February 2015 -- Silver Chips Print

Montgomery Blair High School SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

A public forum for student expression since 1937

silverchips

DENNIS YANG

REP. WITH PERMISSION OF GRACE BIZURU

February 5, 2015

Immigration C4

Winner of the 2014 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker

VOL 77 NO 4

Superintendent Starr resigns

By Anna O’Driscoll Superintendent Joshua Starr resigned in an open session of the Board of Education on Feb. 3, ending his contract before the completion of his term. He will remain in office until Feb. 16, when Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers will take over as interim superintendent until June 30.

In a press conference following the open session, Starr said that he and the Board decided he was not the right person to lead the Board’s plans for the county. “The Board and I have been in conversation over the last couple of weeks about this,” he said. “We have had a commitment to collaboration and

shared governance, and we believe that my resignation is an indication that I want the Board to have the leader that they feel will lead them to the next level.” Starr cited differences in direction between himself and the Board as reasons for his resignation. “No superintendent is bigger than the system she or he leads, and I understand and respect this Board’s desire to have a different leader and a different direction,” he said.

The controversy surrounding Starr’s Feb. 1 decision of not pursuing a second term began when anonymous sources told the Washington Post on Jan. 29 that Starr did not have the full support of the Board. Starr had made public his

hopes for a second term, according to a Jan. 21 Gazette article.

He also expressed his interest in a second term again at the Feb. 3 press conference, but respects the Board’s decision to choose another superintendent. “There is much more work to be done. It was my hope that I would be here to continue that work with our staff, students, our families, and our community,” Starr said. “However, I recognize and respect that the Board has the right to choose the leader and the direction of the school system.”

In accordance with state law, Bowers was confirmed by the State Superintendent of Schools, Lillian Lowery, on the afternoon of Feb. 3.

Magnetic Performances

KYRA SEIGER

A FALLEN STARR MCPS Superintendent Starr spoke regarding his resignation in a press conference on Feb. 3.

Student assaulted after school outside of Blair

By Maris Medina An adult male assaulted a female student near Blair’s campus on the University Boulevard side parking lot after school on Jan. 29. The man tried to initiate a conversation with her, and when the student refused to talk to him, he grabbed her arm and slapped the back of her leg.

After the incident was reported, the police conducted a canvas of the area.

According to a letter to parents sent by Principal Renay Johnson, school security and the police department will be assigning extra

patrols to the area.

The student did not talk to administration and security about the incident until the next day. Officer Janelle Splaine then handled the police report.

Security Team leader Kathy Greene said there is always security patrolling Blair’s campus.

“We’re always proactive. In the morning we have three people outside patrolling the parking lot areas including the Colesville and University side and then the rest are in the building where the students are,” Greene said. “In the afternoon at dismissal we have four outside.”

My house, my rules: life without parental guidance

By Emma Soler

PHUONG VO

MAGNET ARTS NIGHT Magnet students showcased their artistic sides last Friday through creative acts, including wushu, singing, jazz and Kuchipudi dance.

“Beep, beep. Beep, beep.” It’s a Thursday morning, and the sun hasn’t risen yet. Senior Matthew Kickenson lazily turns off his alarm, rolls out of bed and leaves for school. After three hours of learning – with a little dozing off interspersed– he heads across the street for a four-hour shift at Jer-

Student IDs no longer accepted to board bus for free

By Anna O’Driscoll As of Jan. 2015, RideOn and the Montgomery County Transit System will only accept Youth Cruiser SmarTrip cards as a means for youth ages five to 18 to get onto RideOn and Metro buses.

From Monday to Friday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., students under the age of 19 can ride for free if they show their Youth Cruiser card.

“On [RideOn] and Metro buses in Montgomery County it’s free,” according to Will Kenlaw, Program Manager for Marketing, Advertising, and Customer Service for

RideOn and the Montgomery County Transit System. “Our operators recognize it. You flash the card and the operator will hit the keypad to record you as a rider.”

The Youth Cruiser cards have been in effect for two years, but this is the first year where Student IDs will no longer be accepted.

The cards are a requirement for all students if they wish to have free access to public busses during certain times. “Kids ride free from 2 to 8 p.m.,” said Sheila Wilson, a RideOn TRiP Store Manager.

The Youth Cruiser cards are essentially the same as regular

see BUS FARE page A5

insidechips

Changing it up KYRA SEIGER

SIGN UP Students register for new Youth Cruiser cards.

Eight years ago, 18-year-old Jonathan was faced with a devastating situation. When Jonathan was

see PARENTS page C6

Honor Societies

Pro Gamers

Models

Blair Hockey

Are these prestigious groups really as effective as they might seem?

Some Blair students are taking video games to the next level.

Blazers step in front of the camera to redefine fashion and strut their stuff.

Controversy leaves the team ineligible for playoffs this season.

B4

OP/ED B1

D4

C2

REP. WITH PERMISSION OF JULIA SINT

NEWS A2

SmarTrip cards. “The youth cruiser is a SmarTrip card. It has all the regular features, and can hold and store value,” according to Kenlaw.

The Transit System decided to transition from the ID to the Youth Cruiser as a way to monitor the number of people using public transportation in order to make other changes and collect data. “The card helps us in terms of tracking how many riders we have,” Kenlaw said. “The more we can use that the more we can

ry’s Subs & Pizza.

Next, he works at Mezeh Mediterranean Grill from 5 to 10 p.m.

Following a long day of school and work, Kickenson returns home.

But at home, Kickenson doesn’t excitedly describe his day or vent about frustrations to his parents.

Instead, he retreats to the basement room he rents from a friend’s mom, and plays video games or wastes time until he goes to bed.

Unlike most teens, Kickenson lives without his parents.

According to Caitlin Buckley, Director of Community Relations for Heart and Homes for Youth, teenagers that live alone need to develop a variety of traits in order to successfully maintain their lifestyles. She says, “In some cases, the youth must learn to be selfsufficient, which takes a lot of strength, maturity, determination, ambition and focus.”

KYRA SEIGER

FEATURES C1

PERMISSION OF JACOB WEBSTER

ENTERTAINMENT D1

CHIPS CLIPS D6

F2 PETER BERGER

LA ESQUINA LATINA E1

SPORTS F1

A2 News

February 5, 2015

silverchips

Blair hosts PARCC information night for county Officials presented information on scheduling and testing

By William Zhu An information night for parents was held at Blair on Feb. 2 in preparation for the upcoming Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment. In addition, a new testing schedule for the PARCC test has been finalized for Blair.

The PARCC testing was shortened into a week and a half of testing in March followed by two half days designated for testing in April, as opposed to the previous plan of a Performance Based Assessment in March and an End of Year Assessment at the end of April. The two half days have been designated as April 21 and April 22.

According to Blair testing coordinator William Currence, the new testing schedule was the option that had the least impact on students and teachers.

Hundreds of parents attended the information night, which was divided between a Resource Fair in the Student Activity Center (SAC) and breakout sessions in the first floor classrooms.

Board of Education members, county officials and a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) representative were available to answer questions in the SAC. There were over 15 breakout sessions, and three rotations were set up for parents to attend different sessions throughout the night.

Administrators from around the county representing the English, Social Studies, Science, Math and Special Education departments gave presentations about specific aspects of the PARCC such as accommodations for learning disabilities and the general format of the exam. Parents were able to take a practice PARCC test and voice their concerns with school officials.

~March 2015~ Time

Mon

Tues

2

3

Wed

Thu 5

4

7:25 - 9:55

Test Period 2 Test Period 1 Test Period 5/6 Test Period 1

10:00 - 10:45 10:50 - 11:35

Period 5 Period 5 Period 6 Period 6 Test Period 8 Test Period 7 Test Period 4 Test Period 3

11:40 - 2:10

Period 5 Period 6

9

Friday

10

11

12

7

6 ALL PERIOD DAY

Period 5 Period 6

Duration 150 minutes 45 minutes 45 minutes 150 minutes

13

14

7:25 - 9:55

Test Period 3 Test Period 2 Test Period 5/6 Regular Bells Regular Bells 150 minutes Period 5 Period 5 Period 5 10:00 - 10:45 English 10 English 10 45 minutes Period 6 Period 6 PARCC Testing PARCC Testing 45 minutes Period 6 10:50 - 11:35 150 minutes 11:40 - 2:10 Test Period 7 Test Period 8 Test Period 4 16 17 Algebra 1 and 2 PARCC Testing will take place on April 21st English 10 PARCC Testing will take place on April 22nd

Silver Chips continues to investigate the specifics of the PARCC assessment and its implementation. We will report further in the March issue.

REVA KREEGER

County implements online course registration Students will begin to register for future classes digitally

By Aditi Subramaniam Course registration for the upcoming school year is now available online throughout the county.

On Jan. 29, students received a registration planning sheet and course bulletin in their advisory classes to map out a potential schedule for next year. They will then log in to the registration website using their school username and password to select their classes from home.

In past years, students met with their counselors during social studies classes to create their schedules and any changes afterwards required additional visits. Blair resource counselor Jane Godwin stated that MCPS made the online switch in order to make the process more efficient. “The main issue with paper and pencil is that each counselor has to enter all of his or her students’ schedules. Having students do it themselves lowers the counselors’ load and allows them to spend more time reviewing the schedules to make sure that everything is correct,” Godwin said.

In advisory, students watched an instructional video that detailed all the steps of signing up for courses online. The registration website lists categories from which students can choose what classes they want to take, and separates core academic departments into “required” and “elective” sections to distinguish between graduation

requirements and other options.

The list also includes teacher recommendations to help students choose what to take next year.

Godwin encourages students to honor these suggestions. “Trust your teachers because they know what classes you are ready for next year. If you choose a level other than what you were recommended for, we might fix that on your final schedule if we think you should have chosen otherwise,” she ex-

plained.

Students can fill out their schedules independently, but will still meet with counselors for a final review. According to Godwin, the website is simple and easy to use but there is still some room for error. “Sometimes people forget to add a class for both s e m e s t e r s , or forget a credit that is required for graduation. Counselors are still going to check each student’s schedule,” she said. Students that

After February 20, online schedule registration will be

locked.

do not have access to the Internet outside of school can use this counselor meeting to enter in their classes.

The online registration is live and will be so until Feb. 20. Students can go back and edit their selections until that date, but Godwin urges students to carefully consider and be sure about their selection. “After Feb. 20, the program is locked and only counselors can make changes. Students will get a final copy of their schedule in March and, unless there are holes or major errors, what you get is what you get,” she said.

Along with reducing the time it takes in school to finalize schedules, the online re g i s t r a t i o n process will hopefully eliminate the long lines of students on the first day of school who want to alter their schedule.

According MARIAM JIFFAR

to Godwin, teachers are allocated for classes based on what students sign up for the previous year, so it is difficult to make changes once the school year begins. “We plan staffing and schedules over the summer per student request.

When students come back at the start of the semester and decide that they actually want to take something else, the classes they want to switch into may not have room to accommodate them. We want to decide everything now so that there are no changes next fall,” she stated.

Godwin’s main concern is whether students will actually take the initiative to fill out their classes before meeting with their counselor. “I hope people take advantage of the website and come to their counselor prepared,” she said.

In theory, Blazers like the online concept, but are unsure whether it will be a success. Junior Mazda Moayeri feels that he would most likely forget to fill out his schedule online. “I have trouble remembering to check Edline for assignments so, even though I think that the online scheduling is a good idea, I probably would forget to do that, too,” he said.

Ultimately, the new registration process is an experiment. “This is my first year in Montgomery County and my first year working with this program, so we’ll see how it goes. I do think that it will work out very well,” Godwin predicted.

News A3

silverchips

February 5, 2015

MCPS plan aims to increase teacher diversity

County to recruit, hire staff from underrepresented backgrounds

By Winne Luo

MCPS Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr announced an initiative to combat the “demographic mismatch” between MCPS students and teachers during the Dec. 9 Board of Education meeting. The plan, the Teacher Workforce Diversity Initiative, includes four steps to recruit and hire teachers of diverse backgrounds.

The initiative’s endeavor to enact rapid and significant changes is a promising start to making the MCPS teacher body reflect that of its students, according to Board President Patricia O’Neill. “Now is the time for bold steps to create a workforce that is more reflective of the diverse community we serve,” she wrote in a post on the MCPS website.

A 2014 report by the Montgomery County Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight showed that the MCPS student body is 33 percent white, while the teaching staff is 76 percent white. Twenty seven percent of students are Latino while five percent of teachers are, 21 percent of students are black compared to 13 percent of teachers, and 14 percent of students are Asian in comparison to five percent of teachers. “We’ve come to recognize that we don’t have enough teachers from diverse backgrounds,” Starr said.

The first step in the program is to recruit teachers. This includes partnering with colleges and universities including the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery College, and others to draw from their alumni networks.

The other aspect is selecting current MCPS staff to participate in an ambassador program to recruit teachers of color. MCPS debuted a campaign as a part of this step called “Inspire. Engage. Learn.”

According to the MCPS website, these three mottos indicate teacher principles and emphasize why teachers should choose MCPS over other districts.

The second is a renovation of backgrounds aids the education run. “Our students need to see a the teacher selection process and process. “Our students need to diversity of people in all roles in timeline. According to the MCPS learn from staff who bring mul- the school system so that they see website, this calls for speeding up tiple perspectives, life experiences, that their aspirations are possible,” the selection process, hiring new cultures, and languages into the Prouty said.

Freshman William Speaks beas well as veteran teachers and cre- classroom,” he said. “There is great ating a diverse applicant pool for open positions. Debra Poese, director of the Montgomery College School of Education, one of the schools working with MCPS on the initiative, said the profession often lacks people of certain ethnicities. “[Expanding diversity of the applicant pool] is a challenge because there doesn’t seem to be as many Hispanic and African American adults going into teaching,” she said. The selection reform seeking to improve this process includes re-examining the hiring process to find and eliminate systemic barriers preventing the hiring of teachers with diverse backgrounds.

In order to ensure that hired teachers stay in MCPS, the third part of the plan is focused on retention by establishing MCPS as WINNE LUO a “desirable, diverse and sustainable” environment to build a career. This involves partnerships value in having our children see lieved having teachers with difwith real-estate communities to teachers who look like them and ferent backgrounds would be a allow for affordable housing op- may have grown up in the same change for the better. “All my tions for teachers, expanding sup- circumstances.” He and Doug teachers at Blair are white,” he port networks for all MCPS teach- Prouty, president of the Mont- said. “It adds more variety.” Junior ers and implementing workshops gomery County Education Asso- Brenda Lorenzana agreed: “The promoting cultural diversity for all ciation, agreed that having similar whole school is filled with difbackgrounds with their teachers is ferent cultures,” she said. “There MCPS employees.

The final part of the four-step beneficial to students in the long should be more diversity.” plan is focused on internal development. In order to maintain a steady teacher workforce, the initiative aims to increase opportunities for those interested in teaching as a career path.

These include programs such as Student to Educator “No. Blair is close to a quarter white, black, Hispanic, and Pathway (STEP) for high Asian. The staff is significantly less diverse.” school seniors of under- Ben Namovicz, freshman represented backgrounds and Creative Initiatives in “Yes, I think the teachers represent the diversity in this Teacher Education (CITE) school. The ESOL department teachers who teach English to to support service staff and paraeducators seeking foreign language speakers bring diversity.” teaching degrees.

- Mardokay Mosazghi, sophomore According to Starr, having teachers from diverse

soapbox

Do the teachers at Blair represent the diversity of the school?

Senior named finalist in Intel Science Talent Search Michael Winer is the latest Blazer to advance in prestigious competition

By Luisa McGarvey Senior Michael Winer is one of 40 finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, a program run by the Society for Science and the Public (SSP). Winer’s project on the “Interactions of Electrons and Phonons in a Crystal” was chosen out of about 1,800 projects by entrants across the United States and involved the creation of a theoretical model to show how sound and electrons interact. Finalists will travel on a trip to Washington, D.C. paid for by Intel, and winners will be selected and have a chance to win a $150,000 grand prize.

Entrants into the Intel Science Competition conduct original research and are judged based not on their research but on their essays, recommendations, test scores, and transcripts. Winer said he was pleasantly surprised when he was told that he was one of the 40 finalists moving on to the next round of the competition. “To be honest I was pretty surprised when I found out I was a finalist, but I was very happy too,” Winer said.

This year’s finalists came from 36 different schools and their projects’ topics are distributed among 17 categories ranging from biochemistry to space science. Winer

began theorizing his idea over the summer. “My mentor wanted me to study something to do with sound and electrons, so I took the

ect process. “My top mentor was Victor Galitski at the University of Maryland; I talked to him about 6 times over the summer. But I had another mentor, a graduate student, who gave me more day to day help,” Winer said.

In D.C. the 40 finalists will undergo a judging process, display their research at the National Geographic Society, interact with distinguished scientists and meet the president and vice president. Winer is PHUONG VO looking forward to the INTEL-LIGENT Senior Michael Winer is Blair’s 45th gala on Mar. Talent Search finalist. His winning project is called 10 at the Na“Interactions of Electrons and Photons in a Crystal.” tional Building Museum quantum field theory approach where more than $1 million in to develop a theoretical model,” prize money will be awarded to the winners. “I’m excited for the Winer explained.

Winer’s mentors were a big big conference where they’ll name help to him throughout the proj- the winners and hopefully one of

them will be me,” Winer said.

Instead of a grand prize of $100,000 as in previous years, there will now be three medals of distinction: Basic Research, Innovation, and Global Good.

According to the Intel website, Basic Research medal finalists must demonstrate exceptional scientific potential through depth of research and analysis.

The Global Good medal recognizes finalists who seek to make a difference, while the Innovation medal rewards those who apply the problem solving aptitude of an engineer. Each category will have a $150,000 prize for first place, $75,000 prize for second, and a $35,000 prize for third, according to the website. The recent changes in awards are aimed toward highlighting the wide range of research being presented and acknowledging the rising cost of college tuition at schools across the nation.

Blair has accumulated 44 finalists throughout its history, putting it in third place in the nation for the number of finalists since thescience competition’s inception in 1942. However, since Intel took over the competition in 1998, Blair has produced the most semifinalists and finalists in the country, averaging 10 semifinalists and one finalist a year.

Newsbriefs Controversy over plans to relocate bus depot

The decision to move the MCPS bus depot housing over 400 school buses as well as maintenance and repair facilities from Derwood to the 22.5 acre Blair G. Ewing Center along Avery Road in Rockville has gained resistance. This plan was in response to the recent development around the Shady Grove Metro Station, which will transform the area near the station into a residential community. In 2006, MCPS made a land sale agreement of the current Derwood bus depot, so the current MCPS Shady Grove Bus Depot in Rockville will need to be relocated by January 2017. The move to the center is controversial among residents of the area and parents of the 155 Blair Ewing Alternative Education students, who will be forced to relocate to the former English Manor Elementary School in Aspen Hill. Residents also argue that increased traffic from the hundreds of buses will be an issue. Readers can visit saveblairewing.org to sign the petition and support the resistance to the relocation.

Graduation rate rises

According to recent data released by the Maryland State Department of Education, the MCPS graduation rate rose for the third year in a row, ending with an 89.7 percent four-year graduation rate for the Class of 2014. There was a 1.4 percentage point increase from 2013. The rising graduation rate occurred for all subgroups since 2013, including African American and Hispanic students. The achievement gap between African American and White students has dropped by 3.8 points, and by 3.4 points between Hispanic and White students. Of MCPS high schools, 15 have seen a one-year rise in the graduation rate since 2013, and 20 have seen a rise over the past three years. The largest increase in graduation rate over the past year occurred at Wheaton High School with a 9.6 percentage point increase, and the highest graduation rates are at Poolesville and Churchill High Schools, with 98.4 percent.

Nutrition center comes to Montgomery County

The MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services had an opening ceremony for its new food and nutrition center on Jan. 12, which officially opened on Jan. 5. The 77,440 square foot center will produce food for school cafeterias in MCPS. Additionally, the center includes Roots of Learning, a 7,200 square foot garden which will be used to teach students about the food that they eat. The center strives to fulfill a need for increased production of fresh fruits and vegetables, expanded ability to serve more students, and increased space for raw meat and poultry production. Also, the center has new equipment that allows for more home-style cooked food for student cafeterias. According to Superintendent Joshua Starr’s speech at the opening ceremony, the facility is of utmost importance to MCPS students. “This facility represents our county-wide commitment to making sure that our kids and our parents are well taken care of,” he said.

Newsbriefs compiled by Daliah Barg Edited by William Zhu

A4 News Newsbriefs Governor Larry Hogan cuts MCPS budget for fiscal 2016 Governor Larry Hogan’s proposed fiscal 2016 budget calls for a $25.5 million dollar cut for MCPS and Montgomery County funding, cuts for other school systems, Medicaid reimbursements, and salaries for state employees.

While the overall budget for Maryland increased by 0.5 percent and educational spending increased by 45.3 billion dollars, MCPS lost funding because the budget calls for slashing the “Geographic Cost of Education Index”, a supplemental funding system for counties where education costs are higher, by 50 percent—a loss of about $17.7 million. Superintendent Joshua Starr said the $17 million is equivalent to 250 teachers’ jobs.

Hogan’s proposed plan also would decrease spending for community colleges, police aid, health grants, and land preservation. Legislators from other counties criticized the cuts as well, saying that they would have disproportionally harsh impacts on the city of Baltimore and Prince George’s County.

Youth Ambassadors from France respond to program Students from Blair and Northwest who participated in the Youth Ambassadors to France Program attended a post-program evaluation session on Jan. 26. At the session, they worked with the Educational Program Officer from the French Embassy, Céline Jobe, to provide feedback on the program that may impact program. Seven students from Blair and seven from Northwest went on a two-week cultural exchange sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in France, the French National Organization for Social Cohesion and Equal Opportunity and the French Association for the Development of Civic and European Initiative from Nov. 30 to Dec. 14. According to Media Specialist Andrea Lamphier, the program, meant to foster greater understanding of community involvement and cultural diversity in its participants, was a success.

The participating Blair students will maintain their roles as Youth Ambassadors and are expected to help continue the program at Blair.

MCPS contracts WestEd to study special-ed methods WestEd, a national research and nonprofit organization, has partnered with the Montgomery County Board of Education to conduct an independent review of MCPS’s special education programs. This is part of an effort to better understand the experiences of students and their families related to Individualized Education Program, the federal education plan that is custom-made for each child with a learning disability.

The study will include site visits

by WestEd to learn about special education instruction at a number of MCPS schools, and will compare these to those in other school districts. MCPS will use findings from the study to make recommendations for improvement to its special education programs. The school system will facilitate listening sessions, focus groups, and surveys to gather the feedback of parents and guardians over the next several months and provide feedback on the district’s special education services.

Newsbriefs compiled by Winne Luo

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Teachers participate in weight-loss contest The annual faculty-wide event encourages healthier habits

By Sarah Hutter Between 50 and 60 Blair teachers entered a faculty-wide Biggest Loser competition, which began at the start of the second semester and will continue until early April.

Assistant Principal William Currence organized the annual competition five years ago. Teachers and other faculty members, including Currence, participate in the weight loss contest each year. It is loosely structured like the “Biggest Loser” reality show, with participants weighing in each week in the nurse’s office and calculating the percent of body weight they lost in the past week. The goal is to lose the biggest percent of body weight by the end of the competition, and for the past few years, the teachers have split into teams to accomplish that goal.

At the beginning, all of the participants chip in money, some of which goes to charity and the rest to the prize for the winning contestant. The winning team gets to choose to which charity the money will go. “We probably donated a thousand dollars over the last five years,” Currence said.

Currence started the contest shortly after his son was born. “I put on a lot of weight,” he said, describing it as “sympathy weight” from his wife’s pregnancy. It was then that he got the idea for the competition. “The leadership team thought it was appropriate so we just started it,” Currence said. Since it occurs soon after the holidays, many faculty members are eager to lose weight gained over the break. School secretary Yola Kong said she joined the competition for this reason.

“Over the holidays, I put on fifteen

pounds,” she said. “It’s too much.”

According to Currence, each year’s event has a different theme, and this year’s theme is the reality show Survivor. In accordance with that, the participants split into two teams, Red and White, similar to the different color tribes on the show. For the first time this year, teachers can get cut from teams for missing a weigh-in or gaining weight. Teachers who are cut join the Silver team, which can still participate in weekly challenges, such as a challenge involving posting the best selfie. While they can join in fun activities, the members of the Silver team are not officially part of the contest. This new rule has changed some people’s attitudes about the game. “This year with the cuts, people are very competitive. No one wants to get cut,” Currence said.

This is not the first time game rules have been changed. “One year, everybody picked their own teams,” Currence said, but most teachers teamed up within their departments.

Now, teams are assigned through a lottery, so the makeup is random. Currence also changed the rules to make the weight loss component healthier. In earlier years, some teachers would do what Currence described as “binge dieting,” towards the end of the competition, eating very little in the last few weeks in an effort to drop pounds. Seeing this as a health risk and unfair to faculty who managed a more gradual weight loss, Currence adjusted the rules to make the contest more fair. “The rules this year are set up to make it more balanced.

Small, consistent gains are how you’re going to win,” he said.

While some teachers can get competitive and even trash talk their opponents, the competition tends to stay friendly. According to Currence, the prize money is never enough to be a significant m o t i vator, so it’s more for fun than any-

BEN SAFFORD

thing else. “The thing is, everyone wants to make it about losing weight. But it’s ten weeks

and losing weight is about a lifestyle change,” Currence said.

Some people do manage to lose a lot of weight. In previous years, the top winners have lost about 10 percent of their body weight. Kong is currently winning on the White team, and her strategy is to eat healthier and exercise a lot. “I cut off on carbs and sugars,” she said.

According to Currence, maintaining a healthy diet can be especially hard for teachers, whose schedules require them to meet with students or teach classes at lunchtime. “It’s tough sometimes to do a job like this and have a healthy diet,” he said.

The contest also instills a sense of community among teachers. All of the participants, including administrators such as Principal Renay Johnson, stop in to the nurse’s office at least once a week to weigh in. “The new nurse’s assistant is getting to meet a lot of teachers,” Currence said.

Kong appreciates Currence’s effort to get people excited about losing weight. “He’s making it very entertaining,” she said. “He’s very motivating for us.” According to Kong, most of the communication regarding the contest takes place over email, and even these are entertaining. “The emails that [teachers] are sending are very fun,” she said.

While it never yields results as dramatic as the real “Biggest Loser”’s, the competition is an entertaining way to encourage a healthy lifestyle in the workplace. “It’s fun and it gets people talking,” Currence said.

Marine Biology students construct submersible Four seniors build an underwater device for class project

By Leslie Chen

net McGlade and Sam Myung, began planning their project at Four Blair seniors built a sub- the beginning of the first semesmersible for their Marine Biology ter and built their submersible, class as a part of Special Project which they named “Efficiency”, Friday (SPF). The team, made up in the weeks before winter break.

Marine Biology teacher Elizaof Hakan Berk, Kevin Ho, Benbeth Duval explained that Leslie Blaha, another Marine Biology teacher, came up with the idea for SPF. “It was made to introduce inquiry and allow students to pick a topic they are interested in and develop a project from the ground up,” Duval said.

SPF allows the students to take their personal interests and tie it into the field of marine biology. Groups of students create projects on subjects of their choosing that would take the course of the NOLA CHEN entire semesENGINEER Senior Hakan Berk tests the gruop’s subter to work on. mersible, which is based off a SeaPerch robot design.

McGlade

explained that many of the groups worked on maintaining the tanks of marine organisms, but his group wanted to work on something different. “Robotics was just starting up, so we thought it would be cool to try to use our robotics experience to build the submersible,” McGlade said.

The students created the submersible to take measurements of the temperature, salinity and pH of water using sensors in a lake or a creek. The group had experience working with these different sensors when completing a “Mission Possible” project, where sophomores had to build and program rovers to be controlled by arrow keys from a computer, for the Magnet Program last year.

