December 2017 -- Silver Chips

Montgomery Blair High School SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

A public forum for student expression since 1937

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Race for county executive intensifies

December 19, 2017 VOL 80 NO 3

Skates Out

By William Donaldson

Six Democrats and one Republican have declared that they are running in the election for Montgomery County Executive in 2018.

Seven candidates compose the largest field to run for the executive’s office in Montgomery County since 2002, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

The Democratic candidates include County Council members Roger Berliner, Marc Elrich, and George L. Leventhal, former Rockville Mayor Rose Krasnow, Maryland House Majority Leader Delegate Bill Frick, and business owner David Blair. Robin Ficker, an attorney, is running on the Republican side.

Several individuals are considering joining the race. According to Bethesda Magazine, current District 2 Councilman Craig Rice, former Kensington Mayor Peter Fosselman, state Delegate Ben Kramer, and former County Council member Mike Knapp, all Democrats, are considering joining the rest of the candidates.

Democratic candidates participated in a debate hosted by the Greater Chamber of Commerce and Bethesda Beat on Nov. 15. The six candidates discussed issues in

see RACE page A4

County responds to revenue shortages

SAMI MALLON

CHILLING OUT Children participate in “Skates Out for East Silver Spring,” an ice skating fundraiser for East Silver Spring Elementary. The Silver Spring Ice Arena donated 50 percent of its proceeds to the school’s PTA.

Girls’ basketball beats Rockville in 51-12 victory

By Marlena Tyldesley NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM, Dec. 12—

By Lucy Gavin

The Montgomery County Council plans to impose a new financial savings plan due to economic shortcomings, which have resulted in a budget deficit of approximately $120 million.

One likely cause of the deficit is that the income tax revenue from fiscal year 2017 was $64 million less than expected. According to Chief Administrative Officer Timothy Firestine’s memo to the Council, there was nearly a 30 percent decline in income tax revenue compared to fiscal year 2016.

Councilmember Hans Riemer

see BUDGET page A3

NEWS A2

ELIA GRIFFIN

COURTESY OF MORGAN CASEY

BREAKING ANKLES Sophomore point guard Quan’ell Kitchen dribbles down the court on a fast break after a key steal.

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Pollo Campero

SMOB for a day

Una nueva adición del restaurante Pollo Campero llega a Silver Spring.

Chips shadows Matt Post while he visits schools.

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OP/ED B1

ERIN NAMOVICZ

LA ESQUINA LATINA C1

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In a resounding win, the girls’ varsity basketball team defeated the Rockville Rams 51-12 Tuesday night.

By the end of the first quarter, the Blazers had pulled ahead, holding a 19-6 lead. During the second quarter, however, any fear that the team would not hold onto their advantage evaporated.

Within the first thirty seconds, junior Megan Burke sank a deep three. Burke’s play marked the beginning of Blair’s scoring streak, which pushed their lead up to 24 and put the game well out of reach for Rockville.

Blair consistently overpowered their opponent, using their physical play in the paint and their effective communication in transition.

Smooth passing between players coupled with a significant physical advantage led Blair to victory.

The determining factor in the game ended up being player size.

Blair’s players towered over their smaller Rockville opponents, mak-

Bad food, bad Yelp reviews The worst meals from the venues with the worst Yelp reviews.

BEN MILLER

FEATURES D1

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ENTERTAINMENT E1

ing it easy for them to obtain possession of the ball and maintain control for long periods of time.

Going into the second half, Blair consistently found ways to get around the Rockville defense, with the Rams growing less precise and focused. They repeatedly turned the ball over and were porous on the defensive side of the ball.

Seniors L’Shana Cobey and Alayna McFadden led the way for the Blazers, both running several breakaways and acting as key playmakers for the team. Cobey scored eight points and had 10 rebounds, while McFadden scored 19 points, along with her four assists and three steals.

By the fourth quarter, the pace of play slowed significantly as both teams visibly began to lose stamina. As a result, only two total baskets were scored in the last eight minutes of the game.

Blair finished the game in high spirits, content with their performance and victory. “I think it went extremely well,” junior Nina Boggan said. “I’m super proud of how we communicated and how

see BASKETBALL page F3

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A2 News silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 Phone: (301) 649-2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Winner of the 2015 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown

