March 2022 — Silver Chips Print

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

March 24, 2022

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SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

VOL. 85 NO. 4

MCPS goes maskoptional

Locals in solidarity with Ukraine

By John Ernst and Annie Gao Staff Writers

FIONA BONDAREV

SHOWING SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE A Russian-American woman pays her respects nine days after Russia invaded Ukraine, placing a flower at a memorial outside of the Ukrainian embassy. see UKRAINE page A3

Community raises money and provides support for displaced residents

By John Ernst Staff Writer

By Lucía Santoro-Vélez Staff Writer

A sea of Blair fans and players rushed onto the court cheering when the final whistle blew in a 7452 regional championship win for the Blair Blazers over the Blake Bengals on March 2nd. This celebration was the culmination of an impressive season which led to the Blazers earning a division title, regional championship, and an appearance in the state quarterfinals.

In his first full season as the Blair boys’ basketball coach, special education teacher Tony Mensah led the Blazers to an unprecedented 15-5 season and took home Blair’s first regional championship since 1982. Although his impact on the team has been evident, Mensah maintains that the success of the team lies in its players. With sharpshooters Eli Greenberger and Jonathan Pang, playmakers Muller Torontow and Isoiza Emah, do-it-all forward and Montgomery County Player of the Year Gio Moore, and a cluster of other contributors, the Blazers soared to new heights in 2022.

Mensah arrived at Blair to teach special education in the 2019-2020 school year, and began coaching as the JV girls’ basketball coach and a JV boys’ baseball coach during 2019-2020. He began coaching varsity during the unofficial 2021

At 10:30 a.m. on March 3, an explosion at the Friendly Garden Apartments in Silver Spring hospitalized fourteen people, one of whom is in critical condition as of March 9. 41 apartment units and over 150 tenants were affected by the explosion and consequent fire. One of the six apartment complexes was partially destroyed, and two of the other complexes were rendered unsafe.

According to county officials, the explosion was caused by a maintenance worker mistakenly cutting a gas pipe while attempting to unclog a sewage drain. The incident has been classified as an accident.

In a press conference, County Executive Marc Elrich claimed that the most recent inspection of the Friendly Garden Apartments happened in September of 2021. However, Barry Hudson, a spokesperson for Elrich,

told FOX 5 via email that the last full inspection inside the units was conducted in July 2018. “The inspection set in 2021 was delayed due to [COVID-19] and change of management. This inspection is set… for later this month.” The

delay resulted in the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs’ required three-year inspection window for the property elapsing.

The Gwendolyn E. Coffield Recreation Center and the White

Oak Recreation Center set up emergency shelters and assistance sites, where affected residents could apply for new housing and receive food and temporary shelter.

Volunteers and community members are also assisting displaced residents. The Montgomery Housing Partnership, a nonprofit organization, set up a fund that has raised over $495,000 from community donations. The entirety of the donated funds will go towards the families affected by the fire.

Scan the QR code below if you are interested in donating to help affected residents.

COLIN LEDERER

insidechips Celebrando la variedad de la música latina y promoviendo artistass nuevas.

La Esquina Latina

Features

Goodbye, Arthur - E2

Highlighting the life and impact of an eight-year-old aardvark.

Culture

F1

Prices on the rise - D3 Local businesses grapple with increasing costs and struggle to break even as a result of inflation.

E1

Opinions

Nuevos cantantes - C1

D1

Encoded bias - B3 How government use of facial recognition technologies perpetuates systemic inequity.

C1

B1

see BOYS’ BASKETBALL page F1

A2

see MASKS page A3

Silver Spring apartment building explodes

Blazing to a regional title

News

On March 8, the MCPS Board of Education (BOE) unanimously voted to remove the MCPS mask mandate, instituting a “mask-optional” policy effective immediately. Students, staff, and individuals are no longer required to wear masks in MCPS facilities, including while riding school buses, during school, and at after-school activities and events.

The official decision comes after the Maryland State Board of Education voted on Feb. 22 to remove the mask mandate in schools effective March 1. The MCPS BOE also cited guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Feb. 25 stating that they no longer recommend mask mandates in schools classified on their website as low risk. Prior to the March 8 meeting, MCPS students were sent emails on March 4 detailing what they would need to know if the BOE ended up deciding to make masks optional.

Community members, including students and parents, physically

Sports

A2 News March 24, 2022 silverchips

By Ingrid Holmquist and Ella Schrebler Staff Writers On April 20, MCPS middle and high school students will cast their votes for the 45th Student Member of the Board (SMOB). The two final candidates are Baba Cisse, a junior at Einstein, and Arvin Kim, a junior at Whitman. Student delegates at the Feb. 16 SMOB nominating convention selected Cisse and Kim out of 19 candidates.

All students in grades 6-12 are eligible to vote and will do so during the school day. The results will be made public at 5:30 p.m. on April 20.

Background and experience Both Cisse and Kim have actively participated in their school’s Student Government Association (SGA).

In ninth grade, Cisse was elected as Einstein’s freshman class president, kickstarting his student advocacy journey. In 2020, Cisse served on the cabinet for former SMOB Nick Asante. He currently serves as a Down County Consortium (DCC) Liaison for current SMOB Hana O’Looney. In this role he compiles and shares DCC students’ input with her. “[I gather] feedback, solutions [students] have, things about Hana that they want to improve upon, if they think she’s doing a good job,” he said. “I send it to Hana… to view, and she can know how to better help our area.”

In seventh and eighth grade, Kim served as class vice president and later joined other student government organizations including Montgomery County Junior Council (MCJC) and Montgomery County Regional Student Government Organization (MCR), two groups that allow MCPS students to advocate for their peers and enact county-wide changes. These opportunities introduced Kim to educational inequalities that impact MCPS students and influenced

[I’m] trying to... [prove] that you don’t have to come from years of experience.

his approach to creating change. “[I learned] about what advocacy looks like [and] what change looks like,” he explained. Through his work with MCJC, Kim was able to create a Special Issues Committee dedicated to combating inequalities across the county. “We deal with things like mental health, school safety, racial discrimination, equi-

COURTESTY OF BABA CISSE

SMOB FINALISTS SMOB candidates Arvin Kim, left, and Baba Cisse, right, stand with current SMOB Hana O’Looney, center. ty, all these areas that really are big hindrances [to] our education,” he said.

Student representation Both candidates believe that disparities across the county make it difficult for all students to feel represented by their SMOB. In the past 15 years, only one SMOB was a DCC student, and none were from the North Eastern Consortium (NEC).

Attending a DCC school, Cisse reports experiencing a lack of resources in his area that limits student representation and engagement. To address this, he plans to create a county-wide communication program for middle and high school students to gain experience in student government. “[In the DCC and NEC], we don’t have access to the same leadership opportunities, we don’t have access to the same programs as other clusters do,” Cisse said. “I want to create that space where we are able to communicate with different schools’ SGAs and different organizations.”

Cisse was denied entry to MCR multiple times, which inspired his goal to demonstrate that being a member of MCR and similar programs is not a necessity to be a successful student advocate. In his mission to redefine the SMOB position, Cisse is working toward removing barriers to advocacy. “[I’m] trying to… [prove] that you don’t have to come from years of experience, you don’t have to come from [MCR]… especially if they don’t let students like me inside their programs,” he said.

In his approach to improving student representation, Kim hopes to make virtual testimony options available during town halls to increase accessibility. “As we hold hearings and town halls and public forums… [we should be] making sure we provide online options [and] making sure that we’re not

Up & Coming

April 1 April Fool’s Day April 11-18 Spring Break

Both candidates aim to improve student mental support in schools.

Cisse plans to push for restructuring of county-wide mental health lessons. His goal is to implement new mental health education periods aided by school psychologists and counselors. “In that period [there should be] effective mental health lessons that work to give students examples of ways to relieve stress, [and] ways to reach out and talk to somebody if they really need to,” he said.

Additionally, Cisse advocates for a mental health screening tool: a form students fill out on a regular basis that screens for risk factors or underlying mental health conditions. “Weekly screenings help identify students who don’t feel okay, [and] who have mental health issues, but don’t know how to express it [or]... talk to counselors,” Cisse explained.

Kim wants to reimplement Wednesday check-in days, which were originally introduced in the 2020-21 virtual school year. He suggests that teachers assign no new work on Wednesday, a move he has seen at a few schools in MCPS already. Kim believes doing so will help students prioritize their mental health. “Every Wednesday, [there would be] no tests and no homework. So throughout the day, and that evening, the students are given the chance to focus on their own wellness,” he said.

COVID-19

Recognizing the impact of COVID-19, both candidates have proposed plans to address the evolving landscape of education.

Citing his commitment to advocating for underrepresented areas,

Cisse and Kim agree that the Virtual Academy should be expanded to accommodate more students.

Cisse advocates for hiring more virtual staff to create an online learning option that students can default to. “[We need] a hybrid model where you’re still able to get enrolled at your same school, but you can just choose to come or take

There is no more pressing issue than the lives and saftey of our students, so our budget should definitely reflect that.

classes at home,” he said.

Kim also believes that the Virtual Academy should be a permanent option. Currently, the athome learning option is offered to K-12 students with extenuating circumstances preventing them from going to in-person school during the 2021-2022 school year. Kim expressed that this change would allow students access to more classes and quell disparities between schools. “Even if your school doesn’t have [a certain class], you still get to take every course you want, which I think is super important because [it is a] big disparity we’ve seen [between schools],” he said.

For more information on the candidates go to www.baba4smob.com and www.arvinforsmob.com

MCPS 4A North Player of the Year Mongtomery County Player of the Year

Natalie Frost

knockout fundraiser

April 1 Early Release

Mental health

Virtual academy

Awards & Honors

March 24 Early Release March 30 Silver Chips

hosting them only in Rockville, where the Board of Education meets, but across MCPS,” he said.

“So wherever you live, you get the chance to speak your voice and to share the issues you face.”

Cisse also proposed more information around the “Say Yes to the Test” program, which allows for MCPS students to be randomly selected for COVID-19 testing. Cisse explains that many parents are not aware of the option for their children to participate in random testing. “What I’m trying to do is educate more parents about the ‘Say Yes to the Test’ program. Because I know especially in the DCC and NEC areas, our parents… don’t really know what it is,” he said.

Kim believes that having resources like masks and tests are the most important things and should be prioritized in the MCPS budget. “There is no more pressing issue than the lives and the safety of our students, so our budget should definitely reflect that,” he said.

ARVIN KIM

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 or of all Silver Chips members. Signed letters to the editor are encouraged; submit them to silver.chips.print@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

Get to know your SMOB candidates

BABA CISSE

Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 (301) 649 - 2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker, the 2019 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal, the 2021 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown, and the 2022 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Silver Crown EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Leila Faraday Marijke Friedman Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo LA ESQUINA LATINA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo MANAGING NEWS EDITORS Samantha Rodriguez Ashley Thommana MANAGING OPINIONS EDITORS Maia Egnal Sean Li MANAGING FEATURES EDITORS Annie Goldman Sofia Roehrig MANAGING CULTURE EDITORS Maybelle Patterson Jasper Swartz MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR Jon Eckert OMBUDSMAN Ashley Thommana DESIGN EDITORS Annie Goldman Sean Li Maybelle Patterson COLUMNISTS Jon Eckert Maybelle Patterson Jasper Swartz Cal Tobias ENGLISH STAFF WRITERS William Ashford Ava Bedaque Haley Carter John Ernst Eliana Finberg Annie Gao Ingrid Holmquist Elina Lee Christy Li Rosie Orzulak Andre Parker Ila Raso Lucia Santoro-Vélez Ella Schrebler Sophia Stein Milan Tenn Sedise Tiruneh Zachary Williamson LA ESQUINA LATINA WRITERS Kimberly Castro Estefany Benitez Gonzalez Adan Guzmán Díaz Yasmine Rivera Sofia Roehrig Ivania Valladores Kevin Vela EXECUTIVE BUSINESS DIRECTORS Marina Deane-Gonzalez Ryan Peralta Harris Maddie Whipple BUSINESS STAFF Sela Colavito Kevin Gehl Isabelle Mathiascheck Finnegan Oakes Caleb Plank MANAGING ART EDITORS Jay Chao Leela Mehta-Harwitz ARTISTS Abjini Chattopadhyay Yeison Cotom Eliza Cooke Katalina Li Sophia Li Alexander Liu Sonia Pivovarov Karis Tebo Lucia Wang MANAGING PHOTO EDITORS Arielle Granston Sarah Martin PHOTOGRAPHERS Fiona Bondarev Raffi Charkoudian-Rogers Jonathan Cumblidge Colin Lederer Henry Reichle Cal Tobias Maia Turpen MEDIA EDITOR Iris Montgomery PUZZLE EDITOR Alex Grosman COPY EDITORS Celeste Basken Kiah Beachler Jordan Chafe Sally Kaye Emannuel Kraft Roshan Nandkumar Hunter Payne Amelia Schuler Liam Volz Emma Weinstein LA ESQUINA LATINA ADVISER Maria Eugenia Tanos ADVISERS Jeremy Stelzner Maria Eugenia Tanos

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Gio Moore

Alum Daniel Zhu

Putnam Fellow for MIT

Alums Kathryn LaLonde, CSPA Gold Circle Lilia Wong, Renata Muños, Award for Excellence Anika Seth, Aviva Bechky

silverchips INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Elina Lee Staff Writer

South Korea faces Omicron surge

Germany combats far-right extremists On March 15, Germany announced a plan to curb far-right extremism. The plan will crack down on suspected extremists and far-right networks who threaten democracy, according to Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

The plan includes provisions to enforce stricter background checks for gun licenses while also removing gun licenses from around 1,500 suspected extremists. Furthermore, suspected extremists in positions of political power will be investigated and removed from office.

Social media, online conspiracy theories, and in-person social events, including music festivals and martial arts events, will be heavily monitored and regulated to combat the spread of incitant information.

Crude oil prices hit 14-year high Crude oil prices, which were just under $100 per barrel before Feb. 24—when Russia invaded Ukraine—peaked on March 8 at $128.37 per barrel. As of March 21, oil is $110.02 per barrel. The turbulent oil prices are caused by political uncertainty and fears of sanctioning. This has increased the price of petroleum-based products which primarily affects transportation and manufacturing.

World leaders discussed banning Russian oil imports to protest the invasion, but some European countries are heavily reliant on this industry and refuse to do so. The International Energy Agency, who recommends energy-saving policies to countries, announced on March 1 that they plan to release 60 million barrels of oil reserves to combat rising gasoline prices internationally.

Half was contributed by the U.S. Department of Energy which released 30 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, approximately five percent of the nation’s total oil reserve.

War in Ukraine escalates

By Cal Tobias News Columnist On Feb. 24, Russia initiated a full scale ground invasion of Ukraine after months of amassing troops along Ukraine’s northern border. Russian forces are also attacking key cities including Kharkiv and Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, with missile strikes and shelling. Ukraine has responded by declaring martial law and mobilizing to defend the country. The invasion is the largest ground war in Europe since the Second World War. As of March 16, 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to have been stationed in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military and citizens, supported with arms, supplies, and money from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other nations, have put up a powerful defense.

They have hindered Russia’s ground military advances towards Kyiv and shot down two Russian planes transporting troops. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian forces have lost over 350 tanks and over 1,000 other armored vehicles, as of March 16.

I think it’s crucial to show support for my homeland of Ukraine.

PETER ZELINSKY

South Korea experienced a recent surge of COVID-19 cases with 337,000 new cases reported the week of March 8 to March 14.

On March 21, there was a record high of 329 deaths and 1,244 new hospitalizations, 1,130 of which presented with moderate to severe symptoms. These numbers are 80 times greater than mid-January when the Omicron variant became the dominant strain.

Omicron’s high transmission rate has caused South Korea to move away from widespread testing, rigorous contact tracing, and quarantining due to limited medical resources.

Over 85 percent of the country’s population is fully vaccinated and 62 percent have received booster shots. As of March 15, South Korea has had 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people compared to the United States’ 285.5 deaths per 100,000. Since the surge, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has prioritized their resources for higher-risk groups, such as those over the age of 60 and individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.

March 24, 2022 News A3

Despite Ukrainian resistance, the Russian military, which is globally recognized as one of the most powerful in terms of troop strength, has made incremental progress.

Currently, Russia has taken control of several cities along the Russia-Ukraine border. Russian forces are approaching Kyiv, the capital and largest city in Ukraine. As of March 18, they have not entered the city, but they have bombed it and are encircling it.

Some Russian military analysts,

such as the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Rob Lee, were perplexed at Russia’s failure to secure air superiority. According to Reuters, Ukraine’s air force and air defenses are intact and fully operational.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former actor who did not have political experience prior to his election, emerged as a hero for the Ukrainian people during the crisis. Refusing an offer from the United States to airlift him to safety, Zelenskyy and his wife instead elected to stay in Kyiv. Despite multiple assissination attempts, he continues to lead the country from within and stays on the front lines alongside his soldiers, regularly speaking with other international leaders and posting updates through social media.

Analysts are unsure of Putin’s motives for invading Ukraine, which he has refused to acknowledge as a sovereign nation. Putin has justified his actions to the international community by falsely claiming that Ukraine is governed by neo-Nazis and that there exists a Ukranian genocide of Russians. He has also demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, the Western military alliance that Ukraine has closely allied itself with over the past decades. In 2019, Ukraine entered into a “opportunity partnership” with NATO, though this did not guarantee them status as a full member.

In response to the invasion, many countries, corporations, and organizations including the European Union, the United States, and the World Bank, have enacted harsh sanctions on Russia’s economy. The U.S. has frozen Russian cash reserves held in the U.S. and banned all Russian oil and gas imports. Fossil fuels make up about 60 percent of Russian exports.

Sanctions have led to a collapse of the ruble, Russia’s currency, which has lost 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar.

Furthermore, countries in NATO have donated vast quantities of arms, vehicles, money, and other supplies to the Ukrainian war effort. However, none have com-

CAL TOBIAS

UKRAINIAN PRIDE Blair hockey goalie Peter Zelinsky holds up the blue and yellow Ukrianian flag after a victory over Whitman. mitted to directly engaging in the the Ukrainian flag after the game. war or securing a no-fly-zone over “I decided that I want everybody Ukraine, which would entail shoot- to know who I am and also what ing down any Russian planes that I support. And so, I spray painted fly over the country, fearing that a flag on my helmet,” he said. “I doing so may lead to another world think it’s crucial to show support for my homeland of Ukraine.” war with nuclear escalation.

While Zelinsky’s cousins do not After Zelenskyy addressed Congress virtually to call for more aid live in major cities—which are Ruson March 16, President Joe Biden sia’s primary targets—they are still at authorized an additional $800 risk. “They are, at the moment, pretty million in aid to Ukraine, in addi- safe,” he said. “But, both of their obtion to the over $13 billion he has lasts [governing regions in Ukraine] already pledged. Zelenskyy also have been bombed recently.”

Van Praagh’s father, Peter Van called on the United States to institute a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Praagh, was in Kyiv until Feb. 28, Biden did not mention this request four days after the invasion began. in an address he made shortly after The elder Van Praagh depended on many locals in order to find his Zelenskyy’s.

Russians in Moscow and other way home, assisted by a local driver major Russian cities have turned who drove him to the border and out in massive numbers to protest a Ukrainian family who drove him Putin and the war. Over 13,000 across it. “Through the kindness of Russian protesters were arrested the Ukrainian people, he was able in the first two weeks of the war, to find a safe passage into Poland according to OVD-Info, a Russian and then Istanbul,” Yasha Van Praagh said. human rights group.

Peter Van Praagh believes that Blazers share their the long drive to the Polish border stories demonstrated Ukrainian camaraThe global impact of the war in derie. “Cars were lined up and not Ukraine has reached Blair students, moving, and people would get out including seniors Peter Zelinsky of the cars and smoke cigarettes and Yasha Van Praagh. Zelinsky’s and talk to the cars in front of them cousins live in the country, and Van or behind them,” he said, in a podPraagh’s father was in Ukraine on cast with the Hoover Institution. business at the start of the invasion. “There was a sense, again, that evDuring a March 1 Blair club eryone was in this together, and nohockey game, Zelinsky, the team’s body was going to go on the other goalie, spray painted a Ukrainian lane of the highway and just zoom flag on his helmet, and held up up again.”

MCPS repeals mask mandate from MASKING page A1 and virtually attended the MCPS BOE meeting to voice their opinions. Some also submitted video testimonies and emails addressed to BOE members. Tensions and disorder were high at the meeting, with the audience booing speakers who supported MCPS keeping masks mandatory. Newly appointed superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight and members of the BOE expressed disappointment in the crowd’s behavior. “I was incredibly disappointed at any of you who booed those students,” Lynne Harris, a BOE at-large member, said as she addressed the audience at the end of public comments. “Those students have an equal right to

speak, and they’re the ones who live in our buildings every day.”

Attendees concerned with the removal of the mask mandate expressed the need to accommodate vulnerable and immunocompromised individuals. However, despite the protests at the BOE meeting, some BOE members say that complaints since the decision have been relatively minimal. “We have not heard a lot from either side after the vote,” at-large BOE member Karla Silvestre explained.

Student Member of the Board Hana O’Looney was absent from the March 8 BOE meeting. Prior to the meeting, she faced online criticism after voicing support for keeping the mask mandate in MCPS. National Review, a conservative online magazine, published

HENRY REICHLE

UNMASKING IN THE CLASSROOM Blair English teacher Lisa Fox talks to her class without a mask.

an article critiquing O’Looney’s position on the mask mandate, and readers left comments with offensive rhetoric targeting her last name. O’Looney’s Twitter account was temporarily disabled, and the BOE released a statement condemning the comments as “clearly harmful attempts at cyberbullying.”

In light of the harassment, community members stressed the need to promote a culture of respect toward others’ masking choices. Blair English teacher Lisa Fox made the decision not to wear a mask in her classes but continues to emphasize the importance of circumstance and individual decisions. “I think choice is really important because many families have very valid reasons [for] why they want their child to wear a mask—they’re not vaccinated or there’s someone at home who has a compromised immune system [or] is in the elderly age group,” she said.