“We wanted to make this an underwater extension of our Mission Possible rovers,” Ho said.

However, even though the ideas were inspired by the rover, their actual plan for the submersible was different because the rover was just on land, while the submersible was to work underwater. “Differences in the engineering of land versus sea rovers made it hard to transfer much knowledge [from the Mission Possible rover],” Berk explained.

The group also planned to add a GoPro-type camera in order to film underwater and include footage as a part of their presentation at the end of the semester.

The submersible’s structure was based off a design of a SeaPerch robot. SeaPerch is an underwater robotics program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. “Kevin

and Bennet had both created Sea Perches in the past which were similar, but [our submersible had more] advanced electrical components and wiring,” Berk said.

At the beginning of the project, the group made the structure of the submersible, composed of cut PVC pipes and polycarbonate sheets. “We first built the frame and the parts of the box that would hold the electronics after we waterproofed it, which we made out of polycarbonate,” McGlade said.

After completing the frame, the group was able to work on the electronic component. An Arduino Mega board, which is a small microcomputer, was used to make the submersible move.

Connected to the Arduino was a breadboard that is used to prototype electronic systems and digital circuits. “The Arduino sends code through the powered breadboards and the motors move.

We can move each motor by keyboard input,” Berk explained.

The group’s main problems with the submersible were the difficulties with getting everything waterproofed. “We used super glue and caulk to waterproof the box, but for some reason, we were unable to waterproof a corner of the box, so we haven’t been able to test it yet,” Ho said.

Parts of the original design had to be eliminated as the students ran into difficulties when dealing with the electronic sensors.

“The sensors fell through because many of them were costly and we were unsure whether or not they would work underwater,” he said.

News A5

silverchips

February 5, 2015

SGA to host county regional general assembly

First portion of SMOB election process will occur at Blair

By Mariam Jiffar Blair’s Student Government Association (SGA) will host the Montgomery County Region (MCR) general assembly on Feb. 12 for the first time in recent history.

SGA coordinator Christopher Klein said that hosting the assembly again will hopefully raise student involvement and interest in student government on a local and county level. “One of the things is visibility; students will walk down the hall who may or may not have been aware [of the assembly] and all of a sudden there’s this huge meeting,” he said. SGA president Blossom Jiang said that Blair’s diversity and large student population makes it an ideal candidate to host the assembly. “If...you’re kind of the only one that’s out there who’s not hosting and you get the biggest number of votes and say on things it just seems kind of off,” she said.

According to Surdiv Vijayakumar, SGA Chief of Operations, students will benefit from the SGA hosting the event. Students interested in attending will not have to bus to a different location

for the assembly, but instead go to the auditorium with a permission slip signed by their parent. “We have a strict amount of people we can [bring to general assemblies at other schools]...Blair and Northwood together can only fill up one bus,” he said. “But, now that it’s at our school, all you have to do is have that [permission slip] when you walk into the door.”

Klein said that few students normally attend general assemblies at other schools due to logistical challenges. “When you go to a meeting at another school, [you take] a bus, and you have to miss a day, and you have to think about lunch...if we’re hosting it here, that’s not an issue,” he said. Now, the number of Blair students at this assembly has the potential to triple, according to Jiang. “We could probably host, like, 50, 60,” she said. “As many as our auditorium allows us to fit without crowding other schools.”

The process of the assembly itself is interactive and engaging for students, according to Jiang.

First, the representatives from each school, the Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) and others arrive and check in, along with the members of MCR executive board, staff members, and some members of the Board of Education. After introductions and greetings, the students are sectioned off into different groups, ideally with each group having a variety of different schools represented.

“You would pretty much get to know people from other schools, talk about the issue and just give your opinion,” Jiang said.

Blair teacher introduces film class for next year

By Teague Sauter Blair English and Media teacher George Mayo will teach a new one-semester film class entitled “Lights Camera Literacy” next year. The course will focus on writing creative stories and turning them into short films. It will also cover basic filmmaking and editing skills using the program Final Cut Pro X. There will be two sections each semester offered only to ninth and tenth grade students.

Mayo is looking for passionate students to sign up for the class. “Anyone who is interested in filmmaking, learning how to edit video, using cameras and students with good imaginations that like writing creative stories,” he said. Students will also study a variety of films throughout the semester, including Edward Scissorhands and movies from local filmmaker Spike Jones.

Instead of counting as an art or tech credit, the course is listed as an English elective. Mayo emphasized that there are limited spots available.

He taught a version of this course for several years at Silver Spring International Middle School (SSI). The class is a successful program at SSI that culminates in an annual film festival at the AFI theatre. It continues to be taught there today under a new group of teachers.

Mayo calls this course a more “sophisticated” version of the “Lights Camera Literacy” program that he taught at SSI. “There’s an emphasis on story development, but it’s a little more sophisticated in the sense of the films that we’re watching and then the films that we’re creating,” he said. In middle school the films had a lighter tone but with high school students films may take on darker

After the different groups share m e e t i n g , their thoughts with each other, Jiang said.

After the they vote on the issue.

Students will miss most of their s t u d e n t s a school day if they attend the as- reach sembly, because it runs from 9:00 d e c i s i o n a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The meeting will on a given most likely cover the possibility topic, ofof later school start times and the ficials reSMOB nomination convention view it. “If which will occur later in Febru- it passed ary. Klein said Blair students then the who are interested in attending S M O B the can volunteer to go to the con- and vention and vote. “If you would Board of like to be a part of that process of Education SMOB nominating, you can let us w o u l d know...you can fill out a form [to d e b a t e about it,” sign up].”

The assembly will also address she said. the importance of voting without “ T h e n bias because junior Zachary Wil- t h e y liams is running to be the SMOB w o u l d AMANDA GROSS it this year. “Blair is having a stu- bring dent who nominated himself... back to see what student input “It’s not going to be like, ‘Oh, we agreed, we voted, there we it’s pretty much to create a fair- would be.”

According to Vijayakumar, go.’” However, students do have ness guide, so when you have the nomination convention you’re not votes taken at the assembly have the power to elevate issues that saying, ‘Oh I want to vote for this the power to make a significant they find important. “Our basing person just because they come impact, though students have to is putting up priorities that the to my school,’” Jiang said. She be realistic about what that looks board needs to look at,” Vijayastressed that students will have like. “Obviously, we’re not go- kumar said. “We do, I would say, to make a careful and informed ing to get the final say,” he said. have power.” decision and put school favoritism aside.

The five-hour long assembly includes a onehour lunch break where the SGA will provide lunch options for stu“Yes. I don’t really know what is going on in the county so it dents to buy, leaving would be nice to know.” four hours for the assemIsabel Emsfeld, sophomore bly itself. “Not all the students will be sitting “Yes. I have to have my voice and if it is actually topics that there the entire time,” might affect me and I have an opinion on it then I want to Jiang said. “They’ll be moving and [breaking] go because it gives me an opportunity to share.” up into groups.” The - Haron Adbaru, freshman county will bring a list of topics to broach at the

soapbox

Would you attend an MCR meeting at Blair?

RideOn implements Youth Cruiser cards New student pass doubles as SmarTrip and ID from BUS FARE page A1 program. It helps to know the numbers.”

One potential addition would be to make busses free for students at all times. “We have requests to make it free 24/7, but we need data to do that,” Kenlaw said. “The more info we have, the more justification we have to provide future services.”

As it also functions as a normal SmarTrip card, and can be used on the Metro trains and on busses during hours that are not free for students. Money can be added

to it the same way it is added to a regular SmarTrip card.

Students can purchase the cards at schools and Montgomery County Public Libraries. “Now you can buy them at all Montgomery County Public Libraries, and we have 21 schools that are also selling them,” Kenlaw said.

The cards cost two dollars. This means, according to Kenlaw, that they are selling them at cost, and not making much profit from them. Making money is not the goal of selling the cards. “[The price] is not to

KYRA SEIGER

RIDING HOME Blazers board the bus on the corner of University and Colesville after school. Many students depend on public transportation to get to and from Blair.

make money but to get the cards out there.”

Riders can add a certain amount to their card each month or during the summer to ride anytime. “Youth can add a monthly pass to the Youth Cruiser SmarTrip Card to ride anytime, all the time for $11, and during the summer they can add a Summer Pass for $18 and ride anytime the entire summer,” Kenlaw said. “That’s also unique to the Youth Cruiser SmarTrip Card.”

Kenlaw said that there is hope for improvements for the cards in the future.

Currently, one must show the bus driver the card during the free period and tap it during all other hours. “We want additional functionality in the future,” Kenlaw said.

“We want to allow you to tap it just like any other card, which is easier than remembering when to tap and when to flash.”

The Youth Cruiser cards are being sold for

$2

AMANDA GROSS

B1 Opinions

silverchips

Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 Phone: (301) 649-2864 Winner of the 2014 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Winner of the 2014 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Silver Crown Editors-in-Chief: Alex Frandsen and Kelsey Gross Managing News Editors: Emily Daly and Leila Habib Managing Op/Eds Editor: Landon Harris Managing Features Editors: Alexis Redford-Maung Maung and Grace Woodward Managing Entertainment Editor: Naomi Weintraub Managing Sports Editor: Jesse Broad-Cavanagh Managing Design Editor: Grace Woodward Ombudsman: Naomi Weintraub Fact Checks Supervisors: Leslie Chen and Emily Daly Extras Editor: Luisa McGarvey Newsbriefs Editor: William Zhu Public Relations Director: Kalanzi Kajubi Executive Business Directors: Liza Curcio and Jackeline Portillo Business Staff: Alexandre Alia Maddie Boyer Joe Estrin Nobel Girmay Anna Hukill Dana Hunter Ian Kiefhaber Javier Lopez Adina Rombro Sebastian Rubinstein Ben Segal Page Editors: Daliah Barg Julian Bregstone Sam Butler Leslie Chen Camille Estrin Eleanor Harris Wesley Hopkins Sarah Hutter Mariam Jiffar Camille Kirsch Reva Kreeger Winne Luo Luisa McGarvey Maris Medina Anna O’Driscoll Teague Sauter Emma Soler Aditi Subramaniam Amanda Wessel William Zhu Spanish Page Editor-in-Chief: Milena Castillo Spanish Page Editors: Joseline Ayala Sarah Canchaya Milena Castillo Camila Fernandez Alisson Fortis Carlos Fuentes Ilcia Hernandez Odalis Llerena Mario Menendez Ruth Portillo Itencia Quezada Andrés Romero Managing Photo Editors: Kyra Seiger and Zeke Wapner Photographers: Peter Berger Nola Chen Chimey Sonam Phuong Vo Managing Arts Editors: Elizabeth Pham Ben Safford Artists: Andrea Brown Amanda Gross Candia Gu Nazea Khan Shivani Mattikalli Nino Migineishvili Victoria Tsai Angel Wen Puzzle Editor: Julian Bregstone Copy Editors: Amanda Gross and Katherine Murtha Professional Technical Advisor: Peter Hammond Spanish Page Advisor: Dianette Coombs Advisor: Jeremy Stelzner Silver Chips is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the editorial board and are not necessarily those of the school. Signed letters to the editor are encouraged.

Submit your letter to Jeremy Stelzner’s mailbox in the main office, to room 158 or to silver.chips. print@gmail.com. Concerns about Silver Chips’ content should be directed to the Ombudsman, the public’s representative to the paper, at silver.chips. ombudsman@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

silverchips

February 5, 2015

It’s time to say yes to consent education Anti-harassment assembly is important to Blair students

By Camille Kirsch An opinion It’s all over the news: The Vanderbilt verdict that found two football players guilty of rape, with two more awaiting trial. A viral, and much-debated, exposé of alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. An Obama administration campaign to get men involved in sexual assault prevention. The controversial California “Yes Means Yes” law, which redefined consent as the presence of a yes, not the absence of a no. Even the much-cited statistic that one in five women are sexually assaulted while at college.

Read any newspaper, and you’ll see that America is finally opening up to discussion of our country’s rape culture. But where are the parallel conversations at Blair?

Mostly, they’re absent. Many Blazers have never been taught about consent, harassment and assault. Students are left without a venue for discussions about consent, making them vulnerable to harassment and assault.

They’re forced to rely on their parents in hopes that they will adequately cover the importance

SOURCE: WHITEHOUSE.GOV

of consent. They’re also left to rely on other people’s parents: has your boyfriend learned that only yes means yes? What about the people at that party where you got a little too buzzed?

The obvious way to make sure that every student learns about consent is to cover it in the mandatory tenth grade health class.

But even the optional Family Life and Human Sexuality units of health classes do not, as a matter of curriculum, cover these topics. Blair Health teacher John MacDonald says that six students last year asked him why he did not teach consent. His answer? He had no time to do so. There were other things he had to cover.

This is in line with MCPS standards, which do not list harassment and assault as obligatory material, even within the optional Family Life and Human Sexuality units. Instead, space in those units goes to topics such as STDs, sexting laws, and the stages of pregnancy--all important topics, but no more important than preventing sexual assault, which the National Sex Offender Public Website says affects one in five high school girls.

Clearly, the county should change its curriculum to incorpo-

DALIAH BARG

rate consent education. But in the it, students watched films explainmeantime, Blair students still need ing what constitutes consent and to learn the definitions of sexual debunking common myths, such harassment and assault. as the belief that sometimes when That’s where the people say no to sexual Women’s Advocacy activity, they are just Club comes in. “In playing hard to the light of all the get and should sexual assaults be ignored. that have Students were also been taking given place on handcampuses,” co-presouts, and later had ident Eunice classroom Muchemi discussays, “we sions feel that about [discussing] the serious assault and issues that harassment.

SOURCE: WHITEHOUSE.GOV DALIAH BARG Then, the surround sexual assaults as early as principal discontinued the assembly in high school would and its accompanying help reduce future rapes education. “They decided that it and would also help us underwas no longer needed,” explains stand the full meaning of consent.” So she and the club’s other Women’s Advocacy co-president members are trying to bring back Katherine Murtha. “But the an old Blair tradition: the antire-emergence of this issue in harassment assembly. the news made us think about About 10 years ago, our school bringing this assembly back.” had its last annual assembly Currently, the rebooted assembly against sexual harassment and asis still in the planning stage. The sault. “I believe it had been part of Women’s Advocacy club has not a lawsuit – a student had been left yet set a date, written a script or alone in a classroom with a male gotten approval from the school student, and he harassed her,” administration. But they will, and says English teacher Vickie Adshould, do all those things. amson. The student’s parents did “We think that this assembly is not want money, Adamson said, necessary,” Murtha says. but asked that the school educate She’s right. people so that similar events did not occur again. That was the beKatherine Murtha is one of the ginning of the yearly assembly. At copy editors for Silver Chips.

Choosing the best answer: Why PARCC is not progress

MCPS must better inform students and parents about tests

By Eleanor Harris An opinion When Tracey Goldman attempted the practice PARCC assessment for fifth graders, she was shocked by its difficulty. “One section [was] 36 questions long,” she remembered, “and after 20 minutes I had only answered four questions. And I’m a fifth grade teacher!” Goldman, who is a teacher at Piney Branch Elementary School and the parent of a Blair sophomore, is wary of PARCC’s implementation in schools. “I don’t think that using all this time for standardized testing is a good use of students’ time,” she said.

She is strongly considering opting her son out of the test.

As Maryland’s top bureaucrats rolled out PARCC, the state insufficiently consulted some of its most important constituents: the students. While Blair did not choose to implement the test, the

administration has, at the very least, the responsibility of informing students and parents.

The PARCC assessment is one of two standardized tests created to evaluate academic progress based on Common Core standards. In accordance with Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, states that adopt the Common Core increase their chances of winning grant money. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) plans for PARCC to begin this year, but the state’s rush to administer the assessment has left its implementation unorganized and unclear.

Many Blazers’ needs have been ignored during the test’s implementation. “I definitely think there have been little to no actual [conversations] with students [to see] what they say,” lamented sophomore Luc Picone, one of many students whose complaints were overlooked. “When you look at the PARCC website or whatever, all of the documents and the press releases they put out [have been] to teachers...and principals... and people who study students.”

Picone’s statement rings true in more ways than one: we’ll have to

look for the “whatever,” since the link to the PARCC information on MSDE’s website is broken.

Students are not only underrepresented but uninformed: many Blazers are totally unaware of the basic purpose and logistics of PARCC. “We only know that it’s happening,” said senior Karina Gaytan. “We don’t really know what it’s about, what it’s supposed to do, [or] what they are trying to figure out.” Blair has neglected to sufficiently inform many of its students most vulnerable to inequities in standardized testing. Makrina Masale, a sophomore in ESOL, is worried about the PARCC assessment. “Of

VICTORIA TSAI

course I am!” she said. “They said it’s going to be hard, since I’m an ESOL student.” Although Masale isn’t even sure whether she will be taking the test, she has heard that it will be harder than previous standardized tests and more difficult to finish. Her parents, though they have not been informed about the test, have been supportive, Masale said: “My father said, ‘Just try your best.’”

During PARCC’s implementation, the feedback from teachers and parents has also been undervalued. Goldman’s experience as an MCPS educator has left her doubtful about the state’s interest in her opinion. “[My students] are still taking the science MSA this year, even though we know the MSA is now completely obsolete and the scores have never counted,” she said, referring to the Maryland State Assessment, another standardized test that PARCC will make obsolete. “So I’m not sure that the state really wants to hear what people want to say.”

Although Blair does not have the power to stop the adoption of PARCC or the state’s broader policies, it certainly has the responsibility to inform and include its community in the implementation process. Students should not feel scared or confused about a major test. Parents should not feel ignored by the state or by the school. Teachers should not be intimidated into silence to the exclusion of expressing what’s best for the students.

Blair needs to rise to the task of fairly implementing PARCC, no matter how messy or controversial. This is no time to fail its students.

February 5, 2015

Opinions B2

silverchips

Should MCPS raise the GPA eligibility requirement for athletics to 2.5?

YES:

ZEKE WAPNER

Daliah Barg

It encourages athletes to focus on academics.

For some student athletes, the upcoming game can take precedent over next week’s math test. Lifting weights becomes a priority over solving equations, and dumbbells are cherished more than textbooks. A student like this could spend long hours at the gym, then get home after practice and give up on doing their homework, caring more about getting their team a W than anything school related.

The main focus of school is academics, not athletics, and the current 2.0 minimum GPA requirement for eligibility to play sports in MCPS is too low to motivate students to perform well in school.

If students cannot maintain at least a 2.5 GPA while not on athletics, they will not be able to maintain it while going to practice each day. Students who join sports teams should be prepared to take on the time crunch that sports teams require. Playing sports is a privilege, not a right, for high school students, and sports are an addition to the regular responsibilities of classes. For some, sports might be their favorite activity, but it is also important to learn to succeed at something that has much more reallife worth. A higher standard for athletic eligibility would work towards fulfilling this goal.

Ultimately, school is not about playing sports, it’s about education. In the long run, academics are more important than high school sports – very few high school sports players go on to become professionals. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the probability for high school athletes to later join a professional league ranges from .03 to .09 percent in basketball, football, baseball, hockey and soccer.

As a result, students who strive for careers as professional athletes need to have other options for themselves. However, a 2.0 GPA severely limits their opportunities.

If student-athletes wish to attend a state university and they do not get recruited for the college’s sports team, a 2.0 GPA will not be sufficient for admittance at most schools.

The majority of admitted applicants to the University of Maryland have at least a 3.3 GPA, which is much higher than the current 2.0 requirement for MCPS athletes.

Student-athletes merely achieving the 2.0 GPA for athletic eligibility are not setting themselves up for success in college.

College sports require a much greater time commitment than high school, and student athletes who received just above a 2.0 in high school will have more difficulty remaining eligible for college athletics. If a student decides not to pursue athletics as a career choice, employers who analyze college GPAs for consideration of employment will not be impressed with C averages.

Achieving a 2.0 GPA is a relatively easy task for most students, according to Blair

Athletic Director Rita Boule. “I think it’s relatively simple, with effort, to maintain a 2.0,” she says. A report card of all Cs is sufficient for a 2.0 GPA, and, according to Boule, this is achievable simply by showing up to class and doing the class’s work.

This low requirement encourages a lazy outlook towards grades and allows Blair athletes to slack off. A 2.5 requirement pushes students to come closer to the Honor Roll 3.0 GPA, and it requires at least three B grades on their report card.

Additionally, this raised requirement sets studentathletes up for success in college since the NCAA has a minimum GPA requirement of 2.3 for students to participate in competitions.

According to the Global Post, high school athletes generally get better grades than regular students, so raising the minimum GPA requirement shouldn’t even be a problem for the majority of the students.

And plus, the raised GPA requirement will serve as a motivational factor for the minority of student athletes who barely meet the 2.0 requirement.

Blair’s student-athletes represent the school when they compete with other teams. For this reason high schools need to have high standards for their sports players. Athletes should be role models in academics for other students, because they serve as prisms through which the rest of the county views the school. Most sports teams participate in about 12 games per season, meaning that they represent the best of their school’s students to 12 different teams as well as officials across the county and state. Ultimately, the students who are struggling to maintain 2.0 GPAs are not the best representatives of MCPS’s academic rigor.

NO:

It would hinder students’ motivation and passion.

Athletics are an essential part of the school community. Students who participate have the opportunity to represent their school, follow their passions and stay in shape, all while learning important life lessons, such as teamwork and leadership skills.

But if MCPS raises the GPA requirement for high school athletes to 2.5, students athletes unable to meet this mark lose motivation for coming to school, and lose the psychological and social benefits that can be attained through athletics.

A higher GPA requirement for students to be able to play sports would also mean that more students will be forbidden from representing their school in a way that is meaningful to them.

Our sports teams help ignite rivalries with other high schools, give students a reason to come togther and give studentathletes actual motivation to NAZEA KHAN attend school on a daily basis.

Students who can’t manage a 2.5 GPA lack motivation from their academics, which leaves them with less interest in attending school, aside from playing their sport. If MCPS were to deny these students their chance at playing the sport they love, they may not have any reason to attend school at all.

If students below a 2.5 are permitted to play their sport, they will still have their motivation for coming to school, and it’s possible that something at school could pique their interest. Through school athletics, students under a 2.5 GPA can make friends and develop role models who could help them become more interested in school.

If students below a 2.5 won’t be allowed to play their sport anymore, won’t have any motivation to come to school, won’t be

ZEKE WAPNER

Sam Butler

making any friends who are good influences, and in all likelihood will have little chance of become interested in doing well in school. So while MCPS hopes to encourage athletes to focus on academics, raising the GPA requirement will have the opposite effect.

With their sights set on increasing the focus on academics, MCPS fails to consider that its classes are not the only way students can learn. People can learn in many other ways, such as through sports. Sports require strategizing, working together and knowing your roles, all in pursuit of a shared goal. These are valuable life skills that will be taken away from students who can’t manage a 2.5 GPA, the students who need them the most.

Not only does athletics teach important skills, athletics also has psychological value.

In a study conducted by Andrew Yiannakis, a research professor in the Sports Administration Program at University of New Mexico, it was found that “there are positive effects of sport participation on grades, self- concept, locus of control and educational aspirations.”

In addition to the psychological benefits found in the study, improved social skills, leadership skills and teamwork are all benefits reported in student who play school sports, and it is unfair for MCPS to take these benefits away from students who can’t manage a 2.5 GPA. School based athletics also have significant social value for student-athletes as they are a way for students to make new friends, spend time together, and do something productive. The simplest way for teenagers to make friends is by finding shared interests, so friendships come easily for members of a sports team. But with a raised GPA requirement, students unable to reach a 2.5 will be left without an easy way to make friends and may instead find friends who are bad influences on them.

A study of 14,000 teenagers published in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine showed a 10 percent decrease in cigarette smoking and a 7 percent decrease in marijuana use in male high school athletes, compared to those who did not play a sport.

MCPS may want to raise the GPA requirement for athletes to 2.5 because they see it as a way to get students to focus on school instead of “wasting time” with athletics, but that mindset doesn’t account for all the benefits of athletics.

Athletics provides students with key skills, as well as psychological and social benefits that can contribute to them having a happier life. Athletics gives students a motivation for coming to school, which could lead to an actual interest in school. So while at first glance it may seem like raising the GPA requirement has all pros and no cons, the reality is far from that.

voicebox “I think 2.5 is too much of an expectation.”

Benji Areas Freshman

Eric Kalala Senior

“If you want to have the privilege of doing sports, you need to put in more effort.”

“It will motivate studentathletes to do better in school.”

“Yes, because education is more important than sports.”

PETER BERGER

Nguyen Phan Junior

Afnan Abdella Sophomore

“If they can’t do what they love to do, they will be discouraged from school.”

Abigail Landesman Freshman

B3 Opinions

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Forced into a bathroom where you don’t belong Blair restrooms need to be safe and accessible for all

By Sarah Hutter An opinion Imagine you are a student trying to use the public bathroom at school. Not a big deal, right?

Now imagine you don’t identify as the sex pictured on that little sign on the door. Going into the restroom of your biological sex makes you feel outof-place because on the inside, you’re a different gender. Going into the restroom of your true gender, the one you identify as, causes you to be harassed because it is not the restroom of your biological sex. It’s a Catch-22: neither bathroom is the right choice, but unfortunately, they are the only choices.

For most of us, using a public restroom is a nonissue. There are little signs saying “Men” and “Women” that let us know where to go if we feel the need at school, or any other public place.

Most of us aren’t worried about feeling uncomfortable or being harassed for something as simple as using the bathroom. That’s because most of us fit into the “Men” and “Women” boxes we were assigned to at birth. However, this is not the case for all students.

Limiting students to genderspecific restrooms requires them to make a statement every day about their gender identity, which does not come easily for everyone.

Blair needs to offer several gender neutral restrooms along with traditional male/female restrooms,

in order to ensure that all students will feel safe and comfortable using school facilities.

For many transgender students, using school restrooms is an incredibly stressful part of the day, which many simply try to avoid altogether. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, more than 55 percent of transgender students stated that they avoid school restrooms at least some-

Over

55% of transgender students

sometimes avoid school restrooms for fear of being bullied.

ANDREA BROWN

times, for fear of being bullied or abused. Even lawmakers have targeted transgender students, trying to prohibit them

from using the restroom in peace. use the facilities without feeling with the idea of gender neutral Just recently, a bill was proposed pressure to choose an identity. restrooms or are worried about in Kentucky that would allow While it would be unrealistic to sexual harassment between males students to win compensation if construct new restrooms at Blair, and females, there will still be they caught transgender students it would be fairly simple to assign gender-binary restrooms availusing a restroom that is the oppotwo or three of the existing restable. site of that for their biological sex. rooms as gender neutral facilities.

Blair is relatively progressive Because of past and recent disThe arguments against gender when it comes to accepting and crimination, neutral restrooms revolve around accommodating students of all transgender the concern that students may feel backgrounds and identities, but students may uncomfortable using the facilithis is one of the very few areas in not feel safe ties with people of the opposite which it is lagging behind. using either sex, and that the restrooms would It’s the twenty-first century, and restroom, make it easier for students to it’s about time to reevaluate what and it’s engage in sexual activity in school. we consider the “norm.” Transimportant to By leaving some restrooms as they gender and gender non-binary offer a third, are, and appointing others as gen- students are just as welcome in safer option. der-neutral restrooms, everyone our school as cisgender kids, and Furthermore, some will have a space where they feel our facilities need to reflect that. students do not choose to comfortable. They would limit This school is certainly ahead identify as either male the amount of harassment, sexual in many areas, but establishing or female, but instead or otherwise, experienced by gender-neutral restrooms is a identify as gender nontransgender students trying to necessary step towards creatbinary, genderqueer, as a use the restrooms. For cisgender ing an equal environment for all third gender or as somestudents who feel uncomfortable students. where else on the gender spectrum.

Gender binary restrooms are not completely inclusive for these students, Would you support gender-neutral bathrooms? because they force the students to choose a gender just to use the “I support gender-neutral bathrooms because there might restroom. High school is be students who do not like to identify themselves as a time where many people either gender, and there would be smaller chances of bulbegin to figure out who they are, and forcing students to lying situation for LGBT students.” choose an identity before - Lori Nambo, sophomore they’re ready is oppressive and does not allow students the privacy they deserve.