Editors-in-Chief: Alexander Dacy and Olivia Gonzalez Managing News Editors: Gilda Geist and Leila Jackson Managing Op/Ed Editors: Serena Debesai and Erin Namovicz Managing Features Editors: Cole Greenberg and Isabella Tilley Managing Entertainment Editors: Emma Cross and Hermela Mengesha Managing Sports Editor: Henry Wiebe Ombudsman: Laura Espinoza Newsbriefs Editors: Gilda Geist and Leila Jackson Page Editors: Anson Berns Mindy Burton Elise Cauton Noah Chopra-Khan Miranda Rose Daly William Donaldson Arshiya Dutta Adenike Falade Lucy Gavin Hannah Lee Elias Monastersky Camden Roberts Marlena Tyldesley Telon Yan La Esquina Latina Editors-in-Chief: Michael Hernández and Sofía Muñoz La Esquina Latina Writers: Amanda Hernández Jasmine Méndez-Paredes Laura Méndez-Pinto Lourdes Reyes Yesenia Sorto Executive Business Directors: Karen Depenyou and Ariel Zhang Business Staff: Siena Butters Julia Henderson Honor Kalala Simran Krishna-Rogers Brenna Levitan-Garr Matt Morris Olena Zelinsky Managing Photo Editor: Chaminda Hangilipola and Sami Mallon Photographers: Avery Brooks Jedediah Grady Elia Griffin Amarins Laanstra-Corn Hannah Schwartz Maggie Lin Managing Media Coordinator: Ben Miller Managing Art Editors: Carly Tagen-Dye and Marissa He Artists: Jenny Cueva-Diaz Niamh Ducey Seoyoung Joo Amy Krimm Avery Liou Tiffany Mao Aritra Roy Sally Zhao Managing Design Editors: Hermela Mengesha and Isabella Tilley Puzzle Editors: Addie McDonough and Lucy Solomon Copy Editors: Ben Abramson Ben Auslin Will Ederer Divya John Brennan Winer La Esquina Latina Advisor: Dianette Coombs Advisor: Jeremy Stelzner Silver Chips is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the editorial board and are not necessarily those of the school.

Signed letters to the editor are encouraged.

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

silverchips

December 19, 2017

MCPS Study Circles come to Blair Students participate in dialogues on social issues

By Miranda Rose Daly Almost 1,000 Blair students participated in the MCPS Study Circles program from Nov. 20-22.

According to the Study Circles Program department, the study circles are aimed at helping students participate in discussions about controversial topics, informing them about important issues such as race, gender and legal status.

The program’s goal is to help the Blair community understand the perspectives of their classmates through respectful debate.

In a school whose racial makeup is about 35 percent Latino, 24 percent black, 22 percent white, 15 percent Asian, and 4 percent other, the study circles aim to enrich Blair students’ understanding of the backgrounds and experiences of their fellow students, according to the department.

Senior Luis Zelaya, a student facilitator for the program, said that he appreciates the diversity in opinions that Blair has.

“I personally love seeing different perspectives of individuals within Blair,” he said.

According to the Study Circles Department website, the program was founded in 2003, and works with students, teachers, and parents towards eliminating institu-

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

STAYING WOKE Students sit down with sociology teacher Kenneth Smith to discuss contemporary racial and social issues. tional barriers for black and Latino students.

The November program trained students to run the study circles.

According to Zelaya, student facilitators were trained at Johns Hopkins University last spring where they participated in different study circles and were taught the significance of remaining neutral while guiding the dialogue.

Social studies teachers Kenneth Smith and Kevin Shindel are corunning the program at Blair.

Smith explained the importance

of having a dialogue, and not a debate in talking about important issues.

“You often hear people talk about this idea that we have to have a conversation and we need to talk about these issues but no one really knows how to, or wants to, because they are painful,” he said.

“This is not about you trying to win a point, to persuade someone to your position, it is to have a dialogue.”

The first round of dialogues

served as practice for newly trained student facilitators, and were designed to get students used to the idea of talking about their beliefs.

“It’s first to get people to be okay with being uncomfortable,” Smith said.

In the ‘compass’ activity, students were shown images of current controversial topics such as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protest or a Black Lives Matter shirt.

They were then asked whether their reaction to these topics was more social, emotional, moral, or intellectual, and why.

Senior Leslie Morales, another student facilitator, said she has gained important social skills while being a facilitator.

“One of the major things you learn is how to stay back and listen to other people. Not fight back, but have a conversation with someone,” she said.

“Not everything has to be a yes or no, there’s backgrounds and different perspectives.”

Future plans for the study circles include trying to change the culture at Blair, Smith explained.

“We take pride in being this diverse high school, we understand that we are very much a liberal bubble, but we still have a lot of issues to discuss—and we are not discussing them,” he said.

Spring break shortened for 2018-2019 school year

The change is the latest to ensure compliance with governor’s executive order

By Arshiya Dutta On Nov. 14, the MCPS Board of Education adopted a new calendar for the 2018-2019 school year that includes an abbreviated spring break to accommodate for Governor Larry Hogan’s new calendar requirements.

This calendar was proposed by Superintendent Jack Smith at the Policy Management Committee (PMC), and was selected from four other calendar options. Instead of the usual ten-day break, students next year will have a six-day break from April 17-22.

The final calendar consists of Good Friday, the weekend of April 20-21, Easter Monday, and two additional days off.

The calendar still allows for two professional days during the school year, and closure for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Eid. These changes are final and will likely continue every year in the future if there are no issues or changes with the executive order.

Hogan’s executive order, signed in August 2016, required all public schools in Maryland to start their school year after Labor Day and end by June 15.

This executive order, according to The Baltimore Sun, “give[s] families more time together, generate[s] more revenue for the tourism industry, and help[s] keep students in the Baltimore region out of sweltering classrooms that lack air conditioning.”

The order, however, left MCPS board members scrambling to reschedule the required 180 instructional days for the school year, as the executive order takes a week of instruction away from the schedule.

