Volume 42, Issue 4

12. 17. 14.

The Bear Facts

Lake Braddock Secondary School

9200 Burke Lake Road • Burke • Virginia • 22015

Contents / 12.17.14.

9

BEHIND THE COVER

22

16 “We wanted to show a picture of a sad person watching something beautiful, but we wanted him to be isolated.”

Volume 42, Issue 3

photos by Jake Gold (top left/bottom)/ Tribune News Service (top right)

7 FCPS OnBoard

16 Art Auction

27 UVA Assault

FCPS and LB have implemented a new WiFi network.

The art department auctions off art to raise money for art programs.

Are college campuses doing enough to prevent sexual assault?

9 Fantasy Flight

18 ‘Hairspray’

30 Sports Uniforms

Find out how some students made a magical day for children.

Find out how LBMT is preparing for the upcoming musical.

See how Lake Braddock sport uniforms have changed since 1975.

10 Suicide

19 Mr. Prakash

32 Worst Gifts

Take an in-depth look at suicide and its effects in Fairfax County.

Read about auto tech teacher Dominic Prakash’s choice of cars.

Find out about the worst holiday gifts that students have received.

15 Laura Sizemore

22 Hallways

39 James Butler

Sizemore was appointed to the Fairfax County Commission for Women.

Are we doing enough as a school to prevent bullying and depression?

Learn about the junior basketball player who is leading the team.

2 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

“Josh didn’t look as sad as we wanted him to, so we chose Miggy [Emily Migdal] instead.”

12. 17. 14.

The Bear Facts

Lake Braddock Secondary School

9200 Burke Lake Road • Burke • Virginia • 22015

“I edited the photo because Braddock’s scenery isn’t too pretty and then I desaturated Miggy to highlight a depressed person emotionlessness.

Then, we added text to fit the story.”

quotations and cover by Jesse Sands

Managing Editors Volume 42, Issue 4

The Bear Facts Staff Web Editors Ryan Mullins and Katie Vinson Photo Editor Amanda Hendrix Assistant Photo Editor Andrew Clinton Art Director Jesse Sands Graphic Assistant Jesse Sands Business Managers Jake Hruska

Editors-in-Chief Ben Tobin and Josh Wartel Managing Sara Kim and Emily Migdal Copy Chief Thomas Kendziora Adviser: Kathryn Helmke

1st Period Editors News Marcell Subert News In-Depth Megan Cantwell Arts Vickie Park Comment Paul Barnhill and Ben Concepcion Style Hannah Lim and Michael Murphy Sports Jordan Small

Staff Writers Tom Anderson, Marianne Beveridge, Ian Bivona, Gerardo Cerna, Ayman Farid, Kinaya Hassane, Claire Hollinger, Kevin Hua, Michael Galligan, Jake Gold, Daniel Jarris, Spencer Jolley, Katie Karlinchak, Demetris Karounos, Aya Khaznadar, Lucia Kim, Maggie Komoniewski, Devon Lee, Anne Merrill, Alex Nestrovich, Connor O’Neill, Zelgai Saleh, Bunyamin Sevim, Nikki Sheppard, Elena Simon, Jordan Stone, Nathan Zelalem

2nd Period Editors News Marleen Tipu News In-Depth Dinali Dassanayaka Profile Steve Hong and Yaitza Lopez Arts Patrick Kearney Sports Tu Lam Photo Amanda Hendrix

Staff Writer of the Issue Correction Profile: Last month’s issue profiled Bianca Thurgood and misidentified the college she was applying to. She has applied to Brigham Young University.

Seeing it as an interesting elective to take, sophomore Devon Lee joined journalism in eighth grade and has been part of the Bear Facts for two years. She likes the concept of coming up with story ideas with the staff since the newspaper is student-run. During class, Lee interviews people, writes and edits stories.

During Lee’s free time, she enjoys snowboarding, reading and baking.

In the future, she considers going into either the journalism or the math and science field.

17 December 2014

The Bear Facts 3

News: Future and Past

Numbers To Know

1

16 The number of days FCPS schools will have off for winter break.

277 The number of students who landed a spot on the All-A Honor Roll for the first quarter of this school year (pages 34-35).

$1922

1. Following the Rachel’s Challenge assembly, students embraced one another to spread the message of compassion. The presentation was very emotional for many students. 2. Wreaths Across America is a national wreath laying event. Throughout December, wreaths are placed to honor veterans. 3.

With the holidays approaching, many people will be making cookies.

C

ompassion in Action week took place the week of Dec. 8. SGA and student services organized activities to promote compassion throughout the school.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, SGA distributed keychains with compassion messages written on them. Following this, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, a school-wide assembly was held to see Rachel’s Challenge. Friday was a day to wear purple and take a stand against bullying.

This week was part of the year-long initiative the counseling department is taking to take a greater stand against bullying.

S

photos by Elena Simon (1), Marc Lester/Tribune Media Services (2,3)

tudents will have a two-hour early release on Friday, Dec. 19 to begin winter break. There will be no Bruin Block held, and there will be a modification to the schedule.

T

he Virginia Board of Education is discussing revising health education curriculum to include suicide prevention. The new plan teaches students essential health concepts and a way to identify signs and symptoms of depression and suicide.

The problem of depression and suicide has become a big issue, as suicide became a leading cause of death among the ages of 10 and 24 in 2013.

The amount of money raised by the Art Department in the art auction.

54 The number of seats the Republicans will hold in the Senate in 2015 after Bill Cassidy defeated incumbent Mary Landrieu in Louisiana.

$50.9 billion

According to fortune.com, the amount of spending across the globe by consumers during Black Friday weekend. Sales declined by 11.6 percent from last year.

3

T

he morning of Dec. 13, Key Club attended Wreaths Across America. This event honors veterans by holding a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. Many organization and individuals participated.

2

D

uring the week of Dec. 8-14, the school participated in Code.org’s world-wide Hour of Code initiative in honor of Computer Science Education Week. The goal was to introduce students to the basic logic processes of Computer Science in an hour. During Bruin Block on Monday, Dec. 8 and Tuesday, Dec. 9, students were allowed to spend time on the Hour of Code websites, where they could access audios and tutorials.

Google’s Made with Code, an organization made to encourage girls to get involved in computer science, helped light up the state Christmas trees in front of the White House. Girls from across the country got to help pick light patterns and displays for 56 little trees.

4 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

This page was compiled and written by managing editors Emily Migdal and Sara Kim.

$10

Ayman Farid FCPS OnBoard pg. 7

News

Hao Nguyen Fantasy Flight pg. 9

Across nation, protestors demand justice n Nov. 24, a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson after he was involved in an altercation that resulted in the death of a black teenager, Michael Brown. Some people saw this as exemplifying the systematic racism in this country and in the justice system. Others saw the decision as correct, saying that Wilson was defending himself and had the right to shoot. This issue has polarized people along racial and political lines.

Many people turned to social media to voice their opinion, while others took to the streets of Washington, D.C. and other cities throughout the world to protest, chanting things such as “hands up, don’t shoot” and blocking intersections

throughout the city. Protesters held “dieins,” where people laid on the ground in silence, representing the time Michael Brown’s body laid on the street after he was shot.

The protests and petitions prompted President Obama to pledge $263 million to increase the use of body cameras by police officers, impose stricter regulations on military style weapons and improve relations between law enforcement and minority communities through a special task force. This is encouraging to all those fighting for the cause, showing that their voices really can make a difference.

On Dec. 3, a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict the officer responsible for the killing of Eric Garner, a 43-yearold black man, who was arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. The ambiguity that existed in the Wilson case did not

exist here. The entire event was captured on video. After Garner refused to comply with his orders, the law enforcement officer, Daniel Pantaleo, choked Garner to death using a chokehold that has been illegal for 21 years. The medical examiner declared Garner’s death a homicide. This reinvigorated the already-large protests.

Many people, including The Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson, see this as a strong argument against the implementation of body cameras, claiming that more drastic measures need to be taken.

While the fatalities of Garner and Brown cannot be repaired, people hope to use these events to spark change in our nation. Seniors David Finn, Sarah Divita and Dante Shrader attended protests in our nation’s capital to raise awareness and demand reform.

Sarah Divita, 12

Dante Shrader, 12

David Finn, 12

by Daniel Jarris - Staff Writer

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photos by Daniel Jarris 6

“The issue of police brutality has been largely ignored for far too long. Police are rarely held accountable for their actions.

These protests show that we won’t tolerate this and we won’t give up until justice is served.

I think that it is important, as a white person, to go to these protests and amplify the voices of the oppressed.”

The Bear Facts

17 December 2014

“This rift in the nation has no foreseeable end. The least someone can do is to not stop talking about [the event] so it doesn’t happen again.”

“Civil demonstration is not only an effective method of making the government aware that their constituency is dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, but it is also empowering to those that would remain silent. A movement almost always gains traction because of public protest. The government needs to follow through with the president’s intention to demilitarize the police. Our police forces need to be held to a higher standard.”

Does FCPS spy on students via the internet?

by Lucia Kim - Staff Writer

S

tudents who frequently use the FCPS network may have already noticed that it is now asking for a lot more than just clicking the ‘yes’ button to access the internet. The rumor is that this will mean the county can monitor online activity. However, the county has always had this ability.

The only change in the network is how people connect to the network, which is being implemented countywide in all schools.

“The county’s motive in doing this was that they’ve been tasked by the school board to keep track of how many devices are using their network,” school-based technology specialist Charles Brewer said.

Previously, the school recorded the number of devices using the network through Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). BYOD required students to go through the registration process to access their devices and was indicated by a sticker placed on their devices.

There were only about 300 people who had been registered under BYOD, but at any given time, there were well over

1,000 people connected to the network.

As a result, the main motive of the county is to get a more accurate account of how many devices are using the network.

“Because the county is sponsoring the network, they have the right to know how many people are using the network,” freshman Stanley Tran said.

However, some students are not exactly pleased with the change,

“They have the right to know how many people are using the network.”

- Stanly Tran regardless of the reason behind it.

“I think they s h o u l d

have just told us and found a way to only allow registered devices online”, freshman Alex Rashid said.

Brewer said the county has always been able to monitor online traffic only a few people are in charge of monitoring online activity. The county has no interest in spying on students, but does have a legal obligation to monitor online trafficking to ensure no illegal activities are being carried out, he said.

“There have been cases in the past where the [Motion Picture Association of America] has actually sued universities and education systems,” Brewer said, “because people were using their network to do illegal activities.”

Along with monitoring online trafficking for illegal activities, the network records the MAC address, username and password, so it could theoretically help students locate missing devices using the MAC address. This is similar to the paperwork from BYOD last year.

“That was one of the nice things when we were doing paper ones,” Brewer said, “because we put those stickers on it, and I was able to help four or five people recover smartphones last year.”

WiFi system creates confusion for students

I

n a year beset with various changes and new additions to student lives in FCPS many students are regarding the recent WiFi network switch as simply another dictatorial adjustment by the school system. Some, in fact, believe that it is an effort by FCPS to be able to view what students are doing on their phones. The reality, however, seems to be that no such effort will take place, simply because FCPS doesn’t have the time to do such things.

“I really don’t think they’re watching what students do on their phones,” business teacher Eileen Fox said. “They just don’t have the time.”

LB students have echoed this sentiment, agreeing that the school system doesn’t really have any motivation to constantly check up on students. Some have even added that the surveillance feature might not be a bad thing.

“I seriously don’t think that FCPS has the time, nor the desire, nor the money to look at what we’re doing on our phones,” junior Michael Rivera said.

However, despite the reassurances proving otherwise, students can’t shake off the idea that FCPS is invading their

privacy. While FCPS may not have sufficient motivation to check up on student activities, the fact that they have the power to scares many students. For example, the terms and conditions of the new WiFi states: “Activities on the FCPS network may be subject to discovery under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FCPS reserves the right to monitor and investigate all devices and

activities on the FCPS network.”

In addition to this, despite these attempts by FCPS to expedite the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) process, some are still having difficulties connecting to the network. For example, Android users need to have a passcode on their phone in order to download the app necessary to connect to the network.

“I have an Android phone, so I haven’t gotten the app,” junior Kobe Jones said. “Plus, I’m pretty sure the school is able to go into all my files and look at everything I’m doing.”

Despite these uncertainties, however, many students and teachers alike believe that the new network is a positive step. They believe that FCPS is looking towards the future and embracing new technology as well as helping students who use the WiFi in positive ways before, during and after school.

“I do think that this was a worthwhile investment by FCPS,” Fox said. “It will also impact how much we spend Servers such as these, are the backbone of the new WiFi neton technology down the road.” work at at LB.

17 December 2014

photos by Tribune News Service

by Ayman Farid - Staff Writer

The Bear Facts 7

Despite progress, LGBT issues remain everyone at the school is quite accepting.”