Including gender neu“No...because I feel like it would be weird because I’m tral bathrooms here at Blair just not used to sharing the bathroom with another genwould encourage all studer at school.” dents to feel safe using the Jessica Esquivel Nava, freshman restrooms, and would allow students in the process of figuring out who they are to

soapbox

There is a lot more to school than lectures and tests

Blair’s once-popular clubs are suffering due to low attendance

By Luisa McGarvey An opinion

For most students, the bell ringing is the beginning of a mass exodus home, where they can be free from classrooms and fluorescent lights. But for some students, the bell signals the beginning of their chosen after-school club. There are a multitude of different afterschool clubs that provide students with an abundance of opportunities to participate in. However, at Blair certain clubs and classes that were once the most popular, such as Blair Network Communications (BNC) and Students for Global Responsibility (SGR), have seen a significant drop in enrollment, leaving the Blair community devoid of valuable opportunities that these clubs have to offer.

Infoflow, which has been used for years as an entertaining way to deliver announcements, has downgraded from a reliable source full of video shorts to a haphazard and sporadically aired program. There is extra time built into our third and fourth period classes for Infoflow, but recently the show has been replaced by brief, minute long announcements over the intercom that are much less engaging. At the root of the problem is decreased membership in the class. Only a few years ago BNC was a popular class that required an application, but now it has dramatically downsized from 15 people last year to only four current members. Video clips shot

and edited by a multitude of BNC members used to be an integral part to Infoflow but with so few members Infoflow has been forced to try new ideas that have not panned out. As shown by the numerous technical difficulties and the month long absence of programming, it is harder to put on the show with less and less people. With only a few contributing members, it takes longer to get projects completed leaving little to present to the rest of the school. Currently, Infoflow is starting to run again, but with fewer video clips to air it has resorted to a showing the announcements in the form of tweets scrolling across the screen.

BNC is not the only group having trouble fulfilling its goals as a result of fewer members. From the SGR Spectacular to various book drives to testifying before the Board of Education, the SGR club used to be able to organize and accomplish a multitude of different activities and fundraisers. For over a decade,

SGR played as a prominent role in the Blair community by holding the SGR Spectacular, a talent show where students perform to raise money for an organization of the club’s choice. However, fundraisers like these require manpower

and then channeling it into raising money for a specific cause.

With so many clubs and electives to choose from it can be hard to get the word out

the club simply does not have anymore. Because of this, SGR was forced to postpone the event.

A big part of the club is linking students to current international issues they are passionate about,

about certain ones. Part of the reason BNC and SGR have seen a decrease in enrollment is simply because not enough is being done to promote them. In previous years BNC streamed numerous

videos in an attempt to promote the class, but these eye catching advertisements have been lacking in number. Meanwhile, the SGR has faced a lot of difficulty in recruiting new members as a result of last years all-senior membership. According to SGR copresident Lul Mohamed, “Eunice Muchemi, the other club president and I have been trying to find passionate freshmen, sophomores and juniors to help us out but we’ve been having a tough time.”

If clubs and electives such as BNC were promoted, students may realize the abundance of opportunities they have right at their fingertips. The SGR has created a great legacy at Blair and it would be incredibly disappointing for it to come to a close now. The SGR is still attempting to host another Spectacular in the spring with the theme “Replacing Weapons with Books – educating the thousands of refugee children in Syria,” but its occurrence is still contingent on the members who need all assistance they can get. Currently the Blair VICTORIA TSAI community is missing out on what these clubs have to offer and students need to realize that the wide range of opportunities, skills, and resources they have access to will shrink if not taken advantage of.

February 5, 2015

silverchips

Opinions B4

An [in]tro[duction] to Blair’s Honor Societies Groups are beneficial for students, schools and communities Maris Medina An opinion When math teacher Tung Pham opens the door to room 235 once a month to a noisy throng of nearly 177 juniors and seniors, it’s hard to tell what the occasion is. There are sandwich bags lined across the tables, loaves of bread stacked against the wall, and giant jars of peanut butter strewn across the room. When one thinks “honor society,” the image of eager students having fun while making sandwiches for the needy doesn’t particularly

“I don’t necessarily look at grades so much as other parts as well. A lot of students who may not have the best GPA have a lot of SSL hours.”

- Tino Pham

come up. However, contrary to the popular belief that these organizations are solely for geniuses and overachievers, honor societies have developed into organizations not only to acknowledge those with academic prowess but also ones to mold leaders and individuals of good character. The various honor societies such as the National Honor Society (NHS) and the National Art Honor Society (NAHS) offer students a chance to

better their community, their schools, and themselves. Therefore, the societies should continue to grow and expand in the coming years.

The National Honor Society rests on the four pillars of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. While your GPA is a major part of what gets you in, the society is focused on a more holistic view of a student. “I don’t necessarily look at grades so much as all the other parts as well,” explains Pham, the NHS coordinator, “A lot of students who may not have the best GPA have a lot of SSL hours. Not just SSL hours, [but they also have good] letters of recommendations.” Not only does this holistic view attract those with academic rigor, it ensures that prospective members are the ones who also want to be leaders in their communities. In fact, Blair’s NHS chapter requires its members to clock in 20 hours of volunteer work each month. Thus, the organization takes in those who already have traits that will further benefit the club and subsequently puts them in a position where they can do even more good. Together, members of these numerous honor societies take on volunteer projects like tutoring after school or making sandwiches for Shepherd’s Table--such as what NHS did in December.

In addition, those who want an outlet to spread their passion for a particular subject can do so in the variety of honor societies that exist at Blair today--NHS, NAHS, National Science Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, French Honor Society, and the newly developed National Math Honor Society. In an interest meeting with prospective members, math teacher Christina Martin emphasized that being a part of the club didn’t mean that one was necessarily good at math, but that he or she would be willing to work with students who didn’t have the same enthusiastic interest for the subject. Honor society members and the students they assist mutually benefit from the various weekly tutoring sessions that

the honor societies hold--the tutor gets to further his or her passion for the topic while helping out someone who is not as proficient in it. In addition, these clubs give students a chance to truly hone in on their favorite subjects. Jacqueline Armstead, the NAHS sponsor, notes that her particular branch is an outlet for personal development. “[NAHS] really offers that opportunity for self-growth as well as community work,” Armstead surmises, “The growing that students do as individuals is pretty unique to our honor society.” In a broader standpoint, students can use involvement in these societies to show off their strengths and skills to prospective colleges.

Honor societies have come a long way.

From clubs that at first honored those who

did exceptional in school, they’ve transformed into organizations that honor those who excel in school and want to become leaders in their communities. At the end of the day, that extra cord on the graduate’s cap may seem like a superficial token, but in actuality, it is a symbolic testament to a student’s love and dedication to a certain academic subject.

Ultimately, honor societies are spaces where students can show off their strengths in math, science, or even art while at the same time convincing others to share the same kind of enthusiasm. Where students can just be passionate about their favorite classes. Where students can further develop into the best versions of themselves that they can be. There’s real honor in that.

REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF JULIA SINT

VOLUNTEERING Members of Blair’s National Honor Society make sandwiches to donate to Shepherd’s Table, a Silver Spring non-profit.

B5 Opinion

silverchips

February 5, 2015

My Blair: Personal Column

THEN:1957

Dealing with the “crazy” stigma

By Sylvie Weisman Guest writer

As someone who knows all too well how it feels to hear the words “obsessive” and “psycho-stalker,” let me tell you: it’s very, very easy to start seeing yourself that way.

But in a culture already in the midst of a huge upheaval (thank you, radical feminists) it’s important that we take the time to re-examine how we look at women and love.

I am not the only one who falls victim to it. Girls my age hear it so often we hardly COURTESY OF SILVER CHIPS ARCHIVES bat an eyelid, “…

OLD SCHOOL Two students at the old Blair campus on Wayne Ave. sell apparel and and he probably thinks I’m crazy supplies to a fellow student as part of an effort to teach students entrepreunarial skills. now.”

The word “crazy” alludes to mental illness and it shocks me that I should even have to say this, but having feelings for someone is not a mental illness.

And why should he think you’re crazy?

What did you say, “Hey, wanna come over and hang out under the shrine I made for you?” No, you only said, “Hey.” But too often, “Hey” is all it takes. Too often, “Hey” sends teenage boys bragging to their friends that “she’s obsessed with me.”

It’s a very effective way of keeping girls in their place. If “Hey” makes us psychotic, it’s highly unlikely any of us will want to make the first move (or any move) so the boys get to keep their power. Great.

But what creates a “psycho-stalker” anyway? What is it about women having feelings that puts men in danger?

It’s time to re-consider the cultural mindset we have regarding women who have the audacity to have feelings. All it does is reinforce the belief that men are all-powerful beings—so powerful that KYRA SEIGER they hold women’s psyches in their hands.

MODERN MARKETPLACE A student stops by the school store’s counter on Blair BouLet’s be honest: unless you’re in a relationship, it’s the feelings that matter, not levard to check out its inventory of snacks and Blazer-made clothes and other items.

& NOW:2015

the boy. So let’s all take a collective deep breath.

The conversation has already been started. Taylor Swift may not be your favorite artist, but with the opinions she’s shared with the press and the genius “Blank Space” video, she’s taken huge steps towards helping girls realize that they don’t have to be ashamed of their emotions. She’s pushing people to build a society that instead of telling boys, “Don’t date her, she’ll write a song about you being a jerk,” tells them, “Hey, here’s a thought.

How about you not be a jerk?”

So, a piece of advice for straight boys dealing with straight girls: next time a girl admits she has feelings for you, think twice NOLA CHEN before you stop talking to her or start running every time you see her. Honestly, what is she going to do, brutally murder you in the school hallway? And, more importantly, why do your actions cause the need to clarify that she’s not?

If you think that you’re going to matter to her six years from now—heck, six months from now—your ego’s too big for your own good. It was never you that mattered, it was the attraction. And now that she knows you’re a jerk, that’s probably long gone too.

Want to submit a personal column? Email it to silver.chips.print@gmail.com The Editorial Board will read through all submissions and determine a selection.

Up and Coming February 14, Valentine’s Day

February 27, Early Release

February 16, Presidents’ Day

March 2, Start of PARCC

Student & Teacher Awards & Honors Madison Waechter became a county champion in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle, and Brian Tsau became a county champion in the 500 yard freestyle.

Zachary Williams was selected as a SMOB candidate for the upcoming year.

Bemnet Zewdie won a 2015 Horatio Alger National Scholarship worth $22,000.

Amanda Wessel won a Gold Key, Robert Rose won a Silver Key, and Naomi Weintraub, Cynthia Liu, Sambuddha Chattopadhyay, Josephine Yu, and Leigh Cook won honorable mentions from the DC Metro Scholastic Art & Writing Competition.

Tigist Tadesse won the 2015 MLK Children of the Dream award.

Blair Math Team A was named the champion of the Maryland Science Bowl.

Adam Busis placed first in Montgomery County and third statewide in the University of Maryland Math Competition.

Violinist Sabrina Martin was selected for the 2015 High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall.

Editorials B6

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Kicked out after hours, student groups without a home

When scheduling building use, priority should go to students $10 to sit on your couch. $15 to use your own silverware. $30 to spend the night in your bed.

Imagine paying extra to use the amenities in your own home.

Now replace “home” with “Blair” and that is the exact situation our community finds itself in.

Part of our parents’ tax money goes towards our schools, and for good reason - this money keeps our schools beautiful. Every day, Blazers can take advantage of the valuable resources the school offers without thinking twice.

We use Chromebooks in our classrooms, practice our sports in one of the county’s largest gyms and have an expansive library with a wide array of books at our fingertips.

Yet once the afternoon bell rings, our school is barely ours anymore. Blair is essentially rented out after-hours to the Interagency Coordinating Board (ICB) For Community Use of Public Facilities, a group of people entirely separate from the school system that controls all use of MCPS buildings for non-school activities.

They deal out gyms, classrooms and fields to the most attractive bidder, and Blair is rented more frequently than smaller MCPS schools due to its prime location and high-quality facilities.

It’s a shrewd business move, as it brings in extra revenue and attention that otherwise wouldn’t be attained. However, this monetary influx comes at the expense of Blair students. For instance, the Sankofa production has to pay over $2000 just to use their own stage. And even though Sankofa requested the auditorium space as early as last May, they have to

work their performance and rehearsal schedule around the dates which work for outside groups, completely unrelated to Blair . It’s a backwards system in which the students come second, and the money comes first.

Even more troubling, the ICB can override any scheduling done here at Blair. Sankofa, once again victimized, was forced to move its dress rehearsal to accommodate a non-Blair concert. No one in the office was even notified before the change; within the span of one hour, Sankofa was brushed out of their timeslot and another organization was ushered in.

The unannounced bumping is not limited to Sankofa alone.

Scheduling after-hours use of the building poses a herculean challenge for all student groups, including clubs and sports. On a number of occasions, clubs have been kicked out of their assigned room without any prior notification. When MCPS schedules certain after-hours sporting events, the cost falls on the shoulders of Blair athletics, not the ICB. But the issue with the whole system runs even deeper than that. They exploit the taxpayers in a remorseless system of doubledipping, in which the student’s parents pay for gorgeous facilities through taxes, and then aren’t even given full access to them as soon as the school day is over.

Let’s break this into mathematical terms: For every hour that an organization rents space in our building, Blair is paid $1.50. So while Blair Theatre has to pay $50 per hour to rent out the auditorium for rehearsal, only $1.50 of that money actually goes back to

the school. The remaining $48.50, an overwhelming majority of the revenue, is funneled into ICB funds. In simple words, Blair is being ripped away from us with a small compensation sloppily disguised as consent.

It is understandable that the county wants to make money through renting our facilities. But when school clubs, teams, and performing arts groups schedule our building usage months in advance, we should not have to operate under the fear that the ICB will kick us out in favor of an outside party. If the school building is not meant for student use, whose use is it for?

We are not requesting a complete revamp of the building usage policy. Blair’s excellent facilities should be open to whoever wants to use them. But we are just high school students, and having to compete for our building with outside groups who are willing to pay thousands of dollars puts us in a tight position. When it comes to booking Blair’s facilities, students and staff should have first priority, not just whoever is willing to line the ICB’s pockets.

The ICB and district administrators can help us strike the balance between student and outside

usage by sticking to the calendar we make at the beginning of the year. When Sankofa submits its rehearsal dates and when clubs and sports submit their meeting and game dates, they are not chosen arbitrarily. We operate under a schedule, and our groups are organized to work towards these deadlines. If Blair and the county want their student groups to be as successful as possible, support us in our efforts to stay on track. This school was built for the students,

but time and time again we have been relegated to second-class citizenship within our own walls. If MCPS truly has the best interests of the student body in mind, then it’s time for a change in priorities.

Return the school to the people it was built for.

Do you have any feedback or see any mistakes? Let us know.

E-mail the editors at silver.chips.print@gmail.com

BEN SAFFORD

Disguising the truth only brings us farther from it We can fact check, but a lying source is tough to catch

Ombudsman Naomi Weintraub

By Naomi Weintraub Silver Chips journalists are so much more than just writers. We double as investigators, searching through Blair’s hallways for stories and delving into the SAC for sources. As a newspaper, we take pride in the wide range of students we interview and bring to the Silver Chips lime-light. The sources we interview make this paper what it is; a place for all students’ voices to be heard and shared.

This past year we have run up against, multiple times, sources

lying about their stories or who they are. You may be asking, “What does that even entail/ mean? Aren’t all stories fact checked and verified before being printed?”

Oddly enough, this is how we reacted too. After stories are written, edited, and copy-edited, Silver Chips goes through the process of indepth fact checking in order to make sure all stories are valid and honest.

Despite this thorough editing journey ZEKE WAPNER that stories go through, it seems as though several false sources were able to slip their way into the cracks, leaving us confused and appalled by the gall of certain individuals.

Being in a Silver Chips article is exciting and allows many students to have their well-deserved moment of fame. However this “spotlight” is only worthwhile if it’s given based on honest merit rather than make-believe stories or personas. Everyone loves costumes, and dressing up in disguise, but lying to this extent pushes the envelope too far.

We have had experiences with students pretending to be other classmates, going through with

relationships between reportare able to have with our student entire interviews while taking on ers and sources. Our staff works body and interview processes. the name and life experience of very hard to only report the truth In addition to preventing the the other person. We have also and not to distort the facts or the bridge we have between the paper had sources who choose to embelposition of those interviewed, but and the student body from falling lish their accomplishments or when sources lie it only makes it down, there are ways that we can experiences. harder on everyone to distinguish make it stronger. It’s important to Silver Chips holds itself to the the truth from made up comments us that the student body commuhighest standard, and knows that and embellishments. nicates to us about concerns and the majority of the Blair commuSilver Chips over the years has ideas. nity has enough respect to take received overwhelming support My role as the ombudsman of that principle seriously. However, from the Blair community. Every the paper is to be able to speak for situations like these dwindle our year we have a significant amount the student voice to the publicaconfidence. of students applying to join our tion’s staff. This requires that the Our staff works hard to prostaff, and we continue to be recog- student body does their best to duce trustworthy information and nized as a trustworthy source of speak up. This can be done in a stories, it’s these jokesters and deceitful individuals that are mak- information about the community. multitude of ways; from emailThe respect and support from ing me, to simply coming by the ing it harder for us to do this. the Blair community is unfairly Silver Chips computer lab during In addition to learning how to jeopardized when students decide 5th or 6th lunch to share your write, and work on a publication, to make a mockery of what we do, thoughts or feelings about the we teach our staff how to have and lie about their real identities latest cycle. effective communication skills. or stories.

Learning communication skills Comments or concerns?

Don’t let a few unfortunate is essential to creating relationEmail the Ombudsman at situations with sources ruin the ships with sources, and building ombudsmansilverchips@gmail.com already built- up relationship we social capital in order to work your way up in the journalistic world. Our staff’s growing Corrections communication skills are jeopardized when sources lie to us, In the C6 story “Nobody is showing up to attend the Grand Old Party,” and slip through the cracks of we misplaced our trust in a source who identified himself as junior Arthur our fact-checking process.

Cohen. This source was being dishonest about his identity, and we appoloAnd besides helping us gize to Cohen for any misrepresentations we printed in the article. build connections and credibility in the publishing world, The F2 story “Blair’s wrestling team aims to dominate the mat” made finding and interviewing incorrect statements about high school wrestling rules. The article made sources helps our staff practice errors in explanations about winning a wrestling match, descriptions of journalism skills, and when certain wrestling terms, and statements about points awarded for different sources lie to us it hurts our actions. ability to learn and grow.

Staffers take pride in being The statistic in the graphic for the B4 story “Zero tolerance for DUIs: able to get credible, compelling Stricter punishments needed” was not credited. It came from the National interviews from valid sources Highway Traffic Safety Administration. but this relies on a trustworthy

B7 ADs

silverchips

February 5, 2015

WEAR TODAY SELL TOMORROW Uptown Cheapskate buys the things you loved yesterday and sells what you want today. Bring in your gently used clothes (guys & girls), shoes & accessories for cash on the spot. Then find your favorite brands up to 70% off mall prices.

 

1830 York Rd. in Timonium, MD 410.560.5890

2618 Salisbury Blvd. in Salisbury, MD 410.845.2751

1038 Rockville Pike in Rockville, MD 301.762.1089

Features C1

silverchips

February 5, 2015

The call to serve: Blazers see the military in their futures Taking advantage of the diverse selection of military jobs

By Emily Daly As they ambled into the gym on a chilly December morning last year, Blair PE students murmured in surprise. Instead of the usually stark main gym, devoid of any commotion or noise, they found tents lining the walls, an obstacle course with what looked like lifesize Lego blocks and a large flat screen TV towards the rear of the room. Teachers took attendance while students impatiently waited to explore the event. After hurriedly changing, they swarmed the booths, finding U.S. Army members staffing every table.

Students pondered over survey questions about their knowledge of the Army before receiving wristbands and wandering to a station they wanted to investigate. The tasks included tests of strength — pushups, sit-ups and jumping jacks — plus balance, teamwork and agility. Winners received silver dog tags printed with Blair High School, the date and goarmy. com. Some students dangled from shining bars in a pull-up contest or bonded with their peers as they worked to overcome obstacles. As the bell signaling the end of the period rang, students excitedly chattered about the tasks they accomplished while many glanced in admiration at their souvenirs.

This was the Army Strength of Action tour, described on their website as “a mobile, fully interactive experience featured at events across the country, allowing participants to explore elements that give U.S. Army Soldiers their strength.” The traveling course gives students a chance to test their abilities and find out more about the Army.

Five branches, one goal Although not all students at Blair participated in the tour, most have seen a military recruiter at some point, be it in the gym that day or standing at a table outside the SAC during lunch. Army recruiters have very specific rules about who they are allowed to talk to and what they are allowed to say, but somehow most students tend to learn a little about the military. The No Child Left Behind Act stipulates that military recruiters be given access to secondary school students, though parents can opt out of giving their child’s contact information.

The military, which divides into five branches, Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, used to be a common career path for men out of high school.

During World War II, for example, over 12 percent of the population served in the military. Today it is

less than .05 percent, according to the New York Times. Although numbers are dwindling, there are still many students at Blair who are considering a career in the armed forces.

Sophomore Charlie Lott says that joining the military has been on his mind for a long time, “since middle school, honestly,” he recalls. “I’ve been thinking about it for several years now.”

Lott has family members serving in the military, including uncles in the Coast Guard and the Navy. “A lot of the guys in my family have been in the military,” he says, explaining his knowledge of the different branches.

Senior Kalabe Arefeayne is also looking to enlist.

He has his sights set on the Marine Corps, and has already filled out the paper work. Arefeayne says that he originally got the idea from an event similar to the Go Army tour during his freshman year. “I heard about it when there was a Navy SEALS c h a l lenge thing,” he says. Like Lott, Arefeayne also has family in the a r m e d forces.

“My dad was a Marine before so he knows what’s going on and he can help me,” Arefeayne explains.

ROTC Lott’s family and experience with military recruiters have helped him to consider the Army.

After reviewing his options, he says he’s thinking about entering the Air Force through the ROTC program. ROTC, which stands for the Reserved Officer Training Corps, is a way for teens to go afford college and to gain an officer position in the military once they graduate.

The different branches of the military offer ROTC scholarship programs with different service requirements. After graduation, recruits are required to serve either three or four years of active duty. Most branches have the

same basic requirements—that students take one or two leadership classes their freshman and sophomore years. After these first two years, students can opt out of the program if they decide they no longer want to participate. “If you don’t like after the first several years you can always bail,” Lott says. But he doesn’t foresee that happening.

Freshman Emily Munroe’s mother participated in the ROTC at her college. Her mom, Michelle Munroe, is an Army colonel, and her job keeps them on the move. Munroe has lived in five states over the course of her life. She has been in Maryland for three years now, but says she is ready to start again in a new town.

“I want to move, I like moving,” she says with a smile.

Her mom is currently employed at the Uniformed Services University in Health Sciences in Bethesda as a director of students on campus. Before

that, however, she served as a midwife for soldiers. “She joined the Army because her parents didn’t have a lot of money,” Munroe explains. She says her mother did not want to be on the front lines, which is why she joined the medical branch.

Lott still has time to figure out what he wants to do as an adult since he’s only a sophomore, but he is considering becoming a lawyer. “Once you’re out of ROTC, what really determines what you do is your major in college. So if I major in pre-law, then they would likely assign me as an Army paralegal,” he explains. The ROTC program offers two- to four-year scholarships, depending on when students join the program. The scholarships cover the entire cost of tuition, including room, board and the cost of textbooks.

Fighting their own battles Arefeayne, on the other hand, has elected to join the Marines directly out of high school. He filled out all of the paperwork, and re-

cently took a written assessment and went through all-day medical testing. “If you pass it, you’re in.

You’re done,” he states.

Over the summer, the newly joined Marines will attend boot camp and, after passing another physical test, will be deployed somewhere in the United States.

Unlike ROTC, recruits cannot easily opt out if they have filled out the forms and passed the tests. In 2010, 96 percent of military recruits had at least a high school diploma, according to a military database.

“Once you get on you can’t leave, you have to finish boot camp. And then you get out there and do what you have to do,” Arefeayne says.

He is not worried about boot camp or what comes next, mainly due to his preparation and physical condition. “I think it’ll be challenging, but not to the point where I can’t take it, because I’ve been doing a lot of sports in high school and I think I’m ready,” he asserts.

Both Lott and Arefeayne have a long road ahead of them, but neither seems apprehensive for what’s coming next. “I feel like it’s part of my duty to my country,” Lott says when talking about his decision. “I don’t really want someone else to be fighting my battles for me.” Arfeayne cites the opportunities that come with enlisting as his deciding factor.

“You can still go to school while you’re a Marine and finish your services with a degree,” he says. “You also CANDIA GU get paid and it’s tax free.”

The real obstacles

In 2008, Munroe’s mom was deployed to Iraq for seven months.

Munroe knew that her mom was going to be okay because she was not fighting, but helping those that were injured. “It was still scary

“There’s a lot of stuff you can do in the military without being on the frontlines....when I say I want to join the military, I don’t mean I want to be a guy holding a gun shooting people.”

-Charlie Lott

Big benefits Though joining the military may sound frightening to some people, there are many different options for those enlisted, depending on their rank. Lott explains that after graduating from the ROTC program, he is guaranteed a position as an officer, which has certain benefits. “There’s a lot of stuff you can do in the military without being on the frontlines.

Like when I say I want to join the military, I don’t mean I want to be a guy holding a gun shooting people,” he clarifies.

Even with a guaranteed officer position, there is no way to know for sure that one won’t get deployed. Being on active duty means that military members are on call and their full-time occupation is a military force. Lott has talked to his parents about his decision, though he admits they have not had lengthy discussions. “My mom is not psyched, but my dad is cool with it. I haven’t really talked to her extensively about it, but she tends to take issue with wars that the U.S. is a part of,” Lott explains.

Munroe has considered follow-

Percent of active duty with children, by service 49%

45%

31%

42%

Army

Air Force

Marines

Navy

WWW.MILITARYONESOURCE.MIL

ing in her mother’s footsteps, but is still unsure if she is interested in joining the military. She is sure, however, of what job she wants.

“I want to be a forensic scientist,” she states emphatically. “I could be a forensic scientist in the Army, which I’m thinking of doing.”

REVA KREEGER

because I didn’t have my mom,” she says. Her brother, junior Sean Munroe, remembers it was really hard. “I had grown up with her, every day she had come home from work, and it’s a lot different to adjust to not having her there,” he says.

Arefeayne is unconcerned with the potential dangers of enlisting as a Marine. He knows that it will be tough, but shakes his head when asked if he’s worried. “Not really,” he says. “There are a lot of benefits.”

Freshman Sean Mahan also comes from a military family. Both his parents and a few of his siblings are in the Air Force, and he thinks that he may eventually join as well. “I’m not sure what else to do,” he says. Mahan moved to Maryland from Illinois two years ago, but said that he didn’t find the adjustment hard. “I’m not really affected,” he says. Sean Munroe, on the other hand, has moved seven times. “It’s hard,” he admits.

“Sometimes I’m like why can’t I just stay in this place I like.”

Mahan’s siblings may occasionally head to an Air Force base for a few months, but he knows that they’ll return. “My sister leaves once in a while for a bit but she comes back,” he explains.

Lott thinks that by completing ROTC, he will be less likely to face dangers on the front lines. “Especially with a college education, they wouldn’t want to send you out front and center. They want to reserve you as some skilled job that someone who is joining the Army right out of high school wouldn’t be able to do,” he says.

He knows the risks of joining the Air Force, but thinks that the possible benefits outweigh any potential hazards. “I think it’s a part of life,” Lott rationalizes. “There’s going to be wars. There are always going to be people out there who fight wars and we need people to fight back.”