“The Board had to decide within the constraints of the executive order, and the way certain dates

ARSHIYA DUTTA

fell in the calendar we had six days to divvy up, and so we reduced Spring Break by two days,” O’Neill said.

The new calendar has faced some backlash from students and others in the community, as many want to keep break within the original time frame.

“We have [reached out] to the community and we have about 2000 responses; about 50 percent of the respondents wanted a full spring break,” O’Neill said.

Junior Virginia Henrici thinks that MCPS adding school days

during a traditional break will lead to absences on those days.

“Most people are going to miss Monday and Tuesday anyways because they are on vacation for spring break, so there’s not really a point,” she said.

Some students, like junior Nora Bay, are concerned about their college visits next year.

“Last year in my brother’s senior year, we used spring break to go on a bunch of college tours so he could decide where he wanted to go, and I feel like with this new change I’m not going to have

enough time to make a thorough decision about where I want to attend college,” she said.

According to O’Neill, MCPS board members are trying their best to justify their decision to concerned members to the community, as they had limited scheduling options.

“We were put into a box, and I think most people, when we’ve explained the challenges that we only had six days of flexibility within the calendar, were very understanding that there were no good choices,” O’Neill said.

News A3

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Maryland Integrated Science Assessment replaces HSA

The Next Generation Science Standards affect testing and curriculum

By Noah Chopra-Khan Starting in spring 2018, all MCPS students who have not yet passed the biology High School Assessment (HSA) will have to sit for the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) in order to graduate. Students will not be required to pass the test until spring of 2020.

This change in testing coincides with the rewriting of the entire biology, chemistry, and physics curriculum to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

According to the Maryland State Board of Education (MSBOE)’s website “[On] June 25, 2013, the [MSBOE] adopted the NGSS, a set of rigorous and internationally benchmarked standards for K-12 science education.” Twentysix other states have also adopted these standards with the ultimate goal of transforming their curriculum to better prepare students for STEM fields.

According to the MSBOE website, each NGSS standard combines practices (inquisitive behaviors that scientists engage in as they investigate and build models and theories), cross cutting concepts (approaches that have application throughout all domains of science), and interdisciplinary core ideas (content that is derived from biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences).

In 2015, content specialists in MCPS’ Science, Technology, and Engineering department began rewriting the biology curriculum and ran a biology pilot program during the first quarter of the 20152016 school year. The entire curriculum has now been updated.

Science resource teacher Summer Roark believes that the new biology curriculum has been implemented well. “The biology curriculum is a very solid curricu-

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

HSA GETS TAKEN AWAY Posters advertising Maryland’s new testing policy are posted in the 340s hallway. Students are now required to take the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment. lum,” she said. “All the AP classes are NGSS, so they went first and so those have obviously had the time to build their curriculum and go back to see what worked [and] what didn’t.”

Updates in the physics and chemistry curriculums soon followed. The chemistry curriculum was piloted in the fall of 2016, but MCPS only fully adopted it this year. Physics’ is still in progress, so schools are only required to use it first quarter and then can choose whether to continue with the NGSS curriculum or revert back to their original curriculum.

Patrick O’Connor, an MCPS

curriculum specialist, is spearheading the effort to rewrite the physics curriculum to prepare students for the MISA. According to O’Connor, in addition to reflecting the NGSS, the MISA will be a more interactive test as opposed to the question and answer format that students are used to. “Let’s say [they] have something on the computer screen where they have to add in a certain amount of a chemical to another chemical and then look at the reaction that goes on there and then in the process of answering questions, they have to reflect on what their experience with that is,” O’Connor said. “Ob-

viously it’s not a physical lab, but it will reflect lab techniques that they have done.”

The curriculum is also becoming more exploratory and project based. “One of the things we want to do is have the students not just learn about science but actually do science,” O’Connor said. “So they will be basically creating their own laboratory actives, they will be engaging in argument, things that scientists do every day. They will come up with an idea, hypothesis, test it, and then say, ‘okay is this valid or not?”

According to O’Connor, the performance expectations for

MISA have massively affected the curriculum. “[MSBOE] also released 22 of all of the performance expectations that are key to the MISA,” he said. “We’re developing common tasks and common writing tasks to kind of address some of those same 22 performance expectations that they’re basing the state MISA on.” Essentially, the quizzes in class are aimed to reflect the assessments in the MISA. The biology, chemistry, and physics curricula also have to integrate earth science, a class not required by MCPS, which is included in the NGSS interdisciplinary core ideas. “What we did was we first had to get these earth science expectations into the curriculum,” O’Connor says. Curriculum writers worked to find connections between the earth science concepts and units in biology, chemistry, and physics.

However, all the curricular additions led to certain topics being cut to make room. “The NGSS did not put some things in physics… for instance, the topics of optics with lenses and mirrors and things like that, that’s not in the NGSS,” O’Connor said. “Motion in two dimensions is not in the NGSS, so those [topics were both] not put in the curriculum.”

MCPS does not have anyone on staff to write the curriculum and are relying on teachers that have volunteered to work overtime.

