Silver Chips, along with the editorial and letters to the editor in the January 25, 2019 edition, usefully illuminate important challenges facing Blair. It is in fact the case that the demographics of the CAP and Magnet programs do not reflect the demographics of Blair as a whole. In a school with a smaller student body, we might chalk this up to random distribution, but Blair’s size makes it unlikely that this disparity is due solely to the relative merit of the students who are admitted to the CAP and Magnet programs. Given these factors, it seems reasonable to ask whether CAP and Magnet admissions policies inadvertently reward students with social and economic advantages. And it seems reasonable to ask how these programs impact the social life of the school.

To answer these questions will require careful investigation and thoughtful conversation. However, the articles and letters in Silver Chips reveal that this would likely be difficult, emotional work. The reaction to the Pro/Con shows clearly that while some students feel that the CAP and Magnet programs contribute to inequities among Want to submit a letter to the editor? the student body, some who are involved in those programs interpret discussion of those Email it to silver.chips.print@gmail.com. perceived inequities as a personal attack.

Letter to the Editor

Don’t silence Blair students

By Peter Lynch

BLAIR JOURNALISM TEACHER

Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to the December 2018 cycle Pro/ Con: “Do CAP and Magnet benefit the student body?” and the January 2019 cycle lead editorial “Moving the discussion forward.”

Jamal Khashoggi was butchered to death because of his journalism. David Ignatius, a columnist for the Washington Post and friend of Jamal Khashoggi described the first time Khashoggi walked into the newsroom at the Post. He was awestruck. Here was a room filled with men and women, searching for truth, grappling with the ideas of the day, and holding our leaders accountable.

This was a rare sight for Khashoggi. These reporters were free from the threat of violence. Khashoggi was not.

That image of Khashoggi amazed by free press at our hometown paper has stayed with me. It should stay with us all.

No American, no Blair writer, will face the barbarism that killed Khashoggi. The press still has freedom to publish, and we must keep it that way, but we must also model that freedom here at Blair.

I was concerned about the pushback Silverchips faced for addressing CAP/Magnet programs and their relation to the school.

I read and heard sentiments that would encourage writers, and the student body, to silence their opinions. This silencing is misguided; rather we should encourage and protect structured discussion around tough and complex issues. If a Blazer--staff or student, CAP/Magnet or not--disagrees, enter

the conversation through logical discussion and writing.

A public school, and newspapers, educate you to participate in a democratic republic. You will be called on, long after your years at Blair to be effective citizens either vocally, through written form, the ballot box, or with your own public service. You are doing hard work here so that you can do the harder work of an American outside these walls.

The press serves as a bulwark for any democracy where citizens are called to understand and make decisions based on facts.

Our paper is a model for this constructive exchange of ideas.

Thomas Friedman, a New York Times Columnist and the parent of a Blair graduate wrote about our school.

“I went to a high school graduation Monday and a United Nations meeting broke out...if there is one reason to still be optimistic about America it is represented by the stunning diversity of Montgomery Blair.”

It may not always be easy to connect but you must work to find a way. Our school news programs should continue to help facilitate this process. If writers are censored, overtly or otherwise, the free flow of ideas is stifled, and our community suffers.

The late Representative John Dingell wrote to all of us before he died, “As I prepare to leave this all behind, I now leave you in control of the greatest nation of mankind and pray God gives you the wisdom to understand the responsibility you hold in your hands.”

The press, at our school and elsewhere, is vital in this work and that responsibility. I have known Blazers to speak truth to power and not stand down. So Silverchips staff and all Blair students: write on.

B4 Editorials

silverchips

February 27, 2019

‘You are stealing our future’

Young people must lead the charge to combat climate change “You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.” 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s words to a United Nations plenary session at their December 2018 annual conference on climate change echo ominously in the minds of all those tuned into the climate action movement. While the Trump administration is focused on exacerbating a humanitarian crisis at the Mexican border, they continue to ignore and oppose the dire need to confront the government’s role in furthering the effects of climate change. The real existential crisis of our time that demands the President’s attention is not the one at the border, but the burgeoning climate catastrophe.

In light of continued government negligence, young people across the world are building a movement focused on drawing attention to the climate crisis and putting pressure on elected representatives to act.

School strikes have taken place in dozens of countries across the globe as a part of the School Strike 4 Climate movement.

Due to the efforts by the youth-led Sunrise Movement, two lawmakers in the U.S. have answered the call for radical action on climate change. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Jeff Markey introduced a resolution in their respective chambers of Congress outlining the transformative vision of the policies packaged under the Green New Deal (GND).

Their 14-page resolution profiles the overarching goals of the GND, like achieving “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions” and creating “millions of good, high-wage jobs,” as well as the specific need to repair “frontline and vulnerable communities.”

These groups include those that have faced historic oppression in America: “indigenous

peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth.”

The Green New Deal has its detractors, despite polling at around 80 percent support. A motley crew of news media

pundits—and their millions of viewers—from all walks of the ideological spectrum, decry the proposal as an overreaching laundry bag of socialist policies that expands far beyond the climate.

In a sense, they are right: the GND acknowledges that institutions cannot be confronted individually, that they must be addressed through a number of policy

Editorial Cartoon

initiatives like the expansion of federalized workforces and coverage of every American under a single-payer healthcare system.

Healthcare is a great example of why an intersectional vision for climate policy is needed. A drastic shift toward net-zero emissions energy production requires a flexible economy, one under which thousands of people can transition, for example, from jobs in the fossil fuel industry to jobs working to produce greener energy alternatives.

These people are far less likely to make those transitions if their healthcare is not guaranteed by their future employer, or if the quality of their healthcare worsens.

As a country, we have to be ready for the mass mobilization required to confront climate change. It is no surprise that the elite group of individuals who dominate the political conversation in this country, who are most shielded from the effects of a changing climate by their capital, are the first to patronize the GND as an admirable yet unrealistic “dream.” The GND focuses on uplifting the working class; it is them who have been marginalized most by the forces of capitalism that have driven our planet to its limits for the benefit of a select few.

There is a lot of organizing yet to be done surrounding climate change, whether on behalf of the Green New Deal or other initiatives. Above the debate, one thing has emerged crystal clear: the fight against climate change must be led by the world’s youth.

Comments?

Questions?

Email silver.chips.print@ gmail.com!

The people and the press share roles We must use our rights as American citizens

AVERY BROOKS

By Hannah Lee OMBUDSMAN

As a key aspect of my role as an Ombudsman includes emphasizing the role of journalism within society, my columns apply just as extensively to the readers as to those directly involved with journalism. The problems we face regarding freedom of the press and the First Amendment do not only

impact journalists to a grave extent, but also the general public’s access to information that is completely open for use.

That being said, the most essential aspect of exercising our rights is actually having enough information to have the choice use them in the first place.

The Student Press Law Center (SPLC), though focused on upholding the freedom of the press mainly for student journalists, can also provide insight and useful resources on taking advantage of the First Amendment for everyone, specifically high school and college students.

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), for example, protects the privacy of a student’s educational records under the direction of any public or private school.

SPLC provides a FERPA request letter generator, which can allow students 18 years or older or the parent of a minor to get a copy of the information a school has in its records, which ultimately provides a more equal balance in power between the student body and the authoritative school administration board.

Further, merely being a citizen grants protection of federal laws that contribute our nation’s foundation of keeping the government’s information reasonably open, specifically under the Freedom of Informa-

tion Act (FOIA). Although journalists are commonly known to file FOIA requests, they are far from the biggest group to do so.

Around 20 percent of FOIA requested are filed by individuals who do not represent a specific organization, according to the request logs from Agency FOIA. The impact of receiving access to public records ranges from learning that parmesan cheese has wood pulp from the Food and Drug Administration’s records to memorandums from President Ronald Reagan’s administration.

Whether the purpose of the request is used on behalf of journalists to seek information for the public or simply for your own curiosity, the information is accessible and included within a citizen’s given rights.

As members of businesses, law firms, news media, nonprofits, universities, and unrepresented citizens, we are constantly deprived of information that is granted to the public under federal law.

According to the Associated Press’ 2016 analysis of government data, the Obama administration responded to 77 percent of filed FOIA requests with either censored files or nothing, which beats the previous Obama’s administration’s record of 65 percent.

Journalists do not have access to any more records or information that you, as the

reader, cannot have.

The responsibility ultimately lies in all of our hands to continue the everlasting battle of being able to fully and knowingly exercise our rights regarding freedom of the press and the First Amendment, but that is only possible under the assumption that we are aware of them in the first place.

To connect with Hannah, email her at ombudsmansilver chips@gmail.com, message her on Twitter @chipsombudsman, or fill out the Silver Chips reader survey at chipssurvey.com

27 de febrero, 2019

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La Esquina Latina

Silver Chips el 27 de febrero, 2019

Afro-latinos se ven representados en Sankofa 2019 El espectáculo celebró el legado musical de Celia Cruz

Por Yenmis Quiñones ESCRITORA

El emocionante espectáculo Sankofa, que celebra la cultura africana tomó lugar en el auditorio de nuestra escuela durante los días del 6-8 de febrero. Este año los directores de Sankofa decidieron incluir un tributo a la famosa cantante y actriz cubana Celia Cruz para representar y celebrar la cultura afro-latina. Primeramente, la alumna, Emely Nuñez recitó un poema llamado Hair o Cabello en español, el cual hablaba sobre el cabello rizado de los afro-latinos y su perfección. Carlos Barba, un estudiante del grado doce quién tomó parte en la producción de Sankofa opina: “Fue una forma muy inteligente introducir el poema para el tributo de Celia Cruz.

Especialmente porque Celia fue una de esas mujeres que siempre ha dejado florecer sus rizos durante sus actuaciones”.

Celia Cruz es muy conocida por ser una mujer que no tenía miedo a expresarse a través de la música y la moda con sus pelucas excéntricas y trajes llamativos. Alicia Coleman del grado diez, la estudiante quién protagonizó el papel de Celia, llenó el auditorio

“Nosotros los afro-latinos seguimos fuertes con nuestros rizos al aire y varios colores corriendo por las venas.

Somos fuerte, fuertes como nuestros ancestros, más fuerte que cualquier obstáculo”.

-Yenmis Quiñones

con energía positiva al interpretar el tema muy popular de Celia, Quimbara. Esta canción popular emplea un ritmo con percusión africana, que incluyó las congas y las maracas. Al unísono, el coro acompañante bailaba al ritmo del compás con una emoción agradable mientras que una gran cantidad de luces reflejaba el entusiasmo del público.

Coleman expresó su entusiasmo y satisfacción después de tomar el papel de Celia Cruz en Sankofa. Ella dijo: “Fue un honor tomar el papel de Celia Cruz en Sankofa. Estuve bien emocionada al escuchar esto porque teníamos buenos coreógrafos. La parte más difícil fue proyectar esa misma vibra y carácter de Celia Cruz a la audiencia ya que Cruz es conocida por su carácter, energético y llamativo”.

La estudiante Alanna Sibrian del grado once fue la que hizo las coreografías de este baile. Usando sus 14 años de experiencia en el baile hizo un buen trabajo al ejecutar una rutina de salsa. Sibrian habló de su experiencia al crear la coreografía del acto: “Cuando escuché que la señora Ellie (la directora de Sankofa) quería incluir el estilo afro-caribeño este año, me dijo que quería incorporar un baile de salsa, yo dije en mi mente ‘perfec-

LUCY MARTIN

CELIA CRUZ Alumna Alicia Coleman interpretando la canción Quimbara, una de la canciones más reconocidas de la cantante. to’, y fue una experiencia muy divertida”.

Sibrian añadió los desafíos que tuvo que enfrentar al enseñar el baile: “La parte más difícil fue enseñar el baile a personas con diferentes niveles de experiencia. Las chicas que bailaron en este acto eran latinas y tenían más experiencia en bailar salsa que los chicos, así que tuvimos que empezar a enseñar desde lo más básico”.