C2 Features

silverchips

February 5, 2015

For some, it’s more than just a [video]game

Leveling up in the intense world of competitive gaming

By William Zhu Senior Alan Li’s eyes are transfixed on the computer screen as one hand controls the mouse and the other quickly hit keys. He’s responding to the opposing team’s attacks against his players in a game of Team Fortress 2. Li’s hands are swift, precise and purposeful as he moves his forces closer to achieving victory and potentially winning a cash prize.

Senior Teddy Corrales is playing alongside Li and their animated avatars run around, blowing the other team into cartoonish pieces of gore. Corrales and Li operate side-by-side at the same time, but this connection is a virtual one. They are actually each at their own houses and gaming via the Internet.

A team sport Corrales and Li are drastically different from the typical gamer. They don’t just casually play video games for fun; instead, they belong to a growing group of highly skilled and competitive gamers from around the country. Competitive gamers play from various genres, including strategy, shooters, multiple online battle arenas (MOBAs) and massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGS).

Competitive gamers look for a challenge when they play. Corrales finds that he can easily defeat most people when playing Team Fortress 2, a MOBA. Success has pushed Corrales to seek out more experienced players like him online. “If you and I sat down and played some casual TF2, I would destroy you no questions asked…it’s basically target practice and it gets boring,” Corrales explains.

When playing casually there isn’t a high level of competitiveness and Li wants to play with people who take the game just as seriously as he does. “We want to play against people who also want to win,” Li adds.

For Senior Alex Fairhall, playing video games has been a part of his life since he was five years old but he only began playing competitively in June 2013 in the MOBA League of Legends. Fairhall games competitively for the fun and the thrill of winning with friends.

“It is really cool, like making a cool play” in sports, Fairhall says.

Moving up the ladder As Li explains, gaming is not much different from a team sport like soccer or basketball.

“It’s just like any competitive sport – you play to win and to get better,” says Corrales. Senior Kevin Ho used to play on Corrales’ team over the summer, but took a short break due to the increased workload of his first semester of senior year and is now resuming gaming.

During the summer, Corrales, Li and their team of three Blair seniors along with three

“Competitive gaming does require some commitment... we practice probably as much as real sports teams.”

-Kevin Ho

other players on the internet would hone their skills for hours each day. “We would probably practice nearly every day for like three hours,” Ho explains. The team practiced against other teams, improving through their dedication to the game. “Competitive gaming does require some commitment... we practice probably as much as a real sports team,” says Ho. “These were organized practices where we would [scrimmage] other teams,” adds Ho. The scrimmages take place under similar circumstances to tournament games

except that they are only meant for practice and there are no stakes in each game — much like in other team sports.

In competitive gaming, leagues are divided according to skill level.

Corrales and his team started out playing in the Unite Gaming Clans (UGC) league where the gameplay and tournaments are set up like a sport with season games and playoff games. “There are eight regular season matches and then four weeks of playoffs for the top 16 from regular season,” explains Corrales.

They started out at the lowest division UGC, Iron, but steadily worked their way up to Gold. Now Corrales and his team have moved to the ESports Entertainment Association (ESEA), a higher tier league where if they do well they can move to the invite division and have the chance to win large cash rewards. “Invite players are the best in the world and compete in national and international tournaments for cash prizes,” said Corrales.

male dominated at this point. But honestly it’s a self-perpetuating cycle, because people

Defining the gamer

Despite the growing gaming community, stereotypes of gamers still exist. Gamers are often perceived as PETER BERGER anti-social and awkward individuals, but senior Felix Vargish notes that while a few people may fit the ste- THE GAMERS Sitting on the steps. From top left: reotype, gameplay for him is a social Alan Li, Kevin Ho, Felix Vargish, and Alex Fairhall. experience in which he communicates with other players. “When I am playing, I have a headset on and talk to people,” on the Internet are not nice to each other,” Vargish says. Li agrees, but says there is Corrales says. bound to be people who fit the gamer stereoVideo gaming requires dedication like any type. “You will find the shaggy ones that sit sport or after-school activity. Li describes that in the basement,” Li chuckles. due to the very nature of competitive gaming Another common stereotype among gam- which often involves extended periods of ers is that girls never play video games. time spent on the internet with players from Corrales sees that this mindset and hostile across the world, gamers often stand out from attitude towards girls who game often dis- their non-gaming peers and that often causes courages girls from playing and enforces the them to be stereotyped. “As a culture, gamers stereotype. “The competitive scene is hugely are a distinct group,” Li explains.

It’s not your everyday trivial club; It’s Academic

Blair’s quizbowl team learns more than just the straight facts

By Winne Luo “This German was involved in a priority dispute with Isaac Newton over the invention of calculus.” Host Hillary Howard animated voice sweeps over the audience, delivering a seamless stream of meticulously-pronounced questions.

At one of three wooden tables, under a blinding stage light, sits Blair senior Arjuna Subramanian and juniors Alex Newman and Noah Levine. After a moment of hushed whispers, they give a faint nod in unison and Subramanian presses the buzzer.

“Leibniz.”

“Correct! This president reprimanded his secretary of war…” And the show continues, never losing its flow.

The Blair It’s Academic team, (often shortened to “It’s Ac”) is a regular participant on the official “It’s Academic” show. Coached by teacher James Schafer, It’s Ac meets after school in Room 215 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, where they review packets of sample questions over the span of an hour in all-out, timed, buzzer-pressing fashion. However, quiz bowl is not simply spitting back blindly-memorized random trivia facts. The sheer amount of “real” knowledge—not trivia—is substantial and takes time to accumulate, but it is a workload that the team members gladly undertake.

Not-so-painful studying Members test their knowledge against each other for a couple of hours during the biweekly practices, but most study by themselves as well. Subramanian, who has been a captain of It’s Ac for two years and a member for four, says he studies for up to five times the amount from practice, depending on the competition. However, “studying” for It’s

Ac is not conventional textbook memorization. Newman likens the process to surfing the web: “It’s sort of like if you read a Wikipedia page, you keep going…if a question comes up on the French Revolution, you look up the French Revolution and expand your knowledge,” he says. Sure, some of the members do read textbooks, but getting the “picture of the idea”, as Subramanian puts it, is more important than just memorizing clues. “Like, if the answer is an author, you’re not going to go read every book. But

while many teams from other schools have members that specialize in different subjects, Blair’s does not have assigned persons.

Rather, each finds his or her own niches.

“People will read what they’re interested in…[They] naturally end up specializing into specific areas because [that makes] the best team. If you have one person trying to cover everything...their knowledge will be ultimately be very shallow,” says Subramanian. For Subramanian, who says history, literature, and classical music are his favorite subjects, “studying” could be anything from reading classics to listening to orchestral music.

The appeal

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF MRS. JOHNSON

WINNING BIG From bottom left: Noah Levine, Mrs. Johnson, Arjuna Subramanian, Mr. Schafer, and Alex Newman. you’ll maybe read at least parts of the main ones, know characters, know works, know ideas…anything that will help you,” Subramanian says.

But what drives the It’s Ac members to spend hours of their own time preparing material that may not ever be used during competition? Simple: they enjoy the accumulation of knowledge. “I like knowing things,” Newman says. This penchant for learning is what drives Blair’s It’s Ac team—

The official It’s Academic show has been on the air for more than 50 years, making it the longest-running television quiz show in the world. It showcases high schools of all different types in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Charlottesville, and Honolulu.

Cheerleaders and marching bands from the schools competing often attend the tapings to cheer the members on, and the energy inside the TV studio is comparable to that of a sporting event.

The atmosphere, according to Subramanian, is because there are many elements of sports present in It’s Ac. Teamwork is a large

aspect; team members collaborate to answer tossup questions. “It’s a very collaborative thing…team chemistry is very important.

You can’t have people yelling at each other for missing things,” he says. In the intense environment, team members must remain cordial. “It can’t be competitive within the team, just like regular sports. A little bit is healthy, a lot is bad and destructive,” describes Subramanian.

Blair competes in many local and regional competitions, but “It’s Academic” is the most publicized. The results of all the practice and preparation is projected Saturday mornings at 10:30 A.M. on NBC4, and there is a reason thousands of viewers tune in. “I think people share this ‘playing along’ idea,” surmises Subramanian. Schafer agrees: “Like Jeopardy, people enjoy…trying to see what they know relative to other people. It’s got that same kind of appeal.” Viewers participate at the same time as the team members, connecting the audience and the players in an intimate way that is different from the physical imagery during a sports game.

“It’s cliché, but it’s the love of learning,” says Subramanian. “Whenever you try to explain it in words, it sounds boring…nerdy… like a waste of time. I think you have to see it, see the intensity and the joy that people bring to it to really appreciate it and understand what it is.”

Rules of competition Questions and rules vary for different competitions. Tossup questions range in difficulty depending; easier questions have an element of reflex and are more dependent on how fast the buzzer is pressed. Deeper questions are longer and have more variety to the possible answer choices. For each tossup question answered correctly, the team is given a bonus question, in which the members are allowed to collaborate amongst themselves. To receive credit, a response must be correct and unambiguous, and extra points are awarded if questions are answered before the quizmaster reads up to a word in the question called a “power mark”.

Features C3

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Behind the counter: The daily routine of cafeteria staff

A quick glance into the day-to-day schedule of Blair’s kitchen

By Wesley Hopkins At 5:45 in the morning, Blair is absolutely desolate. The main office is dark and empty, no one sits in the windows along Blair Boulevard with headphones in, not even the earliest teachers have arrived. The kitchen, however, is already in action. Cafeteria manager Christine Blanton has just arrived, and for the next eight hours her kitchen will be a nonstop flurry with the singular goal of feeding Blair’s student body.

5:45-6:30

The sun is rising, birds are chirping, and Blanton arrives at Blair and cooks 300 breakfasts by herself. Throughout the day, she will feed many of Blair’s 2,800 students.

6:30

Two more cafeteria staff members arrive and the gate opens for breakfast.

Students filter in and nibble on french toast strips, fruit, and bagels while chatting with friends or finishing up incomplete homework left over from the last night.

6:30-7:50

Breakfast is served throughout the morning, even after the bell rings.

“Some kids come late, but they still need to eat,” says Blanton.

1 cafeteria worker makes approximately 77 meals per day at Blair

REVA KREEGER

8:30-10:30

10 more cafeteria staff members arrive for the lunch shift, by now there are 13 people in kitchen. The entire cafeteria staff works together to make lunch entrees, desserts, the salad bar, and a la carte items.

10:30-10:47

The cafeteria gate opens and all the lunch food must be available for students to take. “It’s the most stressful 15 minutes of the day,” says Blanton.

10:47-12:29

As students pour out of class and into the hallways, over 1000 lunches are served; every line and cashier station is open, in need of constant replenishing.

NUTRITION FACTS

ZEKE WAPNER

BAKER’S DOZEN Cafeteria staffmember Rosa Benitez works on the day’s lunchtime cookie supply.

• Each meal comes with at least ½ cup of fruits or vegetables • 100% of grains on menu are whole grain • No foods contain trans-fat and saturated fat is limited to less than 10% of calories.

• Only fat-free milk and 1% low-fat milk are offered

ZEKE WAPNER

BULK BUY Cafeteria staffmember Fatima Begum works to organize pre-packaged honey buns, ordered for delivery twice per week from the MCPS Central Production Facility.

12:29-1:30

The entire cafeteria crew works to clean up the kitchen, while gathering leftovers for the high school-plus students to eat after the educational school day ends.

1:30

While many employees at traditional nine-to-five jobs might be at the peak of their work day at this time, most of the cafeteria staff goes home now. This includes Blanton, after clocking almost eight hours in the kitchen.

2:10-4:00

High school-plus students come and are able to eat whatever was left over from lunch. “Everything usually gets eaten, we don’t like waste,” Blanton explains.

BEN SAFFORD

Want late night homework help from BLISS tutors?

Log on to http://tutors.mbhs.edu MATH - SCIENCE - SOCIAL STUDIES - ENGLISH - FOREIGN LANGUAGE Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Sunday 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Features C4/C5

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Unexpected challenges in the land of opportunity Immigration to the United States offers a mixed bag I

t was July of 2009 in Pakistan when junior Salman Funyas’ father received the call. A nearby Christian community was attacked, looted and burned by Muslim radicals. Gunshots tore through the air and flames engulfed the village while the scene descended into chaos. As a local leader of the Christian minority, Funyas’ father set out right away to help the community convince authorities to intervene.

However, the police would not condemn the crimes.

“He saw people burning houses and police standing bynot doing something to prevent it,” Funyas says. As the attacks continued, citizens were killed, villages were torched and one family was burned alive in their home.

This harrowing lack of justice prompted Funyas’ father to organize the blockage of the railroad tracks, stopping trains until the authorities would agree to register a report against the crimes. Obstructing the tracks were the bodies of the numerous victims that had perished during the violence.

It was religious persecution that pushed the Funyas family out of Pakistan. It wasn't until several years later that they landed safely in the United States.

Life before leaving Many of Funyas’ memories of his life in Pakistan are painful. Some Muslims disapproved of Christians living in an Islamic state. As a result, they struggled to achieve quality education and steady jobs. At his Muslim private school, Funyas and his brother were among the few Christian students and for it, they faced daily discrimination. “When we went to our school, everybody knew we were Christian,” Funyas says. “They didn't want to sit or talk with us.” In exchange for a better education than the poor Christian schools offered, he faced prejudice that echoed American segregation. “It was [so] bad that they wouldn’t let us drink from the same place,” Funyas says.

“Basically what we had here in American history but because of religion, not color.”

Funyas’ father, trained in social work, became a local leader. “His job was to fight for Christian people and their rights,” Funyas says. After the violent attacks in several towns, the persistence of his provoking railroad demonstrations pushed the authorities to register a report against the persecutions.

Yet this small victory for the Christian community

placed a target on Funyas’ father’s back. “They wanted to get him because he was the main person who was asking people to raise [their] voices for justice so they can rebuild their houses and ask the government to help them,” Funyas explains. Following a month in hiding, Funyas’ father fled the country. “There wasn't any choice to be safe,” Funyas says. Soon, the persecution of their father came bursting through the family’s threshold. “After a couple of weeks, some people attacked our house. They

was really bad because I was the only one who had to take care of my younger sister,” Bizuru recalls of the difficult time before she and her sister reunited with their mother in the U.S. But unlike Bizuru and Funyas, junior Juliana Wolde had a comfortable life in her native country of Ethiopia.

Her father had a respectable job working for various humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Wolde received a good education and was content with her family’s lifestyle. “I went to private school and I had what I wanted. My parents were there for me. We knew our culture,” Wolde says. “I had a good life in Ethiopia,” she adds, remembering the life she traded about two and a half years ago for a shot at the American Dream.

“We can't live here – it isn't safe. They can come any time and get us.”

Emigration

- Salman Funyas

had guns in their hands. They started asking about our dad. We told them, ‘We don't know where he is because he has been out for a month,’” he recalls. After that incident, the Funyas family knew they had to leave too.

“We can't live here-- it isn't safe. They can come any time and get us.”

Five years ago, senior Grace Bizuru and her sister were left on their own in their home country of Rwanda. Their mother had left to work as a cook and nanny for a diplomat at Rwandan Embassy in the United States. At just 14 years old, Bizuru became the sole guardian of her then 12 year-old sister. “The life we had was very hard for me. It

A year after her mother emigrated from Rwanda, Bizuru and her sister were ready to join her in America.

She felt lucky to have the opportunity desired by so many in her home country. “[The U.S.] is the best country that everyone wants to come to,” Bizuru says. But she also knew everything would change. She was almost 15, and her sister, 13, when they boarded a plane in Ethiopia destined for Washington, D.C. Still in Pakistan, the Funyas family was in the dark about their father’s whereabouts, until an organization notified them that he fled to Thailand. After six months, Funyas, his siblings, and his mother made it there as well.

They registered a case with the United Nations, ushering in many months of conflicting hope and doubt.

They waited for calls, interviews and testimonies, unsure of which country they would be sent to next.

After many months, the Funyas were accepted by the United States. Again they waited to get through Homeland Security background checks and numerous medical examinations.

After three years in Thailand, they received their tickets from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), but their troubles did not end there. “We were almost ready to go but there was one thing that was worrying us. We didn't have much money. The money we had [leaving Pakistan] was not enough to live for three years [in exile],” Funyas says. As illegal refugees in Thailand, Funyas’ parents could not work; the children could not attend school.

“Whenever we would go outside, we would be scared that anytime police could catch us. We were basically illegal even though the United Nations was giving us a document saying ‘Yes, you are under our protection,’” he says.

2 REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF SALMAN FUNYAS

1 REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF GRACE BIZURU

FAMILY 1. Grace Bizuru (center) laughs with her sister and cousins on a trip to Rwanda, her home country. 2. Salman Funyas poses with his immediate family, reunited in the U.S.

CHIMEY SONAM

“I went to private school and I had what I wanted. My parents were there for me. I grew up in a situation where we respect people, we know our culture. I had a good life in Ethiopia.”

- Juliana Wolde

To leave the country, Funyas, his older brother and their father had to pay a fine of $6,000 each. Though they managed to pay, they spent six days in a holding facility that was “basically jail,” as Funyas decribes it. “The atmosphere was so disgusting. I never imagined I would have to live in that situation,” Funyas says. “When I entered the room my head was going around and I was feeling dizzy just looking at the walls. It stank and it was so dirty. I thought ‘Oh my God, we have to live six days here.’”

At the detention center, about 100 people were crammed into each cell. During the weekend when visitors could not bring food for the detainees, Funyas, his brother and his father subsisted on only three or four apples. And the only clean drinking water cost money. Sleep was practically impossible, especially with the thick cigarette smoke and the constant hunger. “It was a really scary place to live, but we survived,” he recalls. Once released, the Funyas family flew from Bangkok to D.C. and were received by the IRC.

Pakistan

Ethiopia

Relief and disappointment

In Ethiopia, Wolde built her perception of America around portrayals of the U.S. in movies.

Upon her arrival, she realized many things were not as she expected. “What we see from [Ethiopia] is a lot different,” Wolde says. “They only show the good places. People think America is like heaven,” she says. “They think everything is free, everybody who comes is going to be beautiful, and everyone is going to be successful. Nobody really knows how much you work hard.” Initially, Wolde wanted to return to Ethiopia.

Although America did not fit with her expectations, Wolde appreciated her new community and home. Some friends of the family based in Baltimore had helped her father rent an apartment in Silver Spring.

“Everything was ready, surprisingly,” Wolde says. “When I first came I got into a big apartment that had everything.

I didn't believe that was my house.” To welcome them, her father had invited other families who brought fresh Ethiopian food and their children for Wolde and her brother to meet. Soon, friends back in Ethiopia began calling to ask how things were going. “They were excited to hear something from us,” Wolde says.

Arriving in summer break, Bizuru and her sister had time to transition into their new life. Although the time apart from their mother was challenging, her knowledge of America helped Bizuru and her sister adjust. “It was kind of hard but kind of easy as well, because my mom was here already,” she recalls. Their mother showed them around and taught them everything she knew about the culture.

Bizuru was surprised to encounter a warm acceptance upon arrival. “One thing that I liked when I came to the United States was the people: how the people welcomed us, how they showed love – I didn't think that they were going to love us,” she reflects. What shocked her most were large houses and the hurried nature of daily life. “I remember one day with my mom, we were walking on the street…and if you walk slowly [people] say ‘Oh excuse me, let me pass,’” Bizuru remembers. “That was crazy because I always took my time. My mom was like, ‘You need to walk so fast. This is how people are here.’”

Once in the U.S., the Funyas family moved into an apartment in Prince George’s County. It was August of 2013, and they finally had a safe space to call home. “It was a small apartment but we were so thankful and excited to be in a place where we could freely move around and not be afraid of immigration police,” says Funyas. Within a year, they moved to Montgomery County and Funyas started attending Blair this fall.

But like Wolde, Funyas found many aspects of his new life in the U.S. disappointing. While the small apartment

NOLA CHEN

"The life we had was very hard for me. It was really bad because I was the only one who had to take care of my young sister. I was young as wellmy mom was not with us."

- Grace Bizuru

was initially a haven, Funyas had expected more. “Everything will be so comfortable, we would have a big house, everybody would have their own bedroom just like in Pakistan,” he imagined. Instead, his father struggled to find work and the rent money provided by the IRC began to run out.

‘Everything changed’ Although many come to the U.S. to find work, immigrants often face economic hardships that challenge their quality of life. Wolde’s father studied agriculture at a university in Ethiopia and earned his master’s degree in Holland through a scholarship provided by the fund of Queen Juliana – for whom Wolde is named. Yet as Wolde says, “In this country they didn't give him much value.”

Currently he works the front desk of an Embassy Suites hotel. “He used to work at NGOs…helping people and kids in so many places,” she says. “He used to have a good job but when he came here everything changed.”

Friends and family back home were unaware of the difficulty he faced in finding a lucrative job. “My parents’ parents don't know how much my parents work here,” Wolde says. “Nobody really understands how life is here so they say ‘Oh why don't you send us money?’” Even her cousins would call wanting money sent to Ethiopia, unaware of the family’s struggles.

As Funyas’ father searched for a job, the family relied on public assistance for food. When both his mother and father found part time jobs at Harris Teeter and Giant, their food stamp benefits decreased, however their

Rwanda

“They only show the good places.

People think America is like heaven.”

- Juliana Wolde

salaries were still insufficient. Like Wolde’s father, both Funyas’ parents were educated and experienced back in Pakistan. “[My mother] was a really good teacher. She taught since she was 23 years old,” says Funyas. “She was going to retire and get her pension but she lost all of that.

Her degrees and education, whatever she had, it’s nothing here.” As for his father, “He has all his degrees and so much experience in Social Work and working with organizations but those are not working here… they are useless,” Funyas says. “I can't believe he is a person with so many certificates and degrees but is working at a Giant store and he can't even earn enough money for his family.”

‘They came here for us’ Adapting to their new lives varied between the family members of the young immigrants. Wolde speaks to the challenges her parents face as older generation immigrants. “It’s hard for them because they didn’t lead lives like this in Ethiopia,” she says. “They came here for us to

NOLA CHEN

“When we went to our school, everybody knew we were Christian. They would behave different than other people. They didn't want to sit or talk with us because of being Christian” - Salman Funyas

be good educated people... They came here for us.”

Bizuru’s younger sister was affected less by the hardships of immigration. “Because she came when she was young, she didn't [experience] any bad life back home,” Bizuru explains. Her sister attended a good school where English was taught, so she quickly advanced to middle school level and then to high school. “Of course she is feeling more comfortable [than I am]: she has her friends, she speaks really good English, she came when she was ready for high school,” she says. “But me – back home I didn't go to school for two or three years before I came. Then I came straight here – straight to an American high school – which I didn't know anything about,” she says.

Making friends and adjusting to Blair was considerably difficult for Bizuru. “I was the only one who was from Rwanda. I didn’t have any friends. I don’t like to go up to someone and be like ‘Hey can we be friends?’” she says. “The school was big-- I got lost for like two weeks, always lost changing classes. Sitting in the cafeteria alone during lunch time…it was challenging,” she says. Even after a few years, Bizuru has not yet found her niche. “For now I have some other people – they are all from Ethiopia – but I don't fit in with them. Still I'm alone not having a friend in this school. I don't know why,” she says. “I do have a group to sit with but I don't feel like we are together. During lunch time they are speaking their language which I don't understand which is hard.”

For Wolde, some of the most difficult changes to internalize were those that involve cultural behaviors.

She noticed that in the U.S., people often decide not to acknowledge someone they know on the street or in the hallway. “You don’t say ‘Hi’ to everybody,” she observes. “In my country everybody greets, everybody hugs, everybody is friendly.” Wolde also noticed that social behaviors between young boys differed from what is normal in Ethiopia. “In my country, boys hold hands, walk, hug, live together...friends and brothers,” she says. These behaviors were seemingly less acceptable in the U.S. and she thinks it affected her brother's ability to make friends.

But for Wolde, the U.S. does live up to at least one of its promises. “There are more opportunities for what you want to do here,” she says. “In Ethiopia, it is much harder to be what you want to be.” As a student, Wolde was amazed by the opportunities to learn languages and the prospects of applying and going to college.

As are most things in life, immigration to the U.S. is a mixed bag. They came for a better life; but Wolde, Bizuru and Funyas all know that there are daily adversities, as well as ongoing struggles. “We are much more comfortable in this place… but at the same time there are challenges,” says Funyas. “You really have to be able to be strong and say ‘Ok I’m going to work hard and prove that I can do what other people are doing here.’ It’s not easy to develop yourself in the United States. It takes time.” Yet there are things to celebrate, too. “There is freedom, freedom for religion... You can be who you are,” says Funyas. “I’m very glad to be in a place where I can be myself and be free of racism, discrimination, and all the things we had to go through in Pakistan.”

Story by Amanda Wessel Design by Grace Woodward

Features C4/C5

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Unexpected challenges in the land of opportunity Immigration to the United States offers a mixed bag I

t was July of 2009 in Pakistan when junior Salman Funyas’ father received the call. A nearby Christian community was attacked, looted and burned by Muslim radicals. Gunshots tore through the air and flames engulfed the village while the scene descended into chaos. As a local leader of the Christian minority, Funyas’ father set out right away to help the community convince authorities to intervene.

However, the police would not condemn the crimes.

“He saw people burning houses and police standing bynot doing something to prevent it,” Funyas says. As the attacks continued, citizens were killed, villages were torched and one family was burned alive in their home.

This harrowing lack of justice prompted Funyas’ father to organize the blockage of the railroad tracks, stopping trains until the authorities would agree to register a report against the crimes. Obstructing the tracks were the bodies of the numerous victims that had perished during the violence.

It was religious persecution that pushed the Funyas family out of Pakistan. It wasn't until several years later that they landed safely in the United States.

Life before leaving Many of Funyas’ memories of his life in Pakistan are painful. Some Muslims disapproved of Christians living in an Islamic state. As a result, they struggled to achieve quality education and steady jobs. At his Muslim private school, Funyas and his brother were among the few Christian students and for it, they faced daily discrimination. “When we went to our school, everybody knew we were Christian,” Funyas says. “They didn't want to sit or talk with us.” In exchange for a better education than the poor Christian schools offered, he faced prejudice that echoed American segregation. “It was [so] bad that they wouldn’t let us drink from the same place,” Funyas says.

“Basically what we had here in American history but because of religion, not color.”

Funyas’ father, trained in social work, became a local leader. “His job was to fight for Christian people and their rights,” Funyas says. After the violent attacks in several towns, the persistence of his provoking railroad demonstrations pushed the authorities to register a report against the persecutions.

Yet this small victory for the Christian community

placed a target on Funyas’ father’s back. “They wanted to get him because he was the main person who was asking people to raise [their] voices for justice so they can rebuild their houses and ask the government to help them,” Funyas explains. Following a month in hiding, Funyas’ father fled the country. “There wasn't any choice to be safe,” Funyas says. Soon, the persecution of their father came bursting through the family’s threshold. “After a couple of weeks, some people attacked our house. They

was really bad because I was the only one who had to take care of my younger sister,” Bizuru recalls of the difficult time before she and her sister reunited with their mother in the U.S. But unlike Bizuru and Funyas, junior Juliana Wolde had a comfortable life in her native country of Ethiopia.

Her father had a respectable job working for various humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Wolde received a good education and was content with her family’s lifestyle. “I went to private school and I had what I wanted. My parents were there for me. We knew our culture,” Wolde says. “I had a good life in Ethiopia,” she adds, remembering the life she traded about two and a half years ago for a shot at the American Dream.

“We can't live here – it isn't safe. They can come any time and get us.”

Emigration

- Salman Funyas

had guns in their hands. They started asking about our dad. We told them, ‘We don't know where he is because he has been out for a month,’” he recalls. After that incident, the Funyas family knew they had to leave too.