So far, community members report that much of the tension that was present during the meeting has been absent in schools. “I have not seen or heard anybody say there’s a bullying issue around masking choice,” Harris said. “I think [the] people making all the noise [are] the grownups in the room that have their [own] agendas.”

Blair junior David Shukhin, who unmasked after the county’s decision, did not receive or observe much judgment from peers.

“There’s kind of a stigma around [unmasking in public] but I haven’t noticed anything like that [at Blair],

personally,” he said.

Other students, such as Blair freshman Charlotte Goldberg, felt that it would have been safer for MCPS to keep the mask mandate in place. “Even if it is safe enough to have people unmasked, I think, just for everybody’s peace of mind, having masks is much better,” Goldberg explained.

Both Shukhin and Goldberg believe that time is an important factor for shifting the numbers of students who decide to stop wearing masks. “People are just waiting for more people to take their masks off,” Shukhin said.

Goldberg explained that she wanted to proceed with caution and would “probably [continue to wear a mask] for the rest of the year.”

Harris underscored that the status of the MCPS mask policy continues as an ongoing discussion, and changing COVID-19 metrics may result in new guidelines and rules. “If we see on the horizon Omicron or another variant causing significant breakthroughs… we are ready to go right back and put in place all necessary public health mitigation measures,” she said.

Silvestre emphasized that the Board of Education plans to use guidance from local and state health authorities when considering metrics for future changes in the mandate status. “We’re education experts,” she said. “We rely on what the health experts say.”

silverchips

A4 News March 24, 2022

NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Zachary Williamson Staff Writer

Trucker convoy

A look into renting in Montgomery County

By Andre Parker and Lucía Santoro-Vélez Staff Writers Silver Spring’s populous urban and suburban areas host a large portion of renters in the county, with renters occupying 64.3 percent of the housing units in the Silver Spring area, nearly twice the countywide renter percentage of 34.6, according to TownCharts, a U.S. data site, as of 2020.

Housing policies

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Montgomery County Council has passed various pieces of legislation to address local housing issues.

On Nov. 9, 2021, they passed the Extended Limitations Against Rent Increases and Late Fees Act. Effective until May 15 of this year, the act prohibits landlords from increasing rent by more than the 0.4 percent currently mandated

by Montgomery County’s Voluntary Rent Guideline or charging late fees.

in a new subdivision—20 or more units—must be moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs). MPDUs can be both house and rental properties. It is further required that 40 percent of the MPDUs are offered to the Housing Opportunities Commission and other non-profit housing agencies for low and moderate-income families.

The DHCA also has an MPDU Apartment Rentals Program. This program creates affordable rent opportunities at various MPDU apartment complexes.

Advocacy work

The renting community in Montgomery County has a wide range of incomes, household sizes, ages, and ethnicities. According to a 2017 report by the Montgomery County Planning Department, rental households in the county are divided fairly evenly by income; 22 percent earn less than 30 percent of the area median income, 17 percent earn between 30 and 50 percent, 12 percent earn between 50 and 80 percent, and 23 percent earn more than 80 percent of AMI.

come compared to the state and nation. In 2019, Montgomery County’s median individual income was $49,033, $8,692 more than the Maryland median and $17,900 more than the U.S. median. Concurrently, in 2019, Montgomery County’s median gross residential rent was $1,788, as compared to the Maryland median of $1,401.

Rent prices in the county are also on an upward trend. From 2016 to 2019, the county’s median rent increased by 2.76 percent.

The increasing prices contribute to instability in the renting market.

“What’s making rental housing unstable, first and foremost, is affordability,” Losak said. “Renters don’t know what their annual increase is going to be, and they eventually could be priced out.”

The high rental prices are due in part to imbalanced supply and demand, zoning restrictions, and development regulations. According to Liz Brent, owner and broker of Go Brent Realty and founder of the nonprofit Silver Spring Cares, Montgomery County’s zoning laws often prevent developers from

Maryland Democratic Party official resigns Barbara Goldberg Goldman, the deputy treasurer of the Maryland Democratic Party, resigned on March 14, after an email she wrote that questioned the electability of Black Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Maryland was leaked.

Her Dec. 15 email read: “Consider this: Three African-American males have run statewide for Governor and have lost. Maryland is not a Blue state. It’s a purple one.

This is a fact we must not ignore…

We need a winning team.”

Various Maryland-based politicians, including several Black Democratic candidates for governor, requested her resignation.

Goldberg Goldman’s email was not condoned by the Maryland Democratic Party. “[The comments in her email] do not represent the values of the Maryland Democratic Party,” Maryland’s Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis wrote.

Giant spider bounds northward The Joro spider, a species currently found in Georgia and South Carolina, is expected to arrive in the D.C. area by spring 2023. The spiders, which originated in Japan, pose no threat to humans and prefer to remain outdoors. While their leg span is as wide as a palm of a hand, the spiders’ venom poses no danger to people, as their fangs are too small to puncture skin.

By releasing their silk at an elevated point and letting the wind carry it, the species can travel up to 100 miles through the air. The female spiders can weave webs up to 10 feet wide. These spiders snack on smaller bugs.

DATA FROM THE U.S. CENSUS

MONTHLY MEDIAN RENT National, Maryland, and Montgomery County median gross monthly rent.

Montgomery County’s average gross monthly rent is higher than both Maryland and national rents.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), subsidizes rent for those whose annual incomes are 50 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) through the Housing Choice Voucher Program. The program assists low-income households, the elderly (60-years-old or older), and disabled people afford housing on the private market.

Low-income households are defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as receiving either 80 percent or less of the local AMI, or equal to or less than the national AMI. Between the two options, the lowest amount is chosen as the threshold. The HUD sets the AMI each year.

The AMI for a family of four in Montgomery County, effective June 1, 2021, is $129,000 while the national family median income is $67,521, as of 2020.

Other legislation to support renters includes the 1974 Moderately Priced Housing (MPH) Law passed by the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA).

The MPH Law necessitates that at least 12.5 percent of houses

Organizations like the Montgomery County Renter’s Alliance exist to advocate on behalf of renters. “[The Renter’s Alliance] look[s] into renter issues and gives a report to the [County] Executive and the County Council,” Matt Losak, the executive director of the organization, said.

According to Losak, the committee was created in 2010 after County Executive Isiah Leggett received a petition from about 1,000 renters asking for rent stabilization, a regulation ensuring rent only increases by a small and set percentage each year; Just Cause Eviction protection, an ordinance designed to stop arbitrary and retaliatory eviction; an end to month-tomonth lease fees; and a committee to represent renter concerns.

The Renter’s Alliance is composed of landlords and renters to provide a holistic perspective on issues. While these groups may have different priorities, the committee primarily focuses on issues renters face. “The majority [of discussions] were around how… we advance renter’s rights and ultimately housing stability and affordability,” Losak said.

High costs

Rent prices in Montgomery County reflect its higher median in-

building affordable rental housing where it is needed most. “It makes much more sense to produce affordable housing in either apartments or in multifamily housing. And you can’t put multifamily housing in R-60 zoning,” Brent said, referring to R-60, the primarily residential zone of single-family detached houses surrounding downtown Silver Spring. “There are huge swaths of places which really are perfect for moderate-priced housing and truly affordable… housing, but it can’t be built there.”

Furthermore, Montgomery County is undergoing a severe shortage of inventory in the housing market. “If no more inventory came on the market… it would take just over a month for the inventory to run out,” Brent said. “Inventory is always a crunch for Montgomery County, but over the past 10 years, the supply has just gotten worse and worse and worse.”

According to Losak, Montgomery County has also had a low level of renters in the past which has left the county without the tools to protect and regulate landlords and tenants. “Maryland historically was, except for Baltimore, considered a rural state,” Losak said. “The laws are not like New York City or Washington DC, which have had long-standing renter communi-

Out of every place I’ve ever rented, this county has been the most painful experience... It’s been challenging beyond belief.

MELEK DEMIR

A convoy of truckers—protesting COVID-19 mask mandates and vaccine policies—have been slowing traffic on major highways. These truckers are part of the “People’s Convoy” that made its way to D.C. and has been protesting for several weeks. These protests come as many mask and vaccine mandates are coming to an end across the country.

The convoy is causing minimal to moderate traffic delays in many parts of the D.C. area, and major delays in certain areas. On some highways, these protests have brought traffic to a standstill, but the more detrimental effect has been on the D.C.-Virginia border’s 14th Street Bridge, which has had extreme backups.

To minimize the level of intrusion, the Pentagon approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. to deter protestors. The Metropolitan Police Department also closed roads and helped to divert traffic.

Turning over a new lease

ties and have solved a lot of these complaints decades ago… we’re in a catch-up phase.”

Health and safety

The County Council implemented a regulation in March 2019 to establish additional health and safety guidelines for multifamily housing complexes and set requirements for landlords to address violations in a timely manner. Many county residents who live in rental properties with multiple units have experienced difficulties relating to the safety of their housing.

Melek Demir, a lifelong renter who has lived in California, Texas, North Carolina, and Washington D.C. due to her career as a journalist, has found the Montgomery County renting market particularly challenging to navigate. “Out of every place I’ve ever rented, this county has been the most painful experience,” she said. “It’s been challenging beyond belief.”

At the end of 2021, Demir was forced to leave her apartment due to carbon monoxide and gas leaks. Before her apartment was condemned, Demir’s carbon monoxide detector had repeatedly sounded, but the fire department could not locate the source of the carbon monoxide leak. “[The carbon monoxide detector] kept going off. And the fire department… kept coming out. They could not find what the problem was,” she said.

Demir observed that the main problems lay within property management. “They’re not being held accountable for what’s acceptable and not acceptable,” she said.

Montgomery County’s Executive Regulation 05-17 “Troubled Properties” aims to hold management accountable by creating a “Troubled Property” list of housing developments with serious health and safety issues, such as mold, persistent infestations, and water leaks. It requires that these properties be inspected annually as opposed to every three years. Each Troubled Property will remain on the list for at least one year, until the annual inspection occurs again and the property is reevaluated. As of Feb. 21, there are 120 troubled properties, and 100 deemed at risk.

A property is deemed troubled based on a calculation of the Average Violations per Unit combined with the Severity Index, at-risk meaning the property had health and safety violations, but the number and severity of violations are below the “troubled” threshold.

Harold Hill, another Montgomery County renter, has also had safety concerns regarding his apartment space. Hill and his family moved to Montgomery County in 2019, after the birth of his daughter. A construction problem led to a mice and roach infestation.

With an infant, Hill worried for his daughter’s health and requested help from the county but eventually resorted to assistance from Prince George’s County where he had previously lived. “I had to call outside of Montgomery County to get help from Montgomery County,” Hill said.

silverchips

March 24, 2022 Opinions B1

Are shows directed at teen audiences harming those audiences?

Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of mental illnesses, domestic abuse, toxic relationships, sexual assault, and bullying.

MAIA TURPEN

PRO

Newer teen TV shows that dramatize serious topics are harming their audiences.

By Kyla Smith Guest Writer AN OPINION HBO’s hit show Euphoria averaged 16.3 million viewers per episode for Season 2,

MAIA TURPEN

CON

Newer TV shows that implement intense descriptions of sensitive topics are benefitting their audiences.

By Ila Raso Staff Writer AN OPINION Graphic scenes, intense language, and heightened nudity are all components that

soapbox Are intense scenes pertaining to mental illness or drug abuse harmful or beneficial to their audiences?

doubling its Season 1 average and becoming the second most-watched series in HBO history, according to Variety and HBO. Although the show has broken records and garnered significant attention on social media, it has dramatized serious issues like domestic abuse and unhealthy relationships for the sake of entertainment, and should instead be focused on educating the audience about these issues without the dramatization.

Euphoria’s use of graphic scenes of sex, nudity, and abuse among the high schoolaged characters contribute to their objectification and can be unnecessarily disturbing to the teenage audience the show attracts.

Some of these scenes include the frequent sex scenes between high school senior Cassie and other characters throughout the show, as well as a violent interaction between two characters involved in an onagain, off-again toxic and abusive relationship, in which one of the characters Nate, threatens the other, Maddy, with a gun to her head. Although this show has been the most recent subject of scrutiny from both teenagers and

parents, there are many shows that are just as problematic, including 13 Reasons Why, which also glorifies sensitive topics, such as mental health issues and suicide, for the purpose of shock value.

A damaging aspect of these newer teen TV shows is that they take serious topics facing teens and trivialize them by making them humourous. A 2010 study by the Parent Television Council of the top 25 shows broadcast for teens found that, “​​73 percent of the sexual incidents (excluding relationships that represented ‘healthy’ sexuality) were presented in a humorous manner designed to evoke laughter.”

This indicates that a primary intent for nudity and explicit scenes in adolescent TV is to create humor or absurdity. Portraying sexual incidents as humor alone can make people think that the incident should not be taken seriously.

Additionally, this trivialization of sexualization can be harmful to teenage girls.

Allowing the sexualization of teens to continue to be portrayed as humorous comes with multiple negative effects, especially a decrease in self-esteem. According to a report from the American Psychological Association, sexualization on TV creates unrealistic expectations of one’s body and mental health issues.

The explicit on-screen nudity in teen shows like Euphoria can also be uncomfortable to its audiences, including junior Sachini Adikari. “It was like every other scene [that] someone was naked and it just bothered me,” she explained.

Besides the explicit nuKARIS TEBO dity, the on-screen violence

on TV has directly harmed some viewers.

Scenes eerily similar to those in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why have occurred in real-life, such as suicide attempts or rapes, directly following the release of the show.

13 Reasons Why depicts the very graphic suicide of the main character in the first season. According to Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the show was associated with a 28.9 percent increase in suicide rates among youth the month after the show was released. Netflix deleted the scene two years later after recommendations from medical experts.

Some feel as though the responsibility of what media to consume lies with the viewer. Blair freshman Olive Alipit explained, “There are plenty of things out there and people can decide not to watch it.” However, it does not matter if someone watches the show themselves, as it has become impossible to avoid clips or images of Euphoria on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. According to Twitter, Euphoria has become the most tweeted TV show of the decade, with more than 30 million tweets relating to the second season. Even if someone does not follow people who have tweeted about the show, they could still see related tweets, because the Twitter algorithm often features popular topics.

This new era of teen TV shows is causing serious harm to the audience they cater to and attract. There are ways to portray serious topics that affect adolescents without sexualizing them or dramatizing them to the point that they are no longer taken seriously. TV networks must work to include these topics for the purpose of educating the audience, not just for the purpose of entertainment.

have become more and more common in teen TV shows in the past decade. As these portrayals have become increasingly implemented in shows, controversy has also risen, with some believing that these portrayals are too intense for most teen viewers. But in reality, the most important effect of these tactics has been the work they do to decrease stigma and encourage healthy conversations.

Increased conversations surrounding these topics inevitably lead to less stigmatization. If film leads do not bring up these issues in a non-sugar coated way, then there will be no progress. This realness of new teen TV shows makes sensitive topics more relatable for teen viewers across the globe. “I think we should normalize [sensitive topics in TV shows],” Blair freshman Keelin Pegg said.

“It’s important to have these conversations, and having these conversations through TV, which kids watch a lot of, is important, too.”

Many teen TV shows today include topics ranging from drug abuse to toxic relationships. Such subjects are often rooted in a sense of stigma—parents struggle to broach these topics with their teens, and teens themselves often have difficulty bringing them up with peers. Popular TV shows like 13 Reasons Why and Euphoria push these issues to the forefront of discussion, thus decreasing the overall stigma surrounding them.

13 Reasons Why highlights issues such as suicide, domestic violence, bullying, sexual assault, and school shootings. According to a report by UCLA’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers, after watching the show, 88 percent of teens went on to discuss mental health with others, as found through Twitter content tracked in the weeks following the release of the first season.

Some shows that include scenes discussing mental illness often do so in a mocking

light. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that for programming released in 2019, “Twenty-two percent of film characters and half… of TV characters were shown in a humorous or mocking light. These findings suggest that experiences of individuals with mental health conditions are largely trivialized in entertainment storylines.” It is integral that these shows focus on discussing topics like this in a different way—in an intense, raw, and truthful light.

Shows like Euphoria portray characters with a mental illness in a serious and raw light. In one scene, Rue, a main character who deals with drug abuse, experiences a deep depressive episode, where she cannot get out of bed. Rather than making light of Rue’s addiction and struggle with depression, Euphoria shows the uncomfortable side, encouraging young audiences to take these issues more seriously.

Anastasia Matveev, a Blair senior, explained, “Shows like Euphoria do a good job of being honest about [these issues], and actually sourcing [their scenes] from real perspectives and real experiences.”

Newer TV shows produced on streaming services often depict nudity, intense language, and gruesome scenes. Although

these may come off as film techniques that can be too intense for certain viewers, the sense of reality that they add to shows is beneficial for all. These tactics work to decrease stigma and encourage conversations. “It is a good thing to not sugarcoat it,” Blair junior NuAmen Audena explained. “You can have it so you can show hard topics and not also make light of them.” When young audiences are unaware of the reality of these tough topics, they cannot hold healthy conversations that are centered around the truth.

If mass media and its supporters want to move forward and support healthy, truthful, and candid conversations around intense issues that impact many people, then there needs to be continuing support for realistically portraying them in teen television. Raw scenes result in the conversations t h a t today’s teens need.

“I think that [they] are more harmful because most people don’t know about these things, so now they feel more entitled to want to do it more.”

“I think that graphic scenes with mental illness should be in movies because it provides an insight even though it can be dark, it is realistic.”

“If someone has suffered through that thing, like depression, anxiety, or any sexual assualt, [these graphic scenes] are just going to be a remeberance to them.”

“[These graphic scenes] are better for some people because if you are going through something, and see the graphics on TV that really relate to your life, it may affect you.”

AMAL MANSOR sophmore

KYLE GARDNER

NERYS ARGUETA junior

JEREMIE DIBALA junior

silverchips

B2 Opinions March 24, 2022

The impact of an absence

By Haley Carter and Ila Raso Staff Writers AN OPINION “[Protests] are a form of school disobedience. I think there should be consequences to what you’re doing,” Blair senior Isabel Corvington said. As expressed by Corvington, the element of disobedience is central to protests, meaning a protest is no longer a true protest when it becomes excused by authority. An administration should not excuse a protest if the entire purpose of the protest is to go against that administration.

It is undeniable that student protests are an integral part of change in communities. Today’s youth are essential to driving changes throughout schools, government, and more.

Throughout recent years, support for student activism has grown, with school administrations some-

times directly supporting student protests. In some cases, students organize with their administrators to receive an excused absence for their time spent out of school protesting. However, this takes away from the spirit of the protest.

When activists participated in sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement, they did not ask restaurant owners for permission. The First Amendment ensures freedom of speech and assembly, meaning that no one person or group should need to ask for permission to protest. If the same principle is applied to MCPS students’ walkouts, then there should be no need for the

county to provide or for students to request an excused

absence.

When protesting, students should be willing to give something up in order for the protest to be an authentic form of civil disobedience. This is the core premise of protesting and activism. Students must accept the risks that come

with fighting against authority. “If you’re protesting, [you should] get an unexcused absence,” Blair social studies teacher Robert Gibb said. “Take the L, you know?”

By providing an excused absence and giving the “okay” to student protestors, the aspect of actively fighting against the norm is taken away. Students should not be primarily concerned with whether they will receive an excused absence when planning a protest or walkout from school. The cause at hand needs to be in the forefront of all planning.

The school may facilitate a much higher turnout of students to the protest, as some can use it as a reason to miss class. But this increase in numbers is not worth it, as the passion for the protest will then be lost.

Some students recalled seeing their peers participate in protests solely to miss part of school.

“There are people [at the protests] who went just to get out of school anyway, even if they weren’t getting an excused absence, so I’m sure there would be way more people if [there were excused absences provided],” Corvington explained.

Actual protests should be fueled by taking strides against the administration, rather than working within their terms.

With excused absences being provided for some student protests, those who truly care about the issue may be overrun by students who do not have a genuine concern for it. “[It’s] disgusting that [there are] students, the ones who seriously care and want to protest, and then there’s kids taking advantage [of the excused absence],” Gibb said.

Carla Martinez, a Blair senior

who transferred from Kennedy last year, described a walkout held by students throughout Kennedy to protest the lack of sanitization products provided throughout the hybrid learning period at the end

support of their school’s administration. Blair sophomore Beatrice Hill explained, “Our middle school principal was pretty liberal, so she was like ‘yeah, go to a protest!’ And

CAL TOBIAS

SCHOOL WALKOUT Students leave class to support increased COVID-19 restrictions. of the 2020-2021 school year. “We didn’t have enough to keep us protected from the virus, so a lot of kids gathered up and protested. It was a necessity. A lot of parents helped out. The cause was important for me so I was going to do it no matter what,” Martinez explained.

The students who participated in this walkout were not granted an excused absence, but were able to effectively send a message about the issue’s severity; onlookers saw that the students supported the cause regardless of the stain on their transcripts because the problem was important enough.

Some students in MCPS middle schools who participated in Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Our Future in March of 2019 gained the

we got an excused absence.” Hill added that they would still have chosen to attend the protest regardless of the status of attendance on their transcripts.

Another problem arises when the county must draw the line between MCPS-specific protests and those that cover more national issues. Students who stage protests against MCPS-specific policies or MCPS regulations are in a very distinct position. These students are staging a form of protest against the administration of MCPS itself.

If authenticity wishes to remain at the forefront of student activism, then excused absences need to go.

Materialist Girl

The harmful cycle of self care culture and consumerism

By Eliana Finberg and Sedise Tiruneh Staff Writers AN OPINION Gone are the days of parents telling their daughters to “not be that girl,” because now people do want to be “that girl.” The phrase has now become popular in the self care and productivity community on social media, describing the girl supposedly everyone aspires to be: beautiful, well-rested, put-together, and successful, among other desirable traits.

The cuture of the self care and productivity virtual spaces on social media has damaging effects on mental health and promotes a lifestyle of materialism, and should instead be focused on improving one’s life with what one already has.

Workout clothing sets, green juice, and jade skin care rollers are staples in videos and posts made by “that girl” influencers and content creators. A subgroup of “that girl” is the “clean girl” aesthetic, which focuses on minimalism and “looking clean,” by having sleek, smooth hair, clear and moisturized skin, and wearing minimalist clothing. It focuses heavily on skincare, a practice that can often be pricey.