La actuación de Quimbara no solamente fue realizada por los estudiantes, también el personal de Blair participó en el espectáculo. Varios estudiantes se sorprendieron cuando el Señor Lacey, uno de los conserjes de Blair, comenzó a tocar las congas al ritmo de la canción. El Señor Lacey comenta su experiencia en la música: “He estado tocando música por 51 años, toco todo tipo de música... Soy un gran fan de Celia Cruz

porque la mayoría de la música latina es donde toda la música de percusión está, yo toco las congas, los bongos y los timbales. Toco muchos instrumentos de percusión la mayoría africanos y latinos”. El señor Lacey continua: “Me divertí mucho, creo que inspiré y sorprendí a muchos jóvenes que pensaban que yo solamente era un conserje. No sabían de mi carrera profesional como músico”. Según el señor Lacey él ayudaría en Sankofa otra vez.

Otros estudiantes opinaron sobre la idea de incluir el tributo de Celia Cruz en Sankofa. Htooh Reford, un estudiante del grado doce, quien fue al espectáculo Sankofa, comentó acerca de la interpretación de Quimbara: “Blair es una escuela muy diversa y tenemos que diversificar lo que producimos como obras. Yo siento que este reconoci-

miento y aceptación de varias culturas en Blair es importante”. Otra estudiante quien estuvo presente en el acto de Celia Cruz fue Alejandra Vides Austin del grado once. Ella opinó: “Creo que es un idea muy inteligente introducir la cultura afro-latina en Sankofa para dar a conocer la existencia de la fusión cultural… Se trata de dar conciencia a la comunidad y recordar a las personas que todos compartimos muchos puntos en común”. La estudiante Coleman también agregó su opinión acerca de la inclusión latina en las producciones de Blair “Creo que es importante incorporar estas mezclas culturales, especialmente los afro-latinos porque a veces no son representados a menudo”.

El show de este año de Sankofa estuvo lleno de interpretaciones fabulosas y de sorpresas agradables. Lo más satisfactorio fue ver la diversidad de culturas y subculturas que existen en Blair.

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LUCY MARTIN

SANKOFA Celebrando las diversas culturas representadas en Blair con baile.

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27 de febrero, de 2019

Detrás de las escenas en Blair:

La señora Pastor comparte cómo pudo salir adelante en este país Por Renata Muñoz y Lourdes Reyes Valenzuela ESCRITORA Y EDITORA

En una escuela secundaria tan grande como Blair, a menudo nos olvidamos quiénes son los que trabajan con mayor esfuerzo para cuidar a la población de estudiantes.

Los guardias de seguridad intentan garantizar que estemos seguros, nos protegen de peligros inesperados y mantienen la tranquilidad entre estudiantes. Nuestra experiencia académica es más exitosa gracias a la dedicación de los guardias de seguridad. Ericka Pastor, una guardia de seguridad guatemalteca, a enfrentado varios retos para llegar a este punto en su carrera.

Cuando tenía diecisiete años, la señora Pastor salió de su país natal Guatemala y cruzó la frontera de los Estados Unidos al cumplir los dieciocho años. Ella nos comentó recientemente acerca de su llegada a los EE.UU: “Fue muy difícil porque llegué a un país que no entendía ni el idioma… ni la cultura.” Al igual que ella, muchos otros hispanos inicialmente tienen miedo de hablar inglés al llegar aquí.

Poco después de su llegada a los EE.UU, la señora Pastor tuvo que empezar de nuevo los cuatro años de escuela secundaria, a pesar de que ya había terminado la escuela en Guatemala. “No quería desperdiciar mi vida, siempre pensé que yo podía hacer mucho más. Me propuse terminar la escuela,” afirma la señora Pastor. Ella no tenía documentos legales, pero con la ayuda del Estatus de Protección Temporal, o TPS en sus siglas en inglés, pudo encontrar trabajo con el Departamento del Alguacil en el condado de Prince George’s trabajando como funcio-

naria de seguridad.

“Ha sido bastante difícil. Muchos años, muchas horas, mucho esfuerzo, muchas horas adicionales para tratar de aprender muchas cosas nuevas… ha sido bastante difícil, han sido muchos años de sacrificio,” la cuenta señora Pastor. Aunque requirió mucho sacrificio, la señora Pastor mantuvo un balance en su vida.

Ella recomienda a los estudiantes que vienen de países extranjeros en búsqueda de un sueño que hagan todo lo posible para terminar la escuela: “La educación es la llave [al éxito] aún cuando seamos indocumentados… lo que tú te puedes llevar de la escuela es, aprender la lengua de este país y eso. Te va abrir un montón de caminos y creo que solo toma poner el pie adentro para poder descubrir un mundo de oportunidades.” Como ella dice: “No todo está perdido, no todo porque somos ilegales, no tenemos documentos, no solamente por eso, sino demostrarnos a nosotros mismos de que podemos ser algo más de la etiqueta que nosotros tenemos en nuestras espaldas.”

La historia de señora Pastor también resalta aspectos positivos sobre la experiencia de inmigrantes latinos. Ella expresa que ser bilingüe es una ventaja para postular a trabajos: “Tienes muchas oportunidades al ser bilingüe, puedes hacer conexiones con la comunidad.” Por ejemplo, en la comunidad de Blair, la señora Pastor cita que le alegra guiar a los jóvenes que necesitan ayuda, y dice: “Me gusta la escuela y el espíritu que miro en los jóvenes.” Las ventajas de ser bilingüe no se limitan a los trabajos de funcionarios de seguridad o aquellos de escuelas secundarias. Señora Pastor menciona que ciertos empleadores estimulan a que candidatos bilingües postulen a esos trabajos.

Desafortunadamente, ser bilingüe también viene con algunas desventajas. La señora Pastor expresa: “El lado malo [de ser bilingüe] es

CORTESÍA DE ERICKA PASTOR

ERICKA PASTOR trabaja arduamente para proteger a los estudiantes de Blair. cuando te discriminan por tu acento. Siempre hay discriminación en todos lados, pero es más lo que tu puedes sentir [al] ayudar a tu comunidad y [que sientas] como tú tienes en retorno la satisfacción que tú puedes ayudar a la gente siendo bilingüe.”

De acuerdo con un reportaje publicado por el Centro de Investigación Económica y Política (CEPR), el trabajo número 20 más popular para los hispanos en los Estados Unidos es de oficiales de seguridad y vigilancia. En esta lista compilada en 2014, algunos otros empleos incluyen secretarias, asistentes de maestros y conserjes o personal de servicio de construcción. La mayoría de

la población estudiantil suele pasar por alto todos estos trabajos, pero son pilares fundamentales en las escuelas. Dicho esto, es importante apreciar y agradecer a nuestro personal por su arduo trabajo y dedicación a Blair y sus estudiantes.

El ejemplo de la señora Pastor nos hace reconocer que detrás de cada funcionario dedicado en Blair hay una historia de sacrificio, superación y esperanza personal que contribuye a que Blair sea una comunidad vibrante y diversa. Al igual que ella, los estudiantes latinos están exhortados a salir adelante para tener éxito para así romper el estereotipo de fracaso que le tienen a los latinos.

La nueva adición en Takoma Park: Cielo Rojo Sabores mexicanos a la vuelta de la esquina Por Amanda Hernández EDITORA EN JEFE

En enero, el vecindario de Takoma Park le dio la bienvenida al nuevo restaurante mexicano, Cielo Rojo. Este restaurante local tiene un ambiente familiar que enfatiza la importancia de usar productos frescos, orgánicos y sin OGM (organismos genéticamente modificados). Carolina McCandless y David Pérez, los dueños del restaurante vinieron de California. Poco después del nacimiento de su hija, ellos decidieron traer sus talentos culinarios a Takoma Park y abrir el restaurante.

El aspecto pintoresco del restaurante ofrece una combinación perfecta entre un restaurante elegante y un ambiente hogareño. Su interior es absolutamente magnífico, especialmente su cocina abierta que permite a los clientes ver cómo el dueño y chef, David Pérez, junto con su equipo de cocineros talentosos, preparan sus comidas. Además de su diseño elegante, Cielo Rojo presenta azulejos tradicionales, arte y fotografía que refleja la belleza de la cultura mexicana.

Al provenir de una comunidad tan vibrante y diversa en San Francisco, se nota que McCandless y su esposo, Pérez, quieren proporcionar un lugar hogareño para que los clientes puedan disfrutar platos exquisitos con sus seres queridos.

“Esencialmente, nos enamoramos de la comida mexicana y el mezcal, así que eso es lo que estamos trayendo al área para otras personas,” dice McCandless, de acuerdo con Eater D.C., una revista sobre los mejores lugares para comer en el área metropolitana.

Cuando se trata de su cocina, el Cielo Rojo no puede ser superado. A pesar de los

competidores locales, su toque de estilo californiano con la comida tradicional mexicana lo convierte en uno de los restaurantes mexicanos más singulares del área.

Algunos pueden pensar que el restaurante mexicano no ofrece mucha variedad, pero están equivocados. En el menú hay especialidades mexicanas como enchiladas, pozole, y gorditas. Restaurante de una amplia variedad

talla”. El plato estaba decorado con pescado fresco a la parrilla cubierto con salsa verde de perejil, salsa de guajillo acompañado con papas fritas, ensalada, y aguacate. Cuando llegó el momento de comer, disfruté hasta el último bocado y si hubiera podido pedir más, lo hubiera hecho.

De cualquier manera, con mucho gusto regresaría por sus populares tortillas envuel-

CORTESÍA DE CIELO ROJO

CHEF TALENTOSO Dueño y jefe de cocina, David Pérez prepara para una tortilla usando lechuga, pimiento, y otros vegetales de comida mexicana, el Cielo Rojo tiene una multitud de opciones disponibles para todo tipo de gustos, incluyendo los vegetarianos.

Además de que la comida es muy deliciosa, los precios son muy razonables.

Personalmente, en mi opinión, uno de los mejores platillos del menú es el “pescado a la

la masa orgánicos.

tas alrededor de carne de cerdo rallada.

Valentina Chávez, una alumna en el noveno grado y residente orgullosa de Takoma Park, está increíblemente emocionada de querer visitar el restaurante con su familia.

Ella comparte, “La primera vez que escuché de Cielo Rojo fue a través de algunos amigos

que lo visitaron durante la primera semana de apertura y les encantó. Como vegetariana, estoy tan emocionada por la apertura de un nuevo lugar donde puedo disfrutar de comida mexicana sabrosa y vegana con mi familia.”

Otro estudiante, David Bautista, en el onceavo grado, tiene padres que son de México.

“Aunque no he visitado Cielo Rojo todavía, después de escuchar todas las buenas críticas, me encantaría llevar a mi familia allí y darle un descanso a mi mamá”, bromeó Bautista.

Independientemente de su origen o de sus preferencias alimentarias, Cielo Rojo le hará sentirse bienvenido. Junto a los platos sabrosos, Cielo Rojo también ofrece varios postres, incluyendo mi favorito, tres leches, un pastel blanco, esponjoso hecho con leche evaporada y leche condensada.

Aunque Cielo Rojo solamente ha estado abierto por un mes, no confunda la falta de experiencia con su habilidad para crear la mejor comida mexicana en Takoma Park.

Como un restaurante en desarrollo, el menú del Cielo Rojo está sujeto a cambios y probablemente incluirá más opciones deliciosas para sus clientes en el futuro.

Ubicado en el corazón de Takoma Park, recomiendo este restaurante a cualquiera que busque una comida saludable y con precios razonables para compartir con sus seres queridos. Si alguna vez se encuentra en la calle principal Takoma Park, asegúrese de pasar por el restaurante Cielo Rojo. ¡No se arrepentirá!