“We can't live here-- it isn't safe. They can come any time and get us.”

Five years ago, senior Grace Bizuru and her sister were left on their own in their home country of Rwanda. Their mother had left to work as a cook and nanny for a diplomat at Rwandan Embassy in the United States. At just 14 years old, Bizuru became the sole guardian of her then 12 year-old sister. “The life we had was very hard for me. It

A year after her mother emigrated from Rwanda, Bizuru and her sister were ready to join her in America.

She felt lucky to have the opportunity desired by so many in her home country. “[The U.S.] is the best country that everyone wants to come to,” Bizuru says. But she also knew everything would change. She was almost 15, and her sister, 13, when they boarded a plane in Ethiopia destined for Washington, D.C. Still in Pakistan, the Funyas family was in the dark about their father’s whereabouts, until an organization notified them that he fled to Thailand. After six months, Funyas, his siblings, and his mother made it there as well.

They registered a case with the United Nations, ushering in many months of conflicting hope and doubt.

They waited for calls, interviews and testimonies, unsure of which country they would be sent to next.

After many months, the Funyas were accepted by the United States. Again they waited to get through Homeland Security background checks and numerous medical examinations.

After three years in Thailand, they received their tickets from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), but their troubles did not end there. “We were almost ready to go but there was one thing that was worrying us. We didn't have much money. The money we had [leaving Pakistan] was not enough to live for three years [in exile],” Funyas says. As illegal refugees in Thailand, Funyas’ parents could not work; the children could not attend school.

“Whenever we would go outside, we would be scared that anytime police could catch us. We were basically illegal even though the United Nations was giving us a document saying ‘Yes, you are under our protection,’” he says.

2 REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF SALMAN FUNYAS

1 REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF GRACE BIZURU

FAMILY 1. Grace Bizuru (center) laughs with her sister and cousins on a trip to Rwanda, her home country. 2. Salman Funyas poses with his immediate family, reunited in the U.S.

CHIMEY SONAM

“I went to private school and I had what I wanted. My parents were there for me. I grew up in a situation where we respect people, we know our culture. I had a good life in Ethiopia.”

- Juliana Wolde

To leave the country, Funyas, his older brother and their father had to pay a fine of $6,000 each. Though they managed to pay, they spent six days in a holding facility that was “basically jail,” as Funyas decribes it. “The atmosphere was so disgusting. I never imagined I would have to live in that situation,” Funyas says. “When I entered the room my head was going around and I was feeling dizzy just looking at the walls. It stank and it was so dirty. I thought ‘Oh my God, we have to live six days here.’”

At the detention center, about 100 people were crammed into each cell. During the weekend when visitors could not bring food for the detainees, Funyas, his brother and his father subsisted on only three or four apples. And the only clean drinking water cost money. Sleep was practically impossible, especially with the thick cigarette smoke and the constant hunger. “It was a really scary place to live, but we survived,” he recalls. Once released, the Funyas family flew from Bangkok to D.C. and were received by the IRC.

Pakistan

Ethiopia

Relief and disappointment

In Ethiopia, Wolde built her perception of America around portrayals of the U.S. in movies.

Upon her arrival, she realized many things were not as she expected. “What we see from [Ethiopia] is a lot different,” Wolde says. “They only show the good places. People think America is like heaven,” she says. “They think everything is free, everybody who comes is going to be beautiful, and everyone is going to be successful. Nobody really knows how much you work hard.” Initially, Wolde wanted to return to Ethiopia.

Although America did not fit with her expectations, Wolde appreciated her new community and home. Some friends of the family based in Baltimore had helped her father rent an apartment in Silver Spring.

“Everything was ready, surprisingly,” Wolde says. “When I first came I got into a big apartment that had everything.

I didn't believe that was my house.” To welcome them, her father had invited other families who brought fresh Ethiopian food and their children for Wolde and her brother to meet. Soon, friends back in Ethiopia began calling to ask how things were going. “They were excited to hear something from us,” Wolde says.

Arriving in summer break, Bizuru and her sister had time to transition into their new life. Although the time apart from their mother was challenging, her knowledge of America helped Bizuru and her sister adjust. “It was kind of hard but kind of easy as well, because my mom was here already,” she recalls. Their mother showed them around and taught them everything she knew about the culture.

Bizuru was surprised to encounter a warm acceptance upon arrival. “One thing that I liked when I came to the United States was the people: how the people welcomed us, how they showed love – I didn't think that they were going to love us,” she reflects. What shocked her most were large houses and the hurried nature of daily life. “I remember one day with my mom, we were walking on the street…and if you walk slowly [people] say ‘Oh excuse me, let me pass,’” Bizuru remembers. “That was crazy because I always took my time. My mom was like, ‘You need to walk so fast. This is how people are here.’”

Once in the U.S., the Funyas family moved into an apartment in Prince George’s County. It was August of 2013, and they finally had a safe space to call home. “It was a small apartment but we were so thankful and excited to be in a place where we could freely move around and not be afraid of immigration police,” says Funyas. Within a year, they moved to Montgomery County and Funyas started attending Blair this fall.

But like Wolde, Funyas found many aspects of his new life in the U.S. disappointing. While the small apartment

NOLA CHEN

"The life we had was very hard for me. It was really bad because I was the only one who had to take care of my young sister. I was young as wellmy mom was not with us."

- Grace Bizuru

was initially a haven, Funyas had expected more. “Everything will be so comfortable, we would have a big house, everybody would have their own bedroom just like in Pakistan,” he imagined. Instead, his father struggled to find work and the rent money provided by the IRC began to run out.

‘Everything changed’ Although many come to the U.S. to find work, immigrants often face economic hardships that challenge their quality of life. Wolde’s father studied agriculture at a university in Ethiopia and earned his master’s degree in Holland through a scholarship provided by the fund of Queen Juliana – for whom Wolde is named. Yet as Wolde says, “In this country they didn't give him much value.”

Currently he works the front desk of an Embassy Suites hotel. “He used to work at NGOs…helping people and kids in so many places,” she says. “He used to have a good job but when he came here everything changed.”

Friends and family back home were unaware of the difficulty he faced in finding a lucrative job. “My parents’ parents don't know how much my parents work here,” Wolde says. “Nobody really understands how life is here so they say ‘Oh why don't you send us money?’” Even her cousins would call wanting money sent to Ethiopia, unaware of the family’s struggles.

As Funyas’ father searched for a job, the family relied on public assistance for food. When both his mother and father found part time jobs at Harris Teeter and Giant, their food stamp benefits decreased, however their

Rwanda

“They only show the good places.

People think America is like heaven.”

- Juliana Wolde

salaries were still insufficient. Like Wolde’s father, both Funyas’ parents were educated and experienced back in Pakistan. “[My mother] was a really good teacher. She taught since she was 23 years old,” says Funyas. “She was going to retire and get her pension but she lost all of that.

Her degrees and education, whatever she had, it’s nothing here.” As for his father, “He has all his degrees and so much experience in Social Work and working with organizations but those are not working here… they are useless,” Funyas says. “I can't believe he is a person with so many certificates and degrees but is working at a Giant store and he can't even earn enough money for his family.”

‘They came here for us’ Adapting to their new lives varied between the family members of the young immigrants. Wolde speaks to the challenges her parents face as older generation immigrants. “It’s hard for them because they didn’t lead lives like this in Ethiopia,” she says. “They came here for us to

NOLA CHEN

“When we went to our school, everybody knew we were Christian. They would behave different than other people. They didn't want to sit or talk with us because of being Christian” - Salman Funyas

be good educated people... They came here for us.”

Bizuru’s younger sister was affected less by the hardships of immigration. “Because she came when she was young, she didn't [experience] any bad life back home,” Bizuru explains. Her sister attended a good school where English was taught, so she quickly advanced to middle school level and then to high school. “Of course she is feeling more comfortable [than I am]: she has her friends, she speaks really good English, she came when she was ready for high school,” she says. “But me – back home I didn't go to school for two or three years before I came. Then I came straight here – straight to an American high school – which I didn't know anything about,” she says.

Making friends and adjusting to Blair was considerably difficult for Bizuru. “I was the only one who was from Rwanda. I didn’t have any friends. I don’t like to go up to someone and be like ‘Hey can we be friends?’” she says. “The school was big-- I got lost for like two weeks, always lost changing classes. Sitting in the cafeteria alone during lunch time…it was challenging,” she says. Even after a few years, Bizuru has not yet found her niche. “For now I have some other people – they are all from Ethiopia – but I don't fit in with them. Still I'm alone not having a friend in this school. I don't know why,” she says. “I do have a group to sit with but I don't feel like we are together. During lunch time they are speaking their language which I don't understand which is hard.”

For Wolde, some of the most difficult changes to internalize were those that involve cultural behaviors.

She noticed that in the U.S., people often decide not to acknowledge someone they know on the street or in the hallway. “You don’t say ‘Hi’ to everybody,” she observes. “In my country everybody greets, everybody hugs, everybody is friendly.” Wolde also noticed that social behaviors between young boys differed from what is normal in Ethiopia. “In my country, boys hold hands, walk, hug, live together...friends and brothers,” she says. These behaviors were seemingly less acceptable in the U.S. and she thinks it affected her brother's ability to make friends.

But for Wolde, the U.S. does live up to at least one of its promises. “There are more opportunities for what you want to do here,” she says. “In Ethiopia, it is much harder to be what you want to be.” As a student, Wolde was amazed by the opportunities to learn languages and the prospects of applying and going to college.

As are most things in life, immigration to the U.S. is a mixed bag. They came for a better life; but Wolde, Bizuru and Funyas all know that there are daily adversities, as well as ongoing struggles. “We are much more comfortable in this place… but at the same time there are challenges,” says Funyas. “You really have to be able to be strong and say ‘Ok I’m going to work hard and prove that I can do what other people are doing here.’ It’s not easy to develop yourself in the United States. It takes time.” Yet there are things to celebrate, too. “There is freedom, freedom for religion... You can be who you are,” says Funyas. “I’m very glad to be in a place where I can be myself and be free of racism, discrimination, and all the things we had to go through in Pakistan.”

Story by Amanda Wessel Design by Grace Woodward

C6 Features

silverchips

February 5, 2015

When paying the rent is a new kind of homework

Blazers take on the balancing act of living without parents from PARENTS page A1 Where only first names appear, names have been changed to protect the identities of the sources.

Some quotes in this story have been translated from Spanish to English. ten and living in Guatemala, his father passed away. In response, Jonathan was forced to drop out of school and find a job in order to help support his family.

Then, two years ago, Jonathan’s mother became extremely ill. Jonathan had to move to the United States and try to earn money to send back to his mother for treatment.

20-year-old Walter had a similar reason for his immigration to the United States from Guatemala. Four years ago, Walter’s financial future in his home country was bleak. Few jobs were available, and any employment opportunities he did find paid very little. The high unemployment rate compelled Walter to make a life altering decision: to move to the United States in order to provide for his family.

Contrastingly, both of Kickenson’s parents are alive and well. However, Kickenson’s tendency to argue with his parents prompted him to move out. “It was just a buildup of annoyance with each other,” he explains.

According to Kickenson, it was crucial that his parents approved his plea to live somewhere else. About two months ago, when he first seriously brought up the idea, Kickenson was only seventeen. Kickenson says that his parents were open to the idea, and because his eighteenth birthday was soon (February 3), they allowed him to move out about a month ago without taking legal action.

Transitioning to a new lifestyle Jonathan now lives in an apartment with his 28-year-old sister, her husband, and their two young children. Jonathan stays in one bedroom, while the rest of his family stays in another. He pays for all of his own needs, including rent, clothing, groceries and any other necessities.According to Jonathan, the cost of living without parents is an incredible burden. “It’s a big pressure to have to pay all the bills [and] in my country I didn’t have to,” he says.

If Jonathan doesn’t have enough money for something, his sister will give him a loan – but with a strict expectation that Jonathan will pay her back in full.

When Jonathan first came to the United

States, he was working in Baltimore from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Now, he works as a stock boy from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. every day in Langley Park.

Walter, like Jonathan, lives with family members. He resides in a house with his 30-year-old brother and three of their cousins. He says that although his brother covers the bulk of the bills and other costs, Walter chips in whenever he can.

According to Walter, different responsibilities fall on him than on students that

“People think if you live alone, you can do whatever you want, but that isn’t true... I have to clean the house, do laundry and other things...”

40 and 45 hours at Jerry’s Subs & Pizza and Mezeh Mediterranean Grill each week.

Kickenson says the worst part of living alone is buying your own necessities, like shampoo or soap. “It’s the little things that you don’t realize until you have to buy them yourself. My parents used to buy toothpaste, I never worried about how much it costs. I went to buy toothpaste last night, that sh*t’s like six dollars!” he recalls.

According to Kickenson, living with Kalala’s mother allows him much more freedom than when he previously lived with his parents. However, he hasn’t taken advantage of that independence – yet. “I could go out to a party every single day if I wanted to, and come back at three in the morning,” he says.

“But I haven’t... if I was at home with m y parents, they would be texting me every ten minutes if I was out at three in the morning.

But [Kalala’s mother] is asleep. She doesn’t care.”

According to Walter, he sometimes used to take time off from work, but that the break in pay could have negative consequences. “Work comes [before school], but sometimes I ask for time off, but time off means no money, and no money means no rent or food,” he says.

puter, Internet or familial educational support at home.

Walter accepted donated clothing from ESOL teacher Shilling’s classroom. Additionally, he says his previous ESOL teacher, Margarita Bohorquez, consistently monitored his emotional and educational state.

According to Walter, “[She] always asked me how I was doing and if I didn’t have my homework done she asked me why. She always made sure I was okay.”

Bohorquez says she makes sure to check in on students she knows live without parents, including ensuring that they have resources, like warm clothes in the winter. One problem she cites that these students face is lack of help from home when they are faced with challenges. “Kids rely heavily on their parents to support them both mentally and physically... these kids have no one to turn to if problems arise,” she explains.

Dynamic connections Jonathan says he generally has positive relationships with his family members. According to Shilling, Jonathan is more re-

Taking a toll on learning

- Walter

live under parental guidance. “People think if you live alone, you can do whatever you want, but that isn’t true... I have to clean the house, do laundry and other things,” Walter clarifies.

After arriving in the United States, Walter began working at a restaurant in College Park. Five days a week, he worked a six hour shift from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.. He stayed there for a year, but throughout that time, was not given a raise. He had trouble juggling the constant pressure of school, homework and work, so eventually he decided to quit. Now, Walter has been out of work for nearly two months.

Kickenson also lives with people that he is close with. He says he first looked for roommates that were close in age and in similar situations to rent an apartment with.

However, he could not find anyone, so he decided to move in with a friend.

Currently, Kickenson rents a basement room from his good friend senior Eric Kalala’s mother. He pays rent, contributes to bills and buys all of his own food and necessities – all on the salary of working between

Last fall, Jonathan’s mother passed away, leaving him orphaned and completely devastated. He began school this year in a regular-level ESOL class, but was forced to return to a lower, interrupted-learning level because of the numerous absences he accumulated after this experience.

According to ESOL teacher Karen Shilling, Jonathan has a strong academic drive despite the numerous obstacles that have come his way, including a six year time period when he was not in school at all. “Even on top of everything, he is very motivated to learn,” she says.

In contrast, Walter cites lack of time to focus on school as a main cause of his educational difficulties. He says that he often does not have time to complete homework or study because of his busy work schedule.

“If I was at home with my parents, they would be texting me every ten minutes if I was out at three in the morning. But [Kalala’s mother] is asleep. She doesn’t care.”

- Matthew Kickenson

“I have to take care of everything” Jonathan says that he has not received significant support from teachers, counselors, or adults at Blair. According to Jonathan, Blair’s bilingual counselor talked to him a few times, but he has not actively sought out help from any teachers.

The bulk of his homework is completed during lunch or at school. He has no com-

served and mature than his peers. Jonathan says that he is more restrained due to cultural differences. “Of course I’m quieter here, I don’t speak the language!” he exclaims.

His emotional and social health takes a toll from constant worrying about various challenges in his life. Everything is day to day for him, Jonathan says, so he doesn’t have time to think about girls or hang out with friends all the time.

In contrast, Walter has a small amount time to spend on social activities during specific days. He says, “On weekends, I see my friends to play soccer and stuff, but during the week I don’t have a social life.”

Walter and his brother have developed a paternal relationship, starting with the death of their father, Walter says. “He is the oldest brother, so he was always like a dad, but ten years ago when my dad died, even more so,” he says. According to Walter, his older brother is a “very good person” and the two have a loving relationship.

Looking ahead

ZEKE WAPNER

LIVING WITHOUT PARENTS Senior Matthew Kickenson (left) has been renting from Eric Kalala’s (right) mother for the past couple of months after disagreements with his parents spurred the mutual decision for Kickenson to move out and find his own place.

Walter hopes to, possibly with the help of an adult, find a job or apprenticeship one day. “My teacher at Edison said he will help me find a job, and a way to keep studying electricity,” he says. According to Jonathan, going to Edison to learn a trade would be a tremendous opportunity.

Rather than solely continuing to work when high school ends, Kickenson says that he is planning to attend Montgomery College in the fall and hopes to later transfer to University of Maryland. He is also looking for a job that pays more than minimum wage so that he will have to work fewer hours.

Walter says that, in the future, he will continue to send money home to help his mother. However, for now he is content living with his brother, going to school, and working. “I love my lifestyle,” Walter says.

“I have nothing more I could ask for.” working. “I love my lifestyle,” Walter says. “I have nothing more I could ask for.”

February 5, 2015

silverchips

Features

C7

Q & A with Pat Loveless, Takoma Park hero Veteran activist opens up about his life, work and experiences

Q: What spurred you to become an activist?

A: Seeing what really went on in life and around the world and where our money was going. I went to a Hiroshima and Nagasaki committee meeting in Massachusetts and saw what nuclear weapons really do. They weren’t clean weapons; they were dirty, filthy weapons, they were abominations. I didn’t want my money, my taxes going to that kind of crap and I wanted to do everything I could non-violently to stop it.

So I went to different demonstrations and spoke up about it.

I walked from Maine to New York and then from New York to Washington. I learned about non-violence and learned about other things I could do for peace. I learned about other issues in the world that should be worked on, like racism. Oh, I’ve always been against racism, ever since I was born, but my family didn’t care for that. My father was a little on the racist side and I couldn’t understand it, I just didn’t.

Q: How do you balance political activism with other life goals?

A: Well right now my other life goals are to maintain my health. Political activism

Q: How do you stay hopeful despite all the violence in the world?

A: Because if I can [be an activist] in my condition, I don’t see why other people can’t. I’m hoping that people wake up. I’m hoping that I’m setting a good example for the next generation…. At the Martin Luther King Parade down at Anacostia, some of the kids told me that they want to grow up like me and they thought my peace sign was cool and I said, ‘Yeah it is.’

It’s a very important thing to learn in life and that’s why I talk to the kids about it.

Q: What would you like to tell the students of Blair and other young people to inspire us?

A: One thing I’d like to do is tell them to register to vote and then to go out and vote.

In Takoma Park, people 16 years old and over can vote, and I want to see you people get out there and vote responsibly…. that’s the key to a good world. In this country we have the right to vote and the key to voting is voting responsibly. Don’t vote for something where you know your money is going to violence or going to a war. Don’t vote for candidates that support that.

It’s we the people that run this country,

we are the bosses and we have to realize that…we have the power to vote and every vote counts, [but] some people don’t believe it. They say ‘Oh, it’s just one vote, my vote doesn’t count,’ and that’s the most untrue statement they’ve ever said.

I go down and I vote. I don’t care what the weather is like. I don’t care whether it’s raining or snowing or blowing hail, I’ll be out there voting. I go down at approximately 11:30 and I’m down there until the polls close. I carry the peace sign down there to remind people to vote responsibly, to vote for the candidate they want the most and not just because [the candidate] looks like a winner or looks like a sexy superstar or whatever.

But to vote because [the candidate’s] doing the most things that are right.

Q: What obstacles have you faced in your activism?

A: Well, I’ve faced some obstacles…I ran into the Ku Klux Klan and that was tragic. I got hurt real bad after that, real bad. I didn’t even know I was hurt, I knew I was beat up, but I didn’t think I had any life changing injuries. They were throwing bricks and rocks at us; they threw a bag of urine at me and everything else. They were trying to really humiliate me. I was hit in the hand with a brick, a brick about as big as a shoe… I was carrying this big fifty-pound peace sign so when I got hit, gangrene set in…

With gangrene, it doesn’t take long for tissue to die and decomposition to set in. So they ended up having to take half my middle finger off and then I was in and out having amputations and skin grafts and everything else and none of it worked. Then I finally found out it had gotten into my

bloodstream and into my body. I started noticing that my right eye was gradually losing its sight and I found out that the retina in the eye had died. This all happened in 1992, and then the other eye went too… I had no healthcare so they just looked at me gave me a good talking to and sent me home. I finally got treatment for it but it was way too late.

PP EE

Q: How do you will yourself to keep going despite personal and global challenges?

A: Because it’s important not to give up on the things I’m PP C C EE fighting against…

I’ve experienced a lack EE of health care because of income, I’ve learned what it’s like to be poor, I’ve learned what it’s like to have a good job and lose it, I’ve learned what it was like to be one of the have-nots.

So I’m fighting to make it so everybody in the world does not have to be one of those have-nots…

Remember, if I can do it on oxygen, in a wheel chair, totally blind, after open-heart surgery, with six amputated fingers, with bones that fracture all the time, with pain all the time, if I can manage to do it, to get down and vote and get down to those demonstrations, I expect other people to do the same. If you say you’re against the war and against violence then damn it, come on down and prove it. I did it and I’m still doing it. And if you are going to a demonstration, give me a call, a lot of times I need a ride.

Take pride in this world; don’t just sit like a bump on a log.

A EE ACC

HUTTER

Pat Loveless has lived a life of political protest. Loveless voices his opinions at the majority of Takoma Park’s City Council meetings while continuing to attend protests throughout the area. Recently named Takoma Park’s Peace Delegate because of his commitment to peace and his love for the city, Loveless has overcome many obstacles throughout his activism.

actually helps my health, I believe. Going down to demonstrations gives me an outlet where I can speak up against stuff like police brutality and other issues. As weeks and days go on I find other issues that need help. And going down to the demonstrations is one of my goals to help me with my main goal [to stay healthy]. Because I feel like if I don’t do anything sometimes I actually get sick… If I let it [violence] happen I sometimes get real sick over some issues like the Trayvon Martin case, I got sick over.

SARAH

By Julian Bregstone

D1 Entertainment

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Turning a new page in the downtown Takoma food scene Busboys and Poets restaurant and bookstore opens location by Blair

By Anna O’Driscoll

choose to open their stores. When deciding where to open a restaurant, Busboys and Poets looks for a community that would be compatible with the history of the store, so as to avoid disrupting existing commercial and cultural life. “Takoma D.C., [a neighborhood in the district that borders Takoma Park], is a wonderful neighborhood with a history of arts and culture and activism,” says Ericka Byrd-Thomson, who works for the central office of Busboys and Poets. “We look for neighborhoods that have already a

Takoma Park area have been nothing but positive, according to Laura Barclay of the Old Takoma Business Association. “[Busboys and Poets] will expose Takoma Park to a greater audience. This will be the only Busboys and Poets closest to Montgomery County.” In reference to the intentionality of Busboys and Poets in choosing their locations, Barclay is sure that it will blend well with the existing community. Busboys and Poets do have large community spaces in most of their restaurants, the one in Takoma D.C. included. “[Their] programming will enhance the neighborhood,” Barclay says.

Walk into a Busboys and Poets restaurant and bookstore on a weekend, and you will immediately become surrounded by the smells of delicious foods and the loud hum of people talking and enjoying themselves.

The venue will most likely be packed; a communal table sits close to the entrance and paintings and posters decorate the walls. This colorful building will be taking the place of the empty plot that used to reside at the corner of Carroll and Maple Avenue, the location of the newest chapter of Busboys and Poets.

Busboys and Poets is a “community gathering place,” according to their website, with food and books. The first store was opened in 2005 by the owner, Andy “Anas” Shallal.

There are currently five venues throughout the greater D.C. CHIMEY SONAM area, and the store opening in Tako- “A CHANGE IS GONNA COME” Busboys and Poets, a socially progressive restuma D.C. will be arant and bookstore, will open its new Takoma D.C. location on Feb. 14. the sixth.

Intentional Placement Every aspect of Busboys and Poets is intentional, including the places where they

history that we can be a part of. We don’t aim to come in to take over what’s already there.”

The reactions from the other stores in the

The intersection of politics and culture

This intentionality is clearly evident as soon as you open the menu. At the top on the inside cover is printed the tribal statement of Busboys and Poets. “Busboys and Poets is a community where racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted,” begins the statement. The variety of genres, traditions and authors in the bookstores located in most venues shows the conscious look at connections between race and culture.

Busboys and Poets calls their bookstores “Teaching for Change” bookstores. This organization works to bring attention to white privilege in children’s books, so the vast majority of books in “Teaching for Change” bookstores

are by authors of color, or about people of color. This is just one way the venue intentionally looks at race and cultural connections in a safe environment made for everyone to enjoy.

The bookstores in Busboys and Poets are special in many ways, including the variety of books on display. From poetry to peace studies, Busboys and Poets bookstores pretty much have it all. A closer look at the Young Adults section reveals books normally not included in the literary cannon. The Young Adult book choices range from A Peoples History of the United States to My Basmati Bat Mitzvah.

A restaurant, of course

The food is no afterthought. In order to create a space where everyone is welcome, Busboys and Poets offers many different food choices, including gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian.

The ideology of the restaurant is reflected in the decorations hanging and painted on the walls. Artwork, paintings of famous peacemakers, quotes from speeches, books and songs all line the walls of the store, creating a space to get lost in thoughts and dreams. Just as the tribal statement says that Busboys and Poets is a place where the arts and politics are intentionally mixed together, they make sure it is evident right when you sit down to eat.

Busboys and Poets also hosts a multitude of speakers and events, ranging from activists and authors like Howard Zinn and Naomi Klein to singers and television personas like Jordin Sparks, Larry King and La Roux.

The grand opening of the Takoma D.C. location will be on February 14th at the corner of Maple Avenue and Carroll Avenue with music and food.

The real comedians of Blair: Teachers who located the humerus Quirky quips can strike at any moment, so keep your eyes open in class

By Camille Estrin It’s 1:45, with only 25 minutes left in class, and you’ve been staring at the clock the whole period. You look around and notice that everyone else is gazing away from the board, where your teacher has been going over the same problem for the last ten minutes. You sit there, counting down the minutes until class is over, until suddenly, your teacher cracks a joke and the entire class erupts into laughter. The mood quickly shifts to a whole different level of enthusiasm, excitement and laughter. It’s these classes that leave us with some of the most

“Algebra prettier than girlfriend, you wish yo’ girlfriend look like algebra.”

son up to this time…” she says. The class was reading The Odyssey, so to help the English class better understand the book, Anderson decided to share stories and songs about The Odyssey. In addition, he would come up with clever rhymes to help give the students an easy way to remember the story, “His wife and his son had shed many tears, cause he’s been gone for 20 long years.”

For Long-Hillie, even though it was an unconventional way to teach, it was very beneficial. “However funny it may have been, it was actually extremely helpful with studying such advanced literature,” Long-Hillie explains. According to Long-Hillie, And e r son’s

where entertaining stories and quotes are shared is blairbash.org. This website, where students post hilarious quotes from their classes, is mainly used by Magnet students, but submissions are open to the entire student population. The quotes shared range from random comments to longer interactions between students and teachers. Students feel the need to not only enjoy these moments in class, but to share them with their peers so they can enjoy the humor as well.

Magnet math teacher David Stein and chemistry teacher Tran Pham

class was nothing like any other class she had been in. “Never had I ever had a teacher in my life like Mr. Anderson,” she shares.

Another place

NAOMI WEINTRAUB

“There once was a strange man from Tennessee who ended his limericks on line three. Math is hard.”