“Some of [the teachers] helped out during the summer, they got some extra money for that to work during the summer, but now it’s more or less a voluntary thing,” O’Connor said.

“We had seven for physics and probably an equal amount for chemistry and biology, seven teachers. So we wanted this to come from the teachers themselves, not us directing from up high,” he says.

County drafts new savings plan due to decreased revenue

After less than expected income tax revenue, the council must correct deficit from REVENUE page A1 believes there are three main causes for the deficit. “The main cause of the budget shortfall is high income taxpayers postponing their capital gains,” he said. “[They are] not selling their stocks, not selling their real estate investments—or at least not claiming them as income because they are anticipating either additional market gains or lower tax rates.”

Riemer thinks two other factors contributed to the budget shortfall.

“One is inflation was a little bit lower than we expected and that reduces our tax revenue,” he said.

“Also, energy use was lower than expected, and that reduces our energy tax revenue.”

In addition, County Executive Ike Leggett explained that there has been an increase in county spending during the past two budget cycles. “We have a situation where current or projected revenue may be down combined with aggressive expenditures in the last two budgets,” Leggett said in an interview with Bethesda Magazine.

Less than two years ago, the Council voted to raise property taxes by 8.7 percent. It also decided to increase the budget for fiscal year 2017 by $219 million from fiscal year 2016, and again in 2018 with an additional $64 million more than the previous year, according to Bethesda Magazine.

Councilmember Sidney Katz agrees with Leggett that decreased tax revenue partially caused the shortfall. “The budget shortfall is due to many factors – most of which are outside of our control,” he said in an email. “Part of the issue is the lower than expected tax revenue distributions.”

Leggett is in the process of developing a solution to propose to Councilmembers, which aims to balance the $5.4 billion budget.

“The County Executive is recommending that we reduce some spending in the meantime, and I think that is likely to occur,” Councilmember Nancy Floreen said.

However, these budgetary changes will not occur until after they have been revised by the Council. “The County Executive will be proposing his ‘solutions’ (budget amendments/changes) soon, and the Council will take these up in work sessions and full Council review in mid-January,” Katz wrote.

Leggett is proposing spending cuts to some departments to help reduce the deficit. While no budget cuts are concrete, education will most likely be off limits. “We won’t cut schools, so [any cutbacks] will have to come from some other agencies,” Floreen said.

In Leggett’s memo to Councilmembers, he strongly urged the Council, the circuit courts, and the county executive to identify two percent of the various depart-

BETHESDA MAGAZINE

ments’ budgets that could be cut.

The Council is also considering a hiring freeze as a corrective measure. “There will definitely be spending cuts–it is too early for me to know if there will be a hiring freeze,” Katz said.

Riemer, on the other hand, thinks they will likely occur. “Definitely hiring freezes,” he said. “I think you’ll see those in a lot of

HANNAH LEE

county departments and then unspent programs that have not met their funding yet will probably be frozen.”

The proposed freeze, however, would not result in any current employees losing their jobs. According to Bethesda Magazine, “[Riemer] doesn’t expect the county to lay off any staff as a result of the shortfall.

But the county likely will not hire

people into positions that remain unfilled.”

However, Riemer believes the revenue shortfall will not have an appreciable effect on growth in the county, and the shortfall will be manageable. “You’re still going to see growth in the overall county budget next year even as we’re trying to absorb cuts this year,” he said.

A4 News

Newsbriefs

MCPS implements new career plan MCPS expanded new career programs and enrollment options to the Career and Technology Education (CTE) clusters. The clusters allow high school students to participate in a focused program of study to direct them toward their future career goals. Students can also earn a two-year associate’s degree before college at a free or reduced cost through the program.

Blair offers CTE courses such as Accounting; Marketing; Early Child Development; Justice, Law, and Society; Computer Science; Advanced Engineering; and College/Career Research and Development.

The new programs are set for the 2018-2019 school year. Applications for the new programs will be posted in early 2018.

Two local high school students take their lives A female sophomore at Walt Whitman and a male junior at Walter Johnson recently took their lives. Her death occurred on Nov. 27 and his death occurred on Dec. 2. The two deaths are unrelated.

Jennifer Baker and Alan Goodwin, principals of Walter Johnson and Walt Whitman, respectively, sent an email to parents commenting on the grief regarding the student’s deaths, including resources for students such as the emergency school number and the Montgomery County Crisis Center. On Dec. 12, Principal Renay Johnson sent out an email to Blair parents addressing mental health and student suicide awareness. Johnson mentioned several organizations and crisis hotlines that the community can reach out to if needed.

Montgomery County has experienced an increase in the number of student suicides over the past year, with five deaths in 2017 compared to three deaths in 2016, according to WUSA9.

Montgomery County encourages using the following numbers for free and confidential help with suicide prevention: Montgomery County Hotline: 301-738-2255 Montgomery County Crisis Center: 240-777-4000 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

School Board to redraw boundaries for five schools On Nov. 27, the Montgomery County school board voted to redraw boundaries of five schools for the incoming Richard Montgomery #5 Elementary, the fifth Rockville elementary school in the Richard Montgomery cluster.