¡Visita Cielo Rojo hoy!

¡Ganador del ser lugar en la lista de los restaurantes más populares del DMV en febrero 2019!

7056 Carroll Ave, Takoma Park, MD, 20912

February 27, 2019

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sNOw days off for MoCoSnow

Getting to know the man behind MCPS winter weather updates

By Ethan Park STAFF WRITER

Many students know the familiar feeling of relief that comes with a snow day. Waking up in the dark hours of the early morning almost seems worth it when the news breaks of no school. Before social media, students and parents might have watched the early morning news, waiting to see “Montgomery County Public Schools” scroll along the bottom of the screen.

Nowadays, in the age of fast-paced internet updates, a new source for MCPS closing and winter weather predictions has emerged: MoCoSnow.

MoCoSnow is a social media and internet source for snow day predictions and updates across MCPS. In creator and owner Alex Tsironis’ words, it is a “hub of winter weather information.” Despite having more than 25,000 Twitter followers and thousands of email subscribers, MoCoSnow was not always a large-scale social media operation. As a concept, MoCoSnow is rooted in Tsironis’ own love for snow days—both as an MCPS student and a teacher. “I grew up in MCPS and I loved snow days,” he says. “Then, when I became a teacher, I loved them just as much, so I created a bulletin board in one of my classes back in 2008 or 2009 and I would do [updates] through the bulletin board.”

Once his students went off to high school, many of them still wanted a way to stay in the loop of Tsironis’ weather updates. “[Former students] would email me all the time and ask me for my predictions,” he says. “So, instead of just responding to all of the emails, I decided to make a website.” That website eventually grew to Twitter and Facebook, becoming the operation that it is today.

Tsironis, a teacher at North Bethesda Middle School, uses data from weather models and news reports to make predictions about upcoming winter weather events in the Montgomery County area.

“We gather information from all of the local networks and radio stations and TV networks,” he says. “I put all of that together and I let people know all of the possibilities that are coming, and then I explain how I think it would affect schools.”

If a winter weather event is projected to hit the area, Tsironis provides updates throughout the days and hours before it is expected to arrive. Waking up in the early hours of the morning, Tsironis sets a schedule for updating his followers on his social media and website. “I might make a post in the morning, I take a look at lunch, and then, after school ends, I take a look again,” he says. “I devote a lot of time into that … with a total of three to four hours, sometimes.”

Using the accumulated infor-

mation, Tsironis makes “pencil predictions” that indicate the likeliness of a delay, early release, or no school. The predictions range from one to five pencils, with five being the highest chance of an MCPS closure. These predictions, however, are often subject to change. “The problem with making an early prediction is that it can change drastically in one day,” he says. “It could be four pencils one day, and then the next day it drops down to one, and people don’t really like the change.”

With the increase in followers of MoCoSnow came an increase in interaction with all of MCPS. Tsironis has enjoyed this, as he answers questions from students across the county. “I love answering questions…because I remember when I was a student, I probably had the same exact questions,” he says.

With the questions also come the critiques, especially when a prediction is wrong. Other than the occasional online troll, however, Tsironis says that the overall feedback from the community has been supportive. “The feedback is generally pretty positive, and everyone is with it,” he says. “It makes it fun for everyone.”

As the winter season wanes, so will MoCoSnow’s activity. However, Tsironis also runs the MoCoShow, which is a Twitter account and podcast about various events around Montgomery County. “Mo-

CoSnow is more of a winter thing,” he says. “The MoCoShow is kind of like a news and entertainment website for the county. So, I do that year-round.” Although the winter season may be coming to a close, Tsironis says that the excitement of

the night before a snow day still remain unmatched. “I love the night before a potential snow day—when we don’t know yet—everything that happens.” he says. “Nothing beats the night before a potential snow day on MoCoSnow.”

COURTESY OF ALEX TSIRONIS

ROCKING THE RED Alex Tsironis wears the latest MoCoSnow merchandise, referencing the red font of MCPS snow updates

February 27, 2019

Features D2/D3

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Out of their element

Elementary schoolers look to the future

It’s All About the Movies

While Blair students head off to lunch or class, the recess bell rings at Oakland Terrace Elementary School. Classes of fifth graders exit the portables and run out to the playground. After a morning of math, art and P.E., the kids spread out as pick-up games begin on the blacktop, students swing across the monkey bars, and games of tag dash across the field. Jokes and laughter rise above the kids at play.

For the fourth and fifth graders of Oakland Terrace and Flora M. Singer Elementary school, high school is still years away. Yet tales of homework that lasts for hours and classes as difficult as college have not escaped their ears. To these kids, high school represents a whole host of new responsibilities, developing new skills and, hopefully, making new friends. From movies to older siblings, each student has their own ideas of what high school will be like.

Along with students’ own relationships, pop culture and the media can affect their understanding of high school. For students getting ready to enter middle school, high school can seem like a light at the end of the tunnel.

“Well, they say that like in the movies and books that middle school is the worst years of your life and when you get into high school it’s so much better,” fifth grader at Flora M. Singer elementary, Chris Lanza, says. “Like middle school is torment and when you get out of middle school into high school, it’s like, fun.”

But for Oakland Terrace fifth grader Giovani Martinez, “Movies, they kind of show me that there’s a lot of fighting, yeah.”

Even for kids whose parents work in the education system, pop culture can still play a major role in how they view high school. “If you’d asked my daughter [about high school], all her answers would’ve been based on TV shows,” Oakland Terrace Principal Cheryl Pulliam says.

It’s Complicated

The high school experience might be slightly different for everyone, but the consensus for these elementary school students is that it will not be easy. “High school is like difficult because you have like tests and you need to get everything done, and well, I think it’s going to be hard, but like, there’s gonna be like some fun things about it,” says Oakland Terrace fifth grader Keilani Gamero.

Oakland Terrace fifth grader Kathryn Coleman nods in agreement. “You have lots of work to do, and maybe you could get confused [because] of tests and stuff,” says Coleman, “but I also think that it will be kind of fun because of like, I don’t know, there could be some fun projects you could do, and maybe field trips.”

Oakland Terrace fifth grader Arabella Alema echoes

Coleman’s concerns, and worries about the logistics of high schools. “High school will be a little bit complicating,” says Oakland Terrace fifth grader Arabella Alema.

“Because you need to know that class you’re going to, what’s your locker, and all that other stuff.”

Plus, high school has strict deadlines, and even stricter grading policies. “You have a lot of work to do,” Oakland Terrace Fifth grader Ethan Ogletree says. “If it’s an assignment that’s due and you can’t do it⎯say if it’s Friday and you get it done on Monday⎯it doesn’t count; you get a zero.”

Beyond tests, homework, and the dreaded end of recesses, high school is all about college for these students.

“I think it’s going to be like college, like getting ready for college. It’s a prep for college. It has a lot of the same things as college, but it’s not exactly the same as college, but a lot like college,” Avery Jankowski, a fourth grader at Oakland Terrace, says.

While elementary school carries its own responsibilities, from ensuring order amidst the chaos of the halls as a line leader to the managing morning traffic as a patrol, high school is going to be a whole new ballgame. “You think it’s hard now, but it just keeps getting harder,” Oakland Terrace fifth grader Gili Rogers says.

Then, of course, there is puberty. “I will look taller and bigger,” Gamero says. “Going through changes,” fifth grader Alexis Jones, from Oakland Terrace, adds, prompting giggles from her classmates.

changed the person they were, not that they were mad about-they just felt like they could be different people there and follow their ambitions more than you could in elementary school,” says Lanza.

Elementary school students reflect the individuals they see above them, physically and mentally, and strive to copy the qualities they observe. Dreams of being organized, responsible, and even taking multiple APs begin in students minds as they observe these older influences in their lives. “I want to be a straight-A stufaith that high school will have good parts. “I think it’s going to be hard, but like, there’s gonna be like some fun things about it,” she says. “Like, probably like, football games, or like when they do football games, and like cheerleaders, and all that.”

For all of these kids, their teachers hope to send them away with love and responsibility that they will carry to high school. “Love, kindness and respect...That’s our motto for our school isn’t it?” asks Principal Pulliam, greeted by a circle of fifth graders chanting a chorus of “Yes!”

Family Matters

For many kids, their knowledge of high school is heavily influenced by family. Relationships with siblings and extended family provide valuable insight into the inner workings of the beast. “It’s going to be different because in [high school], I know this because my sister went to high school, there’s seven classes, so you have to have seven different homeworks,” says Martinez. “[But] in elementary school you only have one homeroom or two, and you don’t have that much homework.”

Teenagehood represents a transition period, where kids understand they will one day enter high school and become teenagers themselves.

“Some of my aunts and uncles, they say that they kind of

dent that’s in all AP classes and play a bunch of sports.” says Jankowski on her future high school career.

These qualities can also be inspired when kids see a lack of them in their lives. “My brother is super immature, irresponsible, messy, and smelly,” says Jankowski.

But for other students, being the high schooler is less about the academic, and more about the personal, in helping parents and supporting the home. “I would spend two hours at homework, and then I would fix my room to make sure it’s all good, I would make dinner for my mom and my family, and then I would have to feed the cat and do everything else,” Gamero says.

It’s Going to be Fun

Jones worries about the fate of her weekends in high school. “[In elementary school] you can have fun but on weekends if you’re in high school, you get work, and you don’t have time to have free stuff.” Gamero, though, has

Story by Art by Design by

Elias Chen Seoyoung Joo Victoria Xin

February 27, 2019

Features D2/D3

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Out of their element

Elementary schoolers look to the future

It’s All About the Movies

While Blair students head off to lunch or class, the recess bell rings at Oakland Terrace Elementary School. Classes of fifth graders exit the portables and run out to the playground. After a morning of math, art and P.E., the kids spread out as pick-up games begin on the blacktop, students swing across the monkey bars, and games of tag dash across the field. Jokes and laughter rise above the kids at play.

For the fourth and fifth graders of Oakland Terrace and Flora M. Singer Elementary school, high school is still years away. Yet tales of homework that lasts for hours and classes as difficult as college have not escaped their ears. To these kids, high school represents a whole host of new responsibilities, developing new skills and, hopefully, making new friends. From movies to older siblings, each student has their own ideas of what high school will be like.

Along with students’ own relationships, pop culture and the media can affect their understanding of high school. For students getting ready to enter middle school, high school can seem like a light at the end of the tunnel.

“Well, they say that like in the movies and books that middle school is the worst years of your life and when you get into high school it’s so much better,” fifth grader at Flora M. Singer elementary, Chris Lanza, says. “Like middle school is torment and when you get out of middle school into high school, it’s like, fun.”

But for Oakland Terrace fifth grader Giovani Martinez, “Movies, they kind of show me that there’s a lot of fighting, yeah.”

Even for kids whose parents work in the education system, pop culture can still play a major role in how they view high school. “If you’d asked my daughter [about high school], all her answers would’ve been based on TV shows,” Oakland Terrace Principal Cheryl Pulliam says.

It’s Complicated

The high school experience might be slightly different for everyone, but the consensus for these elementary school students is that it will not be easy. “High school is like difficult because you have like tests and you need to get everything done, and well, I think it’s going to be hard, but like, there’s gonna be like some fun things about it,” says Oakland Terrace fifth grader Keilani Gamero.

Oakland Terrace fifth grader Kathryn Coleman nods in agreement. “You have lots of work to do, and maybe you could get confused [because] of tests and stuff,” says Coleman, “but I also think that it will be kind of fun because of like, I don’t know, there could be some fun projects you could do, and maybe field trips.”

Oakland Terrace fifth grader Arabella Alema echoes

Coleman’s concerns, and worries about the logistics of high schools. “High school will be a little bit complicating,” says Oakland Terrace fifth grader Arabella Alema.