While promoting productivity and organization is not inherently harmful, doing so can encourage overworking. “When you focus too much on things like productivity, a lot of the time [practical] self

care can get neglected, and that can definitely lead to burnout,” wellness and lifestyle influencer Emma Godfrey said in an interview with Silver Chips.

The trend is guilty of primarily showcasing the positive side of life and rarely acknowledges the bad days that come with the good ones.

“The problem stems from the fact that many people present themselves as having a balanced life, but they don’t [and] this is very much a curated part of their life,” Blair senior Simran Ohri said.

To address this problem, influencers must be at the forefront of the movement to create content that is more realistic and reflective in order to show balance, something Godfrey strives to do. “I want to start [showing] some of the unaesthetic sides of life, like rest and [demonstrating] that you’re not always productive,” Godfrey said.

As with many other trends, an influencer’s job is to market their individual lifestyle.

Creators make daily videos about their lives, which are akin to highlight reels of what they’ve done each day. These clips often also include advertisements for branded and expensive products. As a result, some viewers feel pressured to purchase these products in order to achieve the coveted lifestyle they

see on social media, commenting things like “I need this” and “Getting in the car to go buy this.”

As the lifestyles of content creators become increasingly commodified, influencers begin to use their platforms to market the trappings of their lifestyles to their audiences. By featuring skincare products, workout clothing, and other items deemed essential to the way they live, self care and lifestyle creators associate these items with the quality of the life they present.

While new serums and leggings are seemingly harmless, their prominence on social media compels audiences to mass consume these expensive products. The inaccessibility of these aesthetics makes it increasingly difficult for many consumers to mirror these aesthetics and attain what they see as health and beauty.

The social component of these aesthetics contributes to consumerism, as a 2021 study by Adweek reported that 49 percent of TikTok users have purchased something they saw reviewed, promoted, or advertised on the app. However, Carys Dale, a university student and wellness content creator based in Wales thinks that this consumption isn’t necessary. “You don’t need to buy loads of things,” Dale said in an interview with Silver Chips. “You don’t need to have a really pretty life in order to be healthy.”

Despite this, the prominence of materialism in these aesthetics leaves those without the financial means to purchase advertised products behind. “It feels like you have to buy new things in order to fit every new trend, and it’s kind of a strain on your bank account,” Blair junior Alyssa Limjuco noted.

The addictive nature of consumerist culture on social media

can make it hard to reject. “You buy into the lifestyle, and then as part of the lifestyle comes the products,” Ohri said.

Overall, the prevalence of these lifestyles on social media can have negative impacts on the mental

health of consumers and creators.

A 2019 University of Pennsylvania study found that high consumption of social media content, including self care and lifestyle content, leads to poor mental health, feelings of loneliness, dissatisfaction, and self-comparison.

This consumption has an even greater impact on young girls, ages 14-24, as an internal Facebook report found that at least a quarter of them felt that their feelings of inadequacy and comparison originated from Instagram. “There’s always positives and negatives to social

media, [and] some of them, like mindless scrolling or comparing yourself to other people, [are] important to take a step back from,” Godfrey said.

It is important to acknowledge that these mental health impacts

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

have nuance and vary from individual to individual. “It’s not like I watch a video and I instantly hate myself, but it slowly seeps into how you perceive things and what your own accomplishments look like,” Limjuco said.

Broadly, however, it is undeniable that these impacts distort reality and harm the self-worth of impressionable young users on these platforms. They deceptively convey positive habits and lifestyles that perpetuate dissatisfaction and self-comparison in consumers.

silverchips

March 24 2022 Opinions B3

Two-faced technology

NIST

False positive rates [were] highest in West and East African people and lowest in Eastern European individuals.

cial recognition system usage.

Local authorities are increasingly utilizing FRT from third-party companies as well, in operations such as law enforcement, criminal investigations, airport security, and tax verifications. In 2018, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority employed an FRT called veriScan for boarding verification requiring no boarding pass or passport.

FRT systems utilize a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning, which trains algorithms called neural networks on datasets filled with millions of photos of people’s faces to learn how to correctly identify facial profiles. As a result, inequity in these systems is caused primarily by under-representative data. “The algorithms could be working, the neural networks are doing their things, but if you don’t feed it the right kind of data, it’s not going to build a good model,” Blair Introduction to AI teacher Nora Blasko explained.

Extensive real-world consequences accompany the FRT systems trained on disproportionately skewed datasets. In law enforcement, Black Americans have been historically more likely to be arrested for minor crimes compared to white Americans. This human bias leads to a disproportionate number of Black faces in mugshot databases. When these imbalanced databases are then used to train FRT that are employed by police to identify suspects, a self-reinforcing cycle is created whereupon these technologies amplify human racial bias and lead to more false incarcerations.

Researchers at MIT also observed in March of 2022 that even

goals. “[MCPS policy] has no real action items,” Uehlein said. “It’s just flowery language [that says], ‘Oh, we want to commit to sustainability, we want to prioritize the environment in our education.’”

Another instance where MCPS policy lacks tangible standards for environmental impact is its participation in the Maryland Green Schools program, which provides certifications to schools that best address environmental issues and educate students about them. “​​I would love for there to be positions, paid positions, where people are held accountable for waste, whether it’s energy waste or material waste,” Blair Green Club sponsor and science teacher Elizabeth Levien said. “We have a statewide program called the Green Schools [Program], but I’m not sure how accountable schools are held once they achieve that status.”

MCPS is not the only Montgomery County institution whose environmental policy is characterized by posturing in place of action.

The Montgomery County Council does the same with the goals that it creates for the county as a whole. “[Montgomery County Council] environmental policy is actually very similar to MCPS in that they talk a big game and then really do not follow up,” Uehlein said. “They kind of like to say that they’re progressive and that they want to prioritize sustainability. And then they make very few moves towards actually doing that, similar to MCPS.” One example of Montgomery County’s broader environmental policy is the Montgomery County Climate Action Plan (CAP), which outlines a plan for both MCPS and other Montgomery County institutions to address the climate crisis. It

highlights goals that include the use of clean energy and more sustainable buildings and transportation.

“The Climate Action Plan is intended to be Montgomery County’s strategic plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2027 and 100 percent by 2035,” Shruti Bhatnagar, chair of Montgomery County’s Sierra Club, said. “The CAP details the effects of a changing climate on Montgomery County, and it includes the proposed actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

While environmental groups such as the Sierra Club agree that the goals present in the CAP are important, some also criticize the plan as lacking enough specificity. “We commended the county for working on [the CAP] and for preparing a draft plan,” Bhatnagar continued. “However, we did have some concerns and gave feedback on the Climate Action Plan to suggest that… it needed to be more specific.”

In addition to this, the Montgomery County Council has failed

when retraining a facial recognition algorithm with a more balanced dataset, there were still performance gaps of 20 percent or more in identifying individuals based on skin tone. These results strongly imply that, once a facial recognition algorithm “learns” from an imbalanced dataset, the bias becomes in-

grained in the alE gorithm itself. ELA MEHTA-HARWIT More research into correcting biased learning algorithms should be conducted to help companies improve any FRT previously trained on imbalanced data.

Representative data are critical, but so is ensuring that these algorithms are created by a diverse pool of software developers. “[People building these systems] might come with their own existing biases, or they might come with their own existing understanding of the L

On Jan. 9, 2020, 44-year-old Robert Julian-Borchak Williams was arrested at his suburban Detroit home in front of his wife and two young daughters for a robbery he did not commit. When shown a picture of the suspect by a detective during questioning, Williams denied that the man in the image was him. “The computer says it’s you,” the officer replied, according to Williams in an interview with the American Civil Liberties Union.

This wrongful arrest was the result of a misidentification by the Detroit Police Department’s facial recognition system, and it is not an isolated incident. Facial recognition technologies (FRT) are algorithms that use photos or videos to identify a person based on aspects of their face. When FRTs are entrusted with heavy tasks such as the identification of suspects in crimes, the consequences of one wrong match can be severe. At least two other people, both Black men, are known to have been wrongfully arrested due to flawed facial recognition by local law enforcement.

Until facial recognition technology can diminish the gaps in recognition rates across different demographic groups, it should not be employed by publicly-funded

institutions.

Studies consistently show that current iterations of FRT have poorer accuracy in identifying racial minorities and women as compared to white men. A study performed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2019 revealed that “false positive rates [were] highest in West and East African and East Asian people and lowest in Eastern European individuals.”

Furthermore, the 2018 “Gender Shades” project tested three commercial gender classification algorithms developed by Microsoft, IBM, and Face++. It found that all three products achieved higher accuracy on male faces compared to female faces, and higher accuracy on lighter faces compared to darker faces. All three algorithms performed the worst on darker-skinned females. For instance, IBM’s Watson Visual Recognition algorithms achieved an error rate of 34.7 percent for dark-skinned females compared to an error rate of 0.3 percent for light-skinned males.

This assessment was later verified independently by the NIST. When FRT systems developed by industry giants like IBM still misidentify one in three dark-skinned women, it would be egregiously unjust for government agencies to adopt and thus implicitly endorse these inequitable technologies.

Despite the findings of these studies, in August 2021, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that 24 federal agencies intend to expand facial recognition use by 2023, with 18 of the 24 already reporting use of FRT systems in 2020 for purposes such as digital access, domestic law enforcement, and physical security. The departments of Homeland Security, Defense, and Justice account for two-thirds of federal fa-

Z

By Annie Gao and Christy Li Staff Writers

Playing at preservation

By Milan Tenn Staff Writer AN OPINION “[MCPS] recently released a new environmental policy, but it’s not really binding in any way. It’s not there. It doesn’t take any specific actions,” Blair Green Club president Anna Uehlein said.

Montgomery County institutions, including MCPS, present themselves as highly proactive in their actions against environmental harm. The MCPS Division of Sustainability and Compliance claims to be “at the forefront of enviromental stewardship.” However, for

all of their activist rhetoric, the actual steps taken by MCPS and Montgomery County to protect the environment leave much to be desired.

One of the most important actions that MCPS needs to take is to create tangible and specific ways in which it can contribute to environmental sustainability. Instead, MCPS outlines lofty goals that it aims to reach as part of its environmental policy but does not explain how it will actually achieve those

ANNA UEHLEIN

COURTESY OF ANNA UEHLEIN

[Montgomery County Council] environmental policy is actually very similar to MCPS in that they talk a big game and then really do not follow up.

to quickly implement legislation such as Thrive Montgomery 2050, an update to the county’s general plan, that would work towards environmentally beneficial goals.

Though it was proposed in 2019, it

world or how the systems work,” Samuel Dooley, a graduate student at the University of Maryland Department of Computer Science auditing bias in facial recognition systems, said. Continued work toward reducing the equity gap in STEM for historically underrepresented groups, such as marginalized racial groups and women, will help to improve this diversity in algorithm developers.

Some government agencies are beginning to recognize the harm of inequitable FRT. On Feb. 7, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it would be dropping the facial scan verification requirement with third-party company ID.me to set up online tax-filing accounts due to concerns including the accuracy of such algorithms. Following their lead, other federal organizations must not employ FRT systems that are still providing inequitable results across many demographics without utilizing fair and representative datasets.

FRT has great potential to innovate and automate the United State’s approach to security, defense, and personal privacy.

However, until more resources are invested into correcting current biased learning algorithms, or new algorithms are created to accurately represent the diversity of the citizens they serve, government institutions should not be risking the costly consequences that occur when facial recognition goes wrong.

MAKING SIGNS FOR CHANGE Blair’s Green Club works to protect the environment. has been discussed by the County Council for years without meaningful action.

“Thrive Montgomery 2050 is really important. We have been strongly advocating for that,” Bhatnagar explained. “The county should move forward and this year, they’re still working on it. But you know, we are in 2022, and it was initially introduced in 2019.”

Despite the county’s inadequate handling of environmental issues, students have the ability to influence how the county proceeds through advocacy of climate issues.

According to Uehlein, changing governmental policy is one of the most important and effective ways to fight for the environment, even when compared to individually following a sustainable lifestyle.

“I wouldn’t talk about individual blame on climate change. A…

fossil fuel company actually created the term carbon footprint to pin climate blame on individuals rather than on themselves,” Uehlein continued. “What really matters is really governmental policy, in my opinion, because that’s what’s going to move our entire society forward.”

Student advocacy has the potential to make a significant impact when it reaches those in power.

Students who care about the environment should make an effort to change MCPS policy so that it includes clear ways to support a sustainable environment.

“Students are so powerful when they organize. I think people listen to students, especially when they’re really passionate and educated,” Levien said. “If we made a concerted effort within the county to really beef up our role, then people will listen.”

silverchips

B4 Opinions March 24, 2022

MCPS must expand extracurricular eligibility School extracurriculars should be a right, not a privilege. They provide students with countless benefits, ranging from a sense of community to increased confidence and improved mental health. Recognizing the positive educational environment sports and extracurriculars provide, the GPA requirement for participating in these activities should be removed for all students.

During the virtual school year, MCPS removed the GPA requirement for extracurricular activities, but has since brought it back. This choice suggests that the county believes students are no longer overwhelmed, stressed, or otherwise suffering due to the pandemic to the same extent as last year—a sentiment that contradicts the proven long-lasting impacts of virtual learning and the trauma associated with the pandemic. COVID-19 and its effects are going to permeate many aspects of students’ lives for the foreseeable future—the reasons MCPS cited when they originally rescinded the requirements still fully stand.

Fortunately, MCPS voted to permanently remove the 2.0 GPA requirement for freshmen to be eligible for extracurriculars effective at the start of this school year. This was a step in the right direction in ensuring access to a potentially life-changing opportunity for all students. All students should be able to enjoy the benefits that these communities provide. MCPS should extend this

eligibility policy to all grade levels, not just ninth graders, so that all students can take advantage of what extracurriculars have to offer.

The Board of Education’s decision to suspend the GPA requirement for freshman cited research that participation in extracurricular activities “leads to improved academic performance,” “promotes high self esteem,” and “teaches essential life skills.” It also noted that “extracurricular activities, including interscholastic sports, are a valuable part of the entire education of each student and are often cited among the key factors to helping students stay engaged in school.” If this is truly the case, then why would MCPS reinstate a barrier that prevents many students from partaking in activities that keep them connected to the school community and improve their overall wellbeing?

Instead, MCPS should see extracurricular activities as a way to connect with students who are struggling academically. If MCPS wants students to improve their academic performance and value learning in the classroom, they should provide educational resources such as academic liaisons and tutoring opportunities through the athletic department or extracurricular activities.

Rather than telling students with low GPAs that they are not allowed to participate until they figure out their issues independently, MCPS should focus on the motivational and intercon-

nected nature of sports teams, theater casts and crews, and other extracurricular communities that can help students improve their grades. For those who may have trouble connecting with teachers or resonating with topics taught in the classroom, a role model from a sports team or in the theater department may be exactly what they need to improve their grades and gain confidence in the classroom.

MCPS’s core purpose is to “prepare all students to thrive in their future.” An essential aspect of this goal is recognizing the multifaceted definition of success. While academics are important, so are other experiences facilitated by extracurricular activities. By limiting access to activities that may lead to future career opportunities and general life improvement, MCPS is inhibiting the success of its students, rather than fulfilling its mission.

The benefits of extracurricular activities are vast, ranging from better mental and physical health improvements to helping students develop key life skills.

Why are we taking away these experiences from students, just because they don’t have a certain level of academic performance?

MCPS must remove the 2.0 GPA requirement for extracurriculars and athletics so that all students can enjoy the benefits that come with being part of a school community.

Protecting the Truth

JAY CHAO

How mis- and dis- information online can blur the lines of reality

By Ashley Thommana Ombudsman/News Editor In 2016, “post-truth” was selected as Oxford Dictionaries’ international word of the year. Defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief,” the word’s significant increase in use—2,000 percent over one year—spurred the decision to recognize its influence. Since then, the term’s usage has continued, spawning the phrase “post-truth era.”

A common descriptor of the current state of news and information in our society, the “post-truth era” paints the stark image of a truthless world. Whether this is an exaggeration or not, the term points towards the undeniable rise of misinformation and disinformation, propagated by the ease of communication via the internet and social media.

Differing by a single letter, is

the distinction between misinformation and disinformation simply semantic? The distinction between misinformation and disinformation has to do with intent. When one shares false information believing it is true, that is known as misinformation. Disinformation, however, is shared deliberately with the intent of spreading false information.

But, why does it matter? Why must we take a stand against misand dis-information? Why is it so imperative that we safeguard the truth?

A walk through history provides more than enough support.

Time and time again, when the information people have access to is limited and distorted, they are cornered into acting a certain way, cornered into submission. Protests quelled; concerns erased; the unthinkable permitted. The control of information limits the power of citizens, communities, and societies, benefiting those who create the narrative.

As such, the prevalence of false

SARAH MARTIN

information is troubling. With social media and the internet facilitating global interconnectedness, it seems as now there is enough information to go around the world a million times over. Every single moment, every passing second of every day, something new is being published, shared, and discussed.

Among this deluge of posts, likes, and comments, false narratives often surpass the truth. A 2018 publication in the Science Journal noted that it took up to six times as long for true information

to reach 1,500 people as compared to false information.

The pandemic has especially highlighted how misinformation can hinder our ability as a nation and world to deal with pressing issues that require swift and decisive action. The relentless bombardment of inaccurate and unreliable information, regarding the virus itself, masks, vaccination, and more, slowed progress when it came to limiting the spread of disease.

The concurrent “infodemic”—a term describing the misinformation that accompanies a disease crisis—has exposed the far-reaching effects of false narratives and their capability to influence the response to a global emergency. “According to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, areas of the country exposed to television programming that downplayed the severity of the pandemic saw greater numbers of cases and deaths—because people didn’t follow public health precautions,” a 2020 Scientific American article reported.

In the U.S., much of the pandemic’s false information has been aligned with the highly divisive political landscape between conservative and liberal beliefs. “Political affiliation has deeply shaped how people understand and respond to the pandemic,” the Brookings Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization, wrote in Dec. 2020.

“As noted in parallel research from Gallup and others, attitudes about [COVID-19]’s risks and willingness to engage in disease-suppression behaviors like social distancing are strongly related to politics.”

Internationally, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing war presents yet another area where information is crucial. The conflict has been described as an “information war”—where there exists a race to control the narrative, a significant tactic in modern warfare.

To connect with Ashley, email her at scombud@ gmail.com

We can find examples of misand dis- information, both local and international. Adapting our guidelines and habits to account for the disproportionate false narratives that circulate is a must; and the onus cannot solely be placed on those who consume news and information. While we all must question what we read and share, especially on social media, public platforms must also prioritize debunking false claims, ensuring that the truth is not drowned out by false narratives.

Until mis- and dis-information are stamped out, social media cannot act as a consistently reliable source of news. While it may highlight the truth that falls through the cracks or is deliberately ignored, these social networks are also hubs of misleading and deceitful information that, when weaponized (and it would be remiss not to recognize that it 100 percent is), endanger our individual rights. Scroll wisely.

Scan the QR code below to fill out a quick survey on Silver Chips to help us improve our paper.

la

esquinalatina Representando la comunidad latinx desde el 2003

El 24 de Marzo de 2022

Volumen 19 Número 4

Ritmo y rumba Nuevas tendencias en la música latina Por Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo y Yasmine Rivera Editora en jefe & escritora ¿A que se refiere exactamente la frase música latina? ¿Es la música en español? ¿El artista tiene que identificarse como latinx? La multitud y variedad dentro de la música latina la hace increíblemente difícil de definir.

Una manera en que se define la música latina es el lenguaje de una canción. En los Latin Grammys, probablemente el premio más prestigioso dentro de la música lati-

PETRA RIVERA-RIDEAU

Yo reconozco que el reggaetón es un género distinto de la banda, que es distinto de la cumbia, que es distinta de la salsa. Pero el término música latina homogeneiza todas esas cosas

na, una canción se considera elegible para Grabación del Año si la canción tiene 51 por ciento o más de su letra en español, portugués o en lenguas o dialectos o expresiones idiomáticas reconocidos en Iberoamérica. Sin embargo, esta definición también tiene críticas.

“Hay mucha gente que ha criticado este enfoque en el lenguaje y la definición lingüística, porque, particularmente en los Estados Unidos, también se cuestiona la idea de que el español es el marcador definitorio de la latinidad”, explica Petra Rivera-Rideau, quien estudia la intersección entre la raza y etnia y la cultura de Latinoamérica y comunidades latinx en el EE.UU. en una entrevista con el podcast Code Switch.

De acuerdo con un estudio del Centro de Investigación de Pew, el 67 por ciento de la po-

Silvana Estrada

Silvana Estrada, una cantante de Veracruz, México, tuvo una infancia llena de música. Sus padres son músicos y fabricantes de instrumentos y desde que era chiquita participaba en clases de baile de estilo africano. Ella creció escuchando música de Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday y Mercedes Sosa en casa.

Su música tiene influencias de Soledad Bravo y Chavela Vargas.

Estrada lanzó su primer EP Primeras Canciones en 2018 y poco después firmó con Glassnote, una casa discográfica que se enfoca

en música indie y folclórica.

Su nuevo álbum Marchita, que salió el 21 de enero de 2022, es una mezcla de música folclórica mexicana y se trata de sus desengaños amorosos. La letra está llena de proclamaciones románticas colmadas de dolor y tristeza. En una entrevista con NPR, Estrada cuenta que “La producción de mi álbum es simplemente dejar que mi voz viaje y tenga la oportunidad de ir directamente a tu pecho y hacer que tu pecho vibre”. Durante todos sus conciertos ella siempre toca el cuatro venezolano, una guitarra con solo cuatro cuerdas. Solo usa instrumentos acústicos y con su voz dulce crea un álbum precioso, nostálgico y agridulce.

M

IA

LE

encia tenga una conexión muy

GS VIN

íntima con sus canciones.

En

Juliana Velásquez

Otra nueva artista es Juliana Velásquez. Ella es una actriz, cantante, y compositora colombiana

entrevis-

Velásquez afirmó

que

“hablar para

sanar”

para ella es expresar un problema en una can-

L’Gante

Un nuevo artista es L’Gante (así es conocido artísticamente) o Elian Ángel Valenzuela. Él es un cantante de trap y cumbia argentino.