The other schools in the cluster affected by the redrawing are Beall, College Gardens, Ritchie Park, and Twinbrook.

Board officials noticed that the original boundary study contained errors concerning the number of low-income students who would be eligible for Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS). According to the updated calculations, 41.5 percent of students of Richard Montgomery #5 Elementary would qualify for FARMS, while the FARMS rate of the other schools would range from 10 to 17 percent.

The redrawn boundaries will evenly distribute low-income students in the cluster and will be in effect for the 2018-2019 school year.

Newsbriefs compiled by Hannah Lee and Leila Jackson

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Montgomery County executive race kicks off

Candidates look to distinguish themselves from the pack from EXECUTIVE page A1 -cluding incentivizing small business creation, the pace of county urbanization, and how the council can help to close the achievement gap.

This election cycle is the first in which county executive candidates have been able to use the public campaign finance law in Montgomery County. This law, enacted in 2014 by the Council, allows for candidates to receive matching public funds for each donation made to their campaign.

Campaigns that take part in this program are barred from accepting donations above $150 and cannot solicit donations from Political Action Committees or developers.

Democratic candidates are split in regards to public campaign financing. Leventhal and Elrich have met the requirements and filed to use the system, while Blair said that he would not. Leventhal, a proponent of the new system’s benefits, praised its effects on his executive campaign. “The intention [of public financing] is to eliminate the influence of big money and maximize the influence of small contributors and grassroots activists, and it’s working for me,” he said. “I’m getting a much better sense of people’s opinions and views throughout the community and spending relatively less time with very wealthy people who can write me very large checks.”

Seven months before the primary, each campaign is concentrating on spreading the ideas and benefits of its issue platform.

COURTESY OF SARAH L. VOISIN/ THE WASHINGTON POST

RACE TO THE FINISH Democrats shake hands after debate. From left to right are Marc Elrich, Roger Berliner, Brian Karem, moderator and Executive Editor, George L. Leventhal, and Del. William Frick.

As a longtime Council member and former MCPS teacher, Elrich is focusing his campaign on the proper management of county funds. “If you don’t live with the resources and there is an enormous resistance to raising additional taxes, it makes it ever more important that you look at how you run the county government to make sure that you are running it as efficiently as you can,” he said.

Defense attorney and former delegate Ficker pointed to his experience and connections made as a lawyer as some of his campaign’s strengths. “I’m more experienced with the courts than all of the other candidates put together,” he said.

“With each case [you work], you

learn about the community.”

Over the past 12 years, Ficker has helped enact a couple of Montgomery County ballot measures— most recently the Council term limit measure, which passed with 70 percent of the vote. “I believe that through the legal process you can bring about peaceful change,” he said of his record on ballot initiatives.

Blair, a former business executive, stated that his business background will help stimulate Montgomery County’s economy. “From my experience building successful businesses and creating hundreds of good paying jobs, I know we can do much better,” he wrote on his campaign website. “We need a

new strategic approach to attracting businesses as an alternative to increasing taxes year after year.”

In order to spur growth, Elrich argued that the business community should contribute to services provided by the county. “We could actually provide the transportation and we could actually provide the schools, but that requires more contribution from the development community,” he said. “If they are going to build here, if they are going to prosper here, they also have to understand they place enormous burdens on the infrastructure and they need to help the community to pay for infrastructure that supports the things they want to develop.”

WSSC to approve new water bill rate structure

Commission to decide between three new rates structures in June

By Marlena Tyldesley On Nov. 15, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) commissioners proposed three new rate structures to management. Whichever structure is adopted will change how high the water usage tax is for different households in Montgomery County. The structures were created in response to an order by the Maryland Public Service Commission to replace existing rates. One of the structures could be voted on by the Commission in June.

According to its website, WSSC is one of the largest water and wastewater utilities in the country, with service impacting

most residents of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

The new rate structures are designed to benefit households in Montgomery County with high water usage by making their quarterly rates more fair to the taxpayer.

According to WSSC’s Director of Communications and Community Relations, Chuck Brown, “WSSC’s current rate structure was deemed unreasonable by the [Maryland Public Service Commission] because they found it to be preferential to low-usage customers.”

In each of the three recommended rate structures, billing rates are different based on how much water is used quarterly per household. The structures differ in how

much each household would pay for their respective water usage.

In whichever structure is chosen, cost for energy inefficient households will decrease. While rates for more environmentally friendly households will also increase, the increase will barely register for most families. According to a Washington Post article on the plans, “Depending on how much water a home uses, projected increases in quarterly bills would range from about $2 to $10, and potential savings would range from $5 to $114.”

According to Brown, WSSC has been leading an outreach campaign to collect input from customers, elected officials, and

other stakeholders in both counties on the proposed rate structures. “In total, WSSC held or participated in more than 20 public meetings and/or hearings since spring 2017, which were attended by more than 1,200 customers and generated more than 300 total comments on the proposed rate structures,” Brown said.

Brown expects feedback from the Commissioners in spring of 2018. The Commissioners are set to make the final call on a new rate structure in June of 2018, but it will not be implemented until a new billing system is developed. The billing system integrating one of the three rates proposed by the WSSC should be finalized in July of 2019.