“Because you need to know that class you’re going to, what’s your locker, and all that other stuff.”

Plus, high school has strict deadlines, and even stricter grading policies. “You have a lot of work to do,” Oakland Terrace Fifth grader Ethan Ogletree says. “If it’s an assignment that’s due and you can’t do it⎯say if it’s Friday and you get it done on Monday⎯it doesn’t count; you get a zero.”

Beyond tests, homework, and the dreaded end of recesses, high school is all about college for these students.

“I think it’s going to be like college, like getting ready for college. It’s a prep for college. It has a lot of the same things as college, but it’s not exactly the same as college, but a lot like college,” Avery Jankowski, a fourth grader at Oakland Terrace, says.

While elementary school carries its own responsibilities, from ensuring order amidst the chaos of the halls as a line leader to the managing morning traffic as a patrol, high school is going to be a whole new ballgame. “You think it’s hard now, but it just keeps getting harder,” Oakland Terrace fifth grader Gili Rogers says.

Then, of course, there is puberty. “I will look taller and bigger,” Gamero says. “Going through changes,” fifth grader Alexis Jones, from Oakland Terrace, adds, prompting giggles from her classmates.

changed the person they were, not that they were mad about-they just felt like they could be different people there and follow their ambitions more than you could in elementary school,” says Lanza.

Elementary school students reflect the individuals they see above them, physically and mentally, and strive to copy the qualities they observe. Dreams of being organized, responsible, and even taking multiple APs begin in students minds as they observe these older influences in their lives. “I want to be a straight-A stufaith that high school will have good parts. “I think it’s going to be hard, but like, there’s gonna be like some fun things about it,” she says. “Like, probably like, football games, or like when they do football games, and like cheerleaders, and all that.”

For all of these kids, their teachers hope to send them away with love and responsibility that they will carry to high school. “Love, kindness and respect...That’s our motto for our school isn’t it?” asks Principal Pulliam, greeted by a circle of fifth graders chanting a chorus of “Yes!”

Family Matters

For many kids, their knowledge of high school is heavily influenced by family. Relationships with siblings and extended family provide valuable insight into the inner workings of the beast. “It’s going to be different because in [high school], I know this because my sister went to high school, there’s seven classes, so you have to have seven different homeworks,” says Martinez. “[But] in elementary school you only have one homeroom or two, and you don’t have that much homework.”

Teenagehood represents a transition period, where kids understand they will one day enter high school and become teenagers themselves.

“Some of my aunts and uncles, they say that they kind of

dent that’s in all AP classes and play a bunch of sports.” says Jankowski on her future high school career.

These qualities can also be inspired when kids see a lack of them in their lives. “My brother is super immature, irresponsible, messy, and smelly,” says Jankowski.

But for other students, being the high schooler is less about the academic, and more about the personal, in helping parents and supporting the home. “I would spend two hours at homework, and then I would fix my room to make sure it’s all good, I would make dinner for my mom and my family, and then I would have to feed the cat and do everything else,” Gamero says.

It’s Going to be Fun

Jones worries about the fate of her weekends in high school. “[In elementary school] you can have fun but on weekends if you’re in high school, you get work, and you don’t have time to have free stuff.” Gamero, though, has

Story by Art by Design by

Elias Chen Seoyoung Joo Victoria Xin

D4 Features

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February 27, 2019

Longest shutdown in history Policy gridlock leaves millions without pay

By Mira Diamond-Berman and Paloma Williams STAFF WRITERS

Where only first names appear, names have been changed to protect the identities of the sources.

No less than five weeks ago, the once-crowded streets of downtown Washington D.C. were practically empty. The streets home to federal offices, busy restaurants, and booming businesses seemed akin to a ghost town. At the Holiday Inn Capitol D.C., where the majority of customers are federal employees, business was discouragingly slow during the 35-day government shutdown. Felipe Henriquez, the head chef, was left with no other option but to lay off workers and cut back on his hours. Not only were the federal offices closed, but restaurants, businesses, and contracting companies were deterred from their usual hours of operation.

Henriquez’s wife, Rosa Henriquez, is the owner of a cleaning company that services many federal workers in Alexandria and Potomac. In the last month, the government shutdown has left them in utter financial turmoil. Their daughter, junior Nayla Henriquez, watched her parents battle fear, stress, and uncertainty.

On Dec. 21, 2018, the longest shutdown in American history began. When Congress did not include President Trump’s border wall in the budget, congressional partisanship led to a legislative halt.

As a result of the failure to reach a compromise, 380,000 government workers spent 35 days without work or pay.

Nayla Henriquez and her family are just one of the many families who have faced difficulties in the face of the shutdown. For many Americans who work in the government to make a living, a month without pay can be detrimental.

Throughout Montgomery County, there is no shortage of government-employed, working class citizens. For families all around Montgomery County, the government shutdown had a direct impact on their everyday quality of life.

Many Blair students experienced daily troubles relating to the financial difficulty brought on by the shutdown. “My dad makes the bulk of the income in our household and I think that there was a noticeable shift in how we acted, how we spent money,” Henry says.

The uncertainty about their future financial situation created anxiety. “There was a moment where it was kind of scary because of the fact that my mom wasn’t going to be getting a paycheck soon,” junior Roshawyna Chambers says.

With no income, the Henriquez family faced difficulties in keeping up with their day-to-day activities. “Typically, after church on Saturdays we go out to eat. We laid off on that. We were also very cautious on like every single bill.

My dad would turn off lights every so often so that the electric bill wouldn’t be so high. We wouldn’t use TV as often,” Henriquez says.

“I haven’t paid for my AP [tests] yet because of it.”

When hundreds of thousands of government workers are furloughed from their jobs, bare necessities become privileges. Food, electricity, and plumbing become points of conflict when money begins to fall short. “We didn’t go food shopping for the duration of the shutdown. My mom rationed out what we bought.

She went to Trader Joe’s

and would only come back with five things,” Henry says.

Although the shutdown ended, some of the damage remains. “You can’t make up the paychecks that they lost,” Henriquez says. “The bills [are] already due, there’s already a fee in their account. The fear that the people had to live in in that moment, you can’t erase that…

You can’t take away that fear that they had to live for that month.”

The fear of another potential shutdown in the future still persists.

“She’s always scared that there’s going to be another shutdown and scared that she’s going to have to find another job,”

Chambers says. “She almost took up two jobs just because this is the longest [shutdown]…there could be another one and that’s always at the back of our heads.”

In addition to federal-employees, restaurants near Metro stops shared the impact of the shutdown.

Many noticed a significant decline in business due to a glaring lack of their federally employed customers. According to Max Johansen, an organizer for Busboys and Poets, a large proportion of customers not coming in, even if it is just for a morning coffee, causes a high loss of revenue. “We did notice some slowdown due to fewer federal workers,” Johansen writes in an email.

Sometimes, the closed government offices had to rely on privately-owned restaurants for events.

“Smithsonian had to ask us for a last-minute event space because the museum was closed,” Johansen writes. To accomodate this request, Busboys and Poets had to rearrange their event calendar.

“Many people had to cancel, postpone, or modify their events because their offices were not open, or they were worried about not getting paid,” Johansen writes.

A dominant factor of the government shutdown was its unpredictable nature. Federal employees had no idea how long it could

last. No one knew if it would last a weekend or go on for a month.

“The thing about being on furlough is you don’t know if you’re going back the next day. So you really can’t do anything except stay home and you don’t want to go to the movies or spend extra money,” sophomore Isabel Menoshe says.

Menoshe’s father tried to put the free time to good use. “He painted our entire house. He did a lot of projects. He organized our basement,” Menoshe says.

The impact of the furlough was widespread, but affected those who are already financially insecure the hardest. For Henriquez, this seems like a flawed structure for all the workers involved. “I think it’s an unfair system,” says Henriquez.

“It’s not the people’s fault and especially this government shutdown that lasted so long, and it impacted so many people because a lot of people especially nowadays live paycheck to paycheck… It’s really inconsiderate.”

For Henriquez and her family, the reasons for the shutdown hit close to home. “I think it hurt a lot more when I was reading about it because it was about a wall,” Henriquez says. “Being Hispanic I just felt that was a punch in the gut.”

As for the financial challenges brought on by the government shutdown, community members joined together to help one another. “That’s the only positive thing about the government shutdown, is people willing to help each other,” Henriquez says. She details allowing friends who temporarily lacked the financial means to eat meals at her house. Such small instances of kindness, for Henriquez, made an unpleasant situation bearable. “But it just really, really sucks because they shouldn’t have been in [that] position in the first place.”

Since the reopening of the government, furloughed federal employees will most likely receive back-pay. Government contractors and businesses that cater to federal employees like those of the Henriquez family, however, will not receive any compensation for lost profits resulting from the shutdown.

GABRIEL WINTON-BAILEY

February 27, 2019

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Features D5

Bettering your rec lettering The hidden processes behind letters of reccomendation

By Victoria Xin STAFF WRITER

Letters of recommendation are essential to any college application, but the process itself remains a puzzle, with every student, administrator, or teacher, holding different pieces.

The Students’ Perspective

After handing in their requests for college rec letters, students no longer have a view into the works, and can only guess at what teachers write. Senior Nick Rohrman speculates that “they consider what [he] brings to the classroom and how much of a joy [he is] to have!” However, students can control who they ask. Senior Delmar Rooths shares how he decided which teachers to ask. “All you really have to do is look and see what classes you want to major in.

I happen to be majoring in accounting or engineering, so I would therefore need to get people for that field,” he says.

Teachers can also give students some control over what is in their rec letters through forms. Many teachers, from English to Biology, require students to fill out a form describing their interests, activities, and favorite aspects of the class.

In addition, the counselling office also requires every high school senior to complete a 26-question self-evaluation Naviance survey. “The student survey is critical,” English teacher Lisa Fox says. “The counselors tend to pick up those [details] that you stress there and dump it into your recommendation.”

The Teachers’ Perspective

After collecting a high school student’s hopes and dreams into neat, orderly forms, the teachers begin to write.

They draw upon personality traits, improvements in class, outstanding assignments, and outside activities to construct elaborate character testimonies for their students. “I usually pick one of the qualities that I admired about the person and focus on that,” English teacher Beth Hanak says.

Math teacher William Rose uses a slightly different method. “[The recommendation is] mostly what happened in class, what I’ve experienced, and conversations I’ve had with that student,” he says. Along with conveying the personality traits of a student, rec letters provide contextualization. If a student had circumstances that affected their academics, the counselor letter will explain the situation. Similarly, if a class is unique to Blair, the teacher will explain its curriculum and what the student learned.

Some application formats include stu-

ELAINE CHENG

dent rankings, where teachers must choose how a student has been performing in comparison to other students, according to Duval. Options include “one of the best ever, top five, top ten, good.” Once the letter is complete, teachers send their letters off through Naviance.

Colleges’ Perspective

But teachers have questions of their own.

With few lines of direct communication to college admissions offices, teachers are often left to grope in the dark, unable to ascertain the importance of rec letters or know for certain the key traits colleges wish to see in the rec letters.

“I’ve heard [some colleges] highly regard them and look to them to help set students apart, but then there are some who have said it’s a checkbox.” Duval says.

When the letters reach college admis-

sions offices, an admissions task force is assigned to sift through the mountains of applications, piles of digital papers, and folders filled with transcripts. Former University of Maryland admissions officer Kati Holmes, who is currently an English teacher at Blair, gives insight into what the office is looking for in teacher recs. When admissions officers explain why they wish to accept or deny a student, they often use specific examples of these traits teachers have written about in their rec letters to plead their case, which is why a nicely detailed letter can be a crucial aspect of acceptance, according to Holmes.