Hoy en día es uno de los cantantes más influyentes de Argentina. El empezó a producir música en el 2017 pero llegó a tener más reconocimiento en el 2020 con su hit RKT con Papu DJ. L’Gante empezó a producir canciones a los 15 años y aunque no tenía mucho reconocimiento no se rindió. Con una canción que sacó en el 2018 Uno más uno obtuvo mucha popularidad en Argentina y ahora tiene más de 20 millones reproducciones en YouTube. RKT fue la canción que le dio mucho reconocimiento no solo en Argentina sino también en otros países de habla hispana. El año del 2021 fue un año muy dinámico para el artista, quien produjo alrededor de 30 canciones, algunas propias y otras colaboraciones.

En una entrevista con Caja Negra, L’Gante comentó, “Siento que lo logré, y bastante temprano.

Hay muchas cosas más por recorrer, pero ya es una banda… yo iba en colectivo a las 5 AM a trabajar, pero a la vuelta, a las 3 de la tarde, aunque hacía calor, volvía caminando y eran como 40 cuadras… aprovechaba ese viaje para ir pensando, analizando, lo que iba a hacer con mi proyecto, mi música... en ese camino pensaba todo”. Pudo entrar al Hot 100 de Argentina de Billboard con su colaboración con Bizarrap en BZRP Music Session #38. De acuerdo con su perfil, “no pretende cambiar lo que es o de dónde viene y tampoco modificará su forma de ser”. Su música atrae una sólida audiencia por toda Latinoamérica.

una

ta con Infobae,

ción, que se convierte en algo sanador ya que habla de que ganó el Latin Grammy de Mejor Nuevo Artista en el 2021.

Velásquez, quien se enfoca en el pop latino, es más reconocida como actriz, aunque ha empezado una carrera de cantante muy exitosa. Sus canciones tienen un significado muy personal. Ella utiliza sus canciones A la medi-

algo que los demás desconocen o pasan por alto. También comentó, “hablar para sanar va a seguir y va a seguir desarrollándose con muchas más cosas y una red de apoyo mucho más fuerte y contundente, ahora que tenemos más ojitos encima. Vienen nuevas

canciones,

vienen

nuevos

mensajes, enen

vi-

nuevas

historias que traen

con-

sigo causas diferentes”.

La

can-

ción con la que ganó el premio Latin Grammy

fue

Joaquín. En su breve discurso después de recibir el premio, ella explicó que da, Electricidad y Cóseme para abordar temas muy personales, tales como los trastornos alimentarios, el embarazo no deseado, y el suicidio. Tener canciones con esta clase de temas tan personales logra que la audi-

La producción de mi álbum es simplemente dejar que mi voz viaje y tenga la oportunidad de ir directamente a tu pecho y hacer que tu pecho vibre

SILVANA ESTRADA

blación hispana en los Estados Unidos nacieron en los Estados Unidos.

Adicionalmente, dentro de la música latina hay una variedad de géneros musicales, cada uno con su propio estilo y sonido. Rivera-Rideau elabora que “Parte de lo que hace definir la música latina tan difícil es que abarca una gran cantidad de géneros que también son bastante complejos...Yo reconozco que el reggaetón es un género distinto de la banda, que es distinto de la cumbia, que es distinta de la salsa. Pero el término música latina homogeneiza todas esas cosas”.

Alejandra Ramírez, una estudiante del décimo grado cuenta que “Escucho reggaeton, bachata, Bad Bunny, Romeo Santos, Ozuna, [y] Anuel”.

Aunque existen tantos diferentes géneros bajo la idea de la música latina, fuera de la comunidad latinx esta diversidad no es tan visible. Joseph Villanueva, un estudiante del noveno grado, cree que “Siento que bastantes personas de otros países, como por ejemplo los Estados Unidos, Inglaterra, todo eso, tienen una idea diferente, como que es más movida…le ponen otra diferente sensación, a la forma como de bailar o cantar”.

Aun así, Villanueva dice que él no cambiaría esta percepción.

Queremos destacar la variedad dentro de la música latina y dar una oportunidad a que los estudiantes de Montgomery Blair encuentren nuevos artistas para escuchar. Hemos escogido tres artistas latinx de diferentes géneros musicales que producen música en español.

Joaquín trata sobre un pescador colombiano que fue a trabajar al mar y nunca regresó. Además, destacó a todas las personas que ha conocido y las historias que ha podido compartir a través de su música, tanto como su deseo de continuar reflejando eso con su música. Sus canciones tienen un significado muy íntimo y personal, que impulsa a que la audiencia conecte con su música y la sigan escuchando.

silverchips

C2 La Esquina Latina el 24 de marzo de 2022

Acentos y dialectos

lingüística, es que los seres humanos incluso cuando hablamos la misma lengua las lenguas siempre evolucionan entonces el español ha evolucionando de diferentes Camiseta. Camisola. Chemas.

Franela. Playera. Polo. Remera. partes de Latinoamérica”.

El dialecto es la variedad de una Blusa. Estas palabras las oímos diariamente de diferentes perso- lengua que no entra dentro de la nas hispanohablantes que definen categoría social de un idioma. Los la misma cosa, una prenda de ves- acentos son conjuntos de las partir que cubre la parte superior del ticularidades fonéticas, rítmicas y melódicas que caracterizan el habla cuerpo.

Aunque se hable el mismo idio- de un país, región, o ciudad. Los ma, el español, los acentos y dia- acentos pueden ayudar a identilectos son factores que hacen más ficar a alguien de qué país son y diversa esta comunidad lingüística. también enseña la historia, tradiCon más de 570 millones de his- ciones y culturas de cada país. Ana panohablantes en el mundo y 21 López Méndez, una estudiante de países donde el español es la len- Honduras en el décimo grado exgua oficial, entre los latinx no solo plica que “sí [acentos y variantes] … existe la diversidad humana sino identifica bastante las personas de también diversidad lingüística. De- donde son, es como parte de su bido a las diferentes variantes del personalidad”. español, la lengua no se habla de Los acentos y variantes enseñan una sola manera específica.

La doctora Jennifer Leeman,​​ de dónde vienen las personas. LeeDirectora del Diplomado en Edu- man agrega que, “es nuestra idencación de la Lengua de Herencia tidad que de una manera se refleja Española en la Universidad de en los acentos”.

Por Estefany Benitez Gonzalez y Yasmine Rivera Escritoras

Esnorbor

Raspado

Piragua

YEISON COTOM

George Mason comenta que, “es un constante recuerdo de la diversidad humana en general viene de la diversidad de entre la población latinx y también de la diversidad

Minuta Leonardo Aranguibel, un estudiante del noveno grado originario de Venezuela, destaca que hay tensión al hablar por su velocidad, “Sí, bastante, porque hablo muy

rápido”. Aunque ha tenido malentendidos por la forma que habla, él todavía cree que es interesante tener estas diferencias en nuestra comunidad, “Sí, me parece que sí”, continúa Aranguibel.

En Montgomery Blair, el 33 por ciento de los estudiantes se identifican como hispanos. Entre este porcentaje se encuentran alumnos originarios de Honduras, México, Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, entre otros. Por eso, Blair es un lugar ejemplar donde los acentos también pueden tener una connotación negativa debido a los perjuicios asociados con estos. Demas Lemas, un estudiante de noveno, nos cuenta “Algunas veces sí” sus amigos se burlan de él por su acento en español. De la misma manera, Rudi Figueroa, un estudiante en el grado doceavo cuenta sobre las burlas sobre su acento, “A veces porque apenas lo puedo hablar”.

Así lo explica María Jesús Criado en su artículo Percepciones y actitudes en torno a la lengua española en Estados Unidos, “Los prejuicios ante las derivaciones, que las deslegitiman y devalúan, y la burla de los adultos y coterráneos por la mezcla de términos anglos o los errores gramaticales en jóvenes y niños, son, pues, otra de las vías que drenan la base social del español en Estados Unidos”.

Leeman explica que, “Los acentos se asocian con ciertos grupos de diversas identidades entonces ya eso despierta nuestros prejuicios”.

De esta manera se observa que los prejuicios comienzan desde la cultura de cada quien, de forma tal que las personas de socioeconomía más baja son muchas veces despreciados y las personas con socioeconómica alta podrían ser exaltados.

Dentro del idioma existe un concepto de un español neutral, que se puede entender entre nacionalidades. “Esas palabras neutrales son palabras que solo utilizan las personas con más recursos socioe-

Palomitas

s

eta Crisp

conómicos en cada país”, comenta Leeman.

Aunque algunos podrían considerar como neutrales las palabras que están en un diccionario, esto también conlleva su propio perjuicio. Leeman continua, “Necesitan tener un cierto nivel de educación para conocer esas palabras. Entonces y esa idea del español neutral de alguna manera es como una visión negativa de como hablan las personas mas humildes o de menos recursos socioeconómicos”.

Esta ideología hace que exista un prejuicio contra la forma en que algunas personas hablan. También crea una mentalidad donde ciertos países gozan de alta estima y hace que ciertos países sean considerados “mejores” que otros. “Es cierto que juzgamos a la gente pero debemos pensar también en cómo se utiliza el lenguaje como una herramienta de exclusión” resume Leeman.

“Entonces todas la actitudes, como cuando la gente dice ‘no, el español colombiano es el más bonito’ no tiene nada que ver con el español en sí, tiene que ver con la idea que tienen de los colombianos entonces me parece muy bien que esten hablando de esto porque creo que el racismo y el sexismo muchos tipos de prejuicios ya los reconocemos y intentamos explo-

¿Apasionadas?

Canchas

Cabr

itas

rar estos temas. Pero el lenguaje y el prejuicio lingüístico y no solo el prejuicio lingüístico sino la discriminacion lingüística son cosas que no se hablan mucho y que la gente las acepta y nos parece normal decir que mal habla esa persona y no pensamos que estamos haciendo algo ofensivo”, destacó Leeman.

Algunos de los estudiantes entrevistados expresaron exactamente lo que decía Leeman. Por ejemplo, Angel Castellanos, un estudiante de Montgomery Blair dijo que “se escucha hermoso, [mi acento favorito es] de Colombia”.

De igual manera, López Méndez también comenta “A mí me encanta; no tengo un favorito pero me gusta como los dominicanos hablan rápido”.

Isabel González Cruz en su artículo Lengua, prestigio y prejuicios lingüísticos, explica que existe “una gran complejidad que rodea al tema de la interrelación lengua-sociedad, un binomio de múltiples facetas que…no son más que el reflejo de la gran diversidad y de lo inextricable de la propia naturaleza humana”. Por eso, no importa si se dice crispetas, pochoclo, palomitas o cotufas. El español es español y tiene el mismo valor, y el el popcorn es igual de delicioso, se diga como se diga.

La mujer latina no es un sinónimo de sensualidad y drama Por Ivania Valladares Escritora UNA OPINIÓN

Lo que hace que una mujer latina sea única es su actitud, como trata a otros…

La mujer latina es una mujer muy fuerte.

NATALIE LEIVA

“Grandes caderas, unas cinturas pequeñas, un trasero grande con pelo largo y algunas son blancas, algunas son morenas”, es lo que se imagina Keren Amaya, una estudiante del décimo grado, al pensar en una mujer latina.

Los estereotipos hacia la mujer latina es algo que todos conocen, ya sea como una mujer voluptuosa con líneas curvas y piel bronceada o con un acento fuerte. Sin embargo, lo que muchos no consideran es que estos adjetivos sexistas tienen efectos dañinos para este grupo de mujeres.

En la cultura popular de los Estados Unidos estos estereotipos se repiten constantemente. Esto sucede, especialmente, en la industria de Hollywood, donde representan a estas mujeres ante la sociedad como personajes específicos, tales como la payasa, la mujer misteriosa, un objeto sexual, ayudante doméstica, entre otros.

Exótica, ruidosa, voluptuosa, apasionada y atrevida son estereotipos que se han vuelto muy comunes en series o películas estadounidenses en la actualidad.

Un claro ejemplo incluye el personaje de Gloria Delgado en la serie Familia moderna, o Modern Family en inglés. Sofia Vergara, una actriz colombiana, interpreta el personaje de Gloria, el cual es representado como la mujer payasa, misteriosa, joven, atractiva y de acento fuerte y que también está

constantemente haciendo conexiones con narcotraficantes. Frases como “No soy una cabeza caliente. ¡Soy colombiana! ¡Nos emocionamos! Mi país está cubierto de café” o “Soy colombiana, conozco una escena de el crimen falsa cuando la veo” son algunas de las frases estereotipadas que dice el personaje en la serie.

Así como esta, hay muchas ocasiones en las cuales los medios estadounidenses muestran a la mujer latina con características estereotí-

picas. Otro ejemplos son Jennifer Lopez en A Maid in Manhattan y Flor Moreno en Spanglish.

Muchos estudiantes de la comunidad de Blair tienen el mismo concepto sobre los rasgos físicos de una mujer latina, “usualmente lindas, creadas muy bonitas, como con mucha cadera” dice Mars Marino, un estudiante de décimo grado.

Otro aspecto de esto son las redes sociales, algo muy común hoy en día y que puede influir mucho en la manera en que las latinas son vistas. Sandra M. Cypess, una profesora de literatura latinoamericana en la Universidad de Maryland que

investiga teoria feminista, explica que “si ven tantos ejemplos de estereotipos en periódicos o en la televisión, inconscientemente van a pensar que eso es como es la vida”.

El profesor mexicano-américo William Anthony Nereccio, al ser entrevistado para el sitio en línea Reuters añade, “Si abres una revista y diez veces a la semana personas que se llaman García o Rodríguez son sirvientas, vas a crecer pensando que debes ser sirvienta”.

Los estudiantes también tienen sus opiniones sobre este tema.

Bonnie Polson, una estudiante de onceavo grado, dice “Las redes sociales pueden ser usadas para difundir estereotipos o romper estereotipos”.

El estudiante Arnauld Tegom, quien está en onceavo grado, dice “siempre están enojadas, algunas son ruidosas, algunas de ellas son calladas” este es un ejemplo de otro estereotipo muy común sobre las mujeres latinas.

Aunque Marino no está de acuerdo con esto y dice, “Es como, bastante injusto, como que se espera que todas las mujeres latinas sean ruidosas y como, no sé, ellas han sido puestas en una cierta categoría que es poco halagadora para ellas cuando honestamente, son personas realmente increíbles”.

Tanto en el pasado como hoy en día, los medios norteamericanos han creado una imagen física, laboral, personal y sentimental de cómo una mujer latina se debe ver y cómo debe actuar. La Señora Cypess plantea: “Entonces tenemos que tratar de dar más información a la gente en Estados Unidos

y darles la realidad de la multiplicidad de posibilidades para la mujer latina, que no solamente es una criada o una mujer en casa, ¡no! Y un buen ejemplo claro es Sonia Sotomayor, que está ya como jueza, una mujer muy inteligente, muy importante que tiene esa posición a pesar de empezar como una mujer pobre, de una familia pobre, ¿verdad?”

Adicionalmente, las redes sociales y los medios de comunicación también causan que las mujeres latinas sean sexualizadas en los Estados Unidos y promueven una realidad muy imprecisa de cómo se ven o se deberían ver.

La sociedad hace que las mujeres latinas tengan una imagen en

su mente de cómo se deben ver físicamente y es algo frustrante, ya que existe un ideal respecto a cómo debemos lucir. Al momento de vernos al espejo y no alcanzar esos ideales, las mujeres latinas nos sentimos mal con nosotras mismas y que muchas piensan que no son suficientemente latinas. Dejando de lado todos estos estereotipos e ideales, las mujeres latinas son únicas a su manera y sin necesidad de satisfacer estos estereotipos sexistas.

Natalie Leiva, una estudiante de noveno grado, explica que “Lo que hace que una mujer latina sea única es su actitud, como trata a otros…

La mujer latina es una mujer muy fuerte”.

silverchips

el 24 de marzo del 2022 La Esquina Latina C3

Ayudando en tiempos de guerra Jóvenes españoles dan una mano a refugiados ucranianos en Hungría Por Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo y Kevin Vela Editora-en-jefe & escritor

muchos contactos, porque uno de ellos tiene algo con la ONU o trabaja con la ONU. Entonces pues sí, trabajamos a veces con ellos. ¿Qué tipo de donaciones están aceptando?

Debido a la guerra entre Rusia y Ucrania, que empezó el 24 de febrero, individuos y organizaciones por todo el mundo se han movilizado para ayudar a los refugiados que han huido de Ucrania. De acuerdo con las Naciones Unidas, a partir del 18 de marzo, más de 3 millones de individuos han tenido que huir de Ucrania y más de 1.9 millones han sido desplazados internamente.

La Esquina Latina habló con Marta Sanchez Cuadrado, una estudiante universitaria española que está pasando un año Erasmus en Hungría y quien, junto a un grupo de estudiantes, está proporcionando recursos a los refugiados de Ucrania que llegan diariamente a ese país. Esta conversación ha sido editada para obtener claridad.

Claro, de momento, como todos nuestros contactos están en España, pues porque realmente nosotros aquí venimos solo estudiantes y no tenemos muchos contactos, entonces de momento sigue así, solo dinero. Y en el caso de que conozcamos gente aquí, pues sí que pedimos comida y demás, pero en principio solo dinero, porque claro, no conocemos mucha más gente que pueda traer cosas físicas porque no estamos cerca de nuestros familiares. ¿Qué es lo que más te ha conmovido dentro de tanta inestabilidad?

¿Puede presentarse y su organización?

MARTA SANCHEZ CUADRADO

Yo también estaba un poco asustada, pero hasta que no empezamos a hacer la ayuda y todo eso, no se me quitó un poco el miedo y vi que en verdad lo que tenía que hacer era ayudar lo máximo que pudiera.

¿Puedes describir tu experiencia en Hungría antes de que empezara la guerra?

Pues yo diría que mi experiencia en Hungría es ante todo muy enriquecedora, porque no solo por el hecho de tener que vivir solo y

CORTESíA DE MARTA SANCHEZ CUADRADO

RECAUDANDO RECURSOS PARA REFUGIADOS Un grupo de estudiantes españoles en Hungría ayudan en este momento de crisis. por en cierto modo independizarme por un año, sino porque he tenido que conocer muchísimas personas nuevas, tanto españoles como internacionales. También el tenerme que haber adaptado a una universidad internacional en otro idioma. Porque, yo pienso que los idiomas al final te abren un poco la mente y tener que hacer todo yo sola. Por lo demás, yo creo que es una experiencia fantástica. El país es precioso y muy barato para viajar. ¿Y cómo te sentiste cuando empezó la guerra? ¿Cuáles fueron tus primeras reacciones?

Pues justo cuando empezó la guerra yo estaba en España porque había ido a darle una sorpresa a mis padres para no estar tanto tiempo sin verles. Y yo tenía comprado ya el vuelo de vuelta y mi madre no quería que me volviera, quería que me quedara allí porque estaba asustada. Pero realmente Hungría es un país seguro de momento, ya que está en la OTAN y de momento no hay ningún problema. Entonces yo igualmente me vine. Yo también estaba un poco asustada, pero hasta que no empezamos a hacer la ayuda y todo eso, no se me quitó un poco el miedo y vi que en verdad lo que tenía que hacer era ayudar lo máximo que pudiera. Y mientras tanto, en vez de estar de brazos cruzados esperando a que avanzara la guerra o con miedo, mejor estar ayudando a tanta gente que necesita ayuda ahora mismo aquí. ¿Cuáles fueron las primeras señales que tú personalmente viste de que las cosas estaban cambiando?

Pues las primeras señales eran que empezaban… bueno, es que es un poco extraño, pero nosotros estamos siempre buscando vuelos baratos para irnos de viaje y de repente empezamos a ver como que los vuelos estaban demasiado baratos y enseguida leímos las noticias y cada día fue automático, cada día iba peor a peor, era peor la situación. Y pues nada, de un día para

otro. Por la mañana me desperté y dijeron mis amigos por un grupo de WhatsApp que los rusos habían entrado ya en Ucrania. ¿Puedes describir a los refugiados que estás ayudando? Quiénes son? ¿De dónde vienen específicamente?

Sí, pues el primer día que fuimos a ayudar a una de esas estaciones, llenamos un montón de carros de supermercado y no nos dejaban entrar porque, no sabíamos por qué. Y cuando nos enteramos, al parecer acababa de bajarse de la estación un tren con 1,200 refugiados y justo empezamos a verlos salir. Y eran madres y niños, sobre todo. O sea, no había ningún hombre y eso me impactó muchísimo, aunque ya lo sabía. Pero verlo en la realidad es diferente. Principalmente madres y niños, que diría que estaban tristes, pero demasiado contentos estaban para la situación que estaban. Es verdad que había alguna señora llorando, pero no estaban del todo desanimados. ¿Que hicieron después de pedir dinero a sus familias y sus amigos?, ¿cuáles fueron los primeros pasos que tomaron?

Primero mandamos el difundido a nuestras familias y ya una vez que por que nuestras familias nos mandaban dinero pero nos lo mandaron una vez. Después lo que pedimos era que nos difundieran. Después creamos una cuenta, una cuenta de Instagram, también una cuenta de Facebook y gracias a Dios teníamos contactos en un sitio u otro y a base de movernos y por casualidades, también hemos salido ayer en la tele. Bueno, como una tele que es un canal de televisión, la televisión española y también en algunos periódicos y demás, y eso nos ha dado muchísima difusión. ¿Y qué tipos de ayudas están ofreciendo?

Pues primero eso, la que os he dicho de ir a los supermercados.

Llenamos los carros, sobre todo de plátanos, barritas, comida que se pueda dar rápidamente.

MARTA SANCHEZ CUADRADO

Yo soy Marta Sanchez Cuadrado y estoy de Erasmus en Budapest. Erasmus es una beca que dan en Europa a los estudiantes para que puedan ir a estudiar a otros países. Y bueno, tengo aquí un grupo de amigos, somos como un grupo de 20, o así. Pero bueno, os digo algunos nombres Bosco Velasco, Paloma Hermana, Carmen Arranza, Carlos Romero, Manolo González, Miguel Raya y muchos otros más. Tuvimos esta idea porque unos amigos nuestros que también están con la misma beca Erasmus, pero en Polonia, empezaron la misma iniciativa y nos pareció muy buena idea ya que [Hungría] pues también es frontera con Ucrania.