While others have different approaches towards teasing and bullying, Hong-Clanoday’s teenagers are very open cy and Slomski deal with their bullies in about gay rights. At LB there’s similar ways. an active Gender Sexuality As“Usually when people make fun of my sociation that holds meetings every other sexual preference I’ll just laugh about it Tuesday. However, this doesn’t mean and ignore it,” Hong-Clancy said. “It’s restudents aren’t ostracized for their sexual ally hard to change people’s minds about preference. such intense topics.”

“I’ve had people call me a f***** or These active resources tell us how life d***,” sophomore Kai Hong-Clancy said, can be like when bullied over your sexual “once I even had someone call me a gay orientation. lord, I’ve learned to just ignore it “Usually what I’ll do if it’s and brush it off because it’s bea girl is tell them some facts come such an often occurrence.” about the LGBTQ community, According to recent bullying stabut if it’s a boy I’ll tell them I tistics on bullyingstatistics.org, get more girls than they do.” gay and lesbian teens are two to Slomski said. three times more likely to commit English teacher Kelly Mcteen suicide than other youths. In Millan is an active supporter fact, about nine out of 10 LGBT of the LGBTQ and shares her teens have reported being bullied at opinion on gay rights.“I still school within the past year because don’t think everyone is very of their sexual orientation. LB has open about gay rights, but it’s posters hung around the school getting a lot better than it used directed to students saying that to be,” McMillan said. “If I bullying about sexual preference ever saw a student being made will not be tolerated by the school. fun of because of their sexual However, some students don’t feel preference I would get right in they’re being treated fairly. there and break it up. Discrimi“The closest thing we have to nation is not okay under any acceptance is the GSA, and that’s circumstances.” mainly run by students,” Hong- A gay pride parade rolls down a busy San Francisco street in June.

by Ashley Lustig - Staff Writer

T

Clancy said. “A lot of the students at school make fun of me for being gay so I would have to say no, Lake Braddock does not have a good acceptance for gay students.”

Other LGBTQ students feel differently about the school’s gay community, like freshman Jackie Slomski.

“I think the school is really accepting of the gay community, like they even have a LGBTQ club,” Slomski said. “Some people still view sexuality as taboo so not

high school construction plan approved

by Daniel Dodson - Staff Writer

O

photo courtesy of Tribune News Service 8

n Election Day last year, a referendum was on the ballot for FCPS to take out a $10 million bond to begin the process of building a new high school in southwest Fairfax County.

“This is a long-term acquisition, and it will be a number of years before anything happens,” FCPS facilities management representative Dave Porter said.

This new high school is supposed to bring relief to the already overcrowded high schools in the area. By the 201819 school year, Westfield will be at 105 percent capacity, 5 percent more students than the school was designed to hold.

Other schools’ enrollment numbers will be: Centreville at 111 percent capacity, Chantilly at 103 percent capacity and Herndon at 121 percent capacity, according to an FCPS study.

“It will take three years to build the school, but we haven’t even found the land yet,” Porter said.

Once built, the school is expected to enroll around 2.000-plus students.

The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

Unfortunately, the new high school won’t even start the enrollment process until 2020, when enrollment will be even higher in the already overcrowded schools.

In the eastern part of the county, Lake Braddock and other schools had a similar

It will take three years to build the school, but we haven’t found the land yet.

- Dave Porter problem with overcrowding more than 10 years ago. In response, South County High School was built, and now the schools in our area will only be between 85 and mid90 percent capacity in the next 10 years,

leaving plenty of space for more students.

Overcrowding in schools shows up on students’ report cards.

Stuart High School, has one of the highest overflows in the county and is the lowest performing school in the county.

On the contrary, the least-crowded school, Langley, has some of the highest test scores in the county.

“Students in school buildings in poor condition had achievement that was 6 percent below schools in fair condition and 11 percent below schools in excellent condition,” according to the Department of Education website.

The Department of Education study looking specifically at DC Public Schools, where a school considered “in poor condition” was seen as overcrowded and bad repair.

Building one new school may not be enough to relieve all the heavily overcrowded schools in the vastly developing area of western Fairfax County. Fairfax County has already projected that 135,000 people will move into the county by 2025, a number that will just keep increasing each year.

Seniors Michaela Avino (left), Hao Nguyen (middle) and Josheph Young Hwang (right) work with different children as a part of Fantasy Flight.

NHS paves runway for Fantasy Flight

by Hao Nguyen - Business Manager

O

n Dec. 6, the National Honor Society took part in helping terminally-ill children experience a carefree day filled with smiles and joy. In partnership with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Fantasy Flight allows children to travel to the “North Pole,” where they can create their own ornaments, garnish tasty sweets and have a magical experience.

Volunteers from all over the D.C. metro area came to Dulles International Airport to assist in setting up and decorating for the event. Every day of the week leading up to Saturday, volunteers helped by completing countless tasks.

Some included setting up Christmas

trees, wrapping presents and decorating the walls so that the children actually believed that they were in the North Pole.

“I helped hang the decorations on the ceiling,” senior Brian Gilmore said. “It was a lot of work, but I knew [it] was going to be worth it.”

As in past years, NHS advisers Terri Hatch and Mary Beckett partnered with seven-year Fantasy Flight coordinator Ken Wade. Wade and LB’s NHS have partnered for the past two years, and NHS members have had priority sign-up separate from the public one.

“Mrs. Hatch, Mrs. Beckett and the NHS students have done an incredible job in preparing for and supporting Fantasy Flight,” Wade said.

The main goal of Fantasy Flight is for

the children to not have to worry about their life-threatening conditions. “[It gives] terminally-ill children a few hours of fun and a chance to enjoy the season,” Hatch said. “Not dwelling on or thinking about their illness, allowing kids to be kids.”

Both sides, volunteers and children, found this experience to be very rewarding. Just one of LB’s many participants, senior Caitlin Keenan, seemed to have as much fun as the kids themselves.

“My favorite part of Fantasy Flight was seeing the children smiling and giving me hugs after I painted their face,” Keenan said. “Seeing them smiling and not having a care in the world was truly a magical experience.”

business now because people are turned off by the construction,” Zinga Kings Park assistant manager and LB alumnae Kenia Olivo said.

A decrease in business for many of these stores isn’t just due to the visual eyesore the construction creates. Olivo said it is also very noisy in the shopping center, as well as covered in both dust and Styrofoam.

“In the mornings, it’s usually really loud because of drilling,” Olivo said.

“Also, there was dust and styrofoam everywhere, and sometimes it got into the stores.”

Another thing that has made the process so damaging to these stores is the fact that the construction has been a nearconstant since summer. In fact, demolition and construction have been going on for about six and a half months now.

However, despite the disturbances construction has caused, once completed, the new Giant will certainly be a beneficial addition to the Kings Park shopping center.

While the old Giant may not necessarily have been in terrible shape, many feel that having a newer, fresher building certainly won’t hurt. In addition to that, the new Giant is also planned to be much larger than the old one, making many frequent Giant shoppers excited.

“I thought it was fine before,” Olivo said, “but it is nice that it’ll be larger. I’m looking forward to that.”

While this change did cause some disruption for other businesses in the area, it may not have had quite the same impact on students. Most students who live in neighborhoods around that area, in fact, experienced little-to-no change in their daily lives due to the construction.

“The renovation didn’t really affect my daily life all that much,” Tran said. ”There wasn’t much sound or disturbance either, which was good.”

With construction scheduled to be finished in March 2015, patrons will certainly be looking forward to the opening of the new Kings Park Giant.

by Ayman Farid - Staff Writer

F

or months, anyone passing by the Kings Park shopping center on Rolling Road would be witness to a scene seemingly out of a demolition derby. With various large construction machines littering the area and a large cloud of dust becoming a common sight, the construction of a new Giant certainly was quite a spectacle, a scene that could often be hard to ignore.

“After the Giant was torn down, it was just a bunch of broken pieces of metal,” junior Colin Schaefer said. “It looked like a bomb had gone off.”

While construction of the new Giant may be a beneficial renovation, it did create some disruption. With the construction scene not being all that easy on the eyes, as well as creating complications with parking, many other businesses in the shopping center have experienced a drop in their business.

“Most of the stores here get a lot less

17 December 2014

photos by Jake Gold

Giant construction causes shopping center disruption

The Bear Facts 9

photo by Amanda Hendrix with illustration by Elena Simon

10 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

A detailed look at increasing cases of depression and suicide found in Fairfax County Public Schools.

The News In-Depth

Not Another Life To Lose In light of the recent surge in suicides, FCPS grasps for answers—and results

30 percent of students reported depressive symptoms 17 percent of students reported considering suicide 4 percent of students reported attempting suicide 38 percent of females reported having depression

by Kinaya Hassane - Staff Writer

T

he Sept. 28 death of Cara Golias, a junior at Fairfax High School, “took everybody by surprise,” her father, Michael, said in an interview with the Washington Post. Golias was a gifted student-athlete with a 4.3 GPA and a passion for science.

Since September, at least three students in Fairfax County, including Golias, have committed suicide. One was a 17-year-old student at South Lakes, and the other was a 15-year-old at Robinson. Their deaths, among a series of others in the past several years, have raised a red flag in FCPS and led to an overhaul of its current mental health and suicide prevention programs.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) decided to help the reform process.

Intervention by the CDC is a relatively common occurrence in areas where violent deaths like suicide and homicide become issues. Recently, the group sent funding to Oklahoma to gather information on recent trends. CDC experts are coming into Fairfax County to assess potential “suicide clusters” within the county and are also holding focus group meetings with parents at high schools that recently lost students to suicide. In addition to these efforts, $2.8 million in aid from the Virginia state government is going to be put into use during the next five years to expand county mental health programs.

According to a report presented to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, between 2003 and 2011, the county suicide rate among teens was 5.8 percent in comparison to the national rate, 7.3 percent. However, suicide in this area is still a troubling issue because, as detailed in the report, “in a county as large as Fairfax, even relatively low rates result in immense impacts” and “the impact of suicide on families, friends and communities is immeasurable.”

The overhaul of the county’s current

mental health programs will likely include the implementation of new software to train faculty in identifying potentially-troubled students, said junior Anastasia Slepukhova, who is on the county’s Student Advisory Council.

“The county has been working with an independent company that developed an interactive software similar to a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ game to train teachers,” Slepukhova said. “I had the opportunity to try it out. It is really effective and teaches educators how to notice signs and properly approach students.”

At LB, the new approach to mental health has been shaped around student feedback, which has led to the creation of a yearlong, pyramid-wide Compassion in Action campaign instead of a single AntiBullying Week.

The priority has been bullying rather than stress since “bullying is often associated with suicides,” guidance counselor Deb Brown said.

In regards to suicide prevention, little reform has been made in dayto-day procedures at the school other than recently-instated depression screenings for eighth and 10th graders.

“Our daily protocol has remained the same,” Brown said. “When another student, parent or teacher gives us information that a student has indicated they could be suicidal, we find the student immediately and speak to them. We assess the student and then decide the next steps.”

The guidance office gets several reports a week warning them of potentially-suicidal students, and each of those is addressed as to whether the student should be evaluated by a mental health professional or sent directly to a hospital.

So while little change is needed in terms of handling cases of depression, there is a growing emphasis on prevention, especially in regards to bullying.

“We see [bullying] as an important issue to tackle,” Brown said. “We are stepping up the efforts to combat bullying and promote compassion and resilience for all students.”

“We are stepping up the efforts to combat bullying and promote compassion and resilience.”

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 11

Maggie Komoniewski

Laura Sizemore pg. 14

Profile

Gerardo Cerna Chris Schweitzer pg. 15

A Leader for Tomorrow

By Maggie Komoniewski - Staff Writer

Throughout her high school career, junior Anastasia Slepukhova has been a participant of Key Club, SGA and SAC and has become the Key Club District Governor, an SAC officer, a class officer and is on the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission.

photo courtesy of Anastasia Slepukhova

12 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

Slepukhova has been an intern for the school board and has participated in discussing suicide prevention with Fairfax County School Board members including Ryan McElveen (left).

Slepukhova participates in a Key Club divisional council meeting with fellow district executives (upper right). In addition to her work as Key Club district governor, Slepukhova has been an intern for the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America (CADCA). Through CADCA, Slepukhova has participated in the . annual awards banquet as an officer of the Fairfax County Unified Prevention Coalition (lower right).

“I’ve lost three elections in Key Club (eight in total counting class and other organizations) before becoming district governor. I never let my defeats hold me down; I saw them as a challenge to improve and try again.”

B

etween her leadership roles in Key Club, SGA, SCA and more, junior Anastasia Slepukhova works around the clock, making a difference in her school, the community and around the world.