UMD in particular searches for a mix of academics, community service, athletics or arts, leadership, and global connection in every application. “I make sure that those five things are in every college rec letter that I write,” Holmes says. Holmes also suggests stepping outside the box in asking for letters. “Any adult who isn’t a teacher who writes you a letter of rec, that usually looks pretty good,” she says. In particular, sports coaches, research professors, and employers are good choices.

Holmes adds that teacher letters are generally more scrutinized than the counselor letter. “The counselor ones tend to be a lot less personal because a lot of counselors don’t know their students as well,” she says.

According to Holmes, the rec letters along with the college essay account for approximately 25 percent of an application. Due to the fact that colleges are moving away from a numbers-only system of admittance, written sections of the application are becoming more important.

Ultimately, letters of recommendation are a holistic depiction of a student.

Students, teachers, and college acceptance officials may all have a different sense of the letters’ purpose, but one idea can be agreed upon. Rec letters are treated seriously.

E1 Culture Blazers of Note

To believe or not to believe? maybe it’s just not there,” Whitacre says.

By Amanda Liu

To each their own

STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF JUSTIN HADDAD

Justin Haddad Junior

His parents wanted him to be active, so seven-year-old Justin Haddad joined his local fencing club soon after moving to London. Now a junior at Blair, Haddad returned home from Denver, Colorado with a gold medal in the under-17 division at the USA Fencing Junior Olympic Championships.

“I fenced two events: On Friday, I fenced juniors, which was the under-20 age category … and I got tenth out of [about] 350... people,” he explained. “On Sunday, I fenced the cadets, which is my age category, which is under 17. [It] had about 300 people, and I won that.”

Haddad has received news coverage from the local sources. “The moment I got off the podium, I was assaulted by my coach, who was like, ‘Here’s an interview... here’s these calls you have to take,’” Haddad said. “I was like, ‘Woah, I’ve never done this before.’”

Though he has a lot of schoolwork, Haddad still dedicates a lot of his time to fencing. “Usually [I practice] every day, Monday through Friday or Saturday, and then I’ll compete on weekends, usually two or three tournaments a month,” he said.

“This year, I’ve done five international tournaments,... and next weekend, I’m going to Colombia.”

Haddad also makes efforts to give back to the community that fostered him. “When I first got to the [fencing] club, there was this one guy, who was [about] 25,” Haddad said.

“He’d destroy me... but it’d be so fun and I’d just come back the next week and do the same thing. Eventually, I got good enough where I was scoring consistently against him.… I try and do the same thing for all the

February 27, 2019

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Questions about the meaning of life, a higher power, and how the world came to be are as old as mankind. People throughout history have turned to organized religion in search of these answers and their purpose in life. Recent trends, however, have shown a surge in atheists among Generation Z. Atheism is the belief that there is no god or higher power, not to be confused with agnosticism, which is not knowing whether or not there is a higher power. According to a 2018 study by the Barna Group, a national research organization focused on the intersection of religion and culture, the percentage of teens who identify as atheist is double that of adults: 13 percent compared to 6 percent.

Comparative Religion teacher David Whitacre sees difficult times as a possible reason for teens to identify as atheist. “There’s environmental warming conditions, species being eradicated, wars, f a mine, terrorism… a lot of reasons why I’d think if there’s a higher power it’s not paying lots of attention and

Ultimately, the choice of one’s religion, or lack thereof, is personal. UMD Philosophy of Religion Professor Allen Stairs points out that individuals can have their own definitions of atheism. “When someone offers… radical views about god, they might get branded as an atheist when in fact they would say ‘No, I’m not an atheist, I just have a different view of god than you do,’” Stairs says.

As they approach adulthood, many teens choose to identify as atheists despite being raised in a religious household. Junior Bella Garfield, who was raised Jewish but is now atheist, began to question her faith during weekly synagogue. “I’d always think to myself, ‘If we don’t have proof that any of this existed, why are we on our knees praying to [the Torah]?’” she says. “I’ve never really understood why people would put their faith into something we don’t know is real.”

Daniel Schaffer, who is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search competition, cites his deep science background as a key factor for him identifying as atheist. “I believe in science.

That’s sort of a religion in its own right,” Schaffer says. “I have to have at least some evidence [for my beliefs]… there’s not great evidence for key parts of any of the holy texts that I really know of.”

Science and religion are not always at odds with each other, though.

Father Emanuel Margo, a parochial leader at St. Bernadette’s church, offers that the relationship between SEOYOUNG JOO

religion and science is complementary rather than antagonistic. Whereas religion asks about purpose, science wonders why things are the way they are.

“Religion cannot provide us with a scientific understanding of the world,” he says.

“On the other hand, [in] science… [we] still ask the question, ‘what’s the purpose?’” Margo believes that it is essential to apply these purpose-based queries to questioning the ethics of modern scientific and technological developments.

Religion vs. morality

A social stigma against atheists persists in some settings. As Whitacre says, this is all too apparent in our “God bless America” political system, in which it seems near-impossible for an atheist to be elected president.

This prejudice stems from a question of religion versus morality. As Margo says, religions that deify a divine being provide believers with moral codes to live by.

A natural, yet incorrect conclusion from this fact is that non-religious people cannot have morals. “People often seem to have the opinion that if you’re not a religious believer then you can’t really be a good person; you can’t really take morality seriously,” Stairs says. “If you think that, then you’re going to be worried about having a politician who isn’t a believer because you’re going to think that they’re rejecting the foundations of morality.”

As Stairs points out, this false, yet widelyheld conviction is a logical fallacy: religion in itself has no relation to morality. “The fact that a supernatural creator, if there is one… commands something… doesn’t by itself tell us anything about whether what’s commanded or forbidden should be commanded or forbidden. Those are two different questions,” he argues.

Religious or not, people are responsible for and must evaluate the morality of their own actions.

Whether or not one chooses to follow a religion, we can all coexist if we would only take the time to listen to one another. “Before we judge one another… we [must] sit and say, ‘explain to me your methodology, [and] I will explain to you mine,’” Margo says.

Cranking his way back into relevancy

What is the buzz around Soulja Boy, and is it a good thing?

By Ethan Park STAFF WRITER

EMORY BROOKS

Cindy Liu Senior

Senior Cindy Liu recently received an honorable mention award from the Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference held Feb. 7–10.

At the Johns Hopkins University competition, Liu represented Bhutan in a diplomacy meeting. “We were talking about peacekeeping operations, especially in relation to the India and Pakistan crisis,” she explained. “That was a really big wakeup call, that there’s this whole conflict that’s been going on for 70 years… and they haven’t signed any nuclear treaties or anything.”

Liu was commended as Bhutan’s delegate.

“I won honorable mention in the event…

You have a committee, and in that committee there’s a lot of different delegates, [and] each delegate represents a different country,” she said. “Based on how well you do in debate and in committee, you get awards.”

In the future, Liu hopes to combine her passions of medicine and the humanities. “I applied to college as a bioengineering major…. I’ve just always wanted to impact the field of medicine in some important way,” she said.

Recognizing that many medical technologies used in the U. S. may not work in less developed countries, Liu said “that’s part of what I really want to work towards in college… maybe going somewhere where I can see how people live without those resources and see how you can develop medical technologies to benefit them.”

By Prayag Gordy

AN OPINION

The 2000s were an interesting time for hip-hop, to say the least. Seemingly caught in the middle of the classic boom-bap beats of the ‘90s and the modern sounds of heavy bass and rattling hi-hats, the 2000s-era style of early trap music produced some of the worst, yet most iconic hip-hop songs to date.

Among these legendary anthems is “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” by Soulja Boy. Adorned in the baggiest of 2000s-style XL t-shirts in the music video, Soulja Boy sparked a dance revolution that still permeates middle school dances to this day. However, his relevance in the rap game has dwindled as hip-hop has evolved into the modern trap music that is so well-known today.

After almost a decade of musical and cultural dormancy, Soulja Boy has recently re-appeared as a “relevant” name in the rap community. While his reemergence has confused the hip-hop community, Soulja himself claims it to be the “biggest comeback of 2018.” Although this statement is questionable to many, Soulja Boy’s career revival is a prime example of how internet meme culture can jumpstart someone’s career back into relevance practically overnight.

Soulja’s first step back into the limelight was an unexpected one: through the release of his own gaming console. The SouljaGame debut included two devices—a handheld for $99 and a console for $149. The advertisements for these consoles boasted thousands of pre-installed games but with a much higher price tag than other bootleg consoles with nearly identical characteristics.

These gaming devices were ultimately pulled from the market, and his website was shut down. However, Soulja Boy has since embarked on a new entrepreneurial adventure with his recently released line of headphones, smartwatches, and other devices under the brand SouljaElectronics.

Soulja Boy’s short-lived endeavor into the world of video game technology was

only the start of his reemergence in 2018, which included ventures into television and fashion. In late December of 2018, Soulja tweeted out that he “did four new TV shows and signed an endorsement deal with Fashion Nova” in the past year. Soulja’s growing popularity was additionally bolstered by “beefing” with other rappers like Famous Dex, which included various arguments and shouting matches over Instagram Live and other social media platforms.

Soulja’s comeback was evidently fueled by the Internet, which had a field day in January when a particular clip of Soulja Boy saying the name of fellow rapper, Drake, went viral. This video, which originated from an interview on the popular hip-hop radio show, The Breakfast Club, blew up on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

In this same interview, Soulja did not pull any punches by saying, “Stop playing like I ain’t teach Drake everything he knows,” and vehemently asserting that he had the biggest rap comeback of the past year.

With this meme blowing up all over social media, Soulja Boy’s name was officially relevant again, even if it was just for a mere joke. Twitter users like junior Mary Nkafu were surprised, to say the least, when Soulja resurfaced on social media. “[My first reaction] was like, ‘Soulja Boy? Like, really?

That’s him, he’s back!’” she said. Due to the fleeting nature of Internet memes, what was even more surprising was Soulja’s ability to maintain the buzz around his name. “As a user of Twitter, I am usually on for the memes and the jokes that people have,” said Nkafu. “At first, I was worried that he was only coming just to be [a meme] for the week or two, but now I feel like he’s actually going to stay and make an impact in the music industry.”

Results from Soulja’s extended time in the Internet limelight have already seemingly paid dividends. A day after his interview on The Breakfast Club, Soulja Boy appeared on Complex magazine’s popular hip hop talk show, Everyday Struggle. A day after that, Soulja released a new single titled “New Drip,” which has currently accumulated over eight million views. Soulja has since appeared on popular rap show Wild N’ Out, and his Breakfast Club interview was parodied on Saturday Night Live. All of this seemed to work according to Soulja’s plan, as he capped off January by signing a new record deal with Warner/Chapell Music.

Despite his revived success, Soulja Boy has recently been embroiled in more serious trouble. According to TMZ, a woman has accused Soulja of kidnapping her following a physical altercation at his home on Feb. 1. Soulja’s team has called these claims “100-percent fabricated,” but the police are still conducting an investigation.

Although these accusations are serious and potentially damning for Soulja’s career, his resurgence into relevancy is compelling, to say the least. Whether his legacy will be remembered as a legitimate rap career or another mere Internet meme, one thing is undeniable: Soulja is back, and “youu” best KATRINA WARREN believe it.

February 27, 2019

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AD E2

E3 Culture International Newsbriefs Cure for HPV found FEBURARY 11 — A cure for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection, has been discovered by scientists from the Mexico National Polytechnic Institute. This breakthrough is particularly relevant for the researchers, who were primarily Mexican women, because HPV is the second leading cause of death for women in Mexico. Eva Ramon Gallegos, head researcher on the project, was able to completely eliminate the virus in 29 cases of HPV from women in Mexico City.

She used photodynamic therapy to find that it caused no side effects on those who had been treated with it.