La verdad es que nos acercamos a dos estaciones de tren, que es donde eran los principales puestos de ayuda porque es a donde llegan los refugiados desde Ucrania y allí había muchos voluntarios, como por ejemplo de la Cruz Roja y otros voluntarios que llevan particulares y les preguntábamos cada día que necesitaban de ayudas y hacíamos una compra. Y como vimos que hacía falta mucha ayuda, pues ya escribimos un mensaje, una difusión a nuestra familia y a nuestros amigos y para comentarles lo que estábamos haciendo y ya pues empezamos a recibir dinero por parte de más gente.

Llenamos los carros, sobre todo de plátanos, barritas, comida que se pueda dar rápidamente. Nada más llegan a la estación. También mucha fruta, pañales, productos de higiene, muchos jabones pequeñitos de esto de viaje también. Pero ya como vimos que también había más gente que estaba haciendo lo mismo, hemos empezado a movernos de otra manera y estamos planeando que el miércoles y jueves vamos a ir a la frontera porque allí es donde de verdad hace falta la ayuda. Vamos a alquilar unos coches, unas furgonetas y la idea es llevar alimentos y muchísimas medicinas también, porque las medicinas las necesitan para llevarlas aquí directamente, que eso no lo hacemos nosotros. Nosotros solo vamos a la frontera y cuando volvamos, cuando volvamos a Budapest, traemos familias y hemos calculado que nos vamos a traer como 100 personas. ¿Y están trabajando con alguna otra organización?

Bueno, no, no la dirección como tal. Sí, lo que he dicho que es Cruz Roja, como que nos dice que es lo que necesitan, pero simplemente son voluntarios que están en las estaciones. Pero hemos contactado con otro grupo de estudiantes Erasmus que en este caso son alemanes y da la casualidad que estaban haciendo lo mismo que nosotros entonces, pues para muchas cosas nos juntamos porque además ellos también tienen

Pues yo siempre se lo cuento a mi familia y es el momento en el que vi cómo se estaban bajando todas las mujeres y niños del tren y yo simplemente llevaba un carro con una amiga y nos pusimos a repartir chocolatinas. Pero, vamos.

Yo miré a mi amiga, ella me miró a mí y prácticamente estábamos casi llorando. No, no me iba a poner ahí a llorar porque me parecía muy egoísta, pero teníamos las lágrimas saltadas, porque no es lo mismo cuando lo ves en la televisión que como si lo viéramos en una película. Es horrible, es una barbaridad y es una peli, una pesadilla, pero al fin y al cabo lo vemos en la pantalla o lo leemos en las noticias, pero nosotros lo teníamos delante y eran personas que eran solo mujeres y niños y que les habían tenido que echar. Habían tenido que huir de su país por una guerra y eran solo mujeres y niños porque realmente no sabían cuando iban a volver a ver a sus padres y ni siquiera si les iban a volver a ver. Y eso fue la verdad, que es un choque que también por verlo de una manera positiva nos hizo valorar mucho lo que teníamos. ¿Dónde se están quedando los refugiados cuando llegan a la ciudad?

Pues en el mismo, bueno, en la misma estación hay un puesto también que pone, bueno, pone como alojamiento y transporte algo así, entonces es como que bueno, también hay otro puesto que pone Airport que les llevarán al aeropuerto, supongo. Yo me imagino que según las capacidades económicas de cada uno les llevan a un sitio u otro, pero sobre todo a los que tienen menos capacidad, les están llevando a albergues, hostales y de hecho uno de los días, en vez de pedirnos comida, nos pidieron que fuéramos a alguna tienda, por ejemplo Ikea o algo así, y que compráramos colchones, edredones y almohadas para ir equipando hoteles. Pues bueno, también.

También hay muchas familias que se están quedando con otras familias, pero eso es en toda Europa.

Se está empezando a movilizar mucho lo de traerse gente ucraniana a casa, a casa de uno mismo.

Sanchez Cuadrado y su organización se pueden encontrar en Facebook en @spanishforukraine y @spanishforukraine en Instagram.

Están aceptando donaciones por Paypal en @boscovr.

silverchips

Walking into the wilderness Trigger warning: This article contains descriptions of mental health issues, abuse, and self-harm.

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

“T

he point of the program is to completely shatter you, and bring you to the absolute emotional bottom,” 17-year-old Andi Gunther says, describing their experience with wilderness therapy—a type of outdoor behavioral program that portrays itself as a solution for parents of teenagers who have a history of issues ranging from anger management to substance abuse to depression. In 2019, Gunther spent over two months at a wilderness therapy program in Utah called Open Sky Wilderness Therapy.

Many parents feel that they have no other option but to seek assistance from wilderness therapy programs.

“Our 16-year-old daughter was depressed, anxious, suicidal, and had recently been diagnosed with ASD [Austism Spectrum Disorder]. We were in desperate need of a miracle. The team at Aspiro made our lives whole again,” a parent review for Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy reads. Parents who believe their children are troubled can be referred to wilderness programs through a therapeutic educational consultant.

The troubled teen industry is an umbrella term used to describe facilities for teenagers deemed “at-risk.”

Including bootcamps, conversion therapy, wilderness therapy, and residential therapy, the industry has been described by many as one marketed to parents who believe that their children need behavior assistance. “It’s taking advantage of kids and their parents who are terrified for their child’s life because they don’t know how to deal with [their behavioral issues],” Jane, a teen from Montgomery County who went to Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy, says.

Background Wilderness increased in States in re-

therapy programs have popularity across the United cent years, with thousands—be-

CHARLOTTE GRIFFITH I think some wilderness programs I’ve heard about are not great, but I think that Open Sky [Wilderness Therapy] changed my life. tween 5,000 and 6,000—of teens attending programs every year. “People don’t realize how prevalent the troubled teen industry is,” Jane says.

Sometimes referred to as “outdoor behavioral care,” wilderness therapy was first created in the mid 20th century by Kurt Hahn, a German educator who is considered to be one of the founders of experiential education. He developed Outward Bound, one of the first wilderness therapy programs for at-risk teens to encourage outdoor learning that focused around character building and maturity, in Scotland.

Outward Bound came to the U.S. in 1962, setting up the framework for the wilderness therapy programs that have dominated the landscape of outdoor teen rehabilitation programs in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at least 38 of these wilderness programs were known to exist in 2000, and a report from the University of Utah Gardner Policy Institute lists 72 operating in the state of Utah as of 2016, with the likelihood of more existing due to a scarcity of data.

They are often located in states such as North Carolina, Utah, and Colorado, which host vast areas of virtually untouched forest, desert, and

mountains where teens can be entirely isolated from society.

Many travel from out of state to enter these programs, with some teens being put on planes to get there. The average time spent in wilderness therapy is 10-12 weeks, with some staying longer if considered necessary.

Although such programs describe themselves as having intentions to heal and rehabilitate youth, some, often unwilling, participants report that they felt unsafe and were abused during their experience. Stories of people being taken in the middle of the night have gone viral on social media, accompanied by grainy pictures of malnourished faces taken somewhere in a forest. With the TikTok and Twitter hashtag #BreakingCodeSilence, some former wilderness therapy participants have informed the public of their experiences with abuse and mistreatment at the hands of professionals who were meant to be helping them.

Going to wilderness therapy

Many of the youth that are admitted into these programs are initially referred by a therapeutic educational consultant, a professional that works with families and teenagers to provide information and recommendations to best help the teen. The consultant, who often works alongside a therapist or other mental health professional, will meet with the parents and the child in order to assess the child’s situation in terms of mental health, behavior, or substance abuse, and suggest programs for them. The consultant will then meet with the parents without the child, and discuss possible wilderness or residential therapy options. “[The consultant] works with programs, and [they recommend] places to you or to your parents. And I mean, I found out I was going away because I was on my mom’s phone,” Gunther describes.

Once a family determines that a child will be sent to an outdoor therapy program, parents make arrangements for them to be transported to the ‘wilderness’ where the programs take place—even if the child themself does not consent. A practice colloquially known as “gooning” takes place when teenagers are forcibly taken away from their homes, sometimes while they are sleeping. “My parents were basically just like, ‘if you don’t agree to go, we’re going to pay for somebody to kidnap you,’” Jane says. She agreed to go, and attended Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy for 13 weeks.

Though Gunther knew they were going to wilderness therapy, they did not go willingly. “I woke up on October 4 at 2 am. And there are two strangers in my room and my parents were like, ‘you’re going,’” they say. “I went to BWI [Airport] and just found myself in Colorado.”

In wilderness therapy

Teenagers hike during the day with their group, which can range from ten to twelve people of the same gender, stopping to cook their own meals and participate in therapy sessions conducted by licensed therapists. There are two types of wilderness therapy: some that have a base camp, where participants return to set up tents at the end of the day, and others that are more nomadic and lead the teenagers to wander through the wilderness for the time that they are there. The Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy website describes itself as a place that provides “multidisciplinary treatment solutions that are safe, effective, and clinically sophisticated.”

The rugged nature of wilderness programs frequently involves physical strain, which often comes with the possibility for injuries that Jane says went untreated. “I have a friend who hurt her ankle while we were backpacking,” she says. “We had to carry 50 pounds of weight on our backs… because she had walked on [her ankle], she had actually really badly fractured it.” Jane’s friend was told by staff that she was being “dramatic,” and only received treatment from her doctor after leaving Aspiro.

A core characteristic of these programs is the removal of participants from their reality: the teens are put in a place completely foreign to them, stripped of their belongings, and taken away from any routine, including knowing the time. “When I first got there, they took everything: no jewelry, no phone, no clothes,” Charlotte Griffith, a high school junior who spent three months at Open Sky Wilderness Therapy in 2019, says

in an interview with Silver Chips. “You weren’t allowed to know the time. You weren’t allowed to know anything.”

Some programs are organized by levels, with different skills required to progress to the next level and eventually graduate. In other cases, parents can pull their children out of the program. At Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, levels were named after compass directions, with North being the one required to leave the program. Learning skills such as knot tying and fire starting, teens progress to the next level once a guide has signed off on each skill. “Most of [the skills] are just basic hygiene needs or taking care of yourself because obviously you’re in a way different environment,” Gunther says. Getting to the next level is rewarded with personal items like backpacks and headlamps, wilderness essentials that teens have to earn through the pathway.

Each group of teenagers has several “guides,” or program staff, monitoring them as they hike. According to Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy’s website, the only requirements to apply as a guide for Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy are that the applicants are at least 21 years old and have CPR and first aid certifications. While each program varies, other safety certifications, such as Wilderness First Responder (WFR) and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), at Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy are desired, but not required.

According to Jane, the efficacy of the guides at Aspiro differs. She says that some had a beneficial impact on her life, but others were untrained and unwilling to help. “There was one guide who I really liked. He really made an impact,” Jane says. “But there were some really awful guides who had no idea what they were doing and who were just straight up mean and clueless.”

At Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, Gunther explains that the guides would hold them accountable and were able to set boundaries. “[Guides] had the ability to set boundaries, and still listen to you when you needed it. But, [they] gave me the ability to process my emotions on my own rather than relying on them,” they say. Gunther also describes meditation and yoga practices that were led by guides each day.

As guides are required to monitor the teenagers at all times, some teenagers described a lack of privacy during the wilderness therapy experience. This included having to repeatedly shout their name while being out of sight of guides, such as when showering or using the bathroom. “When we took showers, we had to call our name,” Griffith says.

“Someone is always watching you.”

Due to the perceived lack of privacy, running away was pointless, Gunther describes, especially in the middle of the forest. “You just get brought back. There’s no point, and then you just get put on restraints,” they say.

Wilderness programs in rural areas are well known among local residents, according to Gunther. “Everyone in that area knows if kids are from wilderness. So if you’re walking around in something weird, like camping clothes, and covered in dirt, [locals are] just going to send you back [to wilderness therapy].”

Residential therapy

Often after wilderness therapy comes residential therapy, a step in between the wild and society. Wilderness therapy programs typically recommend for teens to go to a rehabilitation center afterwards, with up to 80 percent of wilderness clients attending residential therapy after being in a wilderness program. “When you get out of the wilderness program, most people don’t go home. And [the programs] basically require an aftercare program, which I think is stupid,” Griffith explains. She feels that residential therapy often repeated the information she learned in the wilderness.

After Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, Gunther was told by their parents and consultant that they would be attending Eva Carlston Academy, a residential therapy program in Salt Lake City, Utah. Gunther recounts a point system at Eva Carlston Academy that enabled patients to “buy” privileges, such as dessert or permission to watch television. Positive interactions can earn 500 to 1,000 points, whereas negative behaviors, such as talking to a peer when not supposed to, can deduct up to 50,000 points.

While attending Eva Carlston Academy, Gunther says they experienced verbal harassment from the staff, including being told that they would always have a substance abuse problem. “They make you convince yourself that you’re f—ing insane,” they say.

Gunther contracted COVID-19 while in residence at Eva Carlston Academy, and says

March 24, 2022 Features D1/D2

really think that a lot of people would want to recount [those] experiences,” they say.

Along with the scarcity of data and the difficulty in gathering testimony, HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, makes many of the activities that go on at wilderness and residential therapy programs legally confidential. HIPAA is a federal law that prohibits healthcare providers from disclosing sensitive patient health information without the patient’s consent, and that the staff and patients were not careful about protocols, causing Gunther to suffer long-lasting consequences from it.

“I got COVID while I was there because they literally just were not being safe about it. And I had to go to the ER, because I got a rash over my entire body. I still literally have skin discoloration from it, even though it’s been [since] August 2020.”

Griffith, who spent 10 months at Spring Ridge Academy, in Spring Valley, Arizona, after attending Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, had a similar experience in residential therapy. According to Griffith, food portions given to patients were not sufficient, and the staff gave patients food different from the menu they had provided to parents. One disagreement over food portions escalated existing tensions between patients and staff and resulted in a riot. “The food portions were extremely small, to the point where we went on a food riot… They started throwing cat food at us. And [the staff] were like, ‘Eat this if you’re really that hungry,’” Griffith recounts.

Griffith also describes the abundance of rules at Spring Ridge. “There were a lot of rules,” Griffith says. “[The staff] didn’t let you wear tank tops… shorts had to be longer than a certain length, and it was just very toxic for people with body dysmorphia.” Other rules include not being able to talk to other new students without an older student present, and not being allowed to use a phone until a few months into the program.

While living in a residential treatment facility, many patients felt like they were not being listened to, and could not tell their parents the extent of their concerns. “[Spring Ridge Academy] actually gave out a form that was sent to your parents, and it basically said, ‘Anything that your child is saying, they’re just saying because they want to get out of the program,’ and ‘Don’t listen to what your child has to say,’” Griffith says.

Griffith reports that one psychiatrist at Spring Ridge forced her to take medication that gave her manic episodes due to her having bipolar disorder. “They would basically force you to take certain meds, with your parents’ consent, but you didn’t have to consent to them.”

According to Griffith, patients attempted to hurt themselves, but staff did not report or resolve any incidents. “We tried calling [Child Protective Services] because there was someone down the hall banging their head on the door, trying to kill themself. And no one was doing anything,” Griffith explains.

Returning to society

Upon completing the wilderness therapy and residential program, which can take a year to two years, teenagers are usually sent back to live with their families to reintegrate.

However, accord-

ing to Jane, returning to post-treatment life can be difficult. In wilderness and residential therapy, patients develop routines that drastically differ from their lives before. “For the first couple of days [back home], I wasn’t comfortable sleeping on a bed. I had to sleep on the ground,” Jane says, also mentioning she had to get used to eating with a fork again.

Griffith explains how the transition is especially difficult for teens who struggled with substance abuse in their original environment. “A lot of people relapse… when [they] come back from treatment, because [treatment at residential therapy programs] didn’t prepare us for actually going back into real life,” Griffith, who had two friends overdose after returning back from residential and wilderness therapy, says.

JANE My parents were basically just like, ‘if you don’t agree to go, we’re going to pay for somebody to kidnap you.’

Legality

The wide expanses of natural space in states like Utah and Colorado are not the only reason they are home to many wilderness programs: these states also are known for their laissez-faire business regulations. The teen therapy industry is integral to local economies, and the economic impact of their operation and client travel expenses amounts to over $400 million dollars in Utah alone. Despite this economic benefit, the number of programs operating is unknown due to the lack of data that exists on them, from how many teens attend them to the treatments and practices they employ.

Griffith says her experience at wilderness therapy was beneficial overall; however, she hopes for increased “checkins” and an end to residential programs. “I think some wilderness programs I’ve heard about are not great, but I think that Open Sky [Wilderness Therapy] changed my life.

I’m much more mature… my communication skills definitely have improved with my parents and friends, honestly. But, I think the residentials, you just really don't know. With all the ones I've heard about, I think they should all be shut down.”

According to a 2007 study, the beneficial experience in wilderness therapy that Griffith describes seems to be shared by a majority of participants. The study, “Two Years Later: A Qualitative Assessment of Youth Well-Being and the Role of Aftercare in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Treatment,” followed up with wilderness therapy participants two years after they attended programs, and found that 95 percent of the youths who participated said that outdoor behavioral healthcare was effective.

However, in recent years a growing number of people who have attended teen therapy programs, particularly residential treatment centers, have voiced experiences of abuse and lack of oversight in the industry. Advocates, including many people under the hashtag #BreakingCodeSilence, have called for increased investigation and government oversight in teen therapy programs; however, according to Gunther, these institutions are notoriously hard to monitor. Regulation of wilderness and residential programs is challenging, Gunther explains, due to patients’ aversion to remembering and retelling their traumatic experiences in court or an investigation. “We need a lot of testimonies and people willing to literally go up in court to do that. And I don’t

includes therapy programs. Gunther said they feel regulation without a breach of information under HIPAA would be unattainable. “I do think it’s a bit impossible,” they admit.

“I just don’t know how regulation would happen without breaking the law.”

Utah Senate Bill 127, signed on March 22, 2021, aims to curb the instances of abuse that often go unnoticed at teen mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. The bill bans sedation without prior consent, requires uses of restraint or seclusion to be reported within one day, and increases the number of yearly inspections to four, along with other changes to further regulate the industry.

Despite the difficulties that come with regulating the troubled teen industry, Gunther hopes for broad changes to the structure of residential therapy programs. “It needs to be intensely individualized,” they say.

Jane implores adults to believe teens who say they were abused at therapy programs and residential centers. “Just listen to the children, listen to the kids, because a lot of adults will just say, ‘They're being dramatic, [they’re] just upset that they got sent there’…

And that's just not true.”

silverchips

D3 Features March 24, 2022

Inflation hits home

By Christy Li Staff Writer

JAMIE GRAY

I’m afraid of losing customers, but the alternative is going out of business.

RAFFI CHARKOUDIAN-ROGERS

INFLATION ARRIVES IN WOODMOOR Small business owners express anxiety over rising prices.

Si ha llenado su tanque de gasolina de su automóvil o comprado una hamburguesa recientemente, tal vez ha notado que los precios son notablemente altos. Es cierto: la mayoría de los consumos nacionales han sido afectados por cambios recientes en las condiciones económicas mundiales.

“Lo que antes gastaba en una semana ahora lo estoy [comprando] con lo que gastaba en dos semanas; ahora lo gasto en una semana’’, cuenta Rosa Hernández, una consumidora de Bestway, un supermercado en Silver Spring.

Estos cambios, llamados inflación por economistas, marcan un incremento generalizado y continuo de precios, lo que equivale a la desMAIA TURPEN valorización de la moneda y puede tener consecuencias negativas en la actividad económica y en el bienestar de la población.

Esta tendencia se debe a una multitud de factores, pero se refieren primariamente a los problemas de la cadena de suministro afectada por la pandemia, y aún más recientemente, la guerra en Ucrania.

En una entrevista con El Diario, Ángel Talavera, economista jefe para Europa de Oxford Economics, explicó que los subsidios en exportaciones rusas impactan principalmente la venta de petróleo. En

ro al crecimiento de las economías en gran parte de la región, lo cual se agrava con los problemas estructurales que tiene nuestra región desde antes de la crisis, estos problemas de baja inversión, de baja productividad y de informalidad”, dice Barcena.

Hay muchas personas que no están trabajando o no están ganando lo suficientemente de dinero y está afectando en los hogares más.

La condición económica de Latinoamérica afecta directamente a los latinxs que viven en los Estados Unidos. El aumento de precios de productos de importe pone a prueba las habilidad de la comunidad a mantener su estilo de vida.

Debido a que el precio de la comida y otros productos siguen subiendo, mucha gente de la comunidad latinx están teniendo dificultades para comprar más económicamente; Hernández, quien compra comida todos los fines de semana, nos cuenta, “tengo que ir a diferentes tiendas a comprar los diferentes productos porque en una tienda está más económico una cosa y en la otra tienda está económico otra, usualmente estoy yendo a dos o tres tiendas diferentes a comprar”.

Hernandez también está teniendo problemas con el aumento en el precio de la gasolina, en ocasiones incluso tiene que tomar el transporte público, “está muy caro entonces eso lo lleva uno andar más en transporte público porque se ahorra más dinero y ahí uno se está reduciendo porque tienen que pensar en lo de la comida de la

MAIA TURPEN

turno, esto afecta cada producto que requiere transportación en algún nivel desde su creación, es decir la mayoría de consumos mundiales. “Nuestra dependencia directa de Rusia a través de comercio o dependencia energética es relativamente pequeña. Por desgracia, no podemos escaparnos de las enormes subidas de los precios energéticos independientemente de que les compremos poco gas y petróleo”, reflexiono Talavera el seis de marzo.

Un informe publicado el tres de marzo por el Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos encontró que la inflación para los consumidores se elevó un 7.9 por ciento durante el año pasado, el pico más agudo desde 1982. Con el conflicto internacional exacerbando el estrés financiero, hay un riesgo de que estas tasas aumenten.

Los cambios afectan cada nivel de la economía—desde la producción al consumo En una entrevista con El Tiempo Latino, la directora ejecutiva del Centro Latino de Desarrollo Económico Emi Reyes explicó el impacto de la inflación para los negocios.