Key Club is a service-oriented organization, though its members, including Slepukhova, see it as much more than that. Key Club collectively performs more than 13 million hours of service annually and serves homes, schools and communities by participating in projects that help address the needs of the community. Its members see it as a place for selfless and passionate people to come together to make a difference in their communities and beyond.

“Community service means giving something of myself that will never die,” Slepukhova said. “Generosity, love, hope—a piece of happiness that will live forever in the hearts of the recipients.”

Slepukhova was inspired to get involved with Key Club and make a difference because she heard that they were closely associated with UNICEF. She and her family witnessed UNICEF making a difference firsthand in Kyrgyzstan, the country in which Slepukhova was born.

Iodine deficiency was a big issue in the country, until UNICEF helped add iodine to Kyrgyzstan’s salt supply.

“Key Club opens doors to opportunities that can change your life,” Slepukhova said.

Slepukhova was so pleased with her experience in Key Club her freshman year that she decided to take on a bigger role. She ran for a regional office and was elected as a lieutenant governor her sophomore year and a capital district governor this year, her junior year.

Her responsibilities include operating the district board and representing more than 260 clubs and over 15,000 members in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. She helps to train the district officers, appoint committees and assign directives. She is directly responsible for overseeing 34 lieutenant governors and making sure they have everything they need to serve their clubs.

Since she has taken on a leadership position, she has had to sacrifice some of the time she could be using to volunteer to do administration work.

“One of the hardest parts of my job is that I rarely see the direct impact of my work,” Slepukhova said. “However, I understand that my work enables others to do meaningful service and that is enough of a reward itself.”

Key Club has opened doors to Slepukhova as well. Through Key Club, Slepukhova has made life-long

friendships and learned valuable skills, such as email etiquette, public speaking and how to plan successful events. Being a district governor also means that she is a part of the Key Club International Council, which has opened opportunities for her to travel a lot. Beginning during the first three months of her term, Slepukhova traveled to Indianapolis twice for two separate leadership trainings. Her position requires her to travel around D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Delaware as much as possible, and she often travels to Virginia Beach, Baltimore and Winchester.

However, she has also made trips to Los Angeles and North Carolina. In the next few months, she will be traveling to Ohio, West Virginia, Barbados and Indiana.

“I love traveling and seeing the country,” Slepukhova said, “especially since all of my flights, hotels and meals are paid for.”

On top of almost seven hours of school, three AP classes and more than 20 hours of work for Key Club per week, Slepukhova is an SAC Officer, a class officer, in SGA, and on the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission.

“Every day, I wake up knowing I have 15,000 people depending on me to do my job,” Slepukhova said. “The pressure is very beneficial, as it motivates me to do my best.”

photos courtesy of Anastasia Slepukhova

Driven by service, Slepukhova leads

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 13

Sophomore Laura Sizemore

Raising Empowerment for FCPS Women

Sophomore Laura Sizemore was chosen out of 30 students in the country as a student representative for the Fairfax County Commission for Women, which supports women’s full equality She was appointed on Oct. 13 and will be holding the position until May 2016.

by Maggie Komoniewski - Staff Writer

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photo by Elena Simon

ophomore Laura Sizemore was recently appointed as the student representative for the Fairfax County Commission for Women, a commission created in 1971, that continues to serve the Board of Supervisors on subjects pertaining to women’s equality.

Sizemore’s parents made her aware of the position, which they heard about through their friends.

She was inspired to join the fight for women’s rights by her parents, who are committed to creating equality for disabled people.

To apply, Sizemore had to complete a written application and be interviewed. In her interview for the position, she was asked several questions regarding why she wanted to join the commission.

“I decided it would be an exciting opportunity where I could help others, so I applied,” Sizemore said.

Sizemore was selected for the position out of about 30 applicants. She was appointed on Oct. 13 and will hold the position until May 2016. She was excited to hear she received the position and is ready to start helping make a difference in her community.

“Actually receiving it felt like a miracle had occurred,” she said.

Sizemore has been on the board for just over two months. So far, she has participated as a voting member, helped decide on future events for the committee and helped to provide insight on her views as a female student.

Her views are helpful in discussing issues such as domestic violence and human trafficking. In the near future, she will be meeting with the Board of Supervisors to help create programs and laws to promote equality for women and girls in the community and leading a Student Advisory Committee, a subcommittee for the Commission for Women.

Sizemore is excited to be in a position where she is able to make a difference in her community.

“I have learned the importance of equality in communities and how to speak up for my beliefs,” she said. “I am learning how to lead others to help change their community.”

14 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

“I have learned the importance of equality in communities and how to speak up for my beliefs.”

In the past two months, Sizemore’s role in the commission has already exceeded her expectations.

She was expecting to be a voting member in the commission and provide them insight; however, she was not expecting to be leading a subcommittee for the commission or having to read up on and follow Fairfax County government.

“This position has let me speak out for others and has given me an opportunity to help and lead others,” she said. “I have also learned the importance of researching and proving what I am trying to say.”

Besides the commission, Sizemore is on color guard, a part of Lake Braddock Theatre and is a dancer at Buffa’s Dance Studio.

“I am almost always doing something,” she said. “Whether it’s practice for color guard or dance or studying for school, I am almost never sitting around doing nothing.”

Junior Chris Schweitzer

“My passion for art comes from the fact that it just feels natural.

I love how it feels to render something imaginary into something everyone can see.”

Aside from her work on paper, Schweitzer also explores her musical side. On weekends she takes the Metro to D.C., and plays her ukulele on the streets of the nation’s capital.

“Most of the times, I position myself around the Smithsonian area because that’s where most people tend to be on weekends,” Schweitzer said. “The people around give me a fair amount of tips, but I do it for the experience and fun of it.”

Junior Chris Schweitzer plans on pursuing art as her major career after high school and inspires to draw and create music along the way. She draws a detail self portrait of herself (left). Schweitzer creates tattoos and hopes to one day have one of her own designs be used in local tattoo shops or see it being used on someone (center). Practicing her painting skills, Schweitzer paints on a young man’s back creating different pieces of artwork (right).

17 December 2014

photos courtesy of Chris Schweitzer

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ince the start of her career in art, junior Chris Schweitzer has created many paintings, sculptures, sketches and even designed tattoos.

Her expertise in art is a talent that would take someone years to master.

Starting to doodle at the age of 5, drawing the same picture over and over, she didn’t take art seriously until the fifth grade.

“I was always that one kid in kindergarten who would get cranky because I couldn’t color inside the lines,” Schweitzer said. “It wasn’t until I was living in Germany in fifth grade that I started to refine and clean up my skills.”

Although Schweitzer doodled all over notebooks and sketched on random paper, the first sketch she drew was a character she created in her head named Zara. “[Zara] was part wolf, wore an eyepatch and had 20 silver earrings,” Schweitzer said. “She was my first real creation.”

Being a military child and moving around to many different places, Schweitzer was exposed to many people and unique cultures. She could’ve found inspiration in something as complex as a great piece of architecture or simple scenery, but instead, she found inspiration from her mom.

“I was home-schooled most of the time we were stationed in Korea by my mom,” Schweitzer said. “Being a painter herself, she made sure I was exposed to all things art: painting, sketching, writing, you name it.”

Since then, Schweitzer has become very passionate about all things art. In the future she hopes to get a scholarship to a college with a great art program. Her top three colleges are the University of Art in Stuttgart, Champlain College and the Maryland Institute College of Art, all universities focused around art.

“My passion for art comes from the fact that it just feels natural,” Schweitzer said. “I love how it feels to render something imaginary into something everyone can see, or how I can look at a person or thing and mimic or modify its appearance into whatever I want.”

The first tattoo she designed was in summer camp three years ago, when a counselor walked up to her and asked her to design a phoenix to cover his entire back.

“It’s an absolute honor to have someone ask you to

design their tattoo,” Schweitzer said. “As an artist, it’s really meaningful for someone to want your artwork on their body for the rest of their life.”

After high school, Schweitzer plans on focusing her career around art. Schweitzer has expanded her artistic ability from doodling to writing novels. She currently sells some of her artwork on the site Etsy or over Facebook.

She hopes that doing all this now will help her launch her career into something she wants to do for the rest of her life.

Designing through ink, sketches and paint

by Gerardo Cerna - Staff Writer

The Bear Facts 15

Daniel Jarris Movies to Watch pg. 17

Arts

Jake Gold ‘Hairspray’ Preview pg. 18

Start The Bidding The LB art department hosted an auction on Dec. 5 and raised more than $2,000 for the spring show and art supplies.

by Jake Gold - Staff Writer

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photos by Jake Gold and cutouts by Maddie Sievers

rt classes are often brushed aside in schools. According to a 2012 survey by the U.S. Department of Education, 11 percent of secondary schools do not offer a visual arts course.

To combat the overall disregard arts within the education system, the Arts Department at LB hosted an auction in the library on Dec. 5, with proceeds—$2000—going to the arts department’s spring art show and art supplies.

“I think it’s a great that we’re having a silent auction,” senior and National Art Honor Society president Eriko Spurlock said, “since it helps bring more attention to the value of art in our school.”

Middle and high school students contributed ceramics, sculptures, paintings, drawings or photography for purchase by teachers, faculty and art students.

“All of the sections of the art department are involved, meaning any studio art, photography, ceramics, or computer graphics students are making contributions,” Spurlock said.

The library staff hosts a “tea day” every year for faculty and staff. This year, alongside the biscuits, tea and winter reading options, the arts department lined the library’s bookshelves with student17 December 2014

The Bear Facts 16

created pieces of artwork.

“The head librarian, Vicki Emery, and principal Dave Thomas both bring a lot of support to the art auction,” art teacher Josephine Stokes said. “Some schools don’t have the support we do.”

The highest bid ($85) was for a painting of the Aurora Borealis by senior Grace Kristin.

“I was really surprised to see that people were actually willing to pay for my work,” Kristin said. “It is a great feeling knowing that others appreciate something I’ve worked so hard on.”

The art auction served many purposes.

Close to $2000, raised by sale of artwork during the auction, funded art supplies within the school and the school’s spring art show. “[The auction] provides an opportunity for the faculty and staff to purchase art,” Stokes said. “It’s an event that unifies the school. It’s also a way for students to understand the monetary value of their artwork.”

The sale of students’ artwork didn’t only benefit the students within the arts department. It also served to increase the recognition the Arts Department gets within the school. “[The auction] created great awareness for the arts in Lake Braddock,” photography teacher Teresa Rose said.

“The support from both the staff and students was truly awesome.”

A Holiday Movie Preview • compiled by Daniel Jarris

In Theaters Nationwide:

5 Winter Movies To Watch For 1. Into the Woods Dec. 25

2. Unbroken Dec. 26 Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling book, this movie is the story of the life of Louis Zamperini, an American airman in World War II. While flying over the Pacific, Zamperini’s plane was shot down, leaving him stranded on a raft. After nearly 50 days drifting in the ocean, he was captured and taken as a prisoner in the brutal Japanese war camps. This is a story of a man’s perseverance in times where even the strongest people might wish for death.

Director Angelina Jolie is joined by screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) in this highly-anticipated film, which is by far Jolie’s largest project as a director.

3. A Most Violent Year Dec. 31 Based in crime-riddled 1981 New York City, A Most Violent Year follows immigrant Abel Morales, played by Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis and Drive), alongside his wife Anna, played by Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty and The Help) in his struggle to create a successful business. Crime and corruption threaten both his business and his family in what was the most dangerous year in the city’s history. After showings at multiple film festivals, director J.C. Chandor’s (Margin Call and All is Lost) latest film has received overwhelming praise.

4. American Sniper Jan. 16 Clint Eastwood returns to the director’s chair for his latest film, American Sniper, which is based on the autobiography of Navy S.E.A.L. Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper.

Kyle is thought to be the deadliest sniper in all of American history. This film has received generally positive reviews, particularly for Cooper’s performance, but criticism for its lack of originality, claiming that it is too similar to the many war films already out there. Regardless, this film promises to be filled with rampant patriotism and glorification of war, resulting in an entertaining film for many.

5. Red Army Jan. 22 This documentary is set during the glory days of the Soviet Union’s hockey team and is narrated by their former captain Slava Fetisov. As the once-prosperous Soviet Union began to dwindle, so did its pride and joy: the Red Army hockey team. This film highlights the major connection between politics and sports. During a time of tense relations between the United States and the Soviets, many Soviet players began to move to the United States to play in the National Hockey League, perpetuating Cold War tensions. With 23 votes from critics, Red Army has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

17 December 2014

photo courtesy of Red Army official Facebook page, Into the Woods, Unbroken, A Most Violent Year and American Sniper official movie sites.