Gallegos also reports that the photodynamic therapy used has “great potential to decrease the death rate from cervical cancer”. 14 of the more than 100 variants of HPV can cause cervical cancer, the 4th most common form of cancer in women.

Catalonia’s Independence FEBURARY 12--- A trial regarding the actions of major Spanish activists and politicians during the Catalonian independence rebellion in 2017 is taking place in Madrid.

Members of the former Catalonian government including former VicePresident Oriol Junqueras, former speaker of regional parliament Carme Forcadell, and eight other members of the regional cabinet are being tried. Each have differing charges that range from disobedience, misuse of public funds, and rebellion, which may add up to more than 25 years in prison. Catalonia, which was historically independent, lost much of its autonomy under the rule of dictator Francisco Franco. After his death, Catalonia regained its status as a semi-autonomous region until a recession in 2008, which caused political and social strife between Catalonia and the rest of Spain and a separatist movement. In 2015, separatists won the regional election and continued to push Catalonia down the secessionist path. The movement climaxed after a pro-secession referendum in Catalonia ended with a declaration of independence in October 2017. The Spanish government ruled this referendum illegal, dissolved Catalan parliament, and violent protests emerged between Spanish police and separatists.

Australia’s bill to ban sick immigrants FEBURARY 18 — A bill in Australian parliament passed in the lower house when, allowing easier passage of sick refugees to come to the mainland for treatment.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is infamous for his strict and controversial stances on immigration, and was vehemently against the bill.

Under his regulation, immigrants seeking asylum in Australia have been forced into detention centers on the island of Manus and Nauru.

Doctors treating sick immigrants in the detention centers reported poor working conditions and a lack of proper resources required to treat sickness. This bill allows doctors working with refugees to request their transfer to a medical center in Australia. According to the Associated Press, refugees with health conditions including kidney stones, tuberculosis, malaria, dengue fever, and chronic fungal infections were never met with the adequate treatment. However, Morrison announced the opening of yet another detention center on Christmas Island, despite reports of inadequate medical equipment there as well.

International Newsbriefs compiled by Teddy Beamer

Feburary 27, 2019

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2kforbes filmed it?

A profile of the man behind the basketball account

By Mira Diamond-Berman STAFF WRITER

Five-year-old Roman Cannuscio runs up and down the basketball court, but without a ball in his hand. Instead, he’s bawling tears.

He’s upset and frustrated because he is the youngest kid in the basketball camp and none of older kids will pass to him. Camp counselor Remi Ali notices the crying kid and pulls Cannuscio aside after the game. Ali shares his extra pizza slices and gives him a warmhug to make sure Cannuscio knows that he is not alone.

Whenever Cannuscio manages to gain control of the ball, he shoots, no matter where he is on the court. Ten years later, Ali would film Cannuscio as the top scorer on Blair’s varsity basketball team and showcase his talent to the DMV. Ali is the Blair basketball graduate of 2013 who is behind the 2kforbes Instagram account with over 8,000 followers. 2kforbes features high-quality highlights of college and high school basketball games in the DMV area. “[It’s] a platform where I can show what the DMV has to offer in not only athletics but just pure talent in general,” he said.

Ali’s Instagram account has gathered thousands of fans and become well-known throughout the DMV, especially in Blair. “People just say 2kforbes as like a joke sometimes.

If somebody has a camera they’re like ‘ay it’s 2kforbes,’” said senior Sam Rose Davidoff.

Although many know Ali’s Instagram platform, not everyone knoes his original story. During his Blair

years he played basketball under Coach Damon Pigrom, and he continued to play basketball at Frostburg State University.

He was able to combine h i s love

f o r basketball and filming after he graduated from college. “I was always interesting in the editing software and just filming in general. And I grew up on basketball and played basketball all my life,” said Ali. “So the two just kind of clashed and I just kind of found a niche and found a really cool groove to making my videos look really cool and strand out.”

About a year ago he started his basketball 2kforbes series on Instagram, where he originally showcased college basketball. Recently, he has started to feature high school

basketball. “Right now I have a series focused on high school sports because I think the DMV breeds the most athletes in our

area.

It’s saturated, so much talent,” he said.

Ali transSALLY ZHAO ferred to the University of Maryland in 2016 and then graduated with an accounting degree in 2018. After a few years at a law firm, Ali decided to follow his passion for basketball and film instead. “I’ve actually been working for a law firm for the past three years in Dupont Circle…

I quit like mid-2018 just so I can focus on filming. I just wanted to make that leap because I knew what I wanted to do and I knew I

had that step,” said Ali. “So in regards to filming, that’s one of the only things that I currently do and I put all my energy towards.”

Beyond filming, Ali also coached for the Blair JV fall league team where his relationship with Cannuscio grew stronger. Cannuscio credits Ali for being bumped up to varsity freshman year. “He coached me and he really let me play my game, which I think is a really key part of me playing varsity as a freshman because I got to showcase my talent to the coaches… and he made sure that I showed my talent,” said Cannuscio.

Ali sees Cannuscio as more than just a player that he once coached.

“He’s my little brother,” said Ali. “All the wisdom that I have, [I] try to transfer that to him.”

Their personal relationship made Cannuscio proud to be featured in 2kforbes’ video. “I felt very accomplished. It felt good because I personally know him... So I was very honored for him to show me,” said Cannuscio.

When a player is starred in a 2kforbes video, it is viewed by thousands of basketball fans across the DMV. “That’s how you blow up in the basketball community.

It’s like, you get a video made by 2kforbes,” said Rose Davidoff.

The 2kforbes video highlighting Cannuscio has bigger implications beyond showcasing his talent. Its many views across Montgomery County show that Blair basketball is a force to be reckoned with. “I think that since that video surfaced, more people are aware there were not just some regular Montgomery County team and we can compete with any team in the county,” said Cannuscio.

Social AD-vocacy What truly hides behind socially aware advertising

By Khushboo Rathore STAFF WRITER

AN OPINION

Is this the best a man can get?

This simple question caused an explosive controversy in January, but it’s the first time. Dove, Nike, and Pepsi are all companies that have tried to bring a label of social awareness to their company in the past through their advertisements.

Nike faced immense amounts of backlash for their support of Colin Kaepernick, while Pepsi was forced to remove their commercial from Youtube. Dove is criticized for not creating any real change and for just trying to seem “aware.”

On Jan. 13, 2019, Gillette released a short film that highlighted toxic masculinity among men, asking the question “Is this the best a man can be?” This advertisement has been seen millions of times worldwide, and people everywhere have been praising the ad, but the advertisement has also faced backlash for being “anti-man”.

This negativity is not entirely unfounded in some cases. Some claim that Gillette’s advertisement, while not man-hating, could very well serve to alienate men more than bring everyone together. “There is some pushback against the Gillette campaign because it was perceived as many by calling men out rather than calling them into the conversation,” Michelle Amazeen, assistant professor in mass communication and advertising at Boston University, said.

The question still remains, what

is the point of running these ads if they might ruin a company?

Advertising is about selling a product. Junior Sophia Weng believes that the Gillette advertisement was meant to be free press for the company. “I think that the socially conscious advertising on Gillette’s part is just meant to create a buzz...any kind of press is good press, especially in the world of advertising,” she said. University of Texas Professor Gary Wilcox has a similar belief. “Gillette and Nike are realizing that…[social opinions] are important things that maybe drive and impact your brand choice,” he said.

But how much do these advertisements actually impact the brand’s sales? And do they even believe in

actions, with a profit of nearly six billion, but the ad has faded into obscurity, as has the visual part of Kaepernick’s movement. Very few players remain kneeling, and the NFL continues to hold that players should stand during the national anthem.

These ads shed new light on many issues, but they can also take away from the reality of those issues. Pepsi’s 2017 advertisement trivialized Black Lives Matter, not showing the side where people are being shot or beaten because of their skin color. Gillette barely scratched the surface of how horrifying some male violence and harassment can be. Nike’s advertisements with Kaepernick did not show how he is unable to get a job within the NFL anymore because he was standing up for what he beSHASHI ARNOLD lieves in. their bigger message?

Another large part of the bacIn some cases they do. Nike’s klash comes from ads where such motto reflects very closely with brands are supporting a cause they their Kaepernick advertising, notes have never been associated with beUniversity of Texas Professor Gary fore. “It’s not quite clear that these Wilcox. values are consistent with the way Their message was reflected in they’ve positioned themselves betheir Kaepernick ad, making their fore,” Amazeen said about Gillette. ad more successful. “Nike has Advertising influences our culalways been an aspirational brand. ture and our way of living. This If we look at their tagline, “Just Do shift towards socially aware adverIt,” then that’s all about aspiring to tising will remove the reality from do their best and the Kapernick so many issues, taking away the imthing was kind of in the same vein portant dark side of them. and that resonates very well with While this advertising is imNike’s audience,” he said. portant, it needs to be a small, but While the goal that Nike was constant force. One that is shown attempting is honorable, they were by companies who actually believe unable to create a lasting impact wi- in the image that they are selling, thin the football community. The not just in the data of how much company was rewarded for their money they will make.

February 27, 2019

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Culture E4

Archives

Edited by Camden Roberts, Avery Brooks, and Miranda Rose Daly

Inspired by the recent coverage of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s racist history, as well as the score of other institutions that have had their own publicized, we went further back into the archives of all Montgomery Blair publications.

Northam’s yearbook from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1984 was found last month to show a photo of two men, one posing in blackface and one in a KKK hood, on his yearbook page.

This was found a few months after his election as Virginia’s Democratic governor.

The photos on this page are from the 1936 Silverlogue yearbook, when Blair was still an all white school.

They were in the section devoted to clubs and teams, alongside images of girls’ volleyball and the glee clubs.

Names were listed directly below, visibly unashamed.

They called themselves the ‘Blackface Orioles’ and identified themselves as minstrels.

A minstrel is defined by Merriam Webster as “a member of a type of performance troupe caricaturing black performers that originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century,” This was the only documentation that we found in the yearbook from the years we were able to view.

However, the write-up acknowledged that the year previously, the same group had produced a similar act.

MINSTRELS 1936 Despite Mrs. Mcdonald’s solemn vow never to produce another minstrel as long as she lived, she was finally persuaded to do it once more for dear old Silverlogue.

Two unidentified boys pose with their hats off.

Needless to say, the Blackface Orioles repeated its success of last year, and bids fair to become one of the great successes of the show world.The dusky end men laughed and joked at the expense of the interlocutor, Jim Littlefield.

A new attraction was added this year by having two sophomore girls dance.

They nearly stole the show from ‘Hootie’ Alden, Alvin Finchman, David Laurie, and Bruce Stedman who handled the vocal honors, assisted by a very fine male chorus.

The lone girls in the group pose for a photo.

E5 Chips Clips

February 27, 2019

silverchips Shop ‘til You Drop

by Sophia Weng

Across 1. _____ Spades 6. English fellow 10. Actress Moreno 14. Prefix pertaining to the back 15. One is said every fourth January 20th 16. Arabian bigwig 17. Goodbye in Paris 18. Truncated arbor 20.*Difference between boomers and millenials 22. Sheeran and a talking horse 23. Common HS hallway sight (abbr.)

24. How dog paws walk 27. pion- and buccan- suffix 28. To be sick 30. -glyceride prefix 31. Single bloom flowers 33. Motown or capital 35. Toys R Us, Payless, and a

hint to the starred clues 38. Warty henchman 39. Slept at 2 AM? 40. Zombie Apocalypse gov’t

org.

41. Q? counterpart 42. Favorite fandom ship 43. Cerberus is three-______ 46. Sorta suffix 47. May tests 50. *Hitting the mark 54. Alterations 56. Momma’s momma 57. Can be kept, as in on a track 58. Raise again 59. Depressing 62. Kitten cries 60. Hamilton does this in a duel Down 61. Non-US Mobil gas 1.