- Mr. Stein

- Mr. Pham

memorable moments of our high school career.

For junior De’Jia Long-Hillie, one of her fondest memories was in English teacher Keith Anderson’s English class. When she walked into class, she was completely shocked. Anderson had set up a fake fire in the middle of the classroom and was beating a drum as the students walked in.

“I thought, ‘Oh lord, what’s Mr. Ander-

Stein’s amusing limerick, “There once was a strange man from Tennessee, who ended his limericks on line three. Math is hard.”

seem to be two of the most common teachers that appear on this website. For example, “Pham: I love algebra, so beautiful, everything work out pretty. (pause) Pham: Algebra prettier than girlfriend, you wish yo’ girlfriend look like algebra” or

Some Blair teachers are for the most part unaware of their large presence online, especially on Twitter. One day in his class, Math teacher Tyrone Allen discovered that a student had created a fake twitter page for him. Junior Anna Reachmack explains that Allen thought that someone had, “stolen [his] identity.” The rest of the class, Allen proceeded to investigate who made his twitter account, but he was ultimately unable to find its owner.

Something as small as telling a joke can change the dynamic of certain classrooms, help students engage in the material more easily and make the class more entertaining and amusing. So as Blazers leave school, not only do they retain useful educational information, but are also left with long-lasting memories from their classes. Next time you’re thinking of falling asleep during a class, think again; you might miss the next punch-line.

Entertainment D2

silverchips

February 5, 2014

Museums not to miss:

Chips offers up a curated collection

Art, science and history are put on exhibit at area museums

By Camille Kirsch and Emma Soler A fine specimen Your first look at the National Museum of Health and Medicine may seem uninviting. That is, if you can ever find it—the museum’s proximity to a military base and distance from any conventional attractions make it inconvenient to visit. The fence surrounding the adjacent Forest Glen Military Annex is off-putting, and the museum itself looks small. But don’t allow first impressions to get in the way of visiting this museum--inside, a complex, fascinating and at points stomach-churning collection of medical specimens awaits.

The Museum of Health and Medicine was founded during the Civil War, and now holds a massive number of historical and current medical and military objects. Here, visitors get the chance to inspect conjoined twins, a brain with a bullet injury, the massively bloated leg of a person with elephantiasis or a fetus with spina bifida.

Not impressed? All of those things are authentic artifacts. Almost everything in the Museum of Health and Medicine is real, not a model, which makes each medical object all the more captivating.

The Museum also offers information on the history of medical devices, as well as real examples of these devices, such as an artificial leech bloodletting kit or a real pocket surgical kit.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine is a completely unique collection.

No other museum in the D.C. area offers such an in depth glance at medical and military relics. For those in the mood to be little grossed out, it’s the place to be.

But it’s not for anyone with a weak stomach.

Women’s history, in broad strokes From the moment they push open the heavy glass doors, visitors at the National Museum of Women in the Arts are transported to a luxurious D.C. that has been long since gone the way of the robber barons. Sparkling marble floors, gold bannisters, elaborate wallpaper and three crystal chandeliers greet guests as they enter the museum’s lobby. Paintings dating back to the 1400s line the walls. Only one thing doesn’t fit the sense of walking in the mansion of a 20’s millionaire-- feminism.

Women in the Arts is the world’s only major museum focusing on female artists.

Nearly all the museum’s displayed works were done by women, who continue to be underrepresented in traditional art museums. For works by male artists to be displayed, the art must be significant to women’s history.

There are a few of those in the museum’s 25th anniversary exhibition, “Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea.” On display through April 2015, the exhibit features art by globally renowned artists like Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Gentileschi and Caccia.

The works explore depictions of the Virgin Mary over time.

The museum’s permanent collection never disappoints. Standouts include Remedios Varo’s “La llamada”, a surrealist portrait of a woman with flaming hair, and Elaine de Kooning’s “Bacchus #3”, a green and purple abstract painting of the Greek god of wine and revelry.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a beautiful structure filled with beautiful works, and also a correction to centuries of injustice. But most of all, it is an amazing museum.

It might even be called a work of art.

1250 New York Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C. Free for 18 and under.

Tickets $8 for students and seniors, $10 for adults.

AMANDA GROSS

2500 Linden Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Free.

America the… crowded?

Under the microscope At first glance, the Marian Koshland Science Museum looks like something left behind by “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The small museum’s white-and-glass facade, combined with the whimsical metal sculpture decorating its roof, lend it a distinct and charming retro-futurism. It’s fitting that the museum stands out from the buildings around it, because it is very different from the typical D.C. museum.

For one, the Koshland is small. Very small. You could probably fit three Koshlands in the front hall of the Museum of Natural History, or maybe four. And the museum is correspondingly quiet--on one recent visit, the only other patrons were students on a field trip.

But the museum’s key difference from its competition is its notable interactivity.

The neutral white walls are lined with screens. There’s none of the traditional standing, staring and looking at signs at the Koshland. Instead, visitors watch videos, play games and try out simulations.

The museum is divided into three parts: the Life Lab, the Earth Lab and the Idea Lab. Start in the Life Lab with the AGNES age simulator, which lets participants age 75 years in five minutes. In the Earth Lab, give the climate change prevention game a whirl. In the Idea Lab, rest your feet by watching the video on natural disaster preparedness. Or, try the logic puzzles in the lobby with family and friends. Not sure what to do first? The staff members are knowledgeable and happy to help.

It might be under a different magnification than other D.C. museums, but the Koshland is a hidden gem.

525 E Street, NW Washington, DC. Tickets $4 for students and active-duty military, $7 for adults.

AMANDA GROSS

Geography of the stomach Many people are familiar with the National Geographic Magazine, but few know about the National Geographic Museum, which is tucked into a bustling D.C. street.

Created to showcase information about the world around us, this museum is meant for all ages, from toddlers to senior citizens.

Currently on exhibit at the Museum is a feature on the evolution of food, entitled “The Future of Food.” It offers up information on a variety of topics, including the changes in cultivation of crops around the world. However, the sheer expanse of facts is sometimes a bit overwhelming.

For interactive learners, this exhibit offers great opportunities to feel like a part of the food growing and preparing process. Just stroll over to the “cooking table,” which is basically a huge TV turned on its side. It’s set at the perfect height for the average eight year old, letting kids pretend to mix up different ingredients and create a real dinner.

If cooking isn’t your thing, but food is, just take a quick sniff at an interactive smell station. The aroma of Aztec chocolate drinks or cinnamon spice are sure to get your mouth watering. Just don’t get too hungry--you might be tempted to nibble on the square watermelons and the four foot tall cassava plant.

The museum’s main collection boasts a display of exceptional photographs by young photographers that document children’s lives across the world, as well as an exhibit on the Spinosaurus dinosaur.

Ultimately, this museum deserves more visitors than it’s got. Curious learners should map out the way to its door and appreciate the chance to travel the world, all while staying put in D.C. 1145 17th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20036. Free for children under five, $7 for ages 5-12, $9 for seniors, members, and military, and $11 for adults.

The National Museum of American History’s philosophy is very, well, American.

The Smithsonian museum favors eclectic collections of pop culture artifacts over traditional narrative exhibits and displays. The concept seems to work: walk into the museum on any given day, and it will be packed.

The most popular exhibits at the American History Museum are the flag hall, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and the First Ladies’ dresses. These exhibits are worth seeing at least once. But be warned: each and every one is surrounded by crowds even larger than the usual masses of people. The roaring of all those tourists, amplified by the museum’s sleek glass flooring and walls of windows, is headache-inducing. Plus, the long lines are hard on feet.

A great alternative for kids is the Exploratorium, where they can build structures and learn about American scientific history. For adults and teens, the most enjoyable experience may come from doing a research ahead of time to find the exhibits that are right for each individual. The National Museum of American History has something for everyone, after all. Train buffs, fashionistas, music fans and even foodies can find something to love.

Claustrophobes, however, should probably stay home.

14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. Free.

An art gallery in your living room Unlike some of D.C.’s better-known—and more intimidating—art museums, the Phillips Collection will make you feel at home. This museum, located on 21st Street NW, has a unique history. The building, which was originally the home of the uberrich Phillips family, now holds Duncan Phillips’ personal art collection as well as some rotating exhibits.

Short descriptions hanging next to or below some paintings describe the trials and tribulations that Phillips went through to acquire each of his pieces. These, along with warm lighting and friendly staff, make the gallery seem like an assortment of artwork that a friend picked out just for you.

The museum is small, but this just adds to its cozy air. Visitors can tour the entire museum in an hour. However, they may want to linger longer.

Standout pieces currently on exhibit include Bernardi Roig’s sculpture “The Man of the Light”, which is showcased on a set of stairs, and Georgia O’Keefe’s “Jack in the Pulpit IV.” While the paintings and other works of art at the Phillips have notable variety and charm, what makes this museum special is its atmosphere. Not many museums can make you feel at home, but the Phillips collection ensures that visitors feel like just another member of the family.

1600 21st Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20009. Tickets free for under 18, $10 for NAOMI WEINTRAUB

soapbox What is yor favorite museum in the area?

“My favorite museum in the area is the Air and Space Museum because it was the first museum I ever went to when I was little. I learned a lot about space traveling when I was over there.”

- Omar Marriaga, freshman “My favorite museum in the area is the Newseum because it’s cool to see all the different headlines from around the world. My favorite exhibition is the 9/11 room where they have a newspaper headline from all 50 states about the attack.”

- Ryan Seaton-Evans, freshman

D3 Entertainment

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Rooted in tradition while moving forward

Blazers of Note

Insightful perspectives from Blair’s Sankofa community

By Maris Medina In West Africa, the word “Sankofa” is expressed as “se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki”: It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot; return and get it. It is embodied by a mythical bird that flies forward while looking back, a testament to the importance of moving forward while learning to learn from the past. Across Montgomery Blair, this bird holds a special meaning. In the course of a few months, teachers Vickie Adamson, Pamela Bryant, Michelle Edwards, and Sandra Jacobs Ivey with a collection of many students, string together a series of performances with the overarching theme of Sankofa, and since their first show, have never looked back.

REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF DIO CRAMER

Emily Fox FRESHMAN A fear of heights is not a problem for freshman Emily Fox, who spends her free time practicing the art of trapeze, lyra and many other circus arts. Fox was introduced to circus arts when she took a trapeze class at Trapeze School New York in D.C. and has been hooked ever since. She does four different types of circus art: flying and static trapeze, silks – where she swings from suspended fabrics – and lyra, where she performs tricks in a hanging hoop. Fox said she likes circus art because it provides her with a challenge, and according to Fox, “I’ve always liked acrobatic and performing arts.” She said she hopes to continue training at Trapeze School New York because it’s very fun and combines her interests. “Maybe I’ll join a circus when I grow up,” she laughs.

Sankofa’s roots at Blair Sankofa has been a Blair staple since the school was located at its Sligo Creek site over 20 years ago. Adamson, who has been writing the show for the past few years, recalls coming to her first Sankofa performance in her first year of teaching at Blair. She subsequently took the project into her own hands merely four years ago after 10 years of the show’s disappearance from Blair’s stage.

Each year, she’s written what she describes as a “unified script that tells a story” consisting of numerous skits, dances, and poetry readings.” Last year, it focused on the Harlem Renaissance and education, and this year, music. Although the theme changes, each show holds the common goal of sharing the stories of black history in America from progressive advancements to its still existent struggles. Adamson explains, “The show is to remind us of the past, what came before so that we celebrate it, honor it and allow it to continue to influence us and to direct us.” With its various art forms interwoven into a single show, the cast is able to pay homage to not only important black historical political figures, but also to poets, artists, dancers and singers alike.

Old timers and newbies “When I’m on stage as the bird, I feel free,” Senior Emani Hears discloses. “Everything in my mind clears out.” This year, she hopes to experience the same bliss playing the Sankofa bird as she felt when she choreographed and performed the role last year.

From those returning to Sankofa like Hears to those joining the cast for the first time, this year’s show is an exciting prospect for everyone involved.

Senior Amear Eakins, a new addition to the cast, primarily auditioned for the show when his cousin convinced him to but then found more reasons to be part of the performance. “I thought it would be a good way to not only do something fun but also do something that contributes to the preservation of our culture,” he says. Junior Brianna Moreno, who was inspired to join after seeing her first show freshman year, now sees it as a chance to reflect on her own culture. “You should never forget the things that led us to where we are now, the things that helped us to go forward,” she explains.

Tradition and community Although the theme and cast may change, some components of Sankofa performances remain staples of the show. Adamson emphasizes the importance of casting the mythical bird who dances each year. “The Sankofa bird has always been a part that we try to add in the show. Who is going to be that bird who dances through the show and provides a thread to segue through the different parts of the story?” she points out.

Ultimately, participants observe a welcoming community each year.

“You go from not knowing each other to being complete best friends,” Moreno says. “It’s not just one group of theatre kids. You don’t have to be a great actor. Everybody can do it.”

With consistency comes change. Edwards, who has worked with the cast for three years now, notes that each year, the talent and diversity of Sankofa’s cast has gotten better and better. “The show gets better every year because we are learning about ourselves and what our strengths and weaknesses are,” Edwards comments.

Planting a seed “Sankofa is not just a play, but a celebration of our African American history,” Eakins explains. Edwards suggests the audience should see Sankofa as a merely the starting point for celebrating African American history. She reiterates, “This should plant a seed for everyone in the show and everyone seeing the show of things they should be doing outside of this month and this show.”

Regardless of the advancements that America has made in progressing towards equality, Adamson highlights the long road to go. She surmises, “In this current history with things like Ferguson and New York, you think about all the instances where black people are still trying to make sure they’re treated with justice. It’s now more important than ever to have Sankofa.”

CHIMEY SONAM

DANCE This year’s Sankofa cast practices for the upcoming shows on Feb. 20 and 21.

From swanky to swag: slang ain’t what it used to be

When your parents remember that “hip” is not just a body part…

By Mariam Jiffar

PHUONG VO

Kinjal Ruecker SOPHOMORE While most Blazers are happy at the sight of snow, it has a different meaning to sophomore Kinjal Ruecker. For Ruecker, more snow means better conditions for her to practice her competitive skiing skills.

Ruecker has been skiing for as long as she can remember, but her dad, a former skier for the German National Team, introduced her to competitive skiing when she was nine years old.

Ruecker was drawn to all aspects of the sport, from the competitiveness to the adrenaline of racing downhill. “I love skiing. I don’t know how to say it any other way,” she said. Ruecker devotes a large amount of her free time to skiing and practices four times a week – twice on the weekend and on Tuesdays and Thursdays – at Liberty Mountain Resort in southern Pennsylvania. “I definitely want to continue skiing throughout college,” Ruecker commented, but she added that she did not plan to compete professionally.

By Reva Kreeger

Slang itself has changed a lot over the years, but it has largely stayed the same in its purpose in that it’s used by teens, changes often, something about counterculture, all that good stuff. However, it seems like the fate of slang has taken a turn for the cringeworthy lately: parents are “slaying” slang by saying slang -- and not in a good way.

You may be thinking words are just words, but when more moms start asking about who’s in the “squad” and more dads start calling their stroll through downtown Takoma Park their “mission” to get through town, you’ll regret your silence. You’ll wish you stood up.

I know it’s hard for parents to understand the gravity of this situation. After all, they used to say “hip,” and now we’re using it again, so why can’t they have some “swag” once in a while? But it’s totally different. Slang works like recycling: our parents started using certain language, and now we restore and repurpose the old into new. It helps the (social) environment. Parents adapting slang as their own is like global warming. Some deny it’s even happening, but it’s eliminating whatever cool our planet has left and accelerating the destruction of the human race. If you’re not angry, then you’re not paying attention. Dope-ness isn’t a renewable resource, and our parents are burning it into the suffocating fossil fuel of lame every single time they say “hashtag” out loud.

Since I really “can’t even” with parents’ basic use of slang, the next step is making a game plan to rectify matters. It seems that parents are motivated to commit such heinous acts of speech by a desire to get more in touch with their chill, youthful vibes, considering how (when the laws of nature are followed) teens are the ones who use slang. A reasonable justification, but a truly misguided one, since our words have no attachment to their “good ole days.” Therefore, parents simply ought to revert back to saying “right on!” or “let’s boogie!” or just about anything

else they said way back when. These are still perfectly good phrases; we just have no interest in using them – but that’s no reason to let them just sit and do nothing, all lonely and unspoken.

So, parents, the next time you’re in the mood for some trendy terms, do some soul-searching. Dig deep; perhaps the cool was in you all along. Perhaps we can say “deuces” and you can say “catch you on the flipside;” you’re “up for anything,” we’re “down;” however, you guys can get down while we turn up. Try to keep up.

Not down.

But on the other hand, sometimes using slang can also be about trying to relate to teens after countless accusations that parents just don’t get it (which is ironic, considering how they were the ones who used to tell each other to “get with it” all the time, but I digress).

Don’t be mistaken, teens could totally use some relating. When we’re talking about extending curfew? Relate all you want. Tell me all about how late you stayed out when you were a kid and how you totally understand.

While this would be better for everyone (especially us), alas, it never plays out this way. Parents don’t tend to tell “relatable” stories about when

they were stoners (come on, we all know) and proceed to dole out weed money. If they want to relate, they need to try harder, because using teenage slang isn’t cutting it – in fact, it’s hurting the cause. We’re not relating any better when parents tragically throw “yo” into a sentence; we need relatability with benefits.

However, I get that some parents just have zero chill and will shut out this constructive criticism. “I’ll say what I want, bro!” they’ll exclaim, though we are nothing of the “bro” sort. So, as a last-ditch effort, we need to offer classes, including writing courses where parents can practice writing glow without the ‘w,’ and literature classes where they attempt to analyze and decode the meanings of complex prose samples such as “ROTFLMAO.” We can’t force all parents to stop using slang, so we must at least equip them to use slang safely and responsibly. These classes would also serve to warn them that they shouldn’t use slang before they’re ready and remind them of the potential consequences that slang can have on them and their family – abstinence is the only 100 percent effective method to avoiding epic slang fails.

We have a grand selection of options for handling this dire situation, but none of them can work if we don’t all unite and act now. Literally everyone (and I swear on my dad’s insistence on saying “that’s so diss!” that I’m being literal) needs to contribute to this movement before it becomes a complete disaster. Tweet about it, put it up on “the gram” – whatever you need to do to spread the word, do.

Through talking with our parents and opening up a national dialogue about this issue, we can all work towards a brighter tomorrow. Have our country’s future “on fleek,” if you will. Be on the right side VICTORIA TSAI of history; we can do this. #saveslang2015

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Entertainment D4

From picture day to photoshoots: Blair’s next top models Blazers redefine fashion with their unique spins on local styles

By Eleanor Harris An iPhone blasts Lauryn Hill as photographer Jacob Webster directs his model Whitney Nguyen. “Give me b**** face,” he instructs her, pausing to comb out one of her dramatic curls. Nguyen stands in front of a pristine backdrop, a professional-grade light illuminating her makeup that took hours to apply.

Webster clicks a few more photos and mm-hmms his approval. The photoshoot proceeds with practiced efficiency (despite a few spontaneous dance breaks) and the resulting images are clear and professional.

It would be impressive even if Webster and Nguyen weren’t high school students.

Nguyen is one of many teenagers creating her own space in the culture of fashion, typically dominated by celebrities and expensive brands. She and other young models represent their own style and culture, along with an increasing awareness of issues such as body image and diversity.

part of fashion but she’s still covering herself,” Jamal explains.

In front of the camera For Gilbert, modeling comes naturally.

“It’s kind of effortless, because it’s something I like doing,” she says. “It’s not really a job to me.” Although her experience does not feel like work, Gilbert is occasionally paid. “I’ve done a photoshoot for college students who have a clothing line,” she remembers. “They gave me clothing and merchandise.”

Le, however, sometimes has a harder time in front of the camera.

“I just hate being up there and not knowing what to do,” she admits. Le has the most fun preparing for her shoots. “I love getting my makeup done!” she exclaims. “I do hair, so I’m usually the one getting other people ready. It feels nice to have Jacob do my makeup.”

Nguyen also recognizes the obstacles of modeling. “The hardest part is just figuring out what to do,” she agrees with Le. “You don’t want to be copying other people.” Despite the occasional difficulty, Nguyen’s modeling garners an overwhelmingly positive response. “[People say], ‘Oh my god, you look so pretty!’” she laughs. “‘Can you tell Jacob to give me a photoshoot?’ And I’m just, like, ‘Okay!’”

Jamal experiences the same positive response, to an even greater extent. “Actually, someone stole a picture [of me] and made it their profile picture,” she remembers. “They took the picture, I [had] no idea who they were, and they had more likes than [my own]! I was like, ‘Wow, I should make that my profile picture!’”

something that’s not even a real person,” she says. Her photos are often edited, but she strikes a moral compromise with herself when it comes to Photoshop. “Normally the photographer just does it himself or herself,” she says, “but they give me the original photos which... I use [on social media].”

Some of Blair’s models see themselves as

new or different in.” And Jamal is doing just that, by fusing her culture with her photographers’ creative design.

Next top model?

Gilbert is very realistic about her future in the modeling industry. “I used to dream of being a Victoria’s Secret Model,” she admits, “but I realized I definitely want a steadier job. It’s not something that I want as my main career, but it’s not something I would shoot down.”

For McCann, modeling complements her other goals as she enters the world of show business. “[The runway show] was more Getting scouted, getting started of a one-time thing, but I imagine I might Nguyen, a junior, and Webster, a Springmodel in the future brook junior, have been working together because a lot of acsince Webster first got his camera. “I saw tresses model,” she him take pictures of my friend, and I was says. just watching,” Nguyen remembers. “And Le is not committhen one day, he was like, ‘Do you want to ted to modeling, but shoot?’” she uses it to help furTheir first shoot, which included Blair ther her other ambisenior Anh Le, was disastrous. “It was the tions. “I mean, hair is worst shoot ever,” Le groans. “[Whitney] my thing,” she says. was posing in the water, and it was so “When I do Whitcold outside. She slipped and...fell into the ney’s hair [during creek.” photoshoots], I take Since then, Le and Nguyen have consisbefore and after pictently modeled for Webster – generally in tures and show them less traumatic photoshoots. to my cosmetology Similarly, a personal connection helped teacher, so it helps senior Christina McCann discover a modout a lot.” eling opportunity. “My friend who owns Jamal, on the othThe bigger picture a boutique [wanted] high school students er hand, hopes to to model in a show to showcase her spring pursue modeling in Modeling tends to bring up ques2013 line,” recalls McCann. “The goal of the future but is limthe show was to build confidence in young tions of body image, photo retouchited by her parents’ women and provide them with classy outfit ing and media representation. Jamal expectations.“ It believes that blatant Photoshopping ideas.” has been my dream, of models’ [but] of course your images is the parents are the bigREPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF JACOB WEBSTER norm. “When gest killers of your Kim Kar- SMIZE Junior Whitney Nguyen and senior Anh Le pose for a photoshoot. dream,” she laments. dashian’s ‘break“We’ve discussed it, ing the internet’ pho- more diverse than the typical girls strutting and it didn’t go down a good road.” Jamal tos came out….[she’d] the runway. And they’re right: according explains her parents’ rules: “[They believe been Photoshopped,” to Jezebel, the proportion of white models that] as a Muslim girl, I should not be on she sighs. “And Justin at New York Fashion Week has hovered billboards, even if I am covered. I should be Bieber’s Calvin Klein around 80 percent in the last five years. as hidden as possible.” photoshoot [was] Nguyen points to the underrepresentation When a hijabi brand asked Jamal to modPhotoshopped.”

Ja- of Asians in advertisements and on the run- el its clothing, her parents decided against it. mal finds most photo way. “I don’t really see Asian models the “I brought that to my parents’ attention and editing unnecessary. way I would see Caucasian or black [mod- it didn’t go well,” sighs Jamal. “I feel like in “Justin Bieber’s [origi- els],” she observes. the future, if I’m capable of doing my own nal photo] was a good Jamal, who wears a hijab, feels the same thing and I get the balls to do it, I would go picture...his body and way. “We have been seeing black, white, tall, ahead and I would.” the way he was pos- nice-body skinny models since the beginAs the fashion industry develops, it is ing,” she says. “In the ning of time,” she complains. “But no one possible that Blair’s models will be popping Photoshopped picture, has seen...how I dress or how I do it. I’m not up as a part of it, bringing with them new they toned his butt and saying that I’m better, but I think it would perspectives and fresh ideas. As Gilbert rehis abs…[which] is a catch more attention…[to] bring something marked, “The media changes every day.” problem because that’s not how the person actually looks.”

On a smaller scale, though, Jamal is not REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF MARYAM KHAN opposed to light reHIJABISTA Senior Fizza Jamal’s unique style, which incorpo- touching. When a photographer digitalrates her hijab, made photographers eager to work with her. ly smoothed her skin and thickened her Junior Dabney Gilbert was first discov- eyelashes, she was happy with the results. ered online. “Honestly, as weird as it sounds, “It was just my face and it wasn’t [a] huge I just started off with selfies on Instagram,” [change],” Jamal explains. “My reaction to she laughs. “I got noticed by photographers that was like, ‘Oh, I look nice!’”

Similarly, Nguyen appreciates the benand did my first photoshoot.” Gilbert models up to three times a week, usually with- efits of photo editing. “I actually told [the out payment. “I’ve been doing exchanges,” photographer to retouch my photos],” she she explains. “Basically...they expand their recalls. “There was this one shoot where I photography portfolios and I build up my ate a little bit too much and I looked a little bit chubby, so I told him to Photoshop me modeling portfolio.”

Social media facilitated senior Fizza Ja- slimmer.” On the other end of the spectrum, mal’s entry into modeling as well. Multiple McCann is passionate about body image isphotographers have contacted Jamal over sues and strongly against retouching. “My Instagram and asked to shoot with her. She photos have never been Photoshopped,” she attributes her online popularity to her per- says.

Gilbert agrees that photo editing can be sonal style, which incorporates her hijab, PHUONG VO a headscarf traditionally worn by Muslim harmful. “A lot of the models...they’re all women. “[Photographers] see this girl: she’s pretty much Photoshopped and made into HAIR & MAKEUP Junior Whitney Nguyen gets ready for a tattoo-themed photoshoot.

D5 ADs

Prom and Homecoming Corsages Friendship Bouquets ~ Birthdays Romance ~ Anniversaries Holidays

Family owned and operated since 1954 Same day delivery ~ Local & Nationwide (301) 593-4700 ~ 24 hours a day

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Chips Clips D6

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Across

We All Like Food

1. A young sheep 5. The medical term for swelling 10. Mouthing off, putting the smack down 14. Gemstone for October 15. Relating to ears or hearing 16. Alternate name for a sea eagle 17. Ball used as a weapon 18. Giuseppe _____, an Italian opera composer 19. Another word for fever 20. Used to refer to a female 22. Used when reffering to a noun that begins with a vowel 23. Sounds suggesting crying 24. Written tribute to the best sandwich 30. ___Tube 31. To love and respect someone 32. The audience oohed and _____ 36. An Afghan penny 37. Percussion instrument 38. State of noisy activity and outrage 39. Programming language used for aircraft navigation 40. 33 down without the dog 41. Two in Spanish 42. Prefix meaning three 43. Project upwards 45. Inflated rubber wheel enclosure 46. Opposite of bright

by Julian Bregstone

47. Antique wooden domestic object 48. _____ ray, lives in tropical seas 49. Hawaiian word for “good to eat” 50. Eating something laid by chickens without adding anything 53. Addition sign 56. Stephen King novel 57. Chinese currency from imperial times 58. Steak with a cold red center 59. Japanese word for “second generation kids” 62. To dare in Spanish 66. Dr. Eric in House, actor 67. Make fun of another’s misfortune with smugness 68. Leafy green cabbage variety 69. To attack with projectiles 70. Computer generated frequencies 71. To make cold with frozen water

Down 1. Toss up without care 2. Prefix meaning away from 3. Spanish word for bad 4. Shoot with force 5. Listening in on a conversation 6. Turn it in on the ___ date 7. Formal word for mistake 8. Title for french ladies 9. A skirt that gradually widens 10. Patrick from Spongebob

Sudoku: Hard

Sudoku: Easy

December Crossword Answers

11. 2012 Best Picture 12. To not give due praise 13. Third person present of see 21. To recruit for top level jobs 24. Adjective meaning bygone 25. Surpassing in volume 26. Largest private college in New Orleans 27. To boast loudly 28. Upper limbs of the body 29. To make someone sick 33. A frankfurter in a long bun 34. ______ on the side of caution 35. The smaller of Mars’ moons 38. Fancy word for now 41. Sound of a bell 44. Sweet food after dinner 45. The only elephant to work with Bill Murray and Britney Spears 48. British word for freindly 51. Finger jewelry 52. Japanese mushroom with slender stems 53. Object used in a production 54. Unable to walk 55. A mountain range in Western Russia 60. A male child 61. To consume food 63. Blair’s lunchroom 64. Beer brewed from malted barley 65. Angry color

COURTESY OF WWW.WEBSUDOKU.COM

A Wizard Did It

COURTESY OF WWW.WEBSUDOKU.COM

Dem Jammed Halways 7 Tries Later

Man... there’s a crowd... I hope I can get through in time...