COURTESY OF WSSC

News A5

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December 19, 2017

Bus Rapid Transit to be implemented in Montgomery County

The Department of Transportation will add new buses along US 29 by 2020

By Camden Roberts The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) plans to implement a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system along US 29, MD 355, MD 586, and the Corridor Cities Transitway, by 2020. The US 29 route will pass through Silver Spring, and along University Boulevard.

The US 29 route will be the first to open.

According to their website, MCDOT is currently in the project design stage, and expects to begin construction in 2018-2019.

However, the department is not far enough into the process to accurately estimate how much traffic will be impacted during construction. “We anticipate that we won’t be doing anything that will impact traffic during peak travel times on US 29,” Joana Conklin, BRT program manager at the Department of Transportation, said.”But we haven’t figured out a maintenance plan quite yet.”

In 2016, Montgomery County was awarded a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, intended specifically for the BRT route along US 29.

Because they are not yet very far into the project, MCDOT is not yet sure how much it will cost to build, and its website shares no other information as to where the remainder of the funding will come from.

While BRT is MCDOT’s project, the department is also working with Howard County’s Department of Transportation to plan the route along US 29. Howard County received a $2 million grant from the state of Maryland to help them plan, and they are working on the US 29 route because of how many Howard County residents would find it useful.

“More than 13,000 Howard County residents drive daily along this corridor and that number will certainly grow,” Howard County executive Allan Kittleman said in a press release about the project. “Projects such as the BRT must be a priority,” The buses are described on the BRT web-

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

FUTURE ROUTES The proposed routes for the BRT system in Montgomery County, with construction planned to begin sometime in 2018 or 2019.

site as being “like a comfortable train on rubber tires.” They will also have WiFi and USB ports, and are designed to have no steps, to make them more accessible. In addition, BRT stations will be raised to the same level as the bus’s floor to remove the step onto the bus. The buses can move more people per lane than cars, offering a solution to traffic congestion, as well as making them environmentally friendly.

According to a press release from MCDOT, the BRT system will make fewer stops in an effort to reduce transportation times.

In order to make the commute more efficient, riders can pay the fare at their stops before the bus arrives, either by purchasing a ticket or by using a SmarTrip card. MCDOT estimates that fares will be maintained at the current Ride On rate at $2.

The buses will also be equipped with green light priority signaling, a technology that will sense an approaching traffic light and either keep it green or change it to green. While green light priority signaling will not change the light every time, it will keep occasionally keep a light green for a few seconds longer or change a light from red to green more quickly than it would normally.

Despite altering traffic light timing, the technology is designed to minimize traffic disruptions. “[The light] would wait a few more cycles before it would allow priority again,” Conklin said. “It allows traffic to adjust to any impacts it might have seen from that [initial] change,” According to the BRT website, similar systems have been implemented successfully in other cities, including the Health Line in Cleveland, Ohio, established in 2008, and the Emerald Express in Eugene, Oregon, established in 2007.

From November of 2016 to January of 2017, MCDOT ran a contest to pick the name of the Montgomery County BRT. It was open to the public and voting was held on the BRT website. There were three options provided by the county, Flash, Rapid, and Swift. The name “Flash” won.

Up and Coming December 25-December 29

January 1

Winter Break

New Year’s Day

January 6

January 15

Carnival of the Animals Music Festival

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 25

January 26

End of first semester

Professional day; no school for students

Student & Teacher Awards & Honors

Senior Moira Johnson won the Montgomery County Government’s Councilmember for a Day contest, sponsored by Blair alum Craig Rice. Seniors Alix Swann and Heldana Yared were also finalists in the contest.

Junior Catherine Liberta placed 7th in the Southern Region Oireachtas Irish dancing competition, and qualified for the world championships.

Seniors Darien Price, Samuel Teshome, and Marc Monteil were awarded full four year scholarships from the Posse Foundation.

Ivy Liang, Devasena Sitaram, Arthur Hu, Chris Tong, Yuri Kim, and Bumjin Joo were accepted into the All State Junior Band.

Junior Amy Krimm’s team placed third in the Cape Cod synchronized skating classic.

Flora Li, Megan Xiao, Se Yong Park, and Michael Yin were accepted into the All State Senior Band.

Junior Kiran Kochar McCabe was elected chair of the Takoma Park youth council.

Annie Zhao, Hannah Lee, Ryan Cho, Claire Hu, Justin Hung, Charles Shi, Zach Zhao, Esther Lee, Ambrose Yang, James Park, and Abi Koehler were accepted into the All State Senior Orchestra.

Senior Andrew Komo won a $100,000 scholarship in the 2017 Siemens Competition.

A6 News

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Montgomery County Council declares climate emergency

County adopts resolution to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2035

By Elise Cauton

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

RISING TO ACTION Silver Spring’s dispensary RISE is located on Fenton Street.