“Las pequeñas y microempresas siguen enfrentando diferentes retos durante esta pandemia. Los dueños no solo luchan para mantener sus negocios a flote, sino que también se han visto con la necesidad de aumentar los precios de sus productos debido a los altos costos de manufactura”, explicó.

Para la comunidad latinx, los cambios han tenido un efecto grave. De acuerdo con Alicia Barcena, secretaria de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe, Latinoamérica se enfrenta a un declive financiero extremo debido a la inflación.

“La pandemia ha infligido un daño durade-

semana y el dinero que se gasta en carro se puede usar para la comida”.

Daniel Canizales Romero, otro cliente local de negocios latinxs, también está siendo afectado por la inflación—especialmente por los altos precios de la gasolina en los últimos días. “Cada vez que salgo tengo que fijarme muy bien el precio de la gasolina; hace unos días llegó a $5, lo cual no permite que uno se pueda echar mucha gasolina al carro así de que de vez en cuando tengo que caminar más para poder guardar un poco de dinero”.

Los dueños no solo luchan para mantener sus negocios a flote, sino que también se han visto con la necesidad de aumentar los precios... debido a los altos costos de manufactura.

EMI REYES

Recent inflation rates, however, have stressed the business’s finances and threatened the shop’s ability to maintain its strong community presence. The national inflation rate—the increase of general prices of goods and services—is currently the highest it has been in four decades, reaching 7.9 percent as of February. National inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and indicates how much prices on average have risen since the same time the previous year.

Rapidly rising prices in various sectors of the market have not gone unnoticed by small business owners. “[Cost] has skyrocketed,” Gray explains. “For instance, the individualized [cupcake] containers went up 150 percent. So [if] people specifically ask for them, I have to charge them [extra] because… I would be losing money if I didn’t charge what I did for the container.”

These rising prices are due, in short, to high demand and low supply, explains Thomas Drechsel, assistant professor of economics at the University of Maryland. “The economy is now opening up again… People who haven’t been on holidays for a while [or] gone to concerts like spending their money,” he says. “We see that it’s difficult for some reasons to supply goods, and we very much like demanding those goods, and that means those goods become generally more expensive.”

Many economists agree that a small amount of inflation is favorable for the economy and incentivizes production and consumerism. The Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the United States, usually aims for two percent inflation every year.

Higher levels of inflation, however, can cre-

Por Sofia Roehrig y Kevin Vela Escritores

ROSA HERNÁNDEZ

Every night at 10 p.m., as other stores in the Woodmoor Shopping Center shutter their windows and lock their doors, light from the kitchen of the Woodmoor Pastry Shop glows persistently against the backdrop of a sleeping suburb. Jamie Gray, co-owner of the nearly 70-year-old family-owned establishment, has already begun the next day’s work.

Opening on weekdays at 6:30 a.m., often before the sun has even risen, the Woodmoor Pastry Shop catches a stream of customers looking to pick up a morning treat on their way to school or work. Buttery bread rolls, decadent danishes, and custom-designed cakes exchange hands with a loyal clientele built over three generations of store ownership.

The shop not only supplies the surrounding community with a plethora of freshbaked goods, but also provides job opportunities for those looking to get started in the baking industry. Around 20 of the shop’s 30 employees are students from Blair and neighboring high schools who work parttime after school and on the weekends. “We enjoy being with customers, giving opportunities to students, [and] giving opportunities to people that want to work in the industry,” Gray says. “We just want to provide a dessert or something sweet for our customers without them having to pay [an exorbitant amount of money].”

ate economic instability and make it difficult for both consumers and small businesses to plan and budget effectively.

The main way that the government can attempt to control inflation is to hike interest rates. “When we set interest rates very high, then it becomes more attractive to save and less attractive to borrow,” Drechsel says. In response to current inflation, on March 16, the Federal Reserve approved a 0.25 percent increase in interest rates. This is a sizable increase from the steady near zero interest rate that the Reserve maintained throughout the pandemic as officials strive to restore price stability.

According to Drechsel, small businesses generally experience the effects of inflation in three ways: the cost of buying supplies and ingredients, paying employee salaries, and the pricing of their products. As the cost of supplies become more expensive, business owners may be forced to raise their own product prices in order to break even.

“Unfortunately, I raised [the prices] for the holidays last year… about five percent.

Then we saw the numbers and we had to raise it again—another ten percent after the beginning of the year,” Gray says. “I don’t know if 15 percent is enough for us to break even. That’s what we’re basically trying to do: break even, make a little bit, just keep moving forward.”

Small businesses, especially, are often reluctant to raise prices because of the reaction they might receive from buyers. In times of financial uncertainty, however, many owners feel they have little choice. “I’m afraid of losing customers, but the alternative is going out of business,” Gray says.

Just a few doors down from the Woodmoor Pastry Shop, Santucci’s Deli faces a similarly difficult decision with adjusting pricing in response to inflation. Despite rising costs, Carlo Santucci, owner of Santucci’s Deli, has made efforts to maintain the deli’s current prices. “I’m holding back as long as I can [on raising prices], but I’m sure I’m going to have to go up soon,” Santucci says. “I just don’t want to overcharge people.”

In order to stay afloat during inflation, many small businesses have taken advantage of government-funded COVID-19 relief. The Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) was a forgivable loan program that originated as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The PPP was implemented by the Small Business Administration, and provided small businesses with funds to pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs, in order to help owners to keep their workforce employed during the pandemic. According to Gray, this aid allowed the Woodmoor Pastry Shop to expand its staff over the course of the pandemic.

After giving out nearly 10.8 million loans worth more than $780 billion, the PPP ran out of funding on May 5, 2021. Without government aid, many small business owners are left to their own devices. “The only way to combat all these struggles is to provide excellent customer service and a quality product at a quality price, and do the best that we can to make it,” Gray says.

Consumos caros

Hernández nota que las personas que viven sueldo a sueldo no tienen el privilegio de ajustar sus presupuestos a precios que aumentan rápidamente. “Qué hay personas [para quienes] la economía está demasiado cara y hay muchas personas que no están trabajando o no están ganando lo suficientemente de dinero y está afectando en los hogares más,” ella dice. Aún más, 14 por ciento de los latinxs que viven en el estado de Maryland viven bajo la línea de pobreza de acuerdo con un estudio del 2018 hecho por la Alianza de Maryland Para los Pobres.

Hernández añade que, “si son de bajos recursos a veces no tienen o no alcanzan para comprar algún producto acá”.

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By Annie Gao Staff Writer

New courses take off

A lot of the time, there needs to be a cultural shift before there’s necessarily a legal shift in terms of LGBTQ rights. One of the best ways to do that is at an educational level.

However, as APIDA Studies prepares to pilot for the first time in high schools this fall, Yonsoo Kang, a Kennedy social studies teacher who co-created the course with Singhal, mentions the challenge faced by electives such as APIDA Studies to push for student enrollment and staff interest. “The people in charge… [don’t] have any interest in really pushing for it to run… [and] a lot of the students don’t know or understand the weight and the significance yet,” Kang says.

Uma Fox, a former Richard Montgomery student who helped create the LGBTQ+ Studies curriculum, emphasizes the need for these topics of identity to be incorporated into required social stud-

Corrections February 2022 C1

Estefany Benitez Gonzalez was referred to as Estefany Benitez.

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The following quote should have been attributed to Zach, an anonymous source: “If you miss any further payments, let’s just say [redacted] is not a person that you want to meet. Have a good day and remember [redacted] is always watching.”

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Ken Winters’ window quote read “they are likely” instead of “they likely are” as per the original quote in the article.

ies curricula. She believes these courses are the foundational step to more policies and rights for traditionally targeted groups. “A lot of the time, there needs to be a cultural shift before there’s necessarily a legal shift in terms of LGBTQ rights. One of the best ways to do that is at an educational level,” Fox explains.

This cultural shift is also a prevalent goal of Analysis of Equity and Identity in STEM, a one-semester elective being taught for the first time in MCPS this year. The class at Blair deals with gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity through the lens of STEM. These identities have long had a significant gap in both the STEM industry and education—for example, according to the American Association of University Women, women make up only 28 percent of the STEM workforce. “[In the class,] we [investigate] the ways in which the scientific enterprise is intrinsically influenced by the identity of the folks doing the science… and through understanding how identity influences those processes, we can start to imagine more equitable ways of doing these things,” Rahman Culver, Blair’s Diversity and Inclusion Instructional Coordinator and teacher of Analysis of Equity and Identity in STEM, explains. As a Blair magnet alumnus, Culver says his personal experiences in high school inspired him to create the course.

The class is cotaught by Blair biology teacher Elizabeth Duval, who strongly advocates for accessibility in science.

“The idea

that science isn’t accessible to everyone was really upsetting to me… so coming into a course where I can help educate students—frankly, educate myself on some topics— and start to dismantle some of the ideas and systems in place and figure out what can be done about it was really appealing,” she says.

[MCPS is] an extremely diverse county and [we] really pride [ourselves] on that. Our curriculum does not do a good job of showing that.

SUHANI ARYAL

job of showing that,” Aryal says.

Blair LGBTQ+ Studies teacher Sarah Forman voices the importance of creating classes that cover topics typically under-covered in general social studies classes. “[LGBTQ+ Studies] gives an opportunity to unerase the history that has been erased, to lift the voices that have been marginalized, and to help our students understand that the queer community is here, has always been here, will continue to be here, and is deeply embedded in our history,” she says. The class was taught at Blair for the first time this semester.

UMA FOX

“In a lot of history classes that I’ve been in, they gloss over Asian American history without really going into it,” Richard Montgomery sophomore Aparna Ganesh says.

Ganesh assisted in developing the curriculum for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Studies, one of the ethnic, gender, and other identity studies courses being developed across MCPS in recent years.

The creation of these MCPS electives focusing on topics of representation, inclusion, and identity is often fueled by teachers’ personal experiences. For Neha Singhal, a staff development teacher at Bethesda-Chevy Chase and co-creator of APIDA Studies, this experience took the form of Islamophobia and slurs that she and her family faced. “I was in ninth grade when 9/11 happened… I experienced a lot of things that should have been discussed in a class where students could talk about racism and the history of people who look like us,” she says.

The teachers who lead the curriculum planning for courses like APIDA Studies often sought student perspectives and provided a spotlight for student voices to be heard. “It’s really amazing that we have the opportunity as MCPS students to… be involved with creating the course curriculum,” Suhani Aryal, a sophomore at Kennedy who assisted with research for the APIDA Studies material, explains.

Many of the new identity studies courses, such as APIDA Studies, work to diversify curriculums and increase the representation of various communities. “[MCPS is] an extremely diverse county and [we] really pride [ourselves] on that.

Our curriculum does not do a good

March 24, 2022 Features D4

Amina Mokhtarzada, a student in Analysis of Equity and Identity in STEM, describes the class as a safe and trusting space to discuss issues surrounding identity and how it impacts students’ experiences. “We haven’t really shied away from some

of the more difficult questions and talking about things like the race makeup or the gender makeup of certain classes, specifically STEM classes,” she says.

Duval encourages other teachers to consider ways to incorporate the topics of equity and inclusion into regular classes. “Any exposure to every student is going to be a really powerful thing,” she says, hoping that these conversations will help open the accessibility of fields, particularly in STEM. Mokhtarzada agrees, explaining how engaging in conversations beyond specific social studies electives will ensure that all students are exposed to these topics. “In the future, it would be really cool if, at some point, [we’re] in a computer science class and [we’re] talking about bias and having those discussions in that class,” she says.

According to Culver, “find[ing] ways to explicitly work in instruction on equity and inclusion into the core content areas” will ultimately result in creating an uplifting learning environment for all MCPS students and community members.

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D5 Features March 24, 2022

The second sentence

Life after incarceration in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

By Ava Bedaque Staff Writer

than the general population, depending on how many times they have been incarcerated.

Many people returning from incarceration do not have a valid government identification when they are first released, which can make job searches especially difficult, as federal law requires an applicant to prove their identity before they can be hired.

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Bronze

state legislature passed similar laws in 2014 and 2019, respectively.

Both laws made it illegal for employers with at least 15 full-time employees to inquire about an applicant’s criminal record until the first interview, with the Montgomery County law applying through the conclusion of that initial interview.

The Montgomery County law was amended in 2020 to apply to all employers and prevent an employer from asking about a criminal record until after a conditional job offer has been made, like the Washington, D.C. law.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, who signed the amendments, believes that increasing the amount of time an employer must wait to do a criminal background check will reduce bias and mean more jobs for returning citizens. “If somebody’s thought about it and… they’d really like to hire this person, hopefully it makes that information potentially less influential in making that decision,” he explains in an interview with Silver Chips.

In addition to this law, the Montgomery County government operates a pre-release center where soon-to-be released people can stay while they find employment and access services.

Similarly, the Mayor’s

ABJINI CHATTOPADHYAY

Office of Returning Citizen Affairs (MORCA) in Washington, D.C. offers case management services and other programs to help the recently released.

“You sign up for [housing] vouchers, you get your birth certificate, you sign up to get a Medicare card, you sign up to get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [benefits],” Tyrone Walker explains of the services MORCA offers. Walker is the Director of Reentry Services for Georgetown University’s Prison and Justice Initiative.

When he was 17, Walker was convicted of, among other charges, first degree murder. He was sentenced to 127 years to life, but was released after 24 years under Washington D.C.’s 2016 Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, which allowed people given life sentences for crimes they committed as juveniles to be eligible for parole after 20 years. The law was expanded upon in 2020 with the Second Look Amendment Act, allowing anyone convicted of a crime they committed under the age of 25 to seek parole after 15 years.

Maryland passed a similar law in 2021, the Juvenile Restoration Act, which does the same thing as the original Washington, D.C. law.

Employment and housing are not the only challenges returning citizens face, though. Readjusting to a life outside bars can also be quite difficult. “They haven’t been in society… They [have] to relearn the places that they once knew as home,” Walker says.

A significant portion of returning citizens will find themselves once again dealing with the criminal justice system soon after their release. 40.5 percent of Maryland former convicts are rearrested within three years of their release and about 60 percent of former convicts from Washington, D.C. are rearrested within five years of theirs.

A 2008 report from the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center found that employment and higher wages helped prevent recidivism. “Predicted probabilities of reincarceration were 8 percent for those earning more than $10 per hour; 12 percent for those earning $7 to $10 per hour; and 16 percent for those earning less than $7 per hour—compared with 23 percent for those who were unemployed,” it reads.

Elrich also believes it is important to allow formerly incarcerated people to work again. “We’re all safer when people feel like they can be successful in society, that they’ve got access to work, that they can pay their rent and bills, and take care of their families. When people have that kind of security, I think that you don’t engender some of the social problems that I think underlie a lot of crime that exists,” he says.

Rearrests are not just the result of people committing new crimes, however. Once someone reenters the community from a federally-run prison, they are usually placed on supervised release. This is not the same as probation, which replaces all or part of a prison sentence instead of following it.

A lot of the time, I slept outside... off and on for about 15 years.

MICHAEL BREWER

When Michael Brewer was released from prison, after spending 90 days in a federal halfway house, he had no home, no job, and no plans as to how he would support himself. He reentered society as a civilian in 1997, after serving 12 years for a homicide he committed when he was 18.

For years, Brewer struggled to find steady employment and mainly worked temporary jobs. “I had a second-degree murder on my [record] and… [employers are] not keen to just hiring people like that,” he explains.

As a result, he says, he experienced chronic homelessness after being released. “A lot of the time, I slept outside… off and on for about 15 years.”

Brewer is not the only formerly incarcerated person who has struggled when returning to civilian life. A 2018 report from the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) found that the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people was nearly five times that of the general population. The PPI also reported that people who have been incarcerated are seven to 13 times more likely to be homeless

Brewer was one of many returning citizens who struggled to get an ID. “Back then… if you didn’t have an ID, you had to wait till you got the money to buy [an] ID,” he says.

Now, non-driver’s license IDs are free for recently returning citizens in Washington, D.C. They are not currently free for returning Marylanders.

Since Brewer was released from prison in 1997, a lot has changed for formerly incarcerated people in the area.

In 2014, Washington, D.C. passed the Fair Criminal Records Screening Amendment Act (FCRSA), which prohibits employers with more than 10 employees from asking an applicant about their criminal background until after a conditional offer has been made. It also bans employers from revoking a job offer based on their criminal record without a “legitimate business reason.”

However, Brewer questions how effective this law has been.

According to him, potential employers will rescind their offers to him when they discover his past conviction. “They’ll take back the [job] offer once they found out… A lot of times, they’re not gonna tell you that that’s why, but that’ll be it,” he says.

FCRSA is part of a larger push to “ban the box,” meaning to prevent employers from immediately inquiring about an applicant’s criminal record and disqualifying anyone with a criminal history.

The Montgomery County Council and Maryland

Under both supervised release and probation, people must report to a supervisor, and if they commit a new crime, fail a drug test, do not find or keep a job, or otherwise violate the terms of their release, their supervision officer may recommend a punishment to the probation court, including reincarceration.

Nationwide, about 25 percent of people sent to state prisons are there for technical violations of their probation or parole. Technical violations are actions that would not be criminal if the person were not on probation or supervised release.

Sometimes alternative punishments are used, though. After violating the terms of his release, Brewer’s probation officer was able to have him sent to an in-patient therapy program instead of prison.

Although he says it was a difficult time for him, he believes it motivated him to turn his life around.

“It helped me… I got tired, eventually… I got tired of just being in there.”

Still, to Brewer, returning citizens are never really treated fairly.

“It’s almost like two sentences,” he says.

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March 24, 2022 Culture E1

Learning, not burning

By Ingrid Holmquist Staff Writer Every year when Eastern Middle School English teacher Michelle Ray hands out copies of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, she wonders if the curriculum of her dystopia unit will be too upsetting for her sixth-grade students. “I wrestle every year with my curriculum because they’re really young. They’re 11. And I always wonder, ‘How much is too sad?’” Ray says.

Despite her concern that students may be uncomfortable learning about dystopias, Ray has ultimately realized that the genre’s thought-provoking characteristics provide a creative outlet for children to process history and current-day realities. “It’s sort of like when therapists have kids play a game or draw a picture, and you’re dealing with the thing, but you’re doing it in a different way,” she explains.

Ray’s dystopia curriculum teaches students about societal issues by comparing them to a fictional setting, which she believes helps them understand similar, real-world events. With her students, Ray has noticed that the way dystopian literature mirrors real-life can enhance understanding about current challenges such as oppression, censorship, and government propaganda.

In Sarah Fillman’s tenth grade English class at Blair, many students draw comparisons between George Orwell’s 1984, a story that warns about the dangers of totalitarianism, and the American govern-

ment. “For the most part, students do tend to focus on particular leaders. [My classes] had the ability to compare Trump to Big Brother,” Fillman says, referring to the authoritarian ruler in the story.

Isabel Woldeab, a sixth-grade student in Ray’s literature class, also sees connections between current governments and those found in dystopian novels.

“I always feel like there’s someone above everyone else. Since I’m so young, people are always making decisions that I’m not really involved in,” she says.

Woldeab explains that this experience reminds her of Lois Lowry’s The Giver, a novel in which an authoritarian regime exerts power over its citizens. “[The government was] deciding what was best for everyone or what they wanted [and] they didn’t really take [most of the people] into consideration,” Woldeab says.

Liam Knight, a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham who specializes in dys-

he explains.

Fillman agrees, highlighting that dystopian literature can help students analyze current events. “[Dystopia] gave a vehicle or provided a lens through which to explain reality,” she explains.

Dystopia is also widely applicable to many age groups.

Because her students are so young, Ray talks through dystopia with them in ways that are less overtly related to current societal issues. Instead, she gives them assignments that connect the books to past events that students might not know about. “A lot of the sixth graders don’t know much about politics, so I really connect it more to history,” Ray says.

One of the books that Ray teaches her students is Fahrenheit 451, in which author Ray Bradbury explores a future where the evolution of technology ALEXANDER LIU has allowed the government to that literature can be, to an extent, maintain control using high-tech political… It’s a really interesting propaganda. Throughout the story, and important gateway to more po- law enforcement burns books in an litical awareness and engagement,” attempt to censor ideas that don’t topian literature, affirms that these parallels between real life and dystopian literature are essential for young people gaining political consciousness. “I think it’s really important that young people see

The art of STEM

By Rosie Orzulak and Lucía Santoro-Vélez Staff Writers “I feel like art is a way of expressing the more human parts of yourself, expressing deeper emotions,” junior Maya Britto says.

“Seeing people express themselves on stage in front of all of us… is just a moving experience.”

Students like Britto, who are a part of STEM-focused programs at Blair, like the Magnet, Academy of STEM, or STEM clubs, have an annual opportunity to express their creative talents at STEM Arts Night (STAN). Blair Magnet math teacher and STAN sponsor, Edward Kirk, explains that “anyone that is involved in some sort of STEM program” can perform. “We don’t really turn anyone away,” he says.

STAN is coordinated by student directors along with Kirk. The show began with auditions in December and ended with a final performance on March 18.

Kirk stresses the importance of STAN as an outlet for the students. “STEM Arts Night is that one time in the year where [STEM students] actually feel valued for their abilities outside of science, technology, engineering, and math,” he says.

Performance types vary, ranging from singing and dancing to stand-up comedy, martial arts, and even visual art. “For the hour before the show, people have previously submitted paintings and drawings and some digital art, and… we present that in the hallway outside the auditorium,” Kirk explains.

After over thirty years as the Magnet Arts Night

(MAN), STAN rebranded in 2020 and began to allow other STEM-focused students at Blair to perform.

Currently, the vast majority of performers are Magnet program students.

Student directors and involved faculty emphasize the priority of increasing diversity. The five student directors, all Magnet students, are championing the push for more student directors outside of the Magnet by increasing advertising and collaborating more with STEM Academy teachers. Senior Isabella Tang, a student director in the Magnet, explains that STAN leadership is doing its best to diversify the show and its leadership.

“Although we have a lot more work to do [in terms of representation], I think for the first few years, we’ve done what we could,” she says.

Though it has proven to be difficult, Tang and STAN leadership remain adamant in their position to diversify. “The goal of our show is to be more artistic in the STEM community,” Tang explains.