The acclaimed cast of Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick and Meryl Streep join forces in this creative spin on many classic fairy tales. This musical combines Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood into one story about a baker and his wife. This combination of fables was first performed as a Broadway show in 1987, receiving a multitude of Tony awards. Many fans of the previous renditions of Into the Woods are skeptical that the Disney version will not retain its dark theme. With all of the stars onboard this film, it is expected to be a magical event for the whole family.

The Bear Facts 17

LBMT Dives Hair First In Preperation for Upcoming ‘Hairspray’

by Jake Gold - Staff Writer

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photos by Jake Gold

Kirsten Chase plays Tracy Turnbland (above), Sarah Kreienbrink and Michaela Nichols play Velma Von Tussle and Amber respectivly (top right), Melissa Pampell, Bianca Thurgood, Courtney Quigley and Abby Malloy rehearse (top picture).

18 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

ith a history of powerful productions, Lake Braddock Musical Theatre (LBMT) promises to present another hit show with its winter performance, Hairspray, showing Jan. 22-25. Hairspray is a 1960’s story of a plus-sized performer, Tracy Turnblad (played by junior Kirsten Chase), who goes toeto-toe with a racist TV show producer Velma Von Tussle (senior Sarah Kreienbrink) in an attempt to integrate The Corny Collins Show, a popular fictional Baltimore-based dance program. On The Corny Collins Show, African Americans are only allowed to perform on one designated day per month, a rule challenged by the forward-thinking Tracy.

Hairspray features several subplots as well, including a love story between Tracy and her enemy Amber’s (sophomore Michaela Nichols) dreamy ex-boyfriend Link Larkin (junior Tyler King), as well as another romantic fling between Tracy’s best friend Penny (senior Kaitlyn Lunardi) and a charismatic AfricanAmerican youth named Seaweed (sophomore Micah Super). Tracy’s mom, Edna, helps her along the way. Comically, Edna Turnblad is being played by sophomore Josh Lee. The role is typically played by a man.

“I have to wear a dress and a wig and all of that stuff,” Lee said. “I don’t mind at all. I think it’s a difficult but fun acting challenge.”

The initial Hairspray rehearsals suffered a minor setback. They couldn’t use the Little Theatre, where the final show will be

presented.

“The fall shows have rights to the theater every year, then the music department with winter concerts get it next,” sophomore Theresa Rose, who plays Beatnik Chick, said. “We go into the theater at the end of December and January because of all the use.”

Without the Little Theatre, the performers were left to rehearse in the high school chorus room. But the troubles didn’t end there: rehearsals often ran from 6 p.m. to 8 or 9 p.m.

“Rehearsals are so late because we were allowing people in the fall shows to not miss either rehearsal,” Rose said. “Late rehearsals helped with attendance.”

Despite the initial hiccups, LBMT barely skipped a beat.

“Everything is going super well,” Lee said.

“The cast is all getting along, and we’re getting a lot of work done. It should be great.”

The group has finished learning the musical numbers in Hairspray and have moved on to the blocking of the production. That is the movements and positions of the performers throughout the show.

“Recently, a lot of the actors have really started to become the characters they’re playing,” Nichols said, “which is amazing to see.”

The Hairspray cast has been through strenuous late-night rehearsals and a surplus of bonding time.

“Every rehearsal, we work harder and get better and become closer as a family, not just a cast,” said junior Kayley Manarchuck, who plays Tammy.

Three of the Best, One of the Worst: Cars Dominic Prakash,

Automotive Technology

1. Chevorlet Monte Carlo SS

2. 1969 Dodge Dart GT

3. Aston Martin

“The Monte Carlo was the first car that I bought myself, brand new. And I like it because the back seat can carry people, less like the Camaro, where the back seat is useless.

It’s an affordable version of the ‘60s and ‘70s muscle cars.

I own five of them. I like that it has a comfortable back seat for my kids and that it’s reasonably easy to make, a lot faster and a lot more fun to drive.

My 1 year old has her own Monte Carlo in her driveway. We bought her one for her first birthday.”

“The Dodge Dart was my first car. It was a gift from my dad. I actually bought it from my dad, and then all through high school, I modified it in auto shop with the help of my auto shop teacher. I just really liked it. It’s a car that I really worked on so I learned to work on cars on that car.

I bought it from my dad. All through high school, I modified it with the help of my auto shop teacher. I like how much I learned by working on that car. The fact that I still don’t have it...I wish I still had that car.

I like how much I learned from working on that car.”

“Growing up in England, which is where they’re made, I just always loved those cars. I just think all their cars are very stylish, well-engineered. They’re very good-looking cars.

Way beyond my pay rate, but if you’re going to dream, you might as well have what you want.

My wife loves those cars, too. If we could have anything, we would have an Aston Martin.

The thing is, that one car costs more than the eight cars that we already have. [I don’t like] the price, but it’s a handmade car, so I can’t say too much about it.”

The Worst: Minivans “[A car I would never own is] a minivan. I just don’t like minivans. It’s just a partial thing for me. That was part of the deal with my wife. I would never marry a woman who would want to drive a minivan. It’s not the only reason, but I married my wife because she would rather drive a Suburban than a minivan.

I personally don’t like the way it drives. I don’t like the visibility, and I don’t like just the way they feel.

I think in most of the minivans, you sit so far forward, I just don’t care for it. I like some [space] between me and the car. I’ve had a couple incidents with the gear.

[However], I drive [minivans] a lot because I work on it a lot with them. I’ve had to rent one before for the family for an out-of-state funeral I went to and that was the only thing I could drive because relatives from all over the country came.

I rented one for a time because I’ve had a couple rentals and just working on them, but I’ve never owned one.”

photos courtesy of Conceptcarz, Engine-swaps, Aston Martin and Autos.aol.

‘Three of the best, one of the worst’ is a regular interview in Arts that highlights the favorites of a teacher or a student. In this month’s issue of the Bear Facts, auto tech teacher, Dominic Prakash, is interviewed about his favorite and least favorite cars.

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 19

LB’s Creative Showcase

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’ve always been really interested in the human form so I wanted to do something minimalist, junior Katrinia Mashanova said about her drawing.

I

took it because of the vibrant colors that really showcases the tomato, junior Ben Novorr said about his photography.

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made a bunch of albumthemed artwork for the art show, and I’m doing it again this year, senior Romina Rojas said about her ceramics.

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The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

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wanted to take a picture to remind myself of the time I had on the mountain, junior Jamie Melvin said about her photography.

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he picture is of my sister, and she is a big inspiration to me,

senior Grace Kristin said about her drawing.

B

uilt Up From Ruins is the title of senior Colleen

Murphy’s photo.

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e always do an alter ego shoot on Halloween, and I brought my new fisheye lense to try it out, senior Emma Holzer said about her photography.

17 December 2014

The Bear Facts

21

Jake Gold Executive Orders pg. 24

Comment

Paul Barnhill Urinal Dividers pg. 26

At the intersection of absurd and useless The Staff Editorial

Recent efforts to create a positive school environment are not at all effective

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photo by Amanda Hendrix

hile some may see the new hallway names as an omen of a novel, utopian student body or the sign of a positive change in the school environment, these labels, along with the other anti-bullying and core valuepromoting activities, such as Compassion in Action week, do little to help a pressing need at Lake Braddock.

Though the halls may be receiving new names, the core values mentioned on the signs have not become any more commonplace. This past year, student desks bore a number of paper brainstorming activities that targeted trends in the student population such as bullying and depression. Teachers managed this, prodding the students to give responses. The papers were collected and thrown out, and the students went on with their lives. The emotionallymoving Rachel’s Challenge touched the hearts of many students, though only for an afternoon. Lake Braddock has experienced little to no change.

This latest attempt at creating a positive

22 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

school environment, and the similar efforts in this new school movement are not able to stop bullying. These efforts are either misplaced, ineffective or perhaps entirely useless. In any of these cases, the route of this new movement must be redirected or reinvented to create an actual difference in the halls of the school.

As if the new Bruin Block system has not caused enough unrest in the student population, teenagers become no happier as they go to their third period classes to participate in exercises designed to help promote a positive learning environment. Whether they address how to report bullying or how to breathe, these programs gather little-to-no excitement or participation. Whether it is the students’ attitude or the design of the activities, this use of eighth period Bruin Block is a waste of time.

In the end, these are not the signs of genuine change but merely the latest attempt in an unsuccessful campaign to interest uninterested students. This points only to a dead end, and a different approach must be made to successfully

direct the future course of Lake Braddock.

That is why the school must change its approach to bullying immediately.

First, it must try to encourage students to have the best attitude possible when it comes to participating in these lessons.

This will not occur during a student’s free period but rather during class time.

Second, the lessons must feel genuine.

Forcing teachers to instruct to the same PowerPoint accomplishes nothing.

Teachers should be required to come up with their own anti-bullying lessons.

Finally, demonstrations such as Rachel’s Challenge have proven to be extremely powerful as they are real tragedies. The administration must show more videos and have more assemblies with these real-life examples in order to make the problem more tangible. This way, hopefully, the school can genuinely reach students to curb bullying.

The Staff Editorial is an unsigned editorial that showcases the opinion of the publication’s editorial board.

Juggling equals uniqueness

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ake up, shower, eat breakfast, brush teeth, go to school, pay attention in class, come home, do homework, eat dinner, go to soccer practice, go to sleep. Repeat.

Every day is the same long schedule, with only slight variation to spice things up.

Sometimes, I sit and let my mind roam; I wonder how I got where I am. As I rifle through the filing cabinet of my mind, I find happy memories and sad memories, new memories and old memories, and many memories in between, but there is something missing: something unusual about me, something interesting. I search and search, and I realize that I have led an ordinary life. I don’t have a unique talent that others might find cool - I can’t run a marathon or fly a plane or ride a unicycle.

I’m just your stereotypical middle-class teenage boy living in suburbia. If only there was something to set me apart.

Juggling. I could learn how to juggle.

How many people can juggle? I can count the number of people I know who can on one hand. But I don’t think it can be that hard—those people on TV do it all the time. Just toss a ball up, catch it

I realize now that the ordinary things in life... make us who we are. and simultaneously toss another one.

Repeat. Repeat with more balls! Practice, practice, practice. Juggling is such a unique skill to have; it would set me apart. I could be more than just a boy who goes to school, does his homework, and follows directions; it would make my life extra ordinary.

Okay. I don’t need to learn how to really juggle to be extraordinary. I realize now that the ordinary things in life are just like juggling and can set us apart and make us who we are. Getting up

every day and going to school shows perseverance; juggling takes practice, practice, practice. Paying attention in class and doing my homework shows an eagerness to learn; a skill such as juggling requires a desire to master something new. Playing soccer demonstrates the ability to be a team player, and being the team captain shows leadership. Being involved in so many activities requires dedication and a desire to follow through; in order to juggle, you must be devoted to complete the goals you set. In a sense, I already was a juggler; I already juggle so much: School, work, activities, friends, family. So whether I am juggling balls or juggling my life, all these characteristics, which come from my ordinary life, make me extraordinary.

Devin Moore is a senior at Lake Braddock and will be a freshman at the College of Willliam and Mary next year.

This was the essay he submitted as part of his application to that college.

Volunteering is as seasonal as Jingle Bells

by Marcell Subert - News Editor

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and therefore want to help those less fortunate. These people in need, on the other hand, do not only exist around the holidays but depend on these programs year round. According to a survey done by charitynavigator.org, of the people surveyed, 38 percent said they were more likely to do charitable activities around the holidays versus other times of the year.

A large number of those who volunteer do so in order to fill a requirement for an education establishment or as an obligation to a religious group. Students in FCPS are required to complete at least 40 hours of community service before graduation. Many college fraternities and

Beyond Good and Evil

sororities also have service requirements as do organized religious groups which accounts for 33 percent of all volunteer activity, according to the U.S. Department of labor. At Food For All DC, the majority of volunteers stem from college frats and sororities and make up most of the labor base during the dry summer months.

However, on a November morning like this, with the holidays so near, more lone individuals start to appear from the surrounding neighborhoods or nearby Maryland. Where are all of these people during the months of June, July and August? The common answer would be on vacation, but the college students who make up the volunteer base in these months also have families to go on vacation with. Without any form of group requirement above them, many regular DC dwellers do not find the need to go out and take part in these activities. Most of those unaffiliated with such groups are generally regulars at this program, but new faces are usually scarce.

As the goodwill of the holidays draws to a close, that small church in the heart of our nations capital grows a bit more hollow as the neighborhood residents and yuppies retreat back to their daily lives and the college students come rolling in.

t’s a crisp November morning in the hip neighborhood of Shaw in our nation’s capital, and scores of college students and young professionals are streaming through the back door of a small Universalist church on the corner of 16th and S streets. Site coordinator Graeme King welcomes the volunteers in his broad, Scottish accent to the Food for All DC program. In minutes the activities are underway. Food for All DC is a nonprofit organization that delivers food to homebound residents in all four quadrants of Washington, D.C. On a day so close to the holidays such as this, volunteers flood the open room that leads into the back alleyway.