Two medical marijuana dispensaries opening

Medicinal cannabis arrives in Maryland after a five-year-delay on the state’s program

By Cole Greenberg Two medical marijuana dispensaries in Maryland opened on Dec. 1, becoming the state’s first ever medicinal cannabis suppliers. The businesses, Potomac Holistics, a dispensary in Rockville, and the Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary, located in Cumberland, marked a breakthrough in Maryland’s five-year effort to implement medical marijuana.

While these two dispensaries were the first to open their doors to customers, at least five of the other eight dispensaries licensed by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC)—the 15-member committee that presides over the implementation of medical marijuana in Maryland—quickly followed suit. The other licensed dispensaries, including RISE Silver Spring (a medical marijuana store set to open on Fenton Street), are still not fully operational.

Tish Couter, the interim manager for the Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary, said she found the store’s opening day busy yet fulfilling. “We had some issues, but we had a lot of our patients ride it out. We were actually still dispensing Saturday morning until about 2 a.m.,” Couter said. “We had patients still waiting for us, and that was amazing. That just shows that in this area, especially with our patients, how much they need this product.”

The medical marijuana business was so busy that within a week of Dec. 1, The Washington Post reported that five of Maryland’s seven open dispensaries had completely or almost run out of their cannabis supplies.

According to Jane Klink, one of the owners of Kannavis—an open dispensary located in Ijamsville—the recent arrival of Maryland’s medical marijuana business means fewer growers and processors than that of other states, meaning a smaller supply of medical marijuana products. “The line of supply of flower … has been limited, so it is selling out very quickly,” Klink said. “The product is becoming available from each individual processor and grower. Those products are being made available, but they’re not

all ready at the same time.”

While Maryland currently has a combined total of 13 growers and processors—the businesses that grow and then tinker with the cannabis plant—Klink said that she suspects more growers will be ready in the following weeks. “We don’t have a lot of notice on delivery of those items, but I do believe that the products are becoming more available,” she said. “I think in the next several weeks to two months we’re gonna see all of them coming on board and having products to offer on a more consistent basis.”

In addition to flowers, Maryland dispensaries feature a variety of THC-infused products including tinctures, elixirs, vaporizer pens, and tablets. According to Klink, Maryland’s dispensaries feature an almost uniform selection of products due to the small selection of processors in the state. She predicts, however, that with a growth in the number of suppliers, there will be a similar growth in product diversity.

While the arrival of medical marijuana is good for eligible patients in Maryland, the high pricing of the drug may be an issue for some. According to Couter, in a state with a newly-implemented medical marijuana system, price control falls into the hands of the few growers and processors, forcing dispensaries to raise costs in order to make ends meet.

Couter said that she and coworkers are hoping that prices will soon drop to a more affordable level. “Cumberland is an area that’s on the lower poverty scale, so we’re hoping to get those prices down,” Couter said. “The more products that we get, the more growers that are able to sell to us.

Hopefully there will be some competition so that the price can go down for our patients.”

Being the owner of Kannavis, as well as a practicing physical therapist, Klink is excited to expand and build the medical marijuana market in Maryland. “I’m a physical therapist, so being a caregiver for so many years, it’s just a different platform to be able to touch patients and reach out with something that’s been really needed in this state for a long time,” Klink said.

On Dec. 5, the Montgomery County Council called for environmental reform by proclaiming a “climate emergency” and announcing plans to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2027. The Council hopes that the resolution, which is not a law, will convey the county’s determination to alleviate the effects of climate change by eliminating emissions completely by 2035.

According to Stan Edwards, the Chief of the Division of Environmental Protection in Montgomery County, the Council plans to develop an effective plan over the next six months with input from stakeholders and County Executive Ike Leggett. “[The resolution] says we think that climate change is a serious problem,” Edwards said. “We would like the county executive and his staff, the school system, and … the Park and Planning Department to come to us and explain to us what it might take to reach these aggressive goals.”

Edwards predicts that these solutions may include stricter building codes, cheaper fare for public transit, and promotion of more environmentally friendly products through financial rewards.

“A combination of financial encouragement [will be used] to get people to do things, whether you’re giving subsidies … or tax incentives, or helping reduce the cost of things so [services] becomes more avail-

able,” Edwards said.

The Council has been interested in addressing climate change for some time. In 2009, the county adopted the Climate Protection Plan, which discussed the issue of climate change and provided solutions to combat it, such as developing approaches to protect forests and advocating for energy efficient lighting technologies. The plan aimed to use these solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, 15 years later than in the current proposal.

Along with past efforts to protect the environment, the county decided to create a new resolution due to current constituent support and the lack of environmental advocacy from the current presidential administration.

Edwards said that he is pleased that the county is addressing climate change and is a frontrunner in environmental reform. “We’re proud of Montgomery County’s efforts to try to address this serious problem,” he said.

“The County Council and the county executives have always strived to push the envelope. I think it’s good that we’re out front.”

Edwards stressed the importance of addressing climate change, not only in Montgomery County, but also everywhere else around the country. “When we see droughts, that causes an increase in the price of crops or the unavailability of the crops and fruits and vegetables for example, that’s an effect of climate change,” he said.

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

Opinion B1

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Should the minimum legal drinking age be lowered to 18-years-old?