“There’s no reason why [it] should

ALEXANDER LIU

align with the government’s beliefs.

To give students a historical perspective, Ray connects this to book burnings in Nazi Germany.

Ahana Samantray, one of Ray’s sixth-grade literature students, feels that some of the dystopian stories can be dark. “I definitely found the part about book burning [in Fahrenheit 451] dark, because I love books,” she shares. However, she also thinks that dystopias have given her opportunities to better understand historical events. “While reading these dystopian novels, we also learned a lot about the book burnings in Germany and so many other topics that I really didn’t know about,” Samantray says.

While students and teachers alike acknowledge the value of dystopia in learning about present-day challenges, the genre isn’t always a constant reminder of darkness in the world. Blair 10th grade English teacher Beth Hanak explains that there is just enough separation of dystopia from reality that students don’t find it too upsetting. “I think the science fiction aspect of [dystopian literature] helps to distance [it from reality], even though [there are] some things that can be disturbing about dystopias,” she says.

Woldeab says that she appreciates dystopia as a chance to learn, but that her real life doesn’t feel like the books she reads in school.

“In dystopias, they always describe everything [as] horrible and [and that] no one is happy. But people have still been happy… Kids are still finding ways to be happy,” she says.

STAN showcases students’ creativity

be limited to the Magnet.”

Kalkidan Yonas, a senior non-magnet performer for STAN, attests that the process of finding out about STAN and then joining STAN was unclear for her. “I literally had no idea on how to get involved… I thought it was actually exclusively for [Magnet] students,” Yonas says. “I didn’t even know that I could be a part of it.”

Yonas adds that she believes many non-magnet students would love the opportunity to get involved with STAN. “I think that there probably are a good amount of students who would be down to audition and perform at STEM Arts Night if they knew that they could.”

Along with their effort to bring non-magnet students in, STAN participants also fight against stereotypes that minimize their artistic ability. Through the celebration of their creative endeavors, participating students feel less pressure to only focus on their STEM subjects.

“There are a lot of stereotypes that people place on us, like being obsessed with coding,” Tang says.

“But obviously, we’re all individual people, and we have other interests.”

Junior Aditya Das, a student director, emphasizes that STEM-focused students have skills to offer within the arts as well. “STAN is important because it gives STEM students who usually are considered to be very uncreative an opportunity to showcase a lot of their creative talents that they might not otherwise have an opportunity to show,” Das says.

Outside of the creative outlet that STAN provides, students also say they benefit from the collaborative

HENRY REICHLE

STAN PERFORMANCE A student performing at the STEM Arts Night dress rehearsal. and friendly atmosphere. Many singing, there’s acting, there’s also participants think that the envi- teacher impressions, as kind of a ronment surrounding auditions is way to wrap up our experience,” especially unmatched. “The energy of it is really special. People come Tang explains.

Younger students also feel the in [during auditions], and they’re really enthusiastic about perform- exciting energy of the Senior Act. ing and watching other people,” Britto is excited about her Senior Tang says.

Student director and Magnet Act next year, which will act as a senior Samantha Jayasundera ex- reflection and final goodbye to her plains that the energy created by STEM experience in high school. the cast continues through the au- “It’s kind of like a goodbye, in the ditions and is reciprocated by the audience at the final show. “This sense [that we’re] looking back on same type of jovial energy carries our years at Blair.” over to the show itself, as performThe importance of STAN resoers cheer each other on from the nates throughout the STEM comstage wings and the lively audience calls for encores,” she wrote in an munity at Blair. For many, STAN is a special time in the year where email to Silver Chips.

One of the most memorable as- STEM students feel encouraged to pects of STAN is the Senior Act, embrace their artistic sides. “This is the finale performed by seniors and created by the student directors. a chance for people that don’t often Students describe it as an abun- get to be highlighted in artistic roles dance of many talents. “There’s to have that chance,” Kirk explains.

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E2 Culture March 24, 2022

25 years of learning to laugh and play

HAO JAY C

Bidding adieu to Arthur

By Ella Schrebler Staff Writer A friendly short nosed aardvark said, “Hey! What a wonderful kind of day!” for the last time on February 21, 2022. The children’s cartoon Arthur has been warming hearts and teaching powerful lessons for over 25 years, since the first episode aired in 1996.

The series won its first of six Emmy awards in 1998, and has been a hit ever since. It also has the honor of being the longest running children’s animated TV show in America. In 1979, 17 years prior to the show’s premiere, Marc Brown published the children’s book Arthur’s Eyes and created the beloved character that children and adults alike have been watching on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for 25 seasons.

Arthur features an eightyear-old anthropomorphic aardvark named Arthur going through third grade life in his hometown of Elwood City, making friends, learning lessons, and eating ice cream at neighborhood shop, the Sugar Bowl.

ISOIZA EMAH

[Arthur] taught me how to deal with my sister, and now we’re pretty close.

but a f t e r leaving the synagogue because her stomach is growling so loudly that people think a dog snuck in, she gives in and eats. Francine feels like she failed until she sees her grandmother sneaking a sandwich. The episode teaches Francine that it’s okay to break your fast for health reasons, and fueling your body— especially a growing eight year old body—is incredibly important.

Sammy Gallun, a Blair junior, says that this depiction of Jewish culture made him feel less alone growing up. “I felt very represented by the inclusion of Jewish characters,” he explains.“[Seeing them] helped to make me feel like I could see Jewish people fitting in on TV, especially because most of my friends… were not Jewish.”

In more recent years, the show has included more contentious topics. In 2019, an episode titled “Mr. Ratburn and The Special Someone” showed rat and beloved teacher, Mr. Ratburn, marrying Patrick, an aardvark and chocolatier. This was the first time a PBS Kids show had ever featured a recurring LGBTQ+ character.

The inclusion of these characters sparked controversy, enough that television channels in Arkansas and Alabama refused to air the episode. In an interview with NBC News, Mike Mckenzie, current director of

programming at Alabama Public Television (APT), said at the time that they had no plans to air the episode at a later date. In 2005, the network had previously pulled another episode of Arthur when a character visited another character who had two moms.

APT said that they chose not to air

the episode because it wasn’t aligned with their beliefs.

LI “Our feeling is that we A I H SOP basically have a trust with parents about our programming.

This program doesn’t fit into that,” then-executive director Allan Pizzato told AL.com, an Alabama newspaper.

Despite this backlash, creators of Arthur pushed forward with their messages. In 2020, they released a series of informational shorts discussing relevant issues for kids. One was titled, “Wearing a Mask!” and starred Francine and her best friend, Muffy, talking on a video call with one another.

Muffy is about to go out, and when Francine asks if she has a mask, Muffy responds, “only sick people need masks… and I am not sick.” Francine tells her that though masks can be uncomfortable, they are essential for keeping everybody safe. By the end of the short, Muffy agrees to wear a mask whenever she goes out.

[Seeing them] helped to make me feel like I could see Jewish people fitting in on TV.

SAMMY GALLUN

The creators of Arthur aimed to teach their young viewers valuable messages about the world around them throughout its 253 episodes.

The show depicted Arthur having successes and failures many children could relate to. It also explored mistakes and hardships that the imperfect characters endured and portrayed such experiences as normal.

Arthur’s tumultuous relationship with his younger sister, D.W., taught Blair senior Isoiza Emah how to manage his relationship with his own sibling. “Seeing them fight over little meaningless things… reminded me of my sister,” he says. “[Arthur] taught me how to deal with [her], and now we’re pretty close.”

The show also portrayed characters with living experiences different from Arthur’s family, who owned a house in a suburban neighborhood. In an interview with the New York Times, executive producer Carol Greenwald said this was intentional. “Arthur lived in a beautiful little house with a picket fence,” she said, “but we wanted to diversify the world enough that kids who lived in apartment buildings, or in smaller, lower income neighborhoods, would feel like they were as a part of that story.”

Arthur also focused on the different cultures of Elwood City residents, including Judaism, through an episode titled “Is That Kosher?” One of Arthur’s best friends, a monkey named Francine, tries to fast with her family during the holiday of Yom Kippur,

By Maybelle Patterson and Jasper Swartz Culture Editors

In another short, “Arthur on Racism: Talk, Listen, And Act,” Arthur and his best friend, a bunny named Buster, are on a video call together, discussing a recent video depicting police brutality. Buster says, “I can’t believe someone would be hurt like that, just because they’re Black.”

The boys discuss how upset the video makes them feel, and how helpless they feel in taking action.

“I’m eight!” Buster says. “I can’t even fry an egg on my own!”

They consult with their good friend and lunch lady, a bear named Mrs. MacGrady, who explains how racism spreads in eight-year-old terms. “Racism is like a disease,” she says. “If you don’t treat it, it’s just going to get worse.”

Mrs. MacGrady tells them that it’s not enough to just say ‘I’m not racist’; they must actively fight against racism. She tells them to talk about racism with their friends, parents and teachers and listen to those who have experienced racism first hand.“When you see or hear of someone being treated unfairly, stand up for them, say something!

It might be scary but I guarantee you it’s better for everyone,” she says. “And it’s the right thing to

We ran through the hallways, stomachs growling, and feet aching. “Where is Role Playing Games Club?” we screamed to the sky. The nearby Blazers quietly eating lunch had no answer.

They watched us with morbid interest as we skidded from door to door, disturbing disinterested teachers with our fruitless refrain, desperation growing with each confused shrug. The classrooms went from 353 to 351, but where was 352? Where in these twisting hallways was Role Playing Games Club?

We have only ourselves to blame for this predicament. As second semester seniors, we regret our squandered opportunity to join a club and find a sense of community within our large, overwhelming school. And so, to make up for lost time, we decided to visit as many Blair clubs as humanly possible within the span of a single week. In order to optimize our schedule, we attended each club for an average of 6.6 minutes. We also avoided clubs that exclusively cater to specific identities.

With hearts full of hope and bellies empty of lunch, we sought out Crochet Club on one fateful Friday. We arrived unnecessarily early, ready to be hooked on yarn, but the art classroom remained largely empty until our allotted time was spent, and we were forced to move on.

Slightly downtrodden, we headed to the Math Honor Society to watch an illuminating presentation on the math of Wordle before heading to Forensics Club, which specializes in speech and debate. Armed with our newfound public speaking skills, we ventured towards Blair’s chapter of DECA, a club that competes in student entrepreneurship competitions. Alas, we hardly had time to rest before rushing to History Bowl, where club members huddled around a podium practicing trivia, their hands hovering over sets of red buzzers. “Mahatma Gandhi!” they chorused.

After watching the Physics Team puzzle over a problem involving a toy elephant, we made our way to the courtyard and finished off our Friday staring agape at Parkour Club as they performed physics-defying flips over a brick wall. After visiting seven clubs in one hour, we were ready to slump into our beds and recuperate with two blissful days of rest for what was sure to be a busy week ahead.

On Monday, past mountains of Blair staircases, lay our first club, Blair Hack Club. On a screen, members displayed lines of multi-colored coding fit for a heist movie as they prepared to create a whack-a-mole game. Stuck behind slow walkers, we were almost late to the Health Occupations Students of America’s discussion of medical moral quandaries before visiting Dungeons and Dragons Club, where members battled an aggressively animated carpet during their imaginary campaign using iridescent dice.

On Tuesday, we trekked out to the portables for Philosophy Club’s lesson on metaphysics, which included a lively debate about what it means to be a chair.

Back in the building, we joined Girl Up with a game of Jeopardy to celebrate International Women’s Day and were wowed

by K-pop Club’s

moves.

In the Machine Learning Club, we realized that a career in computer science is not in our future while we tried to follow the members’ expert descriptions of neural network algorithms. Our lack of STEM know-how became even more apparent in the Biology Team, where a lecture about cow eye dissection caused us equal parts disgust and rapt curiosity.

After school, we found ourselves in a familiar pit of confusion.

The few minutes of the Computer Team’s lecture on a mysterious and (to us) incomprehensible topic called Disjoint Set Union left us scratching our heads. Running downstairs, we listened to the Spanish Honors Society discuss the best way to build the renowned Spanish church La Sagrada Familia out of graham crackers. Afterwards, we headed over to Logic Club where team members attempted to crack a puzzle hunt called Dash 5.

On Wednesday, we caught Amnesty International right before their discussion on the war in Ukraine and then headed over to Science Olympiad where they prepared for their next competition.

We found a comparatively tranquil atmosphere in Silver Quill, Blair’s literary magazine, as they sorted through piles of student submissions. Before the creative spirit moved us to add to their pages of flowering verse, the bell rang and we were forced to depart.

At the end of the day, we located one of Blair’s many community service clubs, Smart Snacks. Each week, the group packages food to pass out to Piney Branch Elementary families experiencing food insecurity. Later, we took a peek behind the curtain at Stage Crew as they measured windows on the spring musical set to install prop air conditioning units. The cast of In the Heights sat in a nearby classroom, throwing lines back and forth with a natural ease. As we left, we stumbled upon the National Art Honor Society who were learning about the realities of working as freelance artists.

When we arrived at the Pride Plus Club the next day, their dialogue about trans rights in innovation periods had not yet begun.

Key Club, however, was buzzing with action while they prepared for an upcoming fundraiser. Though small, Tech Squad welcomed us with stories of the stickers and 3D models they’d made. The kindness seen in Tech Squad carried over to our next club, Without Borders/ Sin Fronteras, as they mocked up welcome signs for immigrant students in many different languages. Without pausing to catch our breath, we stopped in Film Club’s screening of Spirited Away before whisking off to Dance Crew.

Even though Jasper had to leave for a less urgent college visit, the party didn’t stop after school, as Maybelle climbed the never-ending stairs to the third floor for Robotics Club and navigated the giant wooden structures the team assembled in the hallway.

Maybelle finished out the week with another Blair theater staple: Pit Orchestra. The hectic sounds of their warm-up melded together, and our adventure closed on a sonorus note with a beautiful rendition of the spring musical’s opening number, “In The Heights.”

Rating: Although this Herculean task wore us out, deprived us of our lunch hour, and humiliated us as we raced around the hallways, the sheer number and diversity of Blair’s clubs is a testament to the wide range of passions and skills that Blazers possess. 33/33

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March 24, 2022 Culture E3

The stories behind the spirit

By William Ashford and Sophia Stein Staff Writers You may have seen the Blair Blazer rallying rowdy crowds for a spirited chant at a football game, or swaggering down Blair Boulevard taking pictures with students, but have you ever wondered who is behind the mask? What does it feel like to be the Blair Blazer?

Blair’s captains of spirit and members of Blair’s varsity swim team, sophomore Lucy Ossi and senior Liam McDonough represent Blair in and out of the pool.

As the people inside Blair’s mascot, these Blazers work together to keep our student section energized.

figure to be sensitive to all people.

“I think… one of the most important jobs of the Blazer, or a mascot in general, is being a symbol that the students can rally around,” McDonough says.

He is a strong advocate for maintaining the legacy of the Blazer, regardless of a name transition. “If you’re a Blazer right now, you’re a Blazer for life,” McDonough says.

“A Blazer is continuous and [I think it] can stay through multiple [school] names.”

Ossi also believes the Blazer should remain the school mascot.

“I completely understand why we’re going to change the name of the school,” she explains. “But I think that we should keep the [mascot] as the Blazer because I

COURTESY OF GABE KAMMANN

SECU ARENA Doc cheers on the Towson Tigers.

Ossi became a mascot after going to her first football game, where she was inspired to add to Blair’s lively student section. “I was looking around, and [the game] was pretty spirited… but I thought that we could [do better],” she explains.

Ossi decided to embody the Blazer and raise the school pride to the next level. “[Our mascot] really gets the crowd hyped up at games, and it really brings out the spirit of the school.”

LIAM MCDONOUGH

One of the most important jobs of the Blazer... is being a symbol that the students can rally around.

McDonough walked Silver Chips through one of his busier days as a student, swimmer, and mascot. “On Pep Rally Day I got dressed up in [the Blazer] suit around two. Then, I headed to the stadium, did a little waving around, jumping around to get the crowd going,” McDonough says. His responsibilities weren’t over yet. “[After the game] I went to swim practice… then came back to school, [and] got the costume back on…for the football game.” Getting the student section hyped takes work. “[I] sweat about three gallons,” he says of his time at the pep rally.

McDonough believes the Blair Blazer brings out the excitement in students by providing them something that they can cheer for and support. “It’s definitely fun to see a figure that represents your school at a football game,” he says.

With the possibility of a school name change within sight for Blair, the future of the current mascot is uncertain. The association between school and school mascot emphasizes the need for a representative

think that’s what represents us.”

She argues that a change in mascot could affect students’ school pride and connection to Blair. “I will always be a Blazer. If they change the mascot… [I’ll] feel like I won’t even go here anymore.”

Some high school graduates take their dedication to school spirit and performance to the next level. Whether at a football or basketball game, student gathering, or community event, Towson’s Doc the Tiger mascot and Northwood High School graduate Gabe Kammann puts his all into the position.

“On game days, we try to bring our best selves every single time,” he shares. “I become this special character that has so much rich history at the school.”

Kammann thinks mascots should be something everyone can support without hurting others. Doc’s namesake, Dr. Donald I Minnegan, was greatly influential

COURTESY OF KELLEY HANEY

care about and I really enjoy playing so I can get really engaged in what’s happening on the court,” he says. Through performances and a routine with one of the players, he has become closer with the men’s and women’s basketball teams and hopes to foster more relationships in upcoming seasons. “I hope to create more connections… with all the athletes here at Towson, because I am overall their number one fan,” he explains.

Being key members of their communities means mascots interact with kids and families as well.

“Something that I’ve definitely gotten better [at] with having this job is being really, really sweet with kids, and just trying to make them as happy as possible,” Kammann says.

Some of CavMan’s favorite memories on the job are bringing a smile to children’s faces while dancing with them, giving high fives, or signing autographs. “I think the collective impact of meeting so many families and kids who are just so grateful to run into CavMan leaves probably a bigger mark than anything else,” the portrayer shares.

Despite their extroverted, energetic characters, both of the performers are quite different from those characters behind the mask. “I would describe myself, ironically, as somewhat of a quiet person,” the CavMan portrayer says. “I think what makes [being a mascot] so fun [is that] it’s a real chance to let loose.”

Kammann feels similarly, and describes himself as very introverted. “I gain a supreme amount

UVA FOOTBALL GAME CavMan riles up the crowd. to Towson University’s communi- and has always had a passion for ty and athletic department during sports. “[Portraying CavMan] fell his 50 years as a teacher, coach, perfectly into this strange intersecand athletics director. “I think that tion of two things I was already inmascots should be something that terested in,” they explain. are fun and entertaining,” KamAs a lifelong dancer, Kammann mann says. “But if [they’re] offen- took part in Northwood’s dance sive to a certain group of people, program and has been progressor [a group is] uncomfortable with ing in the sport since the age of six. the image that’s being portrayed, I After an injury put a pause on his think it’s okay to stand up and say college dance career, Kammann something about that.” decided to audition to become The University of Virginia’s Towson’s Doc the Tiger in the mascot, CavMan, a tall swashbuck- fall of 2021. His role as Doc has ling cavalier, has a similar commit- given him a chance to further his ment to portraying a character that love for his school and his passion is important to the university and for performance through motion. wider community. Silver Chips sat “I really put a lot of effort into my down with one of the performers movements, and it’s something that of CavMan, all of whom remain I’ve trained my whole life to do,” anonymous until the end of their he says. senior year. “[We] like to preserve the mystery of [CavMan’s identity] for families in Charlottesville,” the portrayer shares. “He’s the face of the university.”

Shifting the focus from who is inside the mask to what the mask represents helps preserve consistency in CavMan’s long-standing image. “CavMan is something truly anybody can be… You can look at CavMan as the face of anything this university stands for,” the portrayer explains.

Although their anonymity is part of the tradition, it poses some challenges for those who hold the position. CavMan’s odd performance hours and frequent cross-country trips make his portrayers not only mascots, but also storytellers. “[CavMan’s events are] why I may disappear on a Tuesday night for FIONA BONDAREV no reason and come back all tired BLAIR SPIRIT Liam McDonough portrays the Blazer at the annual and immediately go to bed,” they Homecoming pep rally. say. “Having that secrecy is part of One of Kammann’s favorite of confidence when I have the suit the fun of it all… You just get good parts of the job is making connec- on.” at lying… in a fun way.”

CavMan’s graduation will likely For both CavMan and Kam- tions within the Towson commumann, being a mascot was a way to nity at games and meets. “I enjoy mark the end of their mascot career. put their interests toward a job. The doing basketball games the most “I’m 100 percent sure I will be very CavMan we spoke to participated since basketball is a big passion of sad taking off the head for the last in theater throughout high school mine. It’s something that I really time,” they explain. “[But] it’ll definitely be very cool to reveal to a lot of people I’m close with that this is what I’ve been doing behind the scenes.”

After graduation, Kammann is interested in pursuing a professional mascot position and has plans to build his mascot resume. “I hope to compete at Daytona next year at the national mascot competition…

If I do win, that would be an extreme boost towards a job furthering outside of Towson” he says.

When he takes off his mask for the last time, Kammann says that Doc will be a part of him forever, and he won’t hesitate to talk about his unique experience. “Not many other people can go to a bar and be like, ‘Oh, I was my university’s Division One mascot,’” he shares with a laugh.

He aims to pave the way for future Towson mascots through his example of dedication to the position. “I hope whoever I pass the torch to will embody the high standards that I have for this job now,” he says. “I hope to really be honored at the school as someone who [put in] a lot of their time and ELIZA COOKE a lot of passion and a lot of work.”

E4 Culture March 24, 2022

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March 24, 2022 Culture E5

Chips Clips

Answer keys Sports roundup

Crossword

To learn what a cryptic crossword is and tips and tricks for solving them, scan this QR code.