This similar scene, however, is much less populous compared to other times of the year.

King said the flow of volunteers for the program ebbs during the summer months. This decrease of workforce is common among many nonprofits. It is understandable that people may feel Janet Cox (right) hands out food during St. Peter’s Catholic Beyond Good and Evil highlights more charitable around the holidays church’s annual Christmas dinner. moral, ethical and religious issues

photo by Bergin/Tribune News Service

by Devin Moore - Guest Writer

The Uncommon App

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 23

Going solo: Obama keeps reform moving The Modern World

Obama’s use of executive orders are justified because of the paralyzed Congress

by Jake Gold - Staff Writer

D

photo by Douliery/Tribune News Service

rilled into the heads of civics and government students from day one is the concept of “separation of powers,” an essential part of the U.S. government.

However, during the past two years, the 113th Congress has been less productive than any Congress for the past six decades, according to the Washington Examiner. When Congress does not pass laws, it is only appropriate that the executive branch—namely, President Obama—takes the country’s fate into its own hands. One powerful example of this is Obama’s recent executive order regarding immigration.

There has been an unofficial U.S. policy on immigration for a long time; as long as someone doesn’t commit a major criminal offense, he or she will not be deported. In the executive order,

24 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

Obama merely officialized this policy.

By moving focus away from harmless immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security can move its focus towards more important matters.

“We’re going to keep focusing enforcement resources on actual threats to our security,” Obama said in his address on Nov. 20. “Felons, not families.

Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mother who’s working hard to provide for her kids. We’ll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.”

The idea of deporting “felons, not families” was only one part of the executive action. Harsher border control was another. The most controversial element of the order, however, was entitled accountability. This allows up to five million immigrants—people who have lived in the United States for five years and are parents of a U.S. citizen— to stay without fear of deportation for three years at a time. During this threeyear period these lawful residents must pay taxes; while they are not citizens, they are still benefiting the government and the country.

Obama’s opponents argue that he has overstepped his bounds and that his authority lies in executing, not creating,

the laws. While this may be true, Congress’ lack of action leaves Obama’s executive order completely justified.

“Every president since Eisenhower has taken executive action to address immigration issues,” Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D) said.

Additionally, former President George H.W. Bush made a similar order to prevent the separation of families (entitled the “Family Fairness” program), which affected the same portion of the undocumented population as Obama’s, 40 percent.

While conservatives accuse Obama of executive overreach, his actions were warranted. By encouraging stricter border control, he will reduce the number of undocumented immigrants, and by allowing some undocumented immigrants to receive temporary amnesty through tax paying and background checks, he can reduce the number further.

The reforms will be beneficial to both the U.S. government and immigrants, as well as opening the door for future congressional actions.

The Modern World is a regular column of The Bear Facts focusing on international issues.

Farcical debate about Ferguson

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arlier this December, Ferguson officer Darren Wilson was found innocent of the shooting of Michael Brown. Or, pardon me, he was found innocent of the murder of Michael Brown. Actually, neither of those statements are true in any way, but if you had only heard about Ferguson from debates online, you’d hear those and half a dozen untruths.

The Ferguson “debate” has become a hot topic around the country and in the halls of Lake Braddock, with people heatedly discussing the facts of what exactly happened the night of Michael Brown’s death and the aftermath of the court’s announcement regarding officer Wilson. The problem is that many of these people don’t really know what the facts are, and this touches at the heart of what is wrong with this debate: Nobody is really debating, but rather just screaming incoherently at each other.

These are the facts: On Aug. 9, Brown was shot to death by Wilson following

an altercation between the two. Prior to a constitutionally-protected form of free the incident, Brown allegedly robbed speech). This doesn’t even include the a nearby convenience store, according dozens of thinly-veiled posts claiming to surveillance footage released by that the people of Ferguson, which has authorities. Wilson was one of a number a 60 percent black population, somehow of officers in the area instructed to be on “deserved this.” the lookout for Brown.

There is no doubt that changes need to Everything else following that fateful be made to the justice system to prevent the occurrence is pure conjecture, such as unnecessary deaths of more people, white allegations that Wilson washed the blood or black. But these changes won’t come off his hands. One accusation parroted about through angry, half-true tweets, but by many is that Wilson did not call for through education and knowledge about backup nor reported the shooting until what’s going on in our country. By refusing much later. This is completely and utterly to do something as simple as fact checking false, as reports show that he did call for the accusations we make, we only set back backup following the incident. change another generation. So think about With the massive amount of that, before you click tweet. misinformation and confusion surrounding the case, and the protests and riots that Battleground USA is a regular Bear Facts followed, one would think that people column focusing on national issues. would at least bother to fact check their arguments, but this is not the case. A quick search on Twitter for #ferguson will show dozens of people claiming that Wilson was pronounced innocent (when he was only not indicted), that Brown neither assaulted Wilson nor committed the robbery, that the grand jury was all-white, and that the rioters illegally burned flags Police arrest people in the street outside the Ferguson Police (forgetting that flag burning is Department in Ferguson, Missouri, on Nov. 25.

GOP legslation will stab EPA in the back

by Alex Nesterovich - Staff Writer he Keystone XL pipeline debate dominated environmental conversation in November. In the end, the initiative for the construction of an oil pipeline going from Alberta, Canada to Port Arthur, Texas failed by one vote in the Senate. However, a different bill, sponsored by Utah U.S. Congressman Chris Stewart (R), passed in the House by a 38 vote margin. Framed as a transparency bill, it changes how members of the Scientific Advisory Board, which advises the EPA on policy, are selected, making it easier for “industry experts” (corporate oil leaders) to be on the board. The law will have detrimental effects on the quality of research that makes its way to Gina McCarthy, the EPA’s chief administrator, because independent scientists will find it harder to present their own research to the board. “[The current nomination process]

T

excludes industry experts,” Texas U.S. Congressman Michael Burgess (R) said, “but not officials for environmental advocacy groups.”

With the law, “experts” will constitute a much larger section of the board and will be able to advise McCarthy in passing policies that benefit the oil industry.

Since these “experts” have financial ties to environmental policy, the quality and integrity of information that is presented to Congress on serious environmental concerns will be hugely compromised.

Real environmental scientists, whose careers are founded on thorough research and the publishing of peer-reviewed studies, will have less influence on EPA policy. Sadly, this is simply a continuation of the history of the creation of environmental policy in the United States.

As R. Shep Melnick, Ph.D. mentions in his book Regulation and the Courts: The Case of the Clean Air Act, undue influence on environmental policy in the United States has always had a presence.

In 1979, the American Petroleum Institute pressured the EPA into weakening standards for ozone regulation using studies that did not meet scientific standards of proof and suggested no

The Futurist

adverse effects on humans with 0.25 parts per million of ozone. The ozone panel on the board was largely immobilized, and human health suffered as a result.

Today, the science committees in Congress are still in a desperate state of affairs. Indiana U.S. Congressman Larry Bucshon (R), a member on the House Committee for Science, Space and Technology, is largely financed by Murray Energy, Peabody Energy and Koch Industries: three well-financed coal and oil energy conglomerates that contribute significantly to anthropogenic global warming, a demonstrated scientific phenomenon that Bucshon wholeheartedly denies. As long as financial ties to environmental policy exist, we will never be able to protect the planet.

The selection process for board members needs its integrity restored. The proper way to select members is to choose independent scientists who have spent their careers producing peer-reviewed studies with no hidden agenda. That, Mr. Stewart, is true transparency.

The Futurist is a regular column of the Bear Facts focusing on technological innovation.

17 December 2014

The Bear Facts

photo by Souffle/Tribune News Service

by Bunyamin Sevim - Staff Writer

Battleground USA

25

Divided we stand, Together we Fall The Bruin Connection

Absence of urinal dividers leads to awkward and embarrassing bathroom experiences

by Paul Barnhill - Comment Editor

I

photo illustration by Jesse Sands

n the typical boys’ bathroom at LB, five urinals are located against the wall with pencils, highlighters, erasers, pieces of gum, feces, lunchboxes or some other kind of obstruction on top of the urinal sponge.

During bathroom primetime, particularly between classes, students can be found at the far left, far right and center urinals while other students await their turns by the sink. The two other urinals remain unused unless one brave soul decides to create an awkward tension by taking one of them When this happens, he and those next to him must determinedly stare straight ahead at the wall, not looking to their side at all costs lest they catch an eyeful of another that they probably never wanted to see. This is because it seems that in the infinite wisdom of the building’s interior designers, the decision that the boys’ bathrooms did not need dividers between the urinals was made so the money could be spent on more

26

The Bear Facts

17 December 2014

important things like TVs that are never on.

This is a grievous violation of one of the most sacred rules of bro bathroom etiquette: the 24-inch rule, otherwise known as the buffer urinal rule. Two males peeing within a foot of each other is awkward and weird. It makes many students uncomfortable and causes them to have trouble doing what they came to do. Also, if somebody tries to engage in urinal talk, the thin bonds of respect and compassion that our school holds sacred snap to pieces. Because proper etiquette heavily discourages use of all the urinals, the boys’ bathrooms will never be able to achieve close to maximum efficiency while there is a lack of urinal dividers.

Males are actively encouraged not to use the urinals efficiently due to the lack of dividers, and this isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Whether divider-less urinals work in ballparks, restaurants or other places is irrelevant. Our school is not one of those places where the majority of people using the bathrooms are adults; the population using the urinals is made up of teenage boys going through puberty and the awkwardness that goes with it. Selfconfidence is shaky at this stage in life, and the state of the urinals does nothing to improve this dilemma. The chance of

being observed like a specimen during one of the most private things one should be doing at school is incredibly off-putting, and it can cause anxiety to build up. Some will actively try to avoid the bathroom during primetime because it affects them so badly.

Furthermore, this awkward inefficiency encourages males to use the stall instead of the urinal, which leads to everyone knowing exactly how your business is or is not going. This also leads to a problem even more dreaded than the divider problem: You open the stall door, and you encounter a toilet covered in liquid. You don’t want to think about what this fluid is, yet, you already know. Everyone fears this, yet it happens, without fail, every day here.

So why has this atrocity never been addressed? Is it because anyone who has the power to change this debauchery doesn’t have to brave the horrors of the boys’ bathroom? Are they silently laughing at all us poor male students? If schools like West Springfield manage to have dividers between their urinals, how has Lake Braddock failed to achieve this simple and necessary installation?

The Bruin Connection is a regular column in the Bear Facts that focuses on schoolwide issues.

Justice for sexual crimes: start with admin

by Kinaya Hassane - Staff Writer

R

ape. It’s a horrible crime that makes us think of dark alleys and shady strangers. But rape is occurring on beautiful college campuses and is being perpetrated by well-educated young men. This is detailed extensively in the recent Rolling Stone article about incidents of sexual assault at the University of Virginia and the mishandling of these cases. The controversial story has created an uproar over the issue of sexual assault on college campuses around the nation.

In a study done by the Centers for Disease Control, it was found that 19 percent of undergraduate women have been sexually assaulted or a victim of an attempted assault.

Much of the anger over this issue has been directed towards fraternities, which are being blamed for campus rape culture.

It wouldn’t be entirely erroneous to blame fraternities and the behaviors they encourage. However, trying to make frats co-ed or doing away with them entirely is a fruitless game of Whack-A-Mole.

Fraternities are deeply entrenched in

many institutions’ cultures. Therefore, efforts to shut down fraternities and sororities would do virtually nothing to prevent sexual assault. Not only would it be difficult to nix Greek life, but its effects would be limited.

As long as there are thousands of young people living together on a campus, there will always be underage and binge drinking. There will always be wild, out-of-control parties where women are preyed on. Getting rid of fraternities won’t change that. Just like how dressing more conservatively doesn’t deter rapists,

Rape is occurring on beautiful college campuses neither would eliminating Greek life.

What college administrations need to do is take a look in the mirror. At UVA, according to the Rolling Stone article, 183 students have been expelled for Honor Code violations since 1998, and none have been kicked out for rape. In letting rape go unpunished, UVA’s administration is sending offenders the message that sexual assault isn’t nearly as terrible a crime as plagiarism. So if schools want

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editors, I’m writing about the letter to the editor section. We know you’re reading them. Why actually put them in the Bear Facts? All the letters are criticisms of articles from last issue, which most people tend to forget.

Reading and understanding what you need to work on/fix is one thing, posting them is a bit ludicrous.

Katie Plescow Senior *Editor’s note: The Letter to the Editor section of the Bear Facts is a traditional part of any journalistic publication and serves as a way to hold itself accountable to its readers.

Dear Editors, This issue of the Bear Times [sic] was

a great read! The cover did shock me a bit but it was really nice to see statistics on the nation’s weed debate.