F... Finally... I made it through...

RICARDO SMITH

BEN SAFFORD

Jurassic Nightmare

The Real Halfday of a Blazer

BEN SAFFORD

JOSELUIS NAVES

E1 Spanish

February 5, 2015

silverchips

La Esquina Latina

Silver Chips 5 de febrero del 2015

Eventos cumbres del 2014 pasarán a la historia

Un año progresivo en la religión, política y comunicación Por Odalis Llerena, Iris Olivia y Hawra El año 2014 fue un año lleno de eventos inesperados que han cambiado nuestras vidas y cómo percibimos y funcionamos en el mundo.

Este año en particular, la voz de los latinos ha tenido mucha presencia.

Acciones pequeñas y grandes han hecho del 2014 un año sorprendente.

Uno de los personajes más destacados de latinoamérica, y quien más influencia ejerció en la opinión pública en el 2014 fue él el Papa Francisco. La estudiante del grado once, Tracy Mendoza cree que “Este Papa ha tenido el mayor impacto en la comunidad hispana por sus acciones.” Jorge Mario Bergoglio, fue elegido el Papa número 266 de la Iglesia Católica Romana en marzo de 2013. Él es el primer Papa de las Américas, proviene de Buenos Aires, Argentina. En octubre, el Papa demostró ser progresivo en varios temas científicos. Le dijo a los miembros de la Academia Pontificia de las Ciencias que apoyaba la teoría “Big Bang” y la evolución. El Papa Francisco ha ganado seguidores mucho más allá de la Iglesia Católica Romana. Demostrado que un Papa puede tener opiniones totalmente modernas sobre el

ateísmo. “El problema para aquellos que no creen en Dios es obedecer a su conciencia,” dice el Papa.

Más que nada, el Papa Francisco ha demostrado una extraordinaria capacidad para comunicar sus ideas y su fé.

Unos de los eventos felices y mejor recordados que llamó la atención, no solo aquí en los Estados Unidos pero de en todo el mundo, fue cuando el sueño de los inmigrantes pudo hacerse realidad. Después de años d e

luchar para ser escuchados, finalmente se les concedió a algunos la tarjeta de residencia legal. Pero este año también fue oscurecido cuando la enfermedad Chikungunya afectó a varios países de Latinoamérica. Los médicos no pudieron encontrar una cura o medicina para dicha enfermedad.

La tragedia más notable del año tuvo lugar en México. En donde pasaron por momentos muy difícil cuando 43 estudiantes de la Escuela Rural Normal de Ayotzinapa desaparecieron. El gobierno de México informó que los estudiantes fueron secuestrados por agentes de la policía que trabajan con traficantes de drogas. Esto despertó a la nación mexicana ya que cuestionaron al presidente Enrique Peña Nieto por sus acciones para ayudar la seguridad mexicana.

Un gran problema del 2014 fue cuando el presidente de Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, con la aprobación del Congreso presidencial, decidió construir un canal interoceánico sin consultar al resto de la población. Toda la información sobre la construcción del canal fue confidencial y no hubo ninguna participación popular durante ARTE POR ANGELA WEN

el proceso de decisión. El Canal de Nicaragua es una amenaza para la ecología de este país. Un total de treinta

ARTE POR ANGELA WEN

y seis ciudades fueron afectadas por la pérdida de este lago, esencial la vida de los nicaragüense porque este fue la única fuente de agua fresca y también un lugar para la pesca. Este acontecimiento tuvo graves repercusiones que durarán y afectarán el futuro.

Un evento del 2014 que no fue tan importante pero que vale la pena mencionar por que es gracioso, fue cuando el presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro declaró en un discurso público: “Les voy a confesar algo; por ahí se me acercó un pajarito, otra vez, y me dijo ‘no se lo vayas a decir a nadie,’ así que ustedes no se lo cuenten a nadie; el pajarito me dijo que el

comandante estaba feliz, lleno de amor de su pueblo, de su lealtad.

Debe estar orgulloso, feliz.”

Cuando Cuba y Estados Unidos, después de 56 años, decidieron restablecer relaciones diplomáticas fue un momento memorable del año 2014. Esto fue algo histórico para Cuba porque habrán cambios en relaciones políticas y comerciales con los Estados Unidos. Ahora Cuba tiene más oportunidades de desarrollar su economía a través del turismo y comercio con los Estados Unidos.

La copa mundial también tuvo lugar en Brasil este año. Tuvimos la suerte que casi todos los países de Sudamérica llegaron a las rondas finales. Robinson Garay del décimo grado indica que, “Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica y Brasil todos llegaron a los cuartos de finales. Los latinoamericanos se sintieron muy orgullosos de ser representados y haber llegado tan lejos en la copa mundial. El precio final de la Copa Mundial fue $15 millones de dolares.

Las redes sociales tuvieron mucho protagonismo en el 2014.

Gracias a ellas, muchas personas hispanohablantes pudieron hacer sus voces ser escuchadas alrededor de todo el mundo. Opiniones conflictivas crearon debates controversiales sobre los eventos ocurridos en este año. Pero a pesar de todo, el año 2014 va a ser recordado como uno de los más conmemorativos del siglo XXI.

El uso de jergas y anglicismos entre latinoamericanos Una costumbre negativa que afecta nuestra comunicación

Por Ilcia Hernández e Itcenia Quezada Aquí en los Estados Unidos, los hispanos solemos incorporar a nuestro vocabulario en español palabras adaptadas que provienen del inglés. A este tipo de palabras se les conoce como “anglicismos”.

Aunque a veces nos resulte más práctico usar anglicismos y jerga para comunicarnos, esto no es lo más correcto y atenta contra nuestra lengua. Además, el uso frecuente de estas palabras adaptadas que provienen del inglés puede afectar de manera negativa cuando se trata de nuestros estudios al los estudiantes confundir, por no conocer, la palabra original.

Esto es el tratar de adaptar ciertas palabras del inglés al español, las cuales no pertenecen a nuestro idioma, no se usan en el contexto correcto y en ocasiones ni aparecen en el diccionario.

El término anglicismo significa “modismo en la lengua inglesa” y se encuentra documentado desde el 1784. El uso de anglicismos fue reconocido en 1948, cuando un abogado panameño llamado R. Alfaro le dedicó gran parte de su tiempo al estudio de este fenómeno lingüístico. Alfaro también fue quien introdujo al diccionario de anglicismos en 1950. Algunos especialistas/analistas del lenguaje condenan incorporación de angli-

cismo en nuestro hablar cotidiano. Por ejemplo, el analista Pratt, asegura en una publicación que solo los viciosos e injustificados usan palabras que no existen en el vocabulario hispano, debido a su falta de educación. Desde entonces se sigue dando este debate sobre el uso de anglicismos en la lengua española.

Nuestra generación usa varios términos incorrectos sin que nos demos cuenta de ello. Por ejemplo, muchos hispanos usamos la palabra “troca” para referirnos a un camión. La palabra “troca” se creó a partir de la palabra “truck” en inglés, pero en español, el término correcto es “camión”. Otro ejemplo es la palabra “printear” en vez del término correcto que es imprimir. La Sra. González profesora de español en la Blair dice que “Los estudiantes asumen que los anglicismos que aprenden en sus casas son correctos. Es difícil aceptar las palabras correctas si el estudiante está acostumbrado a usar anglicismos.” Como hemos mencionado anteriormente, estos anglicismos confunden a los estudiantes hispanos, quienes mezclamos las palabras cuando tratamos de escribir ensayos en las clases de español.

Cuando le preguntamos a la joven Itzel Moreno, una estudiante del grado doce, sobre este tema ella respondió diciendo “Si fuera profe-

sora de español y mis estudiantes usan anglicismos me molestaría por que tendría que estarles corrigiendo cada vez que dicen algo incorrecto. Eso no tiene que pasar, ya que están hablando su idioma natal y deberían haber hacerlo correctamente.” El uso de anglicismo no se limita a los Estados Unidos. Estos términos también se utilizan, en mayor o menor medida, en muchos países de Latinoamérica.

Cada país tiene su propia jerga o “slang” que se usa entre amigos y en la comunidad. Es muy difícil de entender una conversación entre personas de un mismo país si no eres de del mismo lugar. Un problema de usar jerga en lugares a donde hay muchos latinos es que las mismas palabras pueden tener significados y connotaciones muy diferentes según los países. Por ejemplo, una palabra neutral en Puerto Rico, como pichar, que significa olvidar algo, puede significar algo muy vulgar en Colombia, por eso el uso de esas palabras puede causar malos entendidos. Aquí en Blair, es muy común encontrar un grupo de estudiantes socializando en español, y si nos detuvieramos a escuchar, notariamos que las pa-

labras que usan para comunicarse suelen ser muy distintas a las que aprendemos en las clases de español.

Es muy difícil adaptarse a el es-

CREADO POR ILCIA HERNANDEZ E ITCENIA QUEZADA

pañol que se habla en la escuela si estás acostumbrado usar jerga.

Otro elemento que puede complicar aún más las cosas es el uso frecuente de jerga en mensajes de texto, lo cual es muy común en nuestra generación. En un estudio hecho por Pew Internet and American Life, el 85% de los estudiantes usan alguna forma u otra de comunicación electrónica. Una de estas

estudiantes aquí en la Blair se justificó de esta manera: “Yo uso jerga en mis mensajes de texto porque es más fácil, rápido y así puedo decir lo que necesito en menos tiempo,” nos contó esta estudiante anónima del grado once. Es un hecho que los estudiantes de esta generación están demasiado consumidos con sus teléfonos celulares y a consecuencia de esto, descuidan la gramática correcta en español creando un círculo vicioso.

Los anglicismos y en español pueden ser una forma fácil de comunicación, pero no es lo más correcto. La Sra. Gonzalez está convencida de la importancia de aprender las palabras y términos correctos. “Los maestros de español tenemos que enseñarles a los estudiantes la forma correcta de hablar y también tiene que haber consecuencias.” Según la Sra. González “ ¡Lo más importante es estudiar! Con la educación, todos podemos hablar el español correctamente,” La jerga que usan los estudiantes en Blair los hace sentir integrados la comunidad hispana de la escuela.

Cuando usamos jerga en nuestros mensajes de textos, nos acostumbramos a escribir así y esto puede afectar nuestra habilidad de sobresalir en la clase de español. ¡Nuestras maestras tienen razón cuando corrigen nuestro vocabulario!

February 5, 2015

silverchips

Spanish E2

Un movimiento internacional en nombre del amor

La comunidad LGBT y su lucha por igualdad y aceptación

Por Alisson Fortís y Carlos Fuentes En los Estados Unidos hay mucha controversia sobre de los derechos de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales y Transexuales (LGBT), específicamente sobre el tema del matrimonio entre dos personas del mismo sexo. Esta relación matrimonial entre personas del mismo sexo es legal en 36 estados de los Estados Unidos, 25 de ellos por decisión judicial, 8 por la legislatura estatal y 3 por el voto popular. Al momento quedan 14 estados que no permiten el matrimonio entre miembros del mismo sexo.

Esta ley no tiene validez a nivel nacional, sino que se decide a nivel estatal. Aunque la lucha por los derechos de la comunidad de LGBT empezó después la Segunda Guerra Mundial y no fue hasta mayo del año 2004, casi 60 años después, cuando el estado de Massachusetts aprobó la ley de matrimonio igualitario. En los últimos 10 años otros 35 estados se unieron a Massachusetts. En el año 2013 el estado de Maryland finalmente aprobó esta ley ya que fue aprobada por voto popular. Sin embargo, a pesar de los esfuerzos de esta comunidad, aún quedan 14 estados sin aprobar dicha ley.

De acuerdo con un artículo publicado en el periódico New York Times, vale notar que algunos países latinoamericanos han sido más progresivos en aprobar derechos para la comunidad de LGBT que los propios Estados Unidos. Un ejemplo de esto ha sido en Argentina donde a pesar de objeción del Papa Francisco, la presidenta del país, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner firmó como ley el derecho de miembros del mismo sexo a contraer matrimonio. “Pero la celebración de activistas y políticos ha pasado por alto otro héroe en esta campaña: los altos tribunales superiores de la región. Su abrazo de por los derechos de los homosexuales ha

sido menos audaz, especialmente en contraste con las recientes decisiones de la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos,” indica Omar G. Encarnación, el autor del artículo.

Este añade que las leyes de matrimonio provienen de tradiciones legales distintas. Por ejemplo, en los países latinoamericanos, el matrimonio es estrictamente parte de la institución civil, mientras que los Estados Unidos se han mantenido fieles a su constitución, escrita en 1787.

Los gobiernos en países como Uruguay y Argentina han cambiado o modificado su constitución en ocasiones. A pesar que Latinoamérica a aprobado leyes con respecto a los derechos de LGBT en los Estados Unidos hay más activismo y cabildeos asociados con este movimiento. La comunidad de LGBT todavía sigue su lucha ya que hay grupos que todavía se oponen y quieren revocar dichas leyes. Esto a veces les resulta difícil porque a diferencia de los Estados Unidos, algunos de los gobiernos latinoamericanos no consideran una prioridad los derechos de la comunidad LGBT. Los estudiantes latinos de Blair tampoco parecen darle mucha importancia al tema, ya que pocos saben cómo la gente de sus países trata a la gente gay y como los ven. Entre los estudiantes más informados se encuentra Alexandra Márquez, del décimo grado. “No sé mucho sobre las leyes de LGBT en El Salvador pero sé que por ahí no son tolerantes

y hay mucho más discriminación para los gays,” confesó Márquez.

Aquí en Blair es difícil determinar cómo

se cumplieron. Edgar continúa siendo un estudiante muy popular entre sus compañeros y esta nueva información también fue aceptada por su familia sin problemas.

Según Edgar, “mi familia me apoyó porque sabían que era difícil para mí y yo nunca fui tratado de manera diferente por mis amigos.”

Alexandra Márquez es una amiga de Edgar, quien indicó que en el caso de ella, “nada fue diferente… pues ya mi mamá le dejó venir a Edgar mi casa para pasar la noche.” Es obvio que los allegados de Edgar lo siguen queriendo igual que antes, sin importarles su orientación sexual. A diferencia de él, ese no es el caso con otros estudiantes en la escuela. Edgar lo explica de la siguiente manera: “Pues a mí no me importa lo que piensa la gente pero siento como que los que no me conocen no me respetan y hay un odio silencioso especialmente de parte de los varones.” A pesar de que hoy en día, después de todas las luchas y toda la información disponible, todavía hay rasgos de discriminación donde cierARTE POR ELIZABETH PHAM tos grupos no ven a los miembros de la comunidad LGBT como iguales, los estudiantes ven y piensan sobre sus com- a menos que realmente los conozcan perpañeros y compañeras gay, ya que la may- sonalmente. oría prefiere no discutir el tema. Sin embarEn los últimos cien años ha habido muchos go, el tema existe y es importante abordarlo. movimientos para promover los derechos de Edgar es un estudiante en nuestra escuela las personas en desventaja y de las minorías, cuya opinión se basa en su propia experien- tales como el movimiento de los derechos cia. Hace dos años, él hizo pública su identi- civiles y los movimientos para que las mudad sexual, aunque dice que hasta a él mis- jeres tengan el derecho de votar. Basado mo le costó reconocer que era gay. “Quería en esto, no es extraño que el movimiento a convencerme que no era homosexual favor de los derechos de comunidad LGBT porque tenía miedo de lo que mis amigos y está tomando auge en este país y lentamente familia pensarían sobre mí,” confesó Edgar. en latinoamérica. La esperanza continuará Cuando finalmente se animó a hacer pública a favor de los derechos de todos los seres su identidad sexual; ninguno de sus temores humanos sin importar su orientación sexual.

El Ejército: una cultura de orgullo, sacrificio y lealtad

Graduado de Blair comparte su experiencia en sus años activos Por Camila Fernández y Andrés Pérez

sus años de servicio. El Ejército ofrece más de 150 carreras diferentes que van desde finanzas, derecho, medicina, ingeniería y aviación, hasta arte y ciencias. Una carrera en el Ejército de los Estados Unidos no solo tiene beneficios intangibles sino también beneficios monetarios.“A pesar de la gran

El Ejército de los Estados Unidos está compuesto no solo de los más dedicados soldados del mundo, sino también los más respetados. Estos soldados protegen los ideales de la nación no solo en el interior de los Estados Unidos sino también en el extranjero. Muchas personas creen que el único requisito para ser parte del ejército es tener un buen estado físico. Lo cierto es que necesitas estar preparado físicamente al igual que mentalmente para poder enfrentar todos los obstáculos que se puedan presentar durante sus años de servicio. La academia militar es considerada en realidad una de las más diversas instituciones de formación académica y también es la universidad más grande del mundo.

El Sargento Primero Ricardo Voysest, de origen Peruano-Americano y ex alumCORTESIA DE RICARDO VOYSEST no de Blair, comparte su experiencia de sus 26 años de servicio en el ejército. “Yo LA FUERZA DE LA AMISTAD Sargento Ridecidí enlistarme a los 19 años después cardo Voysest y sus amigos sonrien a pesar de graduarme de Blair, ya que mis pade las dificultades que enfrentan a diario. dres no tenían los recursos económicos necesarios para pagar por mi educación universitaria y en el ejercito te dan la opor- variedad de carreras que ellos ofrecen, yo tunidad de estudiar prácticamente gratis opte por ser un asistente dental, ya que me mientras sirves a los Estados Unidos. Esta pareció una de las más interesantes,” coera la perfecta opción para mi. Fue una ex- menta el Sargento Voysest Para muchos hispanos, participar en el periencia que disfruté mucho!” cuenta Voysest. En su opinión, el momento más crucial ejército es motivo de orgullo, como es el caso de todos es cuando uno toma la decisión de Marvin González, estudiante del décimo de enlistarse. “La decisión de formar parte grado “Me parece una gran idea el unirme de el ejercito es algo personal, es algo que al ejercito, ya que ofrecen una gran varietienes que planear dependiendo de lo que dad de beneficios. Creo que aquellos latinos tu quieres hacer con tu vida a largo plazo, que deciden enlistarse son un orgullo para tienes que pensar no solo lo que quieres hac- nosotros, la comunidad latina, ya que nos er durante tus anos de servicio sino también representan” comenta Marvin. Algunos beneficios que ofrece el Ejército son ayuda después de retirarte” Ademas de preparar a cada soldado con económica para cubrir gastos de educación, habilidades para cumplir los objetivos de su seguro médico y dental, servicios familiares, país en cualquier momento se les da la opor- grupos de apoyo, vacaciones pagadas y retunidad de ejercer una carrera académica compensas económicas a aquellos miembros la cual pueden utilizar después de cumplir que llevan a cabo asignaciones especiales.

Pero a pesar de todo lo que ofrece el Ejérci- niños, a la Cruz Roja y también programas to, hay quienes piensan que no es suficiente. para ayudar a las familias en momentos de “Es algo demasiado riesgoso, a pesar de que cambio o crisis.

Servir en el ejército requiere algunos saellos te proveen con todo lo que necesitas, no estoy dispuesto a arriesgar mi vida” afirma crificios y mucho compromiso, pero para muchos que deciden enlistarse, el sacrificio Marvin Argueta, estudiante del grado once.

Existen dos maneras en las que un solda- vale la pena. Segun el Sargento Voysest do puede servir: una es mediante el servicio “El ser parte del ejército no trae solamente activo y la otra mediante el servicio reser- beneficios materiales a tu vida, sino que vado. El servicio activo es como un empleo también se trata de servir al país y de hacer civil de tiempo completo durante el cual es- cosas nuevas, conocer nuevos lugares y pertudias y entrenas en la base. El horario les sonas. Durante mis años de servicio, tuve permite a los soldados recibir entrenamien- la oportunidad de ir a Iraq, Bosnia, Alaska, to, trabajar en sus carreras profesionales, y Carolina del Sur y Maine. También pude inpor supuesto, contar con tiempo libre para teractuar con otras culturas y conocer mas hacer lo que ellos quieran. El servicio acti- personas,” dice el Sargento Voysest.

Ademas de estudio, entrenamiento físico vo es de entre dos a seis años. Al igual que el servicio activo, en el servicio reservado demandante, códigos de conducta estrictos el soldado puede tener una carrera civil y otras exigencias, el Ejército también ofmientras continua su entrenamiento cerca rece actividades recreativas para mantende casa. El servicio reservado consta de seis er la salud mental y física de los soldados. años. Muchos estudiantes universitarios son “En la base teníamos cines, tiendas y gima su vez parte del ejército. y en caso de guer- nasios para poder pasar nuestro tiempo lira o de una emergencia nacional pasan a ser bre,” cuenta el Sargento Voysest, “También tienes la opción de soldados de servicio formar parte de alactivo. gún equipo; yo me Al ser parte del uní al equipo de Ejército, los soldafútbol y lo disfruté dos deben vivir en mucho.” las instalaciones del Al final de cuenEjército; los soldados tas, el que decide solteros residen en la ser parte del Ejérbase, pero los soldacito debe de pendos casados tienen sarlo con cuidado, más opciones y si lo ya que es una redesean pueden vivir sponsabilidad muy con su familia en congrande que debe dominios especiales.

CORTESIA DE RICARDO VOYSEST En estas comunidades HOMBRE DE VALOR El sargento explora saber afrontar con madurez y objetise les ofrecen todos una ciudad nueva vestido en su uniforme. vidad, para poder los servicios básicos sacar el máximo que ellos puedan necesitar y programas de intercesión. Estas provecho de sus años de servicio. Si estás comunidades son iguales a otras en donde considerando esta opción, es importante hay lugares donde pueden ir de compras y que te informes acerca de cuáles son los reotras instalaciones para su recreación.Tam- quisitos y que entiendas a lo que te estas bién tienen acceso a servicio de cuidado de comprometiendo.

E3 Spanish

February 5, 2015

silverchips

Estándares de belleza inalcanzables e insaludables

Competencias de belleza redefinen la perfección femenina Por Sarah Canchaya y Mario Menendez Para la mayoría de personas, la belleza es uno de los factores más importantes de sus vidas. La percepción de la belleza suele ser diferente para cada individuo ya que va cambiando al pasar del tiempo.

Sin embargo, hay ciertos atributos físicos que son impuestos como estándares de belleza, ya que nuestra sociedad los considera atractivos. Por desgracia hay personas que desarrollan una imagen irreal de la belleza. Cuando escuchamos este término generalmente pensamos en lo exterior vs. lo interior.

Con los avances quirúrgicos, hay un creciente número de personas que recurren a cirujanos plásticos para adaptar su cuerpo a los estándares de belleza sin importarles los costos ni riesgos a los que se pueden exponer. Los concursos de belleza promueven este tipo de comportamiento y hacen que las personas tomen decisiones drásticas para lograr algo con lo que muchas veces no serán completamente satisfechos del todo.

Para estas personas el ideal de la belleza perfecta es en realidad algo inalcanzable.

Un concurso de belleza normal, se convierte en concurso de belleza extrema, cuando las concursantes toman medidas drásticas con el fin de ser la ganadora. Entonces pues, las concursantes recurren a dietas poco saludables y hasta cirugías estéticas extensivas. Estos concursos, toman la percepción de lo que definimos como “bello” en nuestra

sociedad, y basan sus decisiones en estándares establecidos por una sociedad donde algunas personas se dejan influenciar por celebridades de farándula.

A pesar de que los concursos de belleza han evolucionado para incorporar la personalidad, inteligencia y talento de las concursantes, el enfoque continúa siendo principalmente en la belleza física.

La belleza es premiada con títulos, coronas y hasta premios en efectivo. La valorización de las concursantes en estas competencias refuerza el ideal de la apariencia física y ponen gran presión en la que las candidatas que hacen todo lo posible para ser ejemplo de los estándares establecidos por la sociedad.

Los concursos de belleza, no solo afectan a mujeres adultas, sino también a niñas y a adolescentes de la misma manera. Patricia Rosales estudiante salvadoreña del décimo grado comenta “Pienso que estos concursos ponen presiones innecesarias sobre las niñas desde una temprana edad”. Los atributos que consideramos bonitos son; la delgadez, nariz respingada , ojos grandes, hasta dientes blancos y el cabello perfecto; se han establecido como “la norma” en el conjunto de criterios de evaluación para niñas que participan en estos concursos.

La participación de niñas en concursos de belleza no es saludable para el desarrollo emocional y psíquico de las mismas.

En la opinión de Patricia “las niñas no deberían de pensar que para ser ‘bellas’ necesitan estar maquilladas, tener pestañas falsas y hasta actuar con una madurez que no tienen… al final del día son niñas y de-

ARTE POR AMANDA GROSS

berían de disfrutar su niñez.”

Estos concursos para mujeres y niñas han causado mucha controversia y son conocidos como “glitz”.

Muchos programas que presentan la vida real le dan énfasis al proceso y la preparación de niñas que participan en estas competencias.

Uno de los programas más famosos en los Estados Unidos es el show “Toddlers & Tiaras” (Niñas Pequeñas & Tiaras), el cual se concentra en los concursos de “glitz” y en los extremos a los que los padres muchas veces someten a sus hijas para que estas puedan compitan y puedan ganar. Rossiely Pérez, estudiante dominicana del grado once, explica que ella toma estos programas como “algo simplemente divertido” y comenta que la gracia que le da ver cuán rigurosas y extremas son estas competencias, especialmente las de niñas pequeñas”.

Al mismos tiempo aclara que “nunca quisiera o dejaría que una hija participara en una de estas competencias… hay una línea delgada entre

lo que es una competencia sana, basada en logros, que ayudan a convertirse en una mejor persona.

Estas competencias son extremadamente superficiales y degradantes.”

Las competencias de belleza tienden a generar inconformidad con el cuerpo físico y pueden llegar a afectar el estado psicológico causando un desbalance emocional. La frustración de no alcanzar una belleza deseada puede causar ansiedad, depresión, y hasta trastornos con imagen corporal que conducen a la bulimia y anorexia.

Los especialistas en salud mental no ve ningún ángulo positivo a este tipo de competencias.

En una entrevista, la psicóloga Milagro Mendoza afirmó que “Los concursos de belleza son el caldo de cultivo para que una niña sienta desaprobación de su aspecto físico. No alcanzar el resultado que los padres esperan en la competencia puede generar sentimientos de fracaso y de no aceptación a la diversidad en la belleza física.

Esto aumenta la inseguridad propia de la niñez.”

En fin, las competencias de belleza lastiman a las mujeres, adolescentes y niñas que no cumplen los ideales tradicionales de lo que es “bello”, premiando a las que sí cumplen con estos ideales como “mejores” que las demás.