Art by Jay Chao and Leela Mehta-Harwitz Puzzles by Elina Lee

Cryptic Crossword ACROSS 1 - Humans removed from madman kindness cause insanity 4 - Four ordinal sounds and so on 5 - Written work by every other protest prey 7 - Mammal end of ram enclosed by dog breed 5 10 - Caught in heart I choke on a vegetable 12 - Foodless peacock meets endless tails for a drink 13 - Mixed ants support Eminem DOWN 2 - Flipped dark night 3 - Color upset livers 4 - Outskirts of fabled lyric makes cloth 5 - Mathematical pastry they say 6 - Sounds like identical knights 8 - Start coloring greedy raccoons eating elusive newts 9 - Half work half mental feminists 10 - Devoted retro diva 11 - Stuck in the middle of a semidesert

Sudoku

1

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F1 Sports March 24, 2022

New coach, new game

By William Ashford and Haley Carter Staff Writers

She was flawless.

She handled [the transition] gracefully, intelligently, effectively.

RITA BOULÉ

“She really made me fall in love with the sport again,” Blair senior and varsity girls’ basketball captain Shiloh Burke says about playing for Blair’s new varsity coach, Jada Launi. Originally the JV girls’ coach, Launi took over the varsity team and continued coaching JV just half-way through the season, after the previous varsity coach stepped away from the position. Her takeover ignited a spark in the talented team as she rallied her players to a playoff run.

Basketball has always been a large part of Launi’s life. “She’s from a basketball family,” Blair’s Athletic director, Rita Boulé says.

“She is just one of those coaches that has a ton of experience in both watching, playing, and coaching.”

Launi’s impressive resume began with great success playing at Springbrook High School before she was recruited to play at the next level. “She’s played all through high school at Springbrook. She’s in the Hall of Fame for being an All-MET basketball player, [and] she went on to play in college,” Boulé says.

Coach Launi’s early accomplishments carried to her Division I collegiate basketball career at Washington Adventist University.

After graduating in 2009, she went on to play for the Women’s Bas-

ketball Developmental Association (WBDA) and competed for the Philadelphia Reign women’s basketball team.

When her semi-professional career was over, Launi wanted to coach to stay close to the game. “I retired and I still wanted to be involved in the game,” she says.

Launi has taken her extensive basketball experience and applied it to her coaching style today. “[I continue] to be a student of the game and [learn] more about it…

[I will] analyze a team individually and collectively,” Launi explains.

After the former varsity girls’ basketball coach unexpectedly stepped away from coaching, Launi was suddenly responsible for coaching both the JV and varsity teams. “It was hard at first, because we found out that we would have a new coach, literally an hour before a game,” Burke says. Despite the abrupt transition, Burke explains, “we felt comfortable with her and she made it pretty seamless.”

Boulé was happy with Launi’s takeover. “She was flawless. She handled [the transition] graceful-

CAL TOBIAS

SUPPORTING FROM THE SIDELINES Jada Launi, left, coaches Blair to a 70 to 52 win over Paint Branch. ly, intelligently, effectively,” Boulé says. “She was just very communicative, very open with the girls about purpose and what they were doing and why and how she needed it done. She had high expectations for both teams.”

Although Launi’s time coaching the varsity team was short, she feels she successfully built a culture of dedication and positivity. “[I encouraged the players] to be themselves and to laugh and to joke and to have fun all while working hard,” Launi explains.

Facilitating relationships was essential to smoothing the coaching transition for the varsity players. “[I allowed] them to get to know me as a person and set time to get to know them as people and not just as basketball players,” Launi says.

A season of swishes

ELI GREENBERGER

I feel like I can go to Coach Mensah to ask questions about basketball…or just life in general.

Mensah’s communication policy also extends off the court. “I feel like I can go to Coach Mensah to ask questions about basketball…or just life in general,” junior guard Greenberger explained.

When it came time for the actual season, the Blazers were off to a slow start, losing two of their first three games in December. The Blazers quickly turned it around, finishing the season strong by going 10-1 in their last 11 games.

The scoring effort was led by senior forward Moore, who finished the season averaging 22 points per game (PPG), along with posting six rebounds per game (RPG). Greenberger and Pang, another junior guard, assumed their roles beyond

CAL TOBIAS

STOP AND GO Gio Moore talks with Coach Mensah during a timeout. the arc, each shooting over 40 percent from three point land and combining for an average of over 20 PPG. Emah’s all-around performance on the court added averages of seven PPG, eight RPG, and four assists per game (APG). The team was led in the back court by senior guard Torontow, who averaged six PPG, five RPG, and eight APG. In the first round of the playoffs, Paint Branch defeated Einstein, setting up a playoff matchup between the Blazers and the Paint Branch Panthers. Paint Branch had beaten Blair in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons going into this one, which left the Blazers looking for revenge.

Through a fast paced offense and seemingly automatic three point shooting, the Blazers made a team effort to avenge their past losses.

Moore led the way with 18 points, with Greenberger, Pang, and Torontow also reaching double digits in the score column. Emah had six blocks, and the Blazers won 70-52 in front of a raucous student section and a full gym. “[We] hit some big shots, some big plays on defense, [all the players] contributed. It was a tough game against a good team and we were fortunate to come out with the win,” Mensah said after the game.

After defeating Paint Branch at home, the Blazers looked to win another home game against a scrappy Blake team known for their press de-

you succeed, rather than bring you down,” Burke explains. “If you make a mistake, she would just come to you and tell you, she wouldn’t get mad, or hold it against you at all.”

As she reflects on the season, Launi is incredibly proud of the team’s improvement on and off the court as the team grew together and turned their season around. “[My favorite part of the season was] watching the girls develop and buy into a system that was essentially thrown upon them in such a short amount of time,” Launi says.

The varsity team ended the regular season 10-9 and beat Paint Branch and Einstein in the playoffs before losing to Blake in regionals.

Mensah leads boys’ basketball to first regional championship in 40 years

from BOYS’ BASKETBALL page A1 spring season after COVID-19 canceled the winter season. Mensah practiced law prior to becoming a teacher and coach and started coaching for one simple reason: “I love sports and I like working with kids.

That’s the easy answer, but it’s true.”

Mensah’s coaching philosophy centers around nurturing relationships with his players. “I want the players to consider me to be a friend,” he explained. “I understand what a coach is, but I also understand what being a player is… I want to make sure that players feel empowered, I want them to have a voice, I want them to be able to talk to me.”

Players describe Mensah’s approach to coaching as unique because he elevates the voices of players on the team. “Obviously, what Coach says goes, but he’ll take everybody’s opinion into account,” senior guard Emah said.

The players also believe that the change aided in their comfort with each other. “I feel like everyone was kind of on their toes before,” Burke says. “[But under Launi,] we could all just kind of relax and focus on what really mattered, which was basketball.”

Launi explains that the team had to have confidence in each other and Launi to create a successful culture.

“It was really about the trust and the players’ ability to trust someone that they didn’t know and who had a different style and way of looking at the game,” she says. “But it wasn’t a struggle, it was a process that [the players] adapted to very quickly.”

Burke believes this change in culture reflected both on and off the court. “Her coaching style is very calm and she wants to see

fense. A regional championship was on the line. “First and foremost, we must make sure we match the intensity,” Mensah said before the game.

“They rely… on turnovers to win games, so we have to minimize that.”

The Blazers had no issues with turnovers in the first half against Blake, jumping out to an early 3414 lead. They maintained the lead for most of the game as another balanced attack secured a 74-52 win, and a regional championship. “[It] feels good. [I’m] happy for the players, happy for the school,” Mensah explained after the game.

After the game, Torontow explained what the win meant to the team. “Claiming [the] regional championship, something Blair hasn’t done in a while… it just means a lot to us,” he explained.

After the final whistle sounded, the players rushed to the student section to celebrate with the fans, a mob of players and fans forming on the side of the court. “The fan support last night was fantastic… it was the best that we had this season… I was just really impressed with how many people were here,” Mensah continued.

Senior Andy Merrill, who dubbed himself the hype man of the student section, described the thrill of the win. “I felt really proud… and it was a really exciting moment for the school,” he said.

The Blazers earned a spot in the state playoffs, playing a higher seeded Eleanor Roosevelt High School in neighboring Prince George’s county on March 4th, just two days after Blair’s win against Blake.

In front of a 25 percent capacity audience, the Blazers walked into a hostile away environment. “They were yelling things at individual players and stuff,” Greenberger explained. “When you’re at home, you don’t really hear [that].”

The Blazers ended an even first half with Roosevelt with a score of 20-20. “When the score was 20-20 I knew we were in trouble because we weren’t being as aggressive offensively,” Mensah said.

At halftime, Mensah tried to galvanize the team. “I tried to demonstrate a little bit of energy and passion into them, just trying to get them to understand… they needed to seize the opportunity,” he explained.

Blair ended up falling 55-41 in a season-ending loss to Roosevelt.

Although the Blazers did not complete their overall goal of a state championship, they finished an incredible season with a division title and a regional championship, setting a new bar of excellence for the program. “[The loss] was disappointing, but ultimately my hope is that over time [the players will] look back and say to themselves, ‘Wow we accomplished a good deal this year and I’m happy about that,’” Mensah explained.

Despite the team losing many key seniors and forwards, Mensah is still hopeful to establish Blair as a powerhouse in Montgomery County. “We expect to be in the state playoffs again next year, and that’ll be the goal every year,” he said.

silverchips

March 24, 2021 Sports F2

Nighthawks attack!

By Sedise Tiruneh Staff Writer

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

By Jon Eckert Sports Editor/Columnist

COURTESY OF SANDI JAMES

SUITING UP The Nighthawks break stigmas in sports as the all-female team takes on contact football. to people without homes in the Baltimore area. They also advocated for breast cancer awareness by hosting the Pink Ribbon Bowl, supported the Special Olympics Maryland, and hosted camps with their local Girl Scouts troupes.

“Different players will get together and do different things [such as] fundraising drives, collecting socks, blankets, [and other] things for the homeless, and then [go] out and [distribute] those,” Bryan explains.

Along with the Baltimore Nighthawks, many other women’s athletics teams began to gain prominence and popularity in the

late 20th century. This is partly due to Title IX – a federal civil rights law that provided equal access to all educational programs and activities, including sports, that receive federal funding. Female participation in athletics grew as the ratio of girls playing sports has gone from one in 27 before Title IX to two in five as of 2016.

Despite Title IX and recent strides for female athletics, the Nighthawks still experience resistance from some members of their local community. “You will still have people saying women should not be playing football,” Bryan says. “I don’t deal with people that

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want to be negative about things.”

The support that women’s teams like the Nighthawks have amassed is demonstrative of changes in the athletics landscape. Since the 20th century, women’s flag and contact football has slowly grown in popularity, however, the sport gained a recent explosion in visibility when the Women’s Football Association (WFA) signed a television deal with ESPN to broadcast Division I games.

Our team is every shape, size, color, and creed. And it’s really fun to build a family like that.

AMANDA EICH

Football has long been inaccessible for female athletes, but the Baltimore Nighthawks—a women’s football team—strives to change that for women in the Baltimore metro area. In addition to combating male dominance in the athletics landscape, the Nighthawks have built a network community for female athletes in the area.

Tanya Bryan, an engineer turned team owner, founded the Baltimore Nighthawks in 2007 to support women in the Baltimore area interested in the sport and community of football. The team doesn’t require experience in flag or contact football and stresses the importance of dedication and ambition. “Most women haven’t had a chance to play [football],” Bryan says. “It’s really about looking for athletes [and]... about having that competitive attitude.”

The team also prioritizes inclusivity and diversity, as it represents women of all races, ages, and professions. “Our team is every shape, size, color and creed. And it’s really fun to like to build a family like that,” Nighthawks wide receiver Amanda Eich says.

Outside of practices and games, the Nighthawks also emphasize being active members of their Baltimore community. Since their founding, they have participated in several outreach projects and charities to give back. For over a decade, the Nighthawks have participated in the Healthcare for the Homeless annual Chocolate Affair to raise money to give medical aid

Incrementally, stigmas around women’s sports are dissipating, which helps encourage women, such as Eich, to play. Eich, an elementary school physical education teacher and sports coach, initially joined the Nighthawks in 2020 for recreation. “I played every sport under the sun. And when I was nine, I asked to play football and my mom said ‘No,’” Eich recounts. “Now I’m 29 and playing professional football, and I think it’s a full circle example of [how] women can do what they want if they work for it.”

In the process of balancing her time and the sport, the team provided her an escape and a family.

“It’s definitely a huge time commitment on top of regular work and life balance,” Eich explains.

“But for me, it’s actually an escape and something that I do for myself, and I love it.” Players form close relationships through the culture and camaraderie of the team.

Team members often take part in team-bonding activities and show up for birthday dinners and graduations, all of which foster an environment of friendship and trust.

This creates a level of understanding that resembles those in affinity spaces, communities formed on shared identities and beliefs.

“Women’s spaces and affinity spaces in general can be super special,” says Rebecca Hughes, a former football player who is a social studies teacher at Blair. “There’s a shared kind of feeling and understanding [where] you don’t have to explain certain things.” In these spaces, women are able to come together and bond over not only the sport, but what it means to be a woman.

The Nighthawks serve as role models for young girls and women in the community. “These are spaces where you can shine.

It doesn’t mean that you have to shine in comparison to a guy.

You’re just allowed to shine,” Hughes notes.

The men’s college basketball selection committee should be ashamed of themselves. Once again, they’ve proven themselves incompetent by putting any Big Ten team over .500 in the field, excusing mediocrity for the sole reason of name recognition.

The committee is blatantly biased toward big-name schools that have a long history of success in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Big Ten has a legacy of Final Four runs and National Championships, but the historical success of the Big Ten is no more. The 2021 college basketball season was supposed to be the Big Ten’s year. The conference was supposed to be a dominant force in the tournament. Their elite talent was supposed to be put on display for the world to see, but as the Big Ten always does against real competition, they fell flat.

Only one of the nine Big Ten teams made it past the second round. They choked against teams like North Texas, Loyola Chicago, and Oral Roberts.

This year, the Big Ten continued its tradition of being perennially bloated in the big dance after the selection committee literally put any Big Ten team with a winning record into the field for the second straight season.

The idea that the mediocre records of Big Ten teams are magically excused because they play such unparalleled competition is preposterous.

Big Ten bias is so evidently pervasive among committee members as they selected another nine Big Ten teams despite them proving in last year’s tournament that the league is not as stacked as it’s made out to be.

This is a repeated mistake as only one Big Ten team with a winning record before selection Sunday has been excluded from the big dance over the past three tournaments. Despite lacking a tournament championship in more than 20 years, the exalted Big Ten is consistently overrated and considered a basketball powerhouse.

Michigan is one of those teams that should have been excluded this year.

There is no way to argue that Michigan played such good competition in the Big Ten that it is deserving of an at-large tournament bid, let alone a bid that avoids a play-in game. Michigan ended its 2022 season only three games over .500, as it made itself the first team in more than two decades to make the tournament with such a mediocre record. The last team to do so was Georgia in 2001, which had a first round exit in the big dance.

In response to questions about how Michigan got in, the committee referred to the quality wins on its schedule. But where are those wins?

Prairie View? Tarleton? They couldn’t compete against UNC, who played in a “down year” ACC. It seems like they only can compete with about half of the overrated teams in the Big Ten. Michigan only had one win (Purdue) over a team seeded as a 6 or better in the tournament. On the other hand, a Texas A&M team that was 23-12 before Selection Sunday had 4 wins against teams seeded 6 or higher in the tournament. The committee’s logic contradicts itself by saying Michigan had huge wins making them deserving of a tournament spot when they only have one win over a top 6 seeded team. Through their own seed lines, the committee implies the teams Michigan had wins over were not really that good. Texas A&M had a far more deserving tournament resume than Michigan and it’s not really close.

Several other teams in the Big Ten made the bracket with iffy (at best) resumes. The college basketball world will be feeling deja vu this year as the Big Ten will once again miss the Final Four despite having the most teams in the tournament.

silverchips

F3 Sports March 24, 2022

JAY

CIA LU

CH

AO

By Elina Lee and Zachary Williamson Staff Writers

HARRY GREENHOUSE

I’ve met all my lifelong friends playing quidditch.

try to throw the quaffle (volleyball) through the other team’s rings. If successful, the chasers’ team receives ten points.

To add to the chaos, there are also two beaters (defensive players) who pelt the chasers with bludgers (kickballs). Whenever a chaser is hit, they must drop the quaffle and run back to their goalposts.

Then comes the snitch: a yellow-clad volunteer, unaffiliated with either team, who enters the game at the 20-minute mark halfway through the game and proceeds to sprint around an extended 84- by

RAFFI CHARKOUDIAN-ROGERS

CHIPS PLAYS QUIDDITCH Features editor Sofia Roehrig jumps to block a goal from the opposing team.

48-yard field. Attached to their back is a velcro sack containing a tennis ball, which each team’s seeker tries to remove. The successful seeker’s team gains 30 points, much less than the generous 150 points from the book series. The game ends when one team is leading by at least 70 points in the second half.

Despite some funky rules, quidditch resembles other conventional sports in that players pass balls around and throw them through hoops, but the addition of brooms or PVC pipe stand-ins sets the sport apart and often provokes curious gazes from onlookers. Ali Markus, manager of the MLQ Indianapolis Intensity team, highlights its quirky nature. “The broom gives you that weird uniqueness that makes it what it is,” she explains.

Harry Greenhouse of the MLQ Boston Forge team notes the unconventional way quidditch looks.

“You’re doing a certain thing that... does not look as normal as most sports do, since you have PVC pipe between... your legs,” he says.

The addition of the broom is part of what makes quidditch especially challenging. “Every sport has a handicap that exists within it,” Greenhouse says. “When hockey was first around, [people might have asked], ‘Why would people be playing a sport with blades on their feet on ice?’... [The broom] is the same type of thing.”

There is another particularly un-

expected element of quidditch: ferocity. Quidditch is a contact sport, and a brutal one at that. Julia Williamson, a junior at the University of Vermont who gave quidditch a shot, learned the rough nature of the sport the hard way. “At the end of the [second] practice, we were doing a scrimmage and I got tackled by a guy three times my size,” she says. She stopped going to practices after that.

Other players, like Greenhouse, were drawn to the sport because of its extreme contact. “I was a football player and a wrestler in high school, and I was bored in college, and my roommate convinced me to come out. I went out. I got tackled in my first practice. And I like that type of stuff, so I just got… fixated on it,” he explains.

Greenhouse also emphasizes the value of the community aspect.

“I’ve met all my lifelong friends playing quidditch,” Greenhouse says.

Markus has incredible faith in her teammates. “A lot of my teammates are people I would trust with my life,” she explains. “One of my teammates is the beneficiary on my life insurance policy.”

MLQ v. Rowling

Unlike Harry Potter’s quidditch, MLQ has a gender maximum rule—Title 9 ¾—stating that there cannot be more than four people of the same gender on each

seven-person team. Gender is purposefully used as a broad term to keep quidditch a diverse and inclusive sport, especially considering Rowling’s controversial comments regarding transgender people.

“We’ve been distancing ourselves from J.K. Rowling because she’s got a lot of really not-okay views,” Markus says. “We really pride ourselves on our inclusivity of everyone.”

On top of that, both Rowling and Warner Bros. own the copyright to the word “quidditch,” which prevents teams and leagues from profiting off of the sport.

“It’s all intellectual property, so we really don’t have a lot of room to monetize anything,” Markus says.

MLQ has very few paid positions, so a lot of volunteers—including the elusive snitch—are needed to run each game.

Darren Bell, the head coach of the MLQ Ottawa Black Bears, thinks a name change would increase the sport’s marketability. “[Renaming quidditch would make] it a whole lot easier for recruitment and for the sport to grow going forward,” he says.

Black Bears’ manager Misha Whittingham adds that merchandise and sponsorship deals would require quidditch to be independent of copyright too. “If you want to make money with this sport, you need to be able to use its name,” he says.

After securing two six-foot quidditch hoops from Blair math teacher Jeremy Schwartz, sponsor of Blair’s now-disbanded quidditch club, we borrowed three kickballs and two volleyballs from Blair’s gym department before heading out to the track to play a simplified version of the game.

Each team had three chasers per MLQ rules, but we added an extra quaffle to make the game more dynamic, as each keeper only had to guard one hoop. Because we were short on players, we had just one beater instead of two.

Even with half the number of beaters as intended, the chasers had a hard time evading the hurtling bludgers. “I was not expecting [this level of] ruthlessness from the beaters,” senior and chaser Sarah Martin says. “I was trying to get away and one got me from behind.”

We really pride ourselves on our inclusivity of everyone.

ALI MARKUS

Unlike at Hogwarts, where characters soar through the air on enchanted broomsticks, real-life quidditch lacks the same magnificence. As muggles, they are restricted to the unforgiving ground and must replace a magical broom with a three-foot PVC pipe. Instead of chasing a golden snitch at incredible speeds, they wrestle a person wearing a bright yellow costume with a tennis ball attached to their back. Despite its nerdy origins, quidditch has developed into a competitive and beloved sport with its own leagues—including Major League Quidditch (MLQ) and United States Quidditch—as well as a world cup.

Real-life quidditch was born in 2005 at Middlebury College, eight years after the publication of J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book.

The sport has since become a niche staple of many college campuses.

The rules mirror those of Rowling’s creation. Three hula hoopsized rings on poles—three, fourand-a-half, and six feet tall—sit on either side of the 60- by 36-yard field. Both teams have a keeper (the wizard term for “goalkeeper”) who guards the hoops. Three chasers (offensive players) on each side

G WAN

Fellow chaser Maddie Whipple agrees, describing the beater as “barbaric.”

The snitch, junior Sean Li, entered the game at the five-minute mark and was allowed to run as far as he desired to avoid the two seekers. After two minutes of near misses, junior Iris Montgomery finally caught Li. “I was surprised that the snitch could be caught so quickly,” Li says. “Stamina is what killed me in this round.”

Though our game was brief and we were unable to acquire broom-resembling objects for each player, most of us experienced the

POST-GAME PICTURE The exhausted team gets together for a shot after trying out quidditch. exciting game of quidditch for the first time in our lives.

The Chips’ pitch Many Chippers have been inMarkus’ biggest advice to those spired to play quidditch at a colleinterested in quidditch is to “just giate level, regardless of how ridicgo try it.” Following her words of wisdom, we gathered some of our ulous it may look. “I’ve definitely Silver Chips friends and played started thinking about it now,” seduring class. nior and keeper Sofia Roehrig says.

LUCIA WANG