My favorite part was that you all kept the creativity you demonstrated in the previous issue. The “LB’s Creative Commons Place” was very interesting.

It showed a lot of LB talent. The “Give Thanks for Thanksgiving” and “Throwback Thursday” articles are also great. My parents most definitely want to make the egg nog.

“School has Sweeping Lack of Care for Janitors,” this article was so eye-opening to read. I honestly didn’t even know their hours or how dedicated some of them are to helping us out. I can’t wait to read more in December/January.

Katie Mankowski Senior

Beyond Good and Evil

their reputations to remain intact, they need to reconsider how they’re handling rape cases.

For instance, Emma Sulkowicz, a senior at Columbia University, recounted to New York Magazine that the deans who adjudicated her case asked her extremely inappropriate and irrelevant questions.

One administrator, Sulkowicz alleges, wrote down that she had been intoxicated the night of her attack, even though she’d been completely sober.

Universities like Columbia have almost unlimited resources, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t invest in bettertrained or even specialized staff who can handle sexual assault cases brought before them. And instead of trying to act as the police, the judge and the jury in such cases, colleges should encourage students to go to the police, who are much better equipped to conduct investigations, and file criminal charges.

Sexual assault is a messy issue, especially when one factors in the blurred lines that are drawn by the alcohol-fueled hook-up culture on many campuses. There is no easy solution to this problem. But fixing the broken disciplinary system that universities have created is a necessary step forward towards change.

Beyond Good and Evil highlights moral, ethical and religious issues in society.

Dear Editors, The story [Marcell Subert] wrote about was very interesting. I heard about the story and couldn’t believe what I heard. Your outtake and knowledge of the story really gave me insight into what happened. The fact that 71 people in Oregon in 2013 alone took the medication to end their life is unbelievable. I would suggest talking about how the people around the ill people feel about this decision and its aftermath. Hearing what the family has to say about the situation would help people in the future, if they chose to take the pill, and to make the decision together.

Dhyan Fontaine Senior

This student-run paper is an open forum produced by the journalism department and is given free of charge to all Lake Braddock high school students and faculty. The Bear Facts is an independent, student-run newspaper serving the students, the faculty and the Lake Braddock community as an open forum for student expression. Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the editorial board and unless otherwise noted are written by the staff. The editorial board solicits responsible commentaries and letters to the editors but reserves the right to edit for style, grammar or lack of space. Letters and commentaries containing obscenity, racial slur or libelous comments will not be published. A letter will not be excluded from the newspaper solely because it conflicts with the views of the newspaper or past or current editorials. All letters must be signed by the author, or they will not be published. Corrections are printed on an as needed basis on page 2 of the paper.

Advertising inquiries can be referred to bfacts@gmail.com. The Bear Facts is located in room L202 and can be reached by calling (703) 426-1087. Responses may also be emailed to bfacts@gmail.com

Editorial Policy

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 27

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Worst. Gifts. Ever.

An Inscribed Book

An E-ZPass Application

“One year, my grandmother gave me a book that was inscribed for someone else,” chemistry teacher Emily Owens said. “Another year, she sent me a sweater that looked like it belonged on Seinfeld.”

“One year, I found an E-ZPass application in my stocking,” English teacher Krista Gallagher said. “That was my parents way of telling me they were no longer paying for mine.”

10 Gift Fails

A Framed Picture A Pair of Small Socks “I was 13 years old when my grandma got me a pair of socks,” junior Karlyn Crum said. “They were way too small and didn’t fit. It was upsetting because nobody really wants socks for Christmas, and the fact that they didn’t fit made it worse.”

A Toothbrush “For Christmas when I was 10, my dad got me a toothbrush,” sophomore Morgan Marteny said. “It wasn’t even a stocking stuffer. It was wrapped up under the tree like it was a real present.”

“One time, my grandmother sent me a framed picture,” sophomore Josh Lee said. “It was kind of weird because it was herself, and she was posing for the picture.”

A Duck Hunting Book “One year my parents got me a duck hunting book,” sophomore Eric Yoo said. “I don’t even hunt.”

A Bag of Popcorn A Pair of Used Underwear

A Bag of Coins

“Two years ago, my dad got me King Kong underwear as a joke,” freshman Brian Hurley said. “[It was] funny and all, but I’m pretty sure they were used before. It was disgusting.”

“When I was 11, my grandparents gave my two brothers and I each a bag of coins that were really dirty,” freshman Lily Bartholomous said. “Each bag had about $5 worth of coins in it, and not all of the money was American.”

“When I was 12, my aunt got me a plastic box with a bag of unpopped popcorn in it,” junior Celine Chwairy said. “[It was one of the worst presents] because someone could get me a present like that any day. Christmas presents are supposed to be unique with a lot of thought put into them, not something you pick up at the grocery store last minute.”

A Dog Bowl “My grandma always gets me a dog bowl,” sophomore Elizabeth Hutchins said.

“Sometimes she gets me socks, too.”

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 29

photos courtesy of the lair and Greg Zelkin

Cheerleading

Football

Basketball

Tennis

40 years later, LB sports...

30 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

1976

In the ‘70s, LB girls’ tennis wore white tennis dresses and white shoes that are still iconic for the sport. White tennis uniforms and accessories are still a mandated part of the dress code of Wimbledon, a prestigious Grand Slam held each June in England.

“I actually kind of like the ‘70s one because it looks more classically tennis,” senior tennis player Rachel Phandinh said.

Cut about a foot off the current basketball shorts and trade the Nike Elites for white knee-highs, and the result is the 1970’s boys’ basketball uniforms.

“The shorts were shorter, and the socks were higher,” activities director and former basketball player Mark Martino said, “and let’s just say the uniforms were more form fitting.”

While the ‘70s football team didn’t have as much high-tech padding and helmets as the current ones, they still had about the same general look with school colors and numbers.

However, the ‘70s uniforms had less decoration.

“I’ve always liked a simple look, so I’d say [I like] the 1970’s uniforms [better],” math teacher and former football player Michael Burbach said.

LB’s 1970s cheer uniforms had spirit. Cheerleaders sported a varsity letter on the front of their uniforms and white crew socks. Also, head cheerleaders stood out with a star sewn under their varsity letters.

“We wore sweaters and woolpleated skirts,” government teacher and former cheerleader Terri Hatch said. “[The new uniforms] are a little more form fitting.”

are looking better than ever Today, girls’ tennis sports Nike from top to bottom. The two-piece uniforms include a racerback in LB’s purple and a black skirt.

“All uniforms are now made of performance materials that help cool the players and provide some SPF protection,” girls’ tennis coach Dan Maxwell said.

Players are also now more experimental with colors, styles and brands, Maxwell said.

2014

Current uniforms have more variety. They include three sets of jerseys and shorts in purple, white and black. Players pick shoes and socks based off of personal preference.

The fit of the new uniforms is also considerably different.

“I like [the current uniforms] because it’s a lot easier to move,” sophomore basketball player E.J. Johnson said. “It’s a lot more flexible.”

The look of LB’s football uniform has barely evolved. The only updates are a more modern logo on the helmets, the addition of less bulky padding and a different jersey material, which is now more breathable. “[I prefer] the black jersey we wear now,” junior football player Josh Churchill said. “They are more modernized in the way they fit.”

Today, cheerleaders have polyester uniforms, allowing them to stunt and tumble easier. Competitive cheerleading didn’t become popular until the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, so uniforms inevitably took on a more athletic look after the ‘70s.

“I definitely think our [uniforms] are more modern now,” senior cheerleader Rory Hatch said. “Ours look more collegiate.”

17 December 2014

The Bear Facts

31

Di

str

A Tour of this Town

Georgetown and M Street

A

by Marcell Subert News Editor

A Tour of this Town is a semi-regular column that will appear in the Bear Fact’s style section. News editor Marcell Subert, our writer, will be traveling to different regions of the District and reporting the do’s and don’t’s of each region.

The goal of this column is to expose students to the fantastic destinations the District offers in hopes that the students will explore them.

s Friday night rolls around, the quaint neighborhood along M street, known as Georgetown, comes alive with a plethora of young diners and shoppers.

Situated between the neighborhoods of Foxhall and Foggy Bottom, this hub of weekend entertainment is a stone’s throw from our nation’s capital. Most of the highend retail stores and restaurants are located on the nine-block stretch of M street before Rock Creek Parkway, with the action continuing up Wisconsin Avenue.

As the sun sets, a tide of people come rolling in, and the narrow sidewalk along M becomes a congested human highway. In the evenings, the restaurants of the neighborhood take the spotlight as the main attraction. This area offers everything from upscale oyster bars to common chain restaurants like Johnny Rockets and Five Guys, along with plenty of opportunities to indulge in a large array of certain ethnic foods at multiple fine establishments nearby.

If one has the funds and appreciates a good view, then the waterfront is the dining area of choice. Sandwiched between 30th and 31st streets, the Georgetown Waterfront is home to many high-end restaurants such as Fiola Mare and Farmers Fishers Bakers. A post-dinner stroll can also be completed at an adjacent Georgetown Waterfront Park, which gives a wonderful view of the Potomac River in a modern setting following a recent 2011 renovation.

If an expensive dinner wasn’t enough, Georgetown boasts numerous flagship stores and boutiques that are sure to impress any fashionista.

Despite the periodic invasion of people looking to unwind after the long week on weekend nights, Georgetown is home to many of the DC elite. According to Trulia, the average sales price of a home in this neighborhood is upwards of $1.4 million. Houses in this area are generally narrow, but extend far out into hidden backdoor lawns and lavish gardens.

If one is looking for a little adventure a bit outside of Georgetown, the Glover Park neighborhood a few blocks up on Wisconsin Avenue provides a quiet escape. Unlike the hustle of M Street, the quiet neighborhoods surrounding the small nature reserve of Glover Park gives a serene outlook on the area. Every weekend, there is even a small farm/flea market in front of the Corcoran College of Art and Design, which faces Wisconsin Avenue.

Whether one is looking for a place to relax on a Saturday morning or for somewhere to grab dinner with friends or family while shopping extensively, Georgetown and Glover Park are the places to be.

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Grover Park Georgetown

The Bottom Line photos by Sandor Subert 32 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

Activity: Ice skating in Washington Harbour Address: 1000 Potomac St. NW #122, Washington, D.C. 20007 For a meal: Bandoleros for upscale Mexican Address: 3241 M St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007 For a warm-up: Baked & Wired for gourmet coffees and decadent cupcakes Address: 1052 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007

Top: Taking a stroll on a crisp fall day in Glover Park. Middle: Cars line the cobblestone streets of Georgetown. Bottom: A welcoming scarecrow sitting outside a Georgetown resident’s house. Bottom: A father and his child strolling down the street.

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Use School Code 5061

Congratulations members of the First Quarter All-A and A/B Honor Roll!

Ninth Grade All-A Alisa, Zahra Ancira, Sophia Antonides, Christina Baird, Charles Baker, Ryan Beltran, Katelyn Boersma, Philip Breaux, Sydney Burnside, Jenna Cecchetti, Victoria Cheung, Sophia Chinyavong, Allison Choi, Cristin Chung, Cindy Cleal, Vincent Cox, Dominique Crockett, Colin Cullen, William Daniels, Sarah Deng, Karen Dow, Katherine Duong, Brian Dutton, Emma Esposo, Tyler Finnegan, Kylie Gagne, Jake Glynn, Connor Grable, Abigail Green, Matthew Hassan, Noshin Herms, Anna Hibner, Katherine Hill, Natalie Holzman, Seth Jackson, Devin Jeong, Eunpyo Jones, Sinclaire Khaled, Irene Khan, Faiz Khan, Sahar Khraibani, Lama Khuu, Andrew Kim, Allison Kim, Jieun Kim, Moses Kwon, Christopher LaNave, Lucia Lee, Jennifer Long, Jenny Manhertz, Rachel Martin, John Massarik, Rebecca Mathews, Divya Mattis, Clayton McDaniels, Sarah Minesinger, Grace Moore, Elizabeth Mun, Janice Nassir, Elizabeth Nguyen, Amanda Nguyen, Brittany Ni, David Novis, Alexandra Ormsby, Allison Paleo, Eva Park, Abigail Perry, Brielle Pournelle, Catherine Power, Kathryn Prarie, Robert Pritz, Lucy Pulupa, Carmen

Rashid, Alexandra Ray, Noah Ray, Rebecca Reid, William Reiff, Nathan Renier, Colette Richey, Zachary Rivera Vanegas, Keila Rossi, Hailey Rucker, Jonathan Sacks, Abby Scheiner, Andrea Schiesl, Adam Schleigh, Kevin Sekera, Jill Setia, Karishma Sharman, Kathleen Shnider, Sydney Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Kyle Smith, Wesley Steele, Megan Stimson, Laura Sturtz, Bryce Thomas, Matthew Thurgood, Beatrice Ungerleider, Alison Voelkel, Olivia Vu, Amy Wardinski, Catherine Wardinski, Lisa Yan, Jennifer Yonatan, Miilani