Old words of wisdom

counterpart 2. Like mbhs.edu

Sudoku (medium) COURTESY OF WEBSUDOKU

BIGGER PROBLEMS

3. Night circus author Morgenstern and designer Condren

4. Inverted anthem: ____, can you say 5. *Two pence plus two pence coin

6. Panna _____ 7. First name of Hindu Brahmin 8. Nonbeliever 9. Alcoholic benzene 10. Get maple sap again 11. Babe Ruth may have said this

before a homer 12. Canadian Horton 13. IP network mapping protocol (abbr.)

19. Function that returns 0, -1, or 1 21. Caffeine is...

25. Deutsch three 26. Window ledge 27. Novelist Blyton 28. Roman “other” 29. Negatory contraction 31. Scramble for dreamers 32. Henry VIII wanted one 33. *Southpaw signing 13th letter 34. Make sure to give your waiter one 35. Engrave 36. Graph theory vertex 37. Place for chickens to come home to 41. Stick, as in glue 44. Formally lunches 45. Neighborhood in the Great Gatsby 46. Slangy provider of motivation 47. VP Spiro 48. Type of colony 49. Michelin gives these 51. You are in Toulouse 52. Artistic work 53. Non-common 54. Windy city patrol (abbr.)

55. Yes in Kyoto

To see the answers to the crossword, scan the QR code below.

SALLY ZHAO

February 27, 2019

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ADs F1

F2 Sports

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February 27, 2019

Home field advantage

How parents of athletes balance being supportive and overbearing

By Teddy Beamer STAFF WRITER

Almost 20 percent of parents spend more than $1000 a month on a single child’s athletics, according to a study done by TD Ameritrade. 60 percent of people in the same study say that their spending on their children’s athletics impacts their ability to save for retirement.

It is clear that parents are extremely invested in their kid’s sports, but kids are not always so sure about it.

Parents like Holly Greenleaf’s dad have always existed among children’s athletics. At some level, all youth commitment to sports begins with their parents, who enroll their children in various sports starting from a young age. Greenleaf’s parents have been a large influence in her ten-year swimming career.

“My dad is the one who got me into swimming,” says Greenleaf.

A parent’s motivation for enrolling their kids in sports differs from family to family. Junior Alli Marney Bell’s parents signed her up for the Northwest Branch Pool swim team the summer she turned seven because many of her friends from school joined.

Sophomore Brian McCaw’s father began coaching him to be a wrestler from a young age because he also wrestled in his youth. “He did wrestling in high school and college and so when I was growing up he introduced me to wrestling,” McCaw says.

Over time, a parent’s involvement with their child’s athletics must increase for the kid to grow and improve as an athlete. If an athlete must attend more practices

and participate in more competitions, they may need their parents to provide transportation.

Marney Bell’s club swim team requires her to practice a minimum of once a day, seven days a week. But Blair’s swim team requires club swimmers to attend at least one practice a week no matter their schedule. “From November to February, we’re up to eight practices a week, so it’s very very taxing,” says Marney-Bell.

Social Studies teacher Michael Zick has coached cross country, swim, track and field, wrestling, and baseball for Blair and has worked with a lot of great parents. “[Parents]’ll work with other parents to coordinate carpools, they’ll come out and cheer on their kids at different athletic contests, they will cheer on kids that they don’t necessarily know, but they know that they are their child’s teammates,” says Zick, “and that’s overwhelmingly what we see out of parents at all the different sports that I’ve coached.”

After her swim meets, Holly Greenleaf’s dad would go over flaws and areas of improvement for her races. “My dad would always be like ‘Alright, so we’re going to look at the video, here’s where you need to do better,’” says Greenleaf, a senior on the Blair swim and dive team.

Her father served as her personal coach to help her perform at the competitive level of swimming that she does. When she was younger, he would take her to the pool on weekends and work with her on specific areas he believed needed improvement. “I’d do some extra stuff with him and he’d always be like ‘Oh you’re not listening!’ and I’m like ‘I swam seven times already this week!’”

McCaw’s dad has been heavily involved with his wrestling since day one, and has grown to a point where head coach Tim Grover asked him to be an assistant coach. “[Coach Grover] would ask my dad for help and all, and eventually Coach Grover said, ‘Do you want to be a coach on this team, I’ve asked you for everything anyway,’” says McCaw. “That’s when he said yeah, and he’s been coaching since.”

Parents who do not coach can still be critical about their child’s athletic performance. Marney-Bell experiences this criticism from her parents. “They’ll see me race and if it’s like a meet that isn’t as important but they still think I should be trying, they usually [will] be like, ‘Alli it didn’t look like you were putting in enough effort today, are you feeling alright?’ and I’ll be like ‘Yeah I’m alright, I knew I wasn’t gonna drop time so why put myself through all the pain?’ and sometimes they don’t really get that,” she says.

Marney-Bell also believes that her parents don’t fully understand the amount of work she puts in or the stress that puts on her. “They’ll kind of grind me about it.”

The balance between supportive and overbearing can be hard to distinguish, but the desire to see one’s child succeed can also cause more stress for the child on top of the stress of competing. “There’s this feeling where you don’t want to disappoint them,” Marney-Bell says,

“because even though they’re supportive of what I want to do, they always say how proud [they are] of everything that I’ve accomplished and a lot of it has to do with swimming. And I feel like if I give up part of that I give up part of something that makes them love me.”

But in the end, many parents understand their children’s need for space and independence as they age. “As I got older, he backed off a bit,” says Greenleaf. “[He] knew that a more supportive parent was a little better than a second coach.”

GABE WINSTON-BAILEY

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February 27, 2019

Sports F3

Courting new coaches

Blair’s newest coaches and how they got here

By George Ashford STAFF WRITER

As every student athlete knows, the center of a good team is the coach. Blair has hadmany fantastic coaches over the years, but none of them last forever. Retirement, newopportunities, or any number of other reasons cause coaches to leave their teams, leaving avacancy.

The question is, how are those vacancies filled?

Already this year, Blair has taken on a number of new coaches, and is searching for evenmore.

According to Athletic Director Rita Boule, the athletic department has hired new coachesfor seven fall and winter season teams.

Biology and horticulture teacher Courtney Mason is thenew coach of JV girls’ basketball and JV girls’ lacrosse, ESOL biology and physical science teacher Deanna Earle of JV girls’ volleyball, Isaias Perez of JV boys’ soccer, and Kelly Labriola of swim and dive. Earle was also hired as the head coach of track and field, and physics teacher Amy Ferguson as the head coach of girls’ varsity basketball.

Ferguson, who was previously the coach of Blair’s JV girls’ basketball team, feels that coaching at the varsity level was the next step in her career. “I felt like I was ready to take over those responsibilities and just felt like I was the right fit for the school …

It’s always something I’ve wanted to do, so it just felt like it was my time,” she says. So far, she says she has enjoyed coaching the team and looks forward to more success in the future. “It has its ups and its downs, but it’s been really fun. We definitely had more losses than we would want, but we’re learning … we’re a young team and I’m a young coach.”

Despite the new hires, varsity girls’ lacrosse, co-ed volleyball, and boys’ tennis still have vacancies for

coaches. To fill the spots, Boule starts by advertising the openings around the school, then on MCPS Careers, an MCPS online job board. “Once there is a vacancy, you advertise it within the building, and then you also can advertise on it on what’s called MCPS Careers … all applicants outside of the building have to go onto MCPS Careers and apply for that position,” she says. From there, Boule interviews the most qualified candidates before leaving the final decision to principal Renay Johnson.

Teachers from Blair get priority when applying for coaching positions. “I think it’s way more beneficial to have a teacher, if a teacher is qualified, be the coach, especially a teacher in the building. My first choice, if everything else is the same, is to have a teacher in the building,” Boule says. This is because she has noticed a strong link between good teaching and good coaching. “Almost every single time, an excellent teacher is an excellent coach,” she says. Ferguson agrees, adding that the two jobs require many of the same skills. “I think that they go hand in hand,” she says.

When it comes to varsity coaches, Boule considers coaching expe-

rience the number one factor in the hiring process. “For varsity sports, I look for experience … they need to have some experience in coaching, period. It doesn’t have to be varsity, although that is the best. But,” she adds, “I do look forward to mentoring young people who want to be head coaches.”

One of the challenges she faces in hiring coaches is finding applicants with that experience, as well as finding applicants with the availability and administrative know-how that coaching a Blair team requires.

“The experience of the person … the availability of the person, you know, how much time they can dedicate to the program, knowledge of athletics and, not just the sport, but knowledge of … the administrative part of coaching,” she says. “Those are the biggest hurdles with coaches.”

However they are hired, Blair’s coaches are an integral part of the community. It was Ferguson’s personal experience as a student athlete that led her realize this and inspired her to eventually become a coach herself. “It just was something that I felt passionate about; I knew how much the coaches helped me and I just wanted to give back,” she says.

YEKATERINA VAKHROMEEVA

THE GAME PLAN Head girls’ varsity basketball coach and physics teacher Amy Ferguson talking with her team against BCC.

The method to the madness

What to watch for come tournament time

By Louis Rosenberg STAFF WRITER

AN OPINION

Every sports season has its moment, and late March is college basketball’s time in the spotlight, when the country turns its attention to March Madness and the NCAA tournament. Sixty-eight teams face off in the seven round, single elimination competition, all vying for the national championship. By its nature, March Madness is impossible to predict. As fans, all we can do is watch. Rising teams, unlikely stars, and local teams all headline the main storylines for the tournament.

The Tennessee Vols have struggled for much of the past decade.

In his tenure, which began in 2015, head coach Rick Barnes has revitalized the program and led them to the tournament last year for the first time since 2014.

Tennessee fell to Loyola Chicago in the second round. At the time of print, the Vols are 24-3, and were ranked fifth in the nation

by AP on February 18th. Led by 2017/2018 SEC Player of the Year power forward Grant Williams, the orange and white are ready to show they belong with the best teams in the country.

The University of Nevada Wolf Pack have become tournament regulars under head coach Eric Musselman, making it to the Sweet Sixteen last year. They currently sit

atop the Mountain West conference and were ranked sixth in the country in the Feb. 18 AP poll.

Seniors Caleb and Cody Martin transferred to Nevada two years ago and have flourished under Musselman. Fans of teams in the Mountain West already know their names, b u t both

brothers will be in the limelight come March.

At the beginning of the season, Murray State sophomore guard Ja Morant was relatively unknown.

He has become a star and currently leads Division I in assists per game and is ranked eighth in points per game. Murray State will likely exit by the second round, but Morant will have the opportunity to prove that the hype surrounding him is

real.

The biggest story this season has been Duke freshman sensation Zion Williamson. He has helped the Blue Devils become the number one team in the nation and was practically unstoppable, until he got hurt against UNC. The injury was diagnosed as a Grade 1 knee sprain, and Williamson is listed as day to day. This is good news for the Blue Devils, who clearly missed Williamson during their loss, which was only their third loss of the season. Duke is not the same team without him, and his health w i l l determine their success in the tourAMY KRIMM nament.

Only a few years after Melo Trimble and Dez Wells were cementing Maryland as a top ten program, head coach Mark Turgeon’s team has slipped back into the doldrums of being good, but not great.

Maryland (21-7) is currently ranked 24th in the nation by AP, better than the 17-11 record they held at this time a year ago.

“Camden’s Yard” is a monthly column where sports editor Camden Roberts expresses an opinion on current events in sports.

The NHL has in recent years designated February as “Hockey Is For Everyone” (HIFE) month.

Teams host “pride nights,” and make bold statements of inclusivity. Predictably, the statements are mostly empty and the game maintains the prejudices the league is attempting to distance itself from.

