silverchips A public forum for student expression since 1937 Montgomery Blair High School
October 17, 2018
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND
Blair mourns two student deaths
VOL. 81 NO. 1
EMBRACING CULTURE
By Mindy Burton and Miranda Rose Daly NEWS EDITORS
Two students have passed away since the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Rising junior Kevin Wilson II was severely injured in a shooting in Hyattsville on Aug. 6. He died in the hospital a few hours later. Senior Biruktayt Asfaw passed away on Sept. 10. A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Wilson’s funeral described Wilson as “a terrific young man with both brains, and true athletic ability” who “touched all that he knew with his infectious personality and sense of humor”. “Just the leadership that he had, the overall presence that he had, when he spoke people listened,” Wilson’s former coach Jarvis Thomas said to Fox 5. According to a letter sent to parents by Principal Johnson, Asfaw enjoyed school and wanted to be an engineer. She was also a student at Thomas Edison and attended Montgomery College over the summer. Johnson provided a support group for grieving students. “A support team of psychologists, counselors, and pupil personnel workers … will work with our staff members to provide counseling and support to students,” she said.
LUCY MARTIN
A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD A visitor of the Culture Fest at Westifeld Montgomery Mall stands in the Chinese culture exhibit. The display showcases cultures from El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, and Korea as a way to celebrate diversity.
Behind the scenes of the hardcore scene By Teddy Beamer STAFF WRITER
Dozens of people gather tightly into a single room. A scream pierces through the air. The shrieking guitar comes in now, electric and acidic. The rumbling bass follows along with the fast and furious drums, cymbals and snare clashing to the beat. These are the sounds of D.C. hardcore punk.
Origins
COURTESY OF CHARLIE FLACK
ROCKIN’ THE NIGHT Loud Boyz, a punk rock band based in Washington, D.C. performed at Slash Run on Feb. 17.
The District of Columbia has a rich history in the punk music scene, and is home to some of the most influential hardcore artists of all time, such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Fugazi. D.C. rock musicians wishing to make their own punk music got together and started forming bands that would later revolutionize the punk scene.
“At first it was a bunch of friends in bands. Super fun and exciting,” says Mark Sullivan, lead singer of the band Kingface and member of the D.C. hardcore community throughout the 1980s and 90s. For many of the musicians in these punk bands, it was just about having fun and making music with your friends. “I always like to emphasize that it was just a bunch of kids having fun for a long time… I think that’s one of the reasons it stayed so strong for so long.” Soon, D.C. bands started to develop their own styles of punk and a following began to grow. The sound coming from D.C. was new, differing from the classic punk that everybody was used to hearing from New York and London. “As it matured, it was like we were adding to the ongoing development
MCPS fights back against STI crisis AMY KRIMM
NEWS A2
A3
AVERY BROOKS
LA ESQUINA LATINA B1
El Mes de Herencia Hispana
Fall Play Coverage
Una mirada a los eventos que tuvieron lugar el mes pasado
A look behind the scenes of “Troy Story 3”
B1
AVERY BROOKS
OP/ED C1
E1
FEATURES D1
Blazers vs. Warriors Girls’ varsity volleyball falls to Sherwood EMORY BROOKS
CULTURE E1
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By George Ashford and Ethan Park STAFF WRITERS
An inside look at the county executive and gubernatorial candidates on the ballot
With November fast approaching, local voters prepare to hit the polls, and candidates on the ballot for the Maryland gubernatorial and Montgomery County executive races are preparing for the final stages of their campaigns. Two candidates are running for the gubernatorial seat and three are running for county executive. Polls open at 7 a.m. on Nov. 6, and polling locations can be found on the Maryland State Board of Elections Website.
see ELECTIONS page A2
see PUNK page E5
insidechips Blair to hand out condoms
Election season heats up in Maryland
Silver Chips Print @silver_chips @silver.chips Silver Chips Print
CHIPS CLIPS E4
SPORTS F1