Las competencias de belleza causan mucho daño, y simplemente elevan nuestro estándar de lo que consideramos “bello” a un nivel inalcanzable.

Cursos para hispanohablantes buscan refinar el idioma Profesoras indican que siempre hay espacio para superarse

Por Milena Castillo-Grynberg

del propósito y valor de los cursos de español para hispanohablantes. Primordialmente, estos cursos están diseñados para estudiantes que ya saben el español, con el objetivo de ayudarlos a enriquecer su vocabulario y a mejorar el uso del lenguaje a través de la escritura, la lectura y discusiones en el aula.

Además, estas clases ofrecen a los estudiantes latinos la oportunidad de aprender más sobre la cultura latinoamericana junto a compañeros con experiencias y vivencias parecidas a las propias. La profesora Davison destaca la perspectiva cultural que brindan estas

clases. “A mí me gusta el hecho de completamente avergonzada de que todos son de diferentes países cometer errores,” dijo Gómez a la No es ningún secreto que el escon diferente literatura, arte y revista Latina Magazine. pañol se está convirtiendo en uno Incluso las propias profesoras de música, y tienen la oportunidad de de los idiomas más importantes aprender acerca la cultura de sus español se identifican con las expeen todo el mundo. En los EE.UU compañeros. La verdad que es una riencias de muchos de los estudien particular, las escuelas animan experiencia enriquecedora porque antes que van a sus clases,, como cada vez más a los estudiantes a pueden ver el mundo latinoame- en el caso de la Sra. Cook. “Totomar cursos en español para esricanos desde otra perspectiva y dos mis estudiantes son de Centar mejor preparados un futuro explorar sus antepasados y sus troamérica como El Salvador, Hondonde el ser bilingüe es una gran raíces. Verdaderamente les hace duras o Guatemala, y creo que uno ventaja. Hasta no hace mucho tientender lo que es ser un latino, no de Nicaragua. Su situación es simiempo, la cultura latina en general solamente en Latinoamérica pero y el idioma español en particular en los Estados Unidos también,” era visto con desprecio por cierdice Davison. tos sectores de la población, en Otra de las razones por las que la actualidad no solo se la celelos estudiantes no se animan a bra, sino que a las personas tomar el curso es porque bilingües se las admira y se las tienen miedo de que su respeta como nunca antes. español no sea adecuaDesafortunadamente, aundo. En este país muchos que el aprender español es asumen que si eres de algo que se está popularizanetnicidad latina debes do entre los jóvenes estadounpoder hablar el español idenses, el concepto de tomar con fluidez y el no saber clases para mejorar el propio hacerlo puede ser una idioma no genera este mismo fuente de inseguridad entusiasmo entre la juveny de vergüenza. Estos tud hispana. A pesar de que parámetros son conla mayoría de las escuelas en traproducentes ya que MCPS ofrecen cursos de esdesaniman a muchos pañol para hispanohablantes, jóvenes a buscar ayuhay estudiantes que no saben da para mejorar su esCORTESIA DE MBHS que existen cursos para ellos pañol. donde se asume que se tenga Ni siquiera las celebri- MAESTRA A la Sra. Davidson (arun nivel de dominio del idiodades de origen hispano riba) le encanta enseñar a chicos ma. Las razones detrás de este están exentas: la propia que provienen de distintas culturas fenómeno son muy complejas Selena Gómez, de origen y es un tema muy delicado mexicano, ha confesapara nuestra comunidad, pero do sentirse insegura con lar a la mía cuando era niña porque es imperativo que se discutan. el español y dice querer yo crecí hablando el español pero En algunos casos los estumejorarlo. “En muchas nunca aprendí formalmente como diantes no quieren tomar curde mis entrevistas reci- escribirlo, y cosas como la “h” sisos de español porque sienten entes, los periodistas me lenciosa o la “z” en lugar de la “c” que es una pérdida de tiempo hablaban en español y me resultaban complicadas, pero pues se sienten que ya saben yo contestaba en inglés. fui aprendiendo con la experienel idioma desde su infancia Ellos me decían ‘Lo cap- cia. Desafortunadamente cuando FOTO POR KYRA SEIGER y no necesitan refinarlo. Esta tas tan rápido,’ pero yo yo era chica no ofrecían clases para actitud es el resultado de una DEDICACIÓN La Sra. Cook (arriba) ha sido no quería decir nada en hispanohablantes,” cuenta Cook. falta de información acerca una maestra de español por casi trece años. español porque estaría Lo cierto es que los cursos de

español para hispanohablantes presentan la oportunidad perfecta para enriquecer y mejorar nuestro lenguaje. Los que no se animen a hacerlo deben darse cuenta que la única forma de evolucionar como personas es reconocer dónde podemos mejorar y esforzarnos para hacerlo. Además está bueno recordar que la mayoría de los estudiantes en estas clases se encuentran en una situación similar a la de uno. Por otro lado, las maestras de español en Blair están muy conscientes de todo esto y tratan de hacer todo lo posible para que los estudiantes se sientan cómodos y se animen a participar sin miedo a ser criticados o a sentirse humillados.

La profesora Cook nota con admiración la labor de sus colegas.

“Pues para mí lo que me asombra es la paciencia que tienen las otras maestras de español. Todas tienen muchísima experiencia siempre están dispuestas a ayudar,” dice Cook.

El objetivo de estas clases y de las profesoras que las enseñan, no es desvalorizar ni hacer sentir mal a sus estudiantes, sino acercarlos a su cultura, familiarizarlos con ciertos eventos y figuras importantes de América Latina, y, por sobre todo, animarlos a que exploren y descubran las belleza y riqueza de la lengua materna junto con sus pares.

Es importante saber que las escuelas del condado de Montgomery ofrecen español para hispanohablantes en tres niveles.

La ubicación en cada nivel está basada en los resultados de una prueba de colocación. Estos cursos aprobados por las escuelas del condado cumplen con el requisito de graduación que incluye dos créditos de idiomas.

February 5, 2015

silverchips

E4 ADs

F1 Sports

silverchips

February 5, 2015

Catching up on the winter sports season

By Luisa McGarvey and Teague Sauter Hockey

Swimming

Girls’ Basketball

Sebastian Rubinstein (senior) Q: How do you think you guys have been doing this year in comparison to last year’s team?

A: “We’re definitely better than last year’s team; we had a very good season last year. I guess we only got better because no one graduated last year. We just brought in new freshman so the team only got better.”

Q: What do you think it will take from underclassmen this year to continue the team’s success?

A: “There really needs to be some leadership, because we have a large senior class and so with all those kids leaving someone needs to step up next year and take leadership for the team and kind of show the younger, inexperienced kids the ways. And just set a good example and work hard.”

Q: What would you say has been the key to you guys doing well this year?

A: “Definitely the teamwork and the chemistry on the team. We’ve got a good group of guys and everyone works together well. And everyone is pretty good friends off the ice and everything so it works well. For a good team off the ice, it’s even better on the ice. You ever heard the whole is greater than the sum of the parts? So the teamwork makes the team even better.

Ethan Amitay (senior) Q: How has your season been going so far?

A: “It’s been going pretty well, right now we have are at 2 [wins] and 3 [losses]. I think we’ve been performing right around where we should be, [but] there have been a couple meets that we’ve lost due to some kids not swimming as well as they could. We’ve been beating the teams that we should beat but losing to harder teams that we could beat.

Q: What does the team need to improve on?

A: “I really don’t think that there’s much we can improve on because usually kids who swim well for Blair, their training is outside of Blair. So it’s not like practices at Blair can make them better or worse, what they’re doing at their club team is what’s important.”

Q: Has there been a highlight of your season so far?

A: “I think beating Wootton this year was great because they’ve been a good team for a long time. It was really satisfying to beat them because some of the kids from Wootton had been talking trash about us.”

Q: What goals do you have for the rest of the season?

A: “For Blair as a team, I think we have a good chance of winning states combined because this year our girls’ team is a lot stronger than we’re used to. So I really think if we all swim well at states, we can possibly get enough points on both sides to win overall. Other teams that we’re going to be competing against don’t have equally strong boys’ and girls’ teams like we do.”

Q: Compared to the past few years how you think the team compares?

A: “I think this year our boys’ team is about the same but our girls’ team is a lot better. We got some fast freshman and didn’t really lose any senior girls last year. The boys lost a few good seniors last year and it’s hard to make up that ground with the freshmen, but I think we’re still performing well enough to stay at the same level.”

Breanna Camp (senior) Q: How do you think the season has been going so far?

A: “At the beginning of the season we had to adjust because we lost a lot of starters. We’ve has some good games where we’ve done really well, but also had some games where we were just not aggressive enough. But we’ve been working really hard and improving. So overall it’s going well.”

Q: What has been the biggest obstacle for the team this season?

A: “ I would say the chemistry of the team and our offense. We have had some problems scoring, some people need to contribute more so we can get more points up.”

Q: How did your [Jan. 29] game against Poolesville go?

A: “Well, during the second and third quarter we really picked up the defense which helped us score, because we were getting stops on defense and were running transitional offense. But fourth quarter, we got too complacent and lazy and they started scoring more and more, so we didn’t finish the game off well.”

Q: What goals do you have to finish out the season?

A: “ I want a winning record and I want us to be able to play our hardest so we can have a perfect game. I want to be more consistent as a team during all of our games. I also want to improve our whole team’s defensive abilities and stop the other teams from scoring as much.”

PETER BERGER

ON THE ICE Sebastian Rubinstein passes the puck to a teammate in the offensive end.

Wrestling Yonis Blanco (senior) Q: How have you been personally performing and how do you feel about the season in general for your team?

A: “I think this year we started out really rough I’d say, because we didn’t have a whole lineup. We still don’t, but we have a lot of new inexperienced wrestlers that were learning wrestling, how to wrestle. So that hit us hard in the beginning of the season when we were losing a lot of matches. But we’re learning quickly and we’ve been getting better throughout the season. The season is about to end, [the] county tournament is nearby and I think we’re ready because we’ve been winning a couple matches. Me personally, I think I have been doing really well. I’ve only lost three matches that were tough matches to good wrestlers who are ranked in the county. I think I’m in a good spot right now for counties.”

Q: How do you think you will do at states? Do you think you can make states?

A: “Well, last year I only made it to regionals and… I placed fifth, so I didn’t make it to states because only the top four go to states. This year I’m definitely confident I’ll make it to states, no doubt.”

Q: Is there a chance you could place at states?

A: “I’m not sure because I’ve never been to states so I don’t know the type of wrestlers, but they must be pretty good to make it to states. I guess it all depends on how hard I practice and prepare and how much confidence I have in myself.”

Q: So who else do you think will make it, like [senior] Marcus [Forrester] and anybody else?

A: “Yeah Marcus [Forrester], Anderson [Yanga], maybe DeMarco [Warren] I think. Sam [Norwood] could make it if he works hard, also.”

Q: How would you compare this year’s team to last year’s team?

A: “Last year’s team was more experienced…and we had a full lineup and that’s really the difference from this year and last year.”

Q: Do you think you will have any underclassman that step up for varsity in the postseason?

A: “Yeah, I think there are a couple underclassmen that will step up. Like Ryan [Holland] I think he’s a freshman, he weighs 126, I think he could step up. He’s wrestling varsity this year. A lot of them just don’t have the experience with wrestling, but next year they will keep stepping up and lead the team.”

Boys’ Basketball

Danny Canary (senior) Q : What are your goals for the rest of the season?

A: “We just need to continue to get better. We’ve had kind of a mediocre start to our season, but we know we are a lot better than that. Our ultimate goal is playoffs and that’s all that really matters to us at this moment. So we’re really focused on locking down and getting ready for that.”

Q: So what do you think it will take for you to be successful in the playoffs?

A: “To make a run, I really just think we need to execute a little bit better and find rotations that work and just keep working hard, you know, don’t lose focus.”

Q: Has this season lived up to your expectations so far?

A: “Not really, I definitely think we should have a lot better record than we actually do. But you know, it is what it is.”

Q: Do you feel you have been personally successful so far this year?

A: “To an extent. I’ve done what I know I can do, but I know I can do more and I know I can do better to help our team win.

Whether that means scoring more or locking down on defense, I’ll do my best.”

Q: Has anybody been really personally stepping up this year?

A: “We’ve had a lot of guys stepping up. A bunch of the young guys coming up from JV have been getting a lot of minutes. [Senior guard] Yashar Joseph has really been playing well. He didn’t start off the season in the rotation but he’s been one of our better players that probably should have been there the whole time.

He’s really had to work his way up.

LEILA HABIB

ANCHOR LEG Susanna Maisto runs the 4x400m relay at the MoCo Championships.

Indoor Track Susanna Maisto (junior) Q: How do you think the season has been going so far?

A: “Individually, it has been going pretty well. I came in fifth at counties, which is the best I’ve ever done and [I] set a personal record in all of my events. As a team the girls have been doing decently, we’ve had a lot of personal records in the individual events.”

Q: What has been the hardest thing for the team this season?

A: “ We need to improve on our relays. We need a solid all-around relay group because right now we are really lacking.”

Q: What do you want to achieve by the end of the season?

A: “ We have regionals coming up in two weeks and I’m hoping personally to qualify. And I also want a lot of other people to qualify individually. I also want our relays to drop time.”

KYRA SEIGER

OFFENSE Danny Canary holds onto the ball while looking for an opportunity to score during the Tuesday night game against the Sherwood Warriors.

February 5, 2015

Sports F2

silverchips

Poms team brings great energy at invitational

Despite not placing, team takes home second place Captain’s award

By Daliah Barg The Pompon team placed fifth in the Division III Northwest Jaguars Poms Invitational at Northwest this past Saturday. Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Northwood and Walter Johnson were awarded the first, second and third place awards respectively out of seven teams. Blair captain senior Mary Lindsay received the second place captain’s award, and B-CC and Gaithersburg took home the choreography and spirit awards.

The team’s performance consisted of seven dances including drumline, lyrical, jazz, ripples, poms, kick line and hip-hop. The dance was choreographed by the team’s captains: seniors Lindsay, Kaylan Hutchison and Daniela Monreal. Poms had been working on the routine since November. The opening drumline was the highlight of their routine, according to Hutchison. “I think that was the sharpest, cleanest, and had the most energy,” she said. According to Coach Makeyda Hilliard, the team will most likely perform the same routine at their poms county competition in two weeks.

In January, poms placed second at the Division III Blake HS MCPS Poms Invitational. Although the team did not place this past Saturday, they put forth their all during the competition. “One thing about Poms is that it’s very subjective sometimes, as far as judging, so you never know what the judges could’ve been looking for or what they could’ve liked more. But I think they did great, so there’s nothing more for me that they could’ve done,” said Hilliard. The team performed with a lot of enthusiasm, according to Emily Wolff, who judged for overall team scores at the invitational. “I thought Blair had good energy and I liked their routine,” she said of the Blair team, who had

performed first in the competition. “That means something when we can remember the first team that went. They left an impression.”

ally exciting to have a big team, but it’s just harder to make everything uniform,” she said. However, the team tackled the challenge well and managed to maintain unifor-

ing to Monreal, the team needs to work on sharpness and making sure that the smallest details are clean. “The littlest details make a huge difference. Judges are really picky people and they will look at the smallest things from your fingers to your toes,” she said.

Hand placement, individual mistakes and little inconsistencies are big problems for the team, according to Hutchison. Monreal concurred, stating, “As a team we did really well. What we need to focus on is making sure that individuals are aware of their inconsistencies,” she said.

The team will continue to work on their routine before counties, which will be held at Richard Montgomery on Feb. 14. Hilliard encourages Blazers to come out and support Poms at the competition, pleading, “Please come out to support us. I think the fans make a difference, we need people on the stands with us,” she said.

Smiles all around REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF JOAN GREGORY

BLAIR SPIRIT The Poms team excites the crowd with a ripple line in a V formation during its choreographed performance at the Northwest Jaguars Poms Invitational.

The team’s energy was a major source of pride, according to Hutchison. “We felt it and we bonded with each other while we were dancing, and I think that’s really important. We were dancing as a team,” she said. It is difficult to have sharp synchronization with a large team, and this year’s Poms are the largest in recent Blair history, said Hutchison. “We’re the largest team Blair’s had, and that brings a lot of benefits but [also] challenges at the same time. It’s re-

mity throughout their performance. “We’re really a unified, diverse, large team which you don’t see so often,” said Monreal.

There are certain omnipresent challenges that the team has faced throughout the season, according to both Coach Hilliard and captains. “We’re going to be working on our endurance, as far as keeping our energy up throughout the entire routine, and also our technique to make sure that we’re hitting every move strongly,” said Hilliard. Accord-

Lindsay, who took home the second place captain’s award, said that she also brought a lot of energy into the competition. “I think I have pretty good facials, and people tell me that often. I think I bring a lot of energy and a lot of personality when I dance,” she said. “She had the best smile, no question about it,” said Marcie Benjamin, who judged for the captain’s award at the invitational. Hilliard agreed that Lindsay’s energy is what won her the award, along with her advanced technique. “Her energy is always really good, her technique at the end of the routine when she’s doing her solo – she really showcases her dance abilities,” she said.

Blair hockey team ineligible to participate in playoffs

Blazers accused by county commissioner of illegally forming teams

By Reva Kreeger The Blair ice hockey team was deemed ineligible for playoffs after the Montgomery county hockey commissioner accused them of illegally forming their team. The team appealed the decision to the Maryland

wood. In order to remain a co-op team, the team must have fewer than 14 players on the team from a single school.

This year the team has 12 players from Blair. However, there were five other Blair students who wanted to play hockey. These players were not as experienced and did

PETER BERGER

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT The Blair ice hockey team practices offensive and defensive strategies to improve individual skill and team chemistry at Wheaton Ice Arena.

Scholastic Hockey League (MSHL), which upheld the Commissioner’s right to make the decision.

The team has one final appeal to the league, but according to head coach Kevin McCabe, “I’m really pessimistic that this is going to work out in our favor.”

The controversy Blair formed its team.

The Blair hockey team has been a cooperative team for the past 5 seasons. A co-op team is a team that pulls students from multiple schools, and Blair’s team is composed of students from Blair, Einstein, and North-

not care as much about competing, so team managers created a lower team that would not be affiliated with the Blair team. “The kids were okay with not playing if they had a team to play on so…another team was created so they could play there and the team could stay co-op,” captain Sebastian Rubinstein said.

According to Rubinstein, the commissioner, John Drzewicki, felt that by making another team, Blair was discouraging people from being on the competitive team. Drzewicki claimed this was a violation of the

MSHL handbook, which states, “no co-op to be on the upper team, but was willing to team can discourage participation”. stay on the lower team for the good of the The repercussions of this violation were Blair team. “I don’t really mind that much,” that McCabe, the team’s manager, and an Gagnon said. assistant coach were suspended from two Gorman explained that the coaches told games, and the team was made ineligible for the players that the team could not exist playoffs. if people did not go on the feeder team.

McCabe spoke for most of the Blair team “That’s why a lot of people went on the when he said he believes the decision is in- feeder team,” Gorman said. credibly unfair and unjust. “The commisOverall, the students on both teams sioner made a decision based on innuendo agreed that they want the best for the Blair and conjecture,” he added. He also stated hockey program and for the students on that he thinks the whole situation was start- both teams. The decision upset members of ed more out of politics than fact. both teams, and according to Gagnon, “It’s a The commissioner, Drzewicki, also downer for everyone.” coaches the Blake team, a rival of Blair. McAll three players noted that obviously, the Cabe said he believes that the reason the ap- decision has made everyone angry, but it has peal failed was because the League wanted also bonded the team together. “Of course to please Drzewicki since he is the commis- everyone is really mad, but I think it is also sioner of Montgomery county. Montgomery uniting the team,” Gagnon sad. county has the most control in the MSHL, McCabe noted that the team has been reand the League did not want to create a con- silient so far despite what he claimed was a flict with this sector. “MSHL doesn’t want to “grotesquely wrong” decision. “This is the rile the commissioner,” McCabe added. most harmonious group of kids I’ve ever Despite numerous attempts by Silver been involved with,” he said, and he added Chips staff to contact Drzewicki, he re- that he hopes the team can get past this and mained unresponsive and unavailable to finish the season strong. interview, yet the argument is not one-sidRubinstein added that hopefully this will ed. While McCabe pointed out that the two not be an issue next season. “The senior class teams – the Blair team and the lower level, is really big so it depends on how many peopractice team – are unaffiliated, sophomore ple join next year,” he said, but ultimately John Gorman participates on both teams this should not happen again. and pointed out that they have some of the same coaches.

He also conceded that some of the players may not have been so happy to be on the lower team. “[Some peo“Of course, ice hockey is just as competitive as any other ple] might have preferred a little to play sport and should have a varsity team” on the upper team,” - Maya Hammond, freshman Gorman said.

Sophomore Jeremy Gagnon is “It’s crazy that one of America’s four major sport leagues a member of the lower team and acis not represented in varsity interscholastic athletics” knowledged that he - Ryan Holland, freshman may have preferred

soapbox

Should ice hockey be a varsity sport?

F3 Sports

silverchips

silverchips.mbhs.edu/section/sports

February 5, 2015

Patriots beat Seahawks with last minute interception Seattle loses tight Super Bowl game after comeback falls short

By Sam Butler A Malcolm Butler interception with 20 seconds remaining sealed the largest fourth quarter comeback in Super Bowl history Sunday as the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

Tom Brady earned his third Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and tied Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw’s record with his fourth Super Bowl win in his sixth appearance.

The Patriots were able to pull off the win despite two Tom Brady interceptions, giving Coach Bill Belichick his fourth Super Bowl victory, and first since two losses to the Giants in their previous two appearances.

The first quarter started out rocky for Brady, who threw an interception to Jeremy Lane in the end zone on their second drive, and the quarter ended with a 0-0 tie.

In the second quarter, things picked up offensively.

After a Brady throw to Brandon Lafell for an 11 yard touchdown, the teams traded punts before the Seahawks took the ball 70 yards in eight plays, capped off by a three yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch.

The Patriots appeared to steal the momentum back before halftime, taking 1:45 to go 80 yards in eight plays, with Rob Gronkowski catching a 22 yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining in the half. But the Seahawks had an answer.

After a long run by Robert Turbin, quarterback Russell Wilson scrambled out of bounds after a 17 yard gain. He then threw a 23 yard pass to receiver Ricardo Lockette, who received an extra 10 yards after a face mask penalty. Wilson finished the drive with a touchdown pass to Chris Matthews, whose four receptions and 109 yards were the only stats he accumulated all year.

At the end of the half the score was even, but

the moment u m was very much in Seattle’s favor.

The Seahawks came out in the second half looking much better than the Patriots.

Seattle received NAZEA KHAN the second half kickoff and set out on a long drive, though it stalled at the 8-yard line and they had to settle for a field goal.

The Seattle defense also came out ready to play though, and linebacker Bobby Wagner

intercepted Tom Brady on their first drive of the second half, Brady’s second interception of the game. Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch dominated the ensuing drive, putting the Seahawks up 24-14 at the end of the third.

After two punts by each team, the Patriots scored on a nine play, 68 yard drive ending with a four yard TD pass to Danny Amendola.

A Seattle three and out on the next drive allowed the Patriots to regain possession down three points with just under seven minutes remaining. New England took advantage of the opportunity, taking 4:50 off the clock en route to taking a four point lead.

Seattle, down four with 2:02 remaining, started on what they hoped to be the game winning drive.

The drive began with a 31 yard completion to running back Marshawn Lynch.

After two incompletions and a first down throw to Ricardo Lockette, Jermaine Kearse made a spectacular bobbling catch, leaving Tom Brady and the Patriots stunned on the sideline.

On the next play, Marshawn Lynch took a handoff four yards down to the one yard line.

In a questionable call with 20 seconds remaining in the game, Russell Wilson threw to Ricardo Lockette on a one yard pick play, when Malcolm Butler jumped his route and intercepted the pass, sealing the impressive fourth quarter comeback for his team.

Despite the defense stealing the spotlight in the final moment, Tom Brady received the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award.

Brady set the Super Bowl record for completions, with 37, and surpassed Joe Montana for most Super Bowl touchdown passes in a career, with 13.

Rookie Malcolm Butler, an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama University, picked off Russell Wilson for the quarter-

back’s sixth interception in his postseason career, although it was certainly the one that hurt his team most.

In the closing seconds, disgruntled Seahawks players delayed the celebration for the Patriots, as Bruce Irvin hit Rob Gronkowski in the face, igniting an intense fight between the two teams. Irvin was ejected with 18 seconds remaining, and after another Brady kneel down, the Patriots won.

insideSPORTS Blair hockey suspended from playoffs see page F2

Poms team competes at Northwest Invitational see page F2

ANDREA BROWN

Girls’ basketball thwarted by Poolesville in a close game Blazers succumb to Falcons, 30-36, after a heated final quarter

By Amalia Chiapperino Despite an aggressive early comeback in the second quarter, the Blazers (5-7) lost to the Poolesville Falcons (10-4) after a fourth quarter struggle, resulting in a final score of 30-36.

The Blazers started the game slowly and were unprepared for the speed and agility of the Poolesville players, who built a solid lead early on in the game. Head coach Erin Conley attributed the slow start to the

REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF HANNAH RAPP

SPRINT Senior guard Breanna Camp runs to get open in the game against Poolesville.

lack of practice time because of the winter weather. “We hadn’t had practice in a couple days and I think we were just trying to find a rhythm and find some consistency to our game,” she said.

Sophomore forward Lauren Frost also admitted that the game pace felt a bit slower in the beginning due to a lack of practice time leading up to the game. “It just took us the first fifteen minutes to get our heads back in the game and get our shots back, and then from there we did well,” she said.

Though the Blazers eventually found their footing, the slow start put them seven points behind the Falcons by the end of the first quarter.

They returned in the second quarter, however, with newfound focus and fluidity. The increased intensity also resulted in a much more aggressive game, leading to heavy fouling from Poolesville.

Blair took advantage of this by sinking multiple foul shots to shorten the gap on the scoreboard.

Additionally, smooth offensive movement and transitioning helped Blair rack up points throughout the quarter, while still keeping the Falcons at bay. Aided by senior guard and captain Breanna Camp and junior point guard and captain Camille Estrin, the Blazer offense pulled ahead of the Falcons by the end of the first half.

Blair excelled defensively throughout the first half, bringing their tight defensive work into the third quarter as well. “In the second and third quarters I think we did a really good job defensively at stopping them and limiting their offensive rebounds,” Conley said.

The Blazers also kept up their aggressive offense and the third quarter ended with senior guard and captain Liza Curcio-Rudy scoring two points to help give Blair a strong eleven-point lead.

By the fourth quarter, however, it appeared that the Blazers had run out of steam.

the Poolesville players’ intensity during the fourth quarter. “In the second and third quarters we played really well, but in the fourth quarter we were just way too passive and we let them get a lot of shots off that they shouldn’t have gotten,” she said.

Conley concurred with Frost, observing the team’s sudden loss of intensity as well. “I think that we just lost focus and started to fall apart during the fourth quarter,” she said.

The final quarter quickly became more physical, with heavy fouling that cost the Blazers valuable points.

Despite a concerted effort, Blair was unable to stop the Falcons from taking the lead in the last few minutes of the game.

Though the team’s loss was disappointing, Frost thought that the game demonstrated the importance of maintaining possession, even in high-pressure situations, which is something that the team can use in their upcoming games.

“We just need to work on pressure situations, and what to do when you’re up or when you’re down when the clock is running out,” she said.

Conley agreed but thought that the team still played well. “I think REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF HANNAH RAPP both teams played really hard. We DEFENSE The Blazers keep the first half of the ended up losing by six, but overall, game close with tight defense on the perimeter. it was a good matchup and a good game,” she said.

Pressure set in for Blair as Poolesville began recovering the points they had lost earlier in the game.

Frost thought Blair struggled to match

The Blazers take on the Churchill Bulldogs on Friday, February 6. The game starts at 5:15 p.m. at Blair.