One game a year, each team wraps their sticks in pride tape for warm-ups. They pat themselves on the backs and take the tape off before the actual game starts because they’re afraid of messing with their game day routine. Some teams take it the extra step and make a real gesture-- the Capitals invited the United Arab Emirates women’s hockey team to be guests, and the Red Wings donated more than $12,000 in equipment to a special hockey organization in Detroit last year. Still, not all teams step up like that. Even when they do, the coverage by the team, the league, and theSEOYOUNG press is lacking.

JOO It makes a statement, but they fail to amplify it.

In another attempt to appear inclusive, the league asks each team to nominate a HIFE ambassador.

This is a player who is “a leader in the locker room, a leader in the community, and a public advocate to speak up and inspire others,” according to the league’s website.

Unfortunately, the same issue remains. Some teams have ambassadors who truly do make a difference in their communities in terms of diversity. The Caps have Braden Holtby, a staunch advocate for LGBTQ inclusion. The Minnesota Wild has JT Brown, who raised money for HIFE through a Twitch stream. Brown is also one of only 24 active black players in the league, and has been very outspoken on his efforts to increase diversity at all levels of hockey.

On the other side, they have players who take the position as a PR move, to fix the damage to their reputations that their use of slurs on the ice had caused. In 2017, the Montreal Canadiens

named Andrew Shaw, who had been suspended for one game two years previously for screaming a homophobic slur at an official. In a media scrum after his position as ambassador had been announced, he took the brave stance that, “some that use it [homophobic slur] might not use it towards that community at all,” showing a deep misunderstanding of the myriad of reasons that using slurs on the ice is um, bad. Fortunately, Montreal passed over him this year, in favor of outwardly Islamophobic, xenophobic and Trump-supporting Max Domi.

Both Shaw and Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf have been documented using slurs on the ice. Several players have domestic violence or sexual assault accusations against them. Even when they weren’t charged, the league’s treatment of the cases is indicative of a larger problem.

When Chicago’s Patrick Kane was accused of rape, the league allowed him to CONTINUE PLAYING through the case. The team and the league stood squarely, blindly behind him. His team’s name in itself is a racial slur, and the league shrugs that off by saying that technically they are named after a unit of the U.S. military. That doesn’t stop them from selling merchandise with a depiction of a Native American man.

The NHL has the money and the influence to change the culture in their league. Instead their ‘activism’ is performative at best, and designed only to improve the images of their stars. If they truly cared about any of the marginalized groups they claim to support, they wouldn’t lump them all into one night and call it diversity. You can bet they make tens of thousands of dollars on their t-shirts with rainbow team logos though.

They’ve made it clear that diversity and representation only matter to them if they can capitalize on it, and that’s pathetic for a multi-billion-dollar organization.

The Terps have talent in junior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. and sophomore power forward Bruno Fernando, but not enough to compete with the best teams.

Maryland will likely make the tournament, but anything past the Sweet Sixteen is extremely unlikely.

Virginia, ranked third, is one of the top teams in the country, but this has been the case for a few years.

After becoming the only number one seed in tournament history to lose to a sixteenth seed, the pressure is on the Cavaliers to succeed come March.

Entering the tournament as the number one seed three out of the past five years and reaching the Elite Eight only once should be seen as a failure by the Cavaliers.

However, Tony Bennett is the best defensive coach in college basketball and Virginia will always be a

dangerous team with him courtside.

Georgetown legend Patrick Ewing returned to his alma mater in 2017 to lead the Hoyas back to their place among the upper echelon of college basketball, somewhere they have been moving away from since the final years of John Thompson III’s tenure as head coach.

The Hoyas started the season strong, but a poor January has left Georgetown’s tournament hopes very bleak.

The best they can hope for is a First Four game, which they will need to win to enter the Round of 64. The glory days of the 1980s are a stark contrast to the current Hoyas, a team mired in mediocrity destined for a slow climb back up to relevancy.

No matter who stands tall come championship night, this year’s tournament is sure to be full of surprises that no one can predict.

F4 Sports

February 27, 2019

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Working up a cold sweat

A roundup of Blair’s winter teams’ seasons

By Kie Donovan and Victoria Xin STAFF WRITERS

Swim & Dive

Swim and Dive battled through a rough season in Division 1, with the boys ending with a 3-2 record, and the girls finishing 0-5. At the Washington Metropolitan Championships, Blair boys placed seventh overall and girls placed tenth. At Regionals, the boys placed first and the girls team placed second.

With the jump from Division 2 to Division 1, the team certainly felt the pressure. “Division 1 is a really really hard division to be in. The fact that we won any meets at all and we still stayed positive and spirited throughout the entire season,

an atmosphere of team bonding.

Ellis cited “talking to [teammates] one-on-one, being honest, being productive and being constructive instead of being brutally honest” as key elements to their dynamic.

Head coach Damon Pigrom drives home the sentiment of collaboration. “Offensively, we’re the best when we’re playing team basketball and sharing the ball,” he said.

Key Players: seniors Ethan Ellis, James McGhee, Abhin Kurrela, junior Bakarr Bangura, sophomores Michael Ayala, Roman Cannuscio, Alfred Worrell

Girls’ Basketball

The girls’ basketball team struggled this season, with an 8-12 record. “We were expecting to be a

wrestling, they didn’t care, they never gave up, no matter the circumstances,” coach Tim Grover said.

Practices involved focusing on basic fundamentals as well as endurance. “[We have] been working on our core strength … and trying to have a stable base,” senior Brandon Ntankeu said.

Matches involved tactical thinking and clever maneuvers. “Coach … outsmarted the other coaches by switching wrestlers and tricking the other coaches into sending the good guys out,” junior Nimesh Fonseka said.

With a strategic coach and enthusiastic players, wrestling demonstrated the power of drive and dedication. “We’re technically the best team in Blair’s history!” junior captain Mervin Mancia said.

Key Players: Senior Brandon Ntankeu, junior Elias Chen, sophomore Brian McCaw, freshman Junior Kim

Club Hockey

LUCY MARTIN

FLYING THROUGH THE WATER Sophomore Aidan Rooney finishes strong in the 100 fly in the state championships.

I think [makes it] a very successful little bit better than we [are], recordseason,” senior captain Niles Egan wise,” said coach Amy Ferguson.

Ferguson attributes the team’s said.

With the increased competition, performance to the loss of five swimmers also pushed themselves key senior players, who graduated past their previous boundaries. last year, leaving younger and lessMany of the relays went their best experienced members to take their times at Divisionals. Senior Alan place.

Li broke two team records in the However, according to senior 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly captain Megan Burke, this year’s at Metros, while Egan broke the re- team’s ability to pull together is what makes up a lot of its strength cord in 100 freestyle at Regionals.

Blair held down the fort with re- and potential. “I would say [this silient swims and raucous team spir- season’s] more successful in terms it. Coach Kelly Labriola considers of being able to learn the game and Blair’s spirited attitude to be one of really work well together,” she said.

Practices emphasize defense the team’s strongest points.

Key players: seniors Niles Egan, Mar- and defensive tactics, because Ferrick Golladay, Alan Li, Ian Sauter, guson believes, “defensive intensity Jordan Wallace, juniors Leah Kan- really [leads] to everything else.” nan, Amanda Liu, Alli Marney-Bell They have worked on “aggression, and trying to play with a lot more intensity,” according to Burke, as Boys’ Basketball The boys’ basketball team current- well as athleticism, press breaks, ly has a 12-10 record. In terms of and transition offense. both teamwork and gameplay, the Key Players: Senior Megan Burke, team outdid their performance last juniors Adia Keene, Zoe Abramson, season, according to both senior sophomores Kate Hildebrandt, Peyton captains Ethan Ellis and James Mc- Martin Ghee.

This year, the team introduced many new plays into their reper- Wrestling toire. “Normally we have two sets This year’s wrestling team of offenses that we play, but our achieved one of the best seasons coach has shown us some new stuff ever recorded at Blair, finishing with a record of 19-5. The team to use,” McGhee said.

According to McGhee, the went on to make their first appearteam also focused on defense and ance in the Region Dual Champirebounding, which stayed strong onship Match. throughout the season, and compo- The new wrestlers stepping up sure towards the end of the game, to fill weight class starting positions which they developed over the maintained last year’s intensity, and returning wrestlers pushed just as course of the season.

Their victories were supported by hard. “No matter who they were

inside SPORTS

With a 3-11 record, the club hockey team has had a difficult season after losing several players to college and private schools. “It’s sort of what you call a rebuilding year, unfortunately,” assistant coach David Frank said.

However, the team’s mentality still holds strong. “I think one of our greatest strengths is our attitude towards the game … We find ways to still have fun even if we’re not winning that much,” junior alternate captain Justin Zhang said.

During practices, the team has mainly been focusing on the fundamental skills of passing, skating, and positional plays. This year, the two senior members have played a heavy hand in team leadership on the ice. However, the team plans to shift its focus towards team collaboration in the future. “Next year, we’re definitely going to have to reform our offensive play. We’ll … involve more of the entire team and have more team game,” Zhang said.

Key Players: seniors Carl Levin, Andrew Muirhead, junior Justin Zhang, freshman Ryan Frank

DEDE GREENFIELD

FOUL SHOT Senior Sarah the other team readies

Bocce

The bocce team finished the season with a 2-3 record and made an appearance at the MCPS Bocce Championship. “It was sort of a rough season, but an exciting season because we had all the players interested in the game and they got better as we went on,” said coach Melvin Terry.

Although the team’s record this season was not stellar, Terry emphasized that the knowledge they gained through their losses can be used by returning players to win

Khan takes themselves

a free throw as for the rebound.

Indoor Track

The indoor track team had an outstanding season, with regional and county champions on the boys’ and girls’ sides.

In addition, every single runner has hit a personal record for the events they participated in.

Track practices have been slightly irregular due to the snow days, but the team has found intense indoor alternatives. “We used this opportunity to go to the weight room, work on explosives for jumps, and our reaction time,” head coach

Poms

The poms team placed sixth at the Division 3 Montgomery County Pompoms Competition. Senior captain Sophia Lindsay saw this season as particularly challenging because of the lack of seasoned members on the team. “We had a lot of new girls. When I was in practice, I was helping other girls,” she said. Lindsay tied for sixth among captains at the competition.

Additionally, Lindsay and the team received a controversial deduction by judges at the county competition for performing a song with the lyrics, “out like a light.”

“It’s referring to a lightbulb. But we got deducted as if [the song] was talking about a cigarette lighter,” said Lindsay. Despite these hiccups, Lindsay was still satisfied with the team’s performance. “We don’t have that many people who have dance experience... But I’m happy with what we did,” she said.

Key Players: seniors Sophia Lindsay, Shauna Terhune-Cotter, Laura Mendez-Pinto, freshman Brittany Nolasco

DEDE GREENFIELD

ICE ICE BABY Senior captain Andrew Muirhead keeps his eyes on the puck as he skates down the ice. next season “now [that] they have the experience.”

Freshman captain Yolany Blanco did not believe the team’s losses detracted from their hard work.

She thought the team’s efforts alone made the season quite successful.

“This was a successful season because we tried to win against other schools, we basically tried to make it to the [championship],” she said.

Key Players: Juniors Jorge Gubias, Jasmine Lopez, freshman Yolany Blanco

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SALLY ZHAO

Deanna Earle said. While the indoor track team emphasizes individual accomplishments in the field, a fresh sense of unity within the team has been instrumental in motivating its members. “Running is pretty painful, so it’s really important that you love the people you’re doing it with and you can … feel a sense of bonding,” senior captain Samuel Rose Davidoff said.

Key Players: seniors Leoluca Cannuscio, Samuel Rose Davidoff, Brian Hufford, Nathaniel Kinyanjui, Catherine Rodriguez, Simera Segni, Alexis Stuartson

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