McDowell, Abigail Munoz, Alessandra Nguyen, Stephanie Nicastle, Amanda O’Neill, Quinn Ortiz De Zarate, Nicolas Ortiz De Zarate, Valentina Perez, Veronica Piel, Joshua Pinto Perez, Fatima Poudel, Sakshi Rashid, Diyar Reny, Kaitlyn Rolland, Ethan Sabado, Jorel Salac, Kimberly Rose Schiesl, Emily Schwarz, Samuel Sheridan, Raichael Shin, Erica Shipman, Matthew Simon, Eva Sowa, Rachel Strain, Carter Thomas, Samuel Un, Hanna Vaca Sejas, Brandon Watson, Andrew Weston, Andrew Zelalem, Salem Zyoud, Leyla

Tenth Grade All-A

Eleventh Grade All-A

Aramayo, Maribel Asquini, Arianna Baker, Chloe Baldwin, Mark Berlin, Jessica Bleicken, Lillian Boscia, Alexis Boyer, Brady Browning, Shannon Bryant, Sharon Chang, Eileen Chang, Vincent Chung, Alex Clark, Benjamin Cohn, Rachel Coughlan, Erin Cruz, Priscilla Davis, Emma Doran, Kathryn Downs, Neyla Fee, Brendan Flatt, Rachel Fulton, Harry Gopiao, Joseph Hassane, Sidrat Heyrana, Haize Hinskton, Toni Jaskot, Mark Johnson, Porter Lampton, David Lang, Katherine Lang, Mena Le, Christina Le, Kevin Lee, Jaewon Lee, Jason Lee, Kannon Lee, Seong Min Lefkowitz, Rachel

Akrawi, Laween Aloezos, Eva Bishop, Peyton Bunton, Caitlyn Butseva, Sofia Cadman, Julia Campbell, Christine Chan, Tiffany Cho, Chelsea Cho, Yun Ki Conti, Kaitlyn Deppmeier, Kathryn Engelbrektsson, Brooke Fragoso, Marco Ges, Nicholas Gordon, McKenzie Gouda, Joseph Guyton, Tyler Hartley, Faith Hernandez, Samantha Kaplan, Anna Kim, Emelyn Kim, Ji Hyun Kramer, Evan Kunc, Ryan Lee, Alexandra Lee, Elizabeth Lehmann, Christian Luboteni, Sharr Lugo, Matthew Madhavan, Sidharth Marrs, Sydney Monawer, Hamza Naigaga,

Amanda Ngo, Richard Nicholson, Kiri Peterson, Hannah Potter, Emily Romero, Diego Rucker, Alyssa Russell, Jonathan Sasseville, Bailey Savage, Daniel Sawyer, Maureen Sharif, Tara Smith, James Tao, Kathy Wulf, Tara

Whiteside, Natasha Wolfe, Kristen

Ninth Grade A/B

Abraham, Henon Adams, Colin Aguilar, Heather Ahmadi, David Antrim, Rayne Aquart, Malik Arnold, Nathan Arteaga Giuliante, Amarilis Twelfth Arthur, Hannah Grade Attia, Yasmeen Ayala, Daniel All-A Barkley, Savanna Barnett, Aaron Acierto, Jesse Bartholomaus, Marie Lily Ackerman, Tara Bays, Patrick Avery, Katherine Benamor, Aicha Back, Charles Berst, Isabel Batal, Kristina Boatman, Alexis Belen, Sarah Briden, Spencer Bragg, Meagan Brown, Aaron Chausse, Nicole Brown, Thomas Cho, June Burgee, Bradley DelVecchio, Buschman, Peter Matthew Cabrera Beltran, Edwards, Jenna Edgar Farooqui, Calvert, Chloe Maryam Campbell, Ferrer, Katherine Bernadette Campbell, Filali, Nadji Melissa Frahmand, Carber, Emily Ahmad Cardoza, Gaffner, Lina Jennifer Garrott, Sharon Chanaa, George, Marisa Mohammad Gomez, Vanessa Chanchu, Haukdal, Cy Janelle Marie Hazera, Julianna Chau, Vinh Heizer, David Cho, Andy Hodges, Jacob Cho, Noah Jarris, Daniel Choi, Ahyeon Kosmakos, Chon, Jacky Christina Chowdhury, Kreienbrink, Zahin Sarah Chung, Bright Kristin, Grace Clanton, Roger Laney, Clark, Jordan Alexander Cook, Sarah Lwin, Jason Coon, Joshua Man, Carter Coreas, Michaelsen, Alessandro Anya Cowdrey, Collin Monogue, Kevin Croghan, Murphy, Jackson Meghan Patton, Amanda Dag, Selin Polnow, Dang, Justin Constance Dang, Michael Porth, Madeline Decker, John Prahlad, Rhea Deering, Tyler Randhawa, Delano, Elyse Aseemjot DelVecchio, Rochlis, Michael Andrew Rojas, Romina Deras, Ricky Sands, Jesse Desrochers, Sebastianelli, David Chase Diaz, Madeline Song, Daniel Dinh, Johnny Soohoo, Karen Dobberthien, Sparrow, Palmira Michael Dockins, Stephano, Elisa Christen Tobin, Benjamin Doherty, Stefano Tragakis, Katrina Dubon Ramos, Tran, Alex Mark Vinson, Dudek, Nicholas Katherine Duffy, Brenden Wartel, Joshua Dunn, Hanna Webb, Christina Dunn, Noah

Ebrahimi, Kassidy Eckhardt, Anna Enav, Talia Enis, Kelly Farrell, Madison Fenjiro, Lilya Fernandez, Diana Fofi, Marc Foster, Sydney Gajulapalli, Deepa Gomez, George Gorski, Molly Hagerty, Samantha Harmon, Ian Hassett, Joshua Hayek, Cecily Hernandez, Jonathan Hernandez, Valeria Heyne, Audra Hirsh, Hannah Hoang, Bao Long Hoang, Tommy Hoskins, Daphne Hovastak, Michael Howard, Jacob Hurley, Brian Huynh, Taylor Iyassu, Matthias Jenkins, Matthew Jha, Priyanshu Johnson, Alexandra Johnson, Hannah Johnston, Nicholas Jones, Tia Kealey, Richmond Kealey, Trenton Kelliher, Erin Kha, David Khan, Ahmed Khan, Omer Kim, Geun Hyoung Kim, Haven Kim, Hyun Jo Klemmer, Katherine Kligman, Jacqueline Kugle, Sadie Kurland, Allison Laffosse, David Lansbury, Zoe Lanza Saavedra, Rolando Le, Trisha Lee, Emma Lee, Hein Lee, Ho Lestz, Jenna Little, Elaine Long, Jackson Luu, Anthony Luu, Timothy MacMichael, John Madden, Marissa Marano, Sebastian Marker, Maxwell Masias Alfaro, Manuel Mataya, Eleanor McAvoy, Madeline McCroskey, Corrine McDaniel,

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Ashley Tippet, Madison Tran, Khai Tran, Tram Trivedi, Anuradha Truong, Calvin Turner, Nicholas Tyler, Brienne Varias, Noah Velapatino Raygal, Emely Velasquez, Juan Walton, Benjamin Warwick, Emily Waters, Jennifer Webb, Shaylee Weidinger, Erin Wiedeman, Caralyn Wilcher, Edencio Wilklow, Abby Willis, Rebecca Wolin, Sarah Wright, Kyle Yadav, Khushbu Yarnall, Nicholas Yeh, Allison Yetishefsky, Steven Yeung, Jeffrey Yoo, Eric You, Michelle Young, Jack Zia, Faiz Zirkel, James

Eleventh Grade A/B Achiu, Elise Adams, Amy Adetayo, Oluwaseun Aftergut, Isaac Alcott, Jacob Amaya, Samuel Anaya, Chairunisa Arrington, Eric Ayala, Jairo Azero Berges, Karim Barr, Elizabeth Basso, Elia Beecher, Julian Berhane, Alpha Berhane, Omega Berst, Emily Bierschenk, Monika Bilbro, Benjamin Boersma, Paul Bolstad, Joshua Bove, Emily Branham, Tessa Brunson, Jennifer Burke, Thomas Butler, James

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Grove, Ethan Harb, Rola Hassan, Mehdhi Hayes, Claudia Henry, Caitlin Hickey, Michael Hirschfeld, Sarah Hong, Steve Houlihan, Amy Huda, Sasha Hurst, John Ibrahim, Fahad Im, Sae Yi Iv, Michael Jacknin, Dillon Johnson, Ciara Jolley, Spencer Jones, Caroline Jones, Kobe Jones, Sabrina Joo, Ye Won Kamal, Rusul Kang, Damhu Katemtou, Roba Kaur, Ankitprit Kelly, Liam Khraibani, Jenan Kim, Eunmin Kim, Lucia King, Tyler King, Whitney Kook, John Kreidler, Ryan Krollman, Conner Kurisky, Anna Kutchi, Jacob Laher, Sarah Landon, Meghan Le, Stephanie Lee, Aaron Lee, Anthony Lee, Cera Lee, Daniel Lee, Rachal Leinz, Holly Lenhardt, Aaron Lestz, Scott Lewis, Tatiana Li, Yan Liang Lim, Jalissa Lim, Hannah Lin, Jonathan Lin, Spencer Long, Jane Loza, Victor Lu, Braven Lyle, Sophie Mackin, Samuel Malone, Abagale Manarchuck, Kayley Manohar, Priya Manya, Casey Marcelli, Paul Margraf, Christopher Marin, Johan Martin, Nicole Martin, Valerie Mashanova, Ekaterina Massarik, Michelle Melvin, Jamie Menon, Divya Meskill, William Mills, Jennifer

Mills, Tyler Miner, Laura Mitchell, Shannan Moman, Carl Morello, Lukas Muirhead, Natasha Mullins, Ryan Munoz Buitrago, Daniela Murphy, Brady Murphy, Brandon Murphy, Michael Murray, Sophia Muth, Susan Neuburg, Jeffrey Neumann, Colette Nguyen, Andrew Nguyen, Dennis Niehoff, Mallory Novis, Jessica Novorr, Benjamin Olivar, Madeline Paleo, Roxanne Paquette, Sarah Patel, Payal Pelayo, Ashley Peterson, Alanna Phan, Tam Phillips, John Phillips, Julia Pillai, Lakshmi Poroj, Abigail Quigley, Cortney Ray, Bridget Regnier, Alexa Renteria, Dominik Rhee, Margaret Richard, Helen Rippy, Kian Rivera, Michael Rodriguez, Rodrigo Rondepierre, Margaret Ryan, James Samake, Myriam Sander, Ryan Schaefer, Colin Schulte, Chase Sesay, Mabinty Seth, Sean Shank, Amy Sheppard, Nikole Sherman, Breese Shirwani, Dareen Bazyran Shreves, Andrew Silversmith, Jenna Sisay, Nathaniel Slepukhova, Anastasia Smedley, Kathryn Speranzo, Julia

Stankiewicz, Christopher Stephens, Trey Stevens, Claudia Strain, Robert Syed, Tabinda Sylvia, Benjamin Szipszky, Claire Tautges, Jordan Thompson, Katherine Tisler, Katherine Twomey, Liam Urbina De la Flor, Renata Villarroel, Andres Wahidi, Sabah

Twelfth Grade A/B Ahn, Bryce Albayati, Wesam Alexander, Aramis Alisa, Mohammed Amsalu, Telahun Ancalle, Miguel Avino, Michaela Baham, Thomas Barbu, Brian Barnhill, Paul Barrera, Rene Barton, Matthew Bascope Illanez, Nathaly Beaudoin, Siobhan Bergan, Bryan BerhaneMeskel, Leul Beveridge, Marianne Bittner, Zara Bond, Gary Bowersox, Matthew Boyer, Kayla Boyles, Jennifer Buckley, Emily Bui, Anna Bui, Kayla Burnside, Kane Camacho, Deysi Camphire, Shaw Caparas, Michaela Cho, David Congdon, Eamon Cox, Daniel Cunningham, Christopher Currier, Clara Dassanayaka, Jaliya Deza Pitot, Juan Dinh, Kimberly Doan, Tan

Dominick, Amber Donley, Emily Duong, Tiffany Durbin, Stephen Edmiston, Rebecca Egeland, Laura Ellison, Claire Emerson, Charles Evans, Darian Fasil, Michael Feola, Richard Feuti, Alli Flores Pineda, Gianpier Fontaine, Dhyan Fraga, Ryan French, Matthew Gallier, Joseph Garcia, Michelle Gilmore, Brian Globig, Collin Gopiao, Timothy Green, Michelle GutierrezTambo, Limbert Haliday, Thomas Han, Timothy Hansen, Gabriele Harpine, Nathan Hart, Molly Hassane, Kinaya Hatch, Rory Hellier, Grace Hernandez, Margarita Hilelson, Renee Hoang, Alisa Hoang, Quan Ryan Hodge, Lanita Hogenmiller, Leah Holzman, Jared Hoskins, Crystal Hullett, Kayla Hunter, Madeline Huynh, QuangMinh Hwang, Chan Young Ibrahim, Asad Jacobs, Kyle Johnson, Ivan Jones, Reagan Joseck, Louis Kang, Hwihu Kaplan, Jason Kaye, Sophie Keane, Margaret Keenan, Caitlin Kendziora, Thomas Ketram, Nattanon Khalefa, Summer Khandker, Raihan Khuu, Brandon Kim, Patrick Kim, Sara

Kingdale, Niall Komilova, Lazokat Krishnamurthy, Bhargav Lam, Anh Tu Law, Bethany Le, Mai Lee, Angella Lee, Hannah Lee, Ji Seung Lessley, Rachel Levitt, Benjamin Lin, Patrick Lockcuff, Hannah Long, Julia Long, Madison Long, Susan Lum, Victoria Luna, Daniel Mahmoodi, Fatima Malloy, Abigail Manhertz, Sophia Marcoe, Nathan Martin, Josh Marzluf Quiroz, Daniel Masters, Amanda Mathews, Melissa McArdle, Thomas McDaniel, Tyler McGrath, Christine McVicker, Jonathan Mendez Vega, Daira Merrill, Anne Miller, William Minesinger, Jack Montemayor, Caleb Moore, Devin Moran, Ethan Morgan, Austin Morkos, Aninyou Murphy, Colleen Nauls, Anthony Nesterovich, Alexander Neville, Danielle Newman, Justin Nguyen, Andrew Nguyen, Dennis-Bao Nguyen, Phuong Loan Nguyen, TrungHao O’Connor, Nicholas Olivo Espinoza, Monica Oppong, Kwaku Otto, Matthew Pamonag, Michael Pampel, Melissa Paredes, Patricia Park, Nam

Geon Parker, Jacob Parker, Zachary Pascual, Emely Peek, Zachary Perez, Elena Petrovich, Alexandra Pham, Jessica Phandinh, Rachel Piraino, Daniel Pramenko, Colleen Prieto Sotero, Marcelo Pu, Tiffany Quinones, Liana Rakowski, Emma Ray, Joseph Reid, Katherine Reyes Arispe, Ariana Reyes-Bravo, Eberth Reynders, Ryan Richardson, Abigail Riley, Sarah Roberts, Brandon Romero Velasquez, Suyapa Rosales, Christian Samec, Jade Scrafford, Christopher Sevim, Bunyamin Seykowski, Sean Shah, Nirali Shannon, Nicholas Shapiro, Carly Shock, Austin Shock, Logan Shock, Madison Shrader, Dante Sievers, Madison Simon, Elena Singh, Samreen Singh, Vikrant Snyder, William Song, ChanWoo Southee, Bethany Spain, Camille Spurlock, Kathleen Ssemanda, Daniel Steele, Emily Stenstrom, Jacob Stewart, Tyler Stokes, Hannah String, Andrew Strynar, Aaron Subert, Balint Supko, Matthew Tanner, Alexander Tapper, Jake Tavousi, Shirin Tempesta, Antonia

Terkper, Emmanuel Thiel, Scott Thurgood, Bianca Tippet, Jordan Tkac, Natalie Toy, Justin Tran, Anthony Tubbs, Rachel Ungerleider, Rachel Vanderpuye, Karen Vargas Pereyra, Fabio Wann, Madeline White, Brandon Wold, Daniel Wong, Lauren Yoon, Ye Ram Zirkel, Grace *The honor roll listed here does not reflect grade changes.

Jordan Small Jen Boyles pg. 37

Sports

Andrew Clinton Winter Classic pg. 38

Juniors David Hibner (left) and senior John Lorence (right) walk off the field after a season ending loss against Westfield on Nov. 29.

Football season comes to a screeching halt

by Ian Bivona and Thomas Anderson - Staff Writers

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photos courtesy of John Lorence

fter an exciting year that saw many ups and downs, the football season came to a close on Nov. 29 after a 42-20 loss to the Westfield Bulldogs. Despite the season’s disappointing end, it was surely one to remember.

“I think overall we had a pretty good season,” junior Kyle Edwards said,“We won 10 games and made it back to the regional semifinals, which is pretty good.”

The season started out well with a 30-6 win over West Potomac. While the game was not played against the strongest competition, it marked the beginning of a new era under junior quarterback Kyle Edwards. The next week, the Bruins faced Stone Bridge in a key non-conference matchup. While the LB offense sputtered, the defense came up big, getting multiple stops in the red zone on the way to a 13-9 win.

After the win, a matchup against archrival Robinson was up. The leadup

36 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

to the game was filled with theatrics, as unknown Robinson students allegedly vandalized the Bear. Once the teams hit the field, the Bruins came out slow, but roared back in the fourth quarter. They almost tied the game at the end, but failed to make a 2-point conversion and suffered their first loss of the season.

Following the loss to Robinson, the Bruins went on a three-game win streak, defeating perennial Northern Region contender Westfield 36-23, an overhauled Annandale team that had received multiple upgrades to its coaching staff 28-17 and a strong Woodson squad 34-28. LB entered its game against West Springfield on a hot streak, but the Spartans’ stingy defense kept the game low-scoring and handed LB its second loss of the season on a last second field goal.

“I thought we were better [than West Springfield,” head coach Jim Poythress said, “I thought we would see them again and we would have to make changes before then.”

The Bruins would again go on a threegame win streak to close out the regular

season, defeating T.C. Williams 52-7 in the homecoming game. They then traveled to rival South County and defeated the thenundefeated Stallions 62-41. LB closed out the regular season at home against Lee, defeating the Lancers 47-20. After an 8-2 regular season, the Bruins earned the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and a matchup with the Oakton Cougars.

“We had a lot of confidence entering the playoffs,” Edwards said.

In the game against Oakton, the Bruins dominated, beating Oakton 4414. In the following week, they played West Springfield for the second time.

This second game ended with Edwards sneaking into the endzone for a touchdown as time expired to win 27-24. The win set up a rematch against Westfield, whom LB had beaten earlier in the season. However, a win wasn’t in the cards as the Bulldogs dominated the Bruins, going up 35-0 at halftime. The Bruins tried to make a comeback, but ultimately fell 42-20 to end their season.

“We just had an off game,” sophomore Ibraham Mansaray said.

by Jordan Small - Sports Editor t LB, finding elite, collegebound athletes is not something new. But one athlete in particular stands out by playing in a semi-professional soccer league right in Burke. Senior Jen Boyles started playing for the Braddock Road Stars Elite when they entered the United Soccer League’s W-League this past season. This league allows for the opportunity to play alongside current and former international and professional players, as well as college and high school players, like Boyles, who are looking to maintain their eligibility.

Boyles was one of the younger players who played in the league last season. It gave her an opportunity to play at a level that would prepare her for playing at the intensity of college soccer.

“It is giving me the chance to play and learn from college, national team and international players,” Boyles said, “as well as giving me a better idea of how physical and fast-paced college games will be and what I have to do to prepare for Virginia Tech.”

Boyles, who has committed to play for Virginia Tech, said that she chose to go

A

there because of the atmosphere on top of the great program.

“The coaches and the players at V-Tech build a great atmosphere within the team,” Boyles said. “The players fight for each other on and off the field, and there is a large amount of respect shared between the coaches and the players.”

Players who participate in the W-League typically have collegiate and international experience. For the Stars Elite, there were two players who competed internationally: Carlyn Baldwin and Marisa Park.

“For me, playing with Parkie [Park] and Carlyn were really important to my

“Playing against people that are 3 to 5 years older than you is an extremely valuable learning experience.”

individual development as a player,” Boyles said. “They are both extremely technical and smart players, which give me great role models to learn from.”

With the W-League consisting of teams from all over the country, the travel can be extensive and can make it hard to stay on top of school work.

“Thankfully, most of our away games were played after school had ended,” Boyles said. “In order to keep up with my academics, I had to balance my schedule so I could get my work done effectively.”

The Braddock Road Stars Elite finished second in the Northeastern Conference just edging out the New York Magic. It was a Cinderella story of sorts after the team started out 0-4. With a team compiled of mainly juniors and seniors in high school, the team was one of the youngest in the league. Considering the age difference, the W-League was a great learning experience, Boyles said.

“Playing the W-League was an amazing experience,” Boyles said. “Playing against people that are 3 to 5 years older than you is an extremely valuable learning experience. The games were challenging both physically and mentally, but they were extremely fun to play in.”

graphic by Jesse Sands

Boyles jumps from LB to the pros

17 December 2014 The Bear Facts 37

1 question, 4 quarters What is your pre-game ritual?

Going Pro

Winter Classic comes to DC

by Andrew Clinton - Staff Writer

David Lynch Basketball

“On the bus, I like to just close my eyes and listen to my music.

But I always begin the game with a speech about the other team ‘not wanting it.’”

Kate Esper Basketball

“On the bus, before away games, I always listen to pump-up music to get ready. In the locker room, I always tie my left shoe before my right.”

Karina Kolb Swimming

“Before I swim a race, I usually try not to think about my race too much besides things I can control. For example, having faster turns and harder kicks.”

Darius Wiles Wrestling photos by Elena Simon

“Before my matches, I listen to music to get my mind ready, and usually, I get sweat going to be warmed up. As a team, we practice our moves.”

38 The Bear Facts 17 December 2014

T

he Winter Classic is coming to Nationals Park Jan. 1, with the Washington Capitals taking on the Chicago Blackhawks. The Winter Classic is different from all other games due to the fact that it is played outside, on either a baseball or a football field. This will be the first-ever Winter Classic game in Washington, D.C. Both the Blackhawks and the Capitals have played in a Winter Classic game before.

The Capitals won their first ever Winter Classic game on Jan. 1, 2011, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 at Heinz Field. The Blackhawks lost their first Winter Classic game at home Jan. 1, 2009 against the Detroit Red Wings 6-4 at Wrigley Field. The Capitals have already faced the Blackhawks once this year on Nov. 7 and beat them 3-to-2 in Chicago.

The Capitals are off to a subpar start with a record of 13-10-4 and are third in the Metropolitan Division/ ninth in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals’ strengths come from captain Alex Ovechkin and alternate captain Nicklas Backstrom. Ovechkin leads the team in goals scored with 14 this season. Backstrom leads the team in assists with 22 and in team points (the combined goals and assist a player has) with 27 points.

The Blackhawks are off to a pretty good start with a record of 19-8-1 and are first in the Central Division/ fourth in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks are an excellent team, leading the NHL in penalty kills with a percentage of 91.1. Teams that face Chicago have averaged only two goals this season. Chicago also has one of the best goalkeepers in the league in Corey Crawford. Crawford is third in the NHL in goals against with 1.87 and is fourth in save percentages with .929 save percent.

This will be the seventh annual Winter Classic. This game should have taken place last year, but due to the NHL lockout of 2013, all games were rescheduled to the next season. This type of event only happens once every season, and this year, Washington has been honored to hold the Winter Classic at Nationals Park.

However, playing games on fields that are not meant to hold hockey rinks comes with many issues. Seating is another major concern for fans because hosting the game in a baseball stadium, the seats are not as close to the field as compared to football fields where the seats are closer. Another factor is the weather, which can affect the players and the fans. Usually, hockey is held inside an arena so players and fans do not have to worry about the weather. In outside games, the weather can affect how the game plays. For example, if a game is played in the snow, there will be more resistance on the ice that may affect how fast the puck can go and how fast the players can skate up and down the rink.

The game will be aired on NBC at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day. Going Pro is a regular sports column that analyzes professional sports.

The Legacy, Continued: James Butler

How is this season going to be different than the past couple of seasons?

The season will be different than the last couple seasons because we have a young team [after] graduating five seniors last year and also missing the athleticism that AJ [Alexander] brought to the team.

What has it been like watching your sister, Natalie Butler, play at such a high level like UConn?

Being able to watch my sister play has really helped me as I have been able to see how she handles different situations, which are presented when playing at the level she is.

What team is your favorite to play?

My favorite team to play has always been Robinson because there is always a large crowd of people from our local community. Also, we play against the guys we have grown up playing travel ball with.

Athlete of the Issue: Junior James Butler 17 December 2014

photo by Andrew Clinton

What is your favorite part about playing basketball?

My favorite part about basketball is the competitive edge and having to work as a team to beat the opposition.

The Bear Facts 39

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