YES:

NO:

Legal adults have the right to drink In 1920, the United States declared alcohol illegal, reacting to the growing temperance movement against alcohol consumption. After thirteen long years, the federal government ended Prohibition due to the growing number of speakeasies and increases in illegal alcohol production and gang violence. Despite the failure of Prohibition, the federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which forced the states to raise their minimum drinking ages to 21, and stripped a portion of the adult population of their right to drink once again.

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA From the moment individuals turn 18, they are Adenike Falade instantly allowed to own a house, elect their government representatives, go to strip clubs, and even enlist in the armed forces. Since 18-year-olds must deal with all other responsibilities of adulthood, they deserve all the luxuries and benefits as well, including the right to drink.

President Ronald Reagan and his Congress asserted unwarranted power over legal adults by issuing the act. Yet, Reagan’s administration had no qualms about simultaneously deploying thousands of troops, which included 18, 19, and 20-year-old soldiers, to fight in the invasion of Grenada and the Lebanese Civil War. His administration gave no mind to the youth they sent into combat as their rights were stripped away back at home.

The United States is taking advantage of adults by allowing them to serve and die for the country before they can take a sip of wine.

Eighteen-year-olds are also allowed to purchase cigarettes, which often lead to more serious health consequences than alcohol. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, smoking cigarettes is the most preventable cause of death in the United States. It is common knowledge that smoking cigarettes can cause lung disease, heart disease, and several deadly cancers, yet the government does not bar 18-year-olds from purchasing them.

It has become a cultural standard that once a child is 18, they can be trusted with greater responsibilities. Withholding the right to drink from legal adults goes against the practice of allowing them the freedom of choice; if 18-year-olds can choose to smoke, they should be allowed to choose to drink.

What is even more troubling than the way the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) exploits young adults is the government’s pride toward its ineffective

Kimberly Docteur Junior

The current drinking age protects youth

system. While the MLDA is intended to prevent young adults throughout the country from drinking, it most noticeably fails at its mission on college campuses. Underage drinkers in college gain easy private access to alcohol from their peers over 21.

According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, underage college students are more likely to drink in private settings and be charged less for alcohol than students aged 21 and older. This outdated federal law means nothing to underage drinkers within the walls of a raging frat party, where drinks are available at little—if any—cost.

Underage college students are also likely to feel peer-pressured into drinking. “The people who are underage are going to try to access alcohol more so that they can be with their friends that are older and can legally drink,” said Julia Martinez, an associate professor of psychology at Colgate University.

In a college environment where 18-year-olds have such easy, unregulated avenues to obtain alcohol, the MLDA fails to stop young collegiate adults from drinking.

The real solution to reckless drinking in the US is fostering a culture that encourages moderate and responsible drinking among young adults. Parents in southern European countries like France and Spain introduce alcohol to their children at the dinner table, setting an example for healthy drinking habits. The drinkers there are comparatively far more responsible than those in America. The World Health Organization (WHO) concluded in a study that drinkers in southern Europe are half as likely to become drunk than American drinkers. The WHO classified Spain, Italy, and France as having some of the “least risky” drinking patterns in the world. European countries understand that 18-year-olds are more responsible drinkers when their parents, not the government, dictates when they can be exposed to alcohol.

Alcohol, in excess, is by no means a healthy beverage for anyone—regardless of age—but it is wrong for the federal government to make it illegal to 18-year-olds.

Young adults risk their lives for this country and pay their taxes like any other citizen.

They are the future of this country and it is time the nation gives them the respect they deserve by allowing 18-year-olds to drink alcohol.

Micah Contee Junior

When countless studies support a measure that has saved thousands of lives, there is a pretty good chance that it was a good idea. After every state adopted 21 as the minimum drinking age, drinkers aged 18 to 20 years declined from 59 percent in 1985 to 40 percent in 1991, and 32.8 percent in 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control.

The drinking age in the United States must remain 21 in order to protect youth, as 18-year-olds are not as cognitively developed 21-yearolds, and the current minimum drinking age reduces both the risk of traffic accidents and the number of young people consuming alcohol.

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA Drinking alcohol is a dangerous Arshiya Dutta privilege that can severely inhibit an individual’s critical thinking and decisionmaking skills. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is responsible for decision making and focusing, and its development can be altered greatly by alcohol.

According to Dr. Nigel Atkinson, professor of Alcohol and Addiction studies at the University of Texas, brain development is not complete at 18. “From about age 16 to the midtwenties, there is CARLY TAGEN-DYE substantial degree of brain development occurring,” she said.

“This development can cause increased risk-taking and errors in judgement.” This development can be impacted by alcohol consumption, particularly with memory and learning, according to the National Health and Medical Research Council.

It is crucial that a person be fully mentally developed before they drink alcohol, as it is a mind-altering substance that can damage a growing brain, impede decision making, and distort one’s sense of control.

According to an article by Laurence Stein-

voicebox

berg, an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex combined with adolescent drinking can lead to irrational and erratic behavior, such as binge drinking.

By lowering the drinking age, the government would provide people who are psychologically immature with full, legal access to alcohol.

A poor decision made by an intoxicated teen could be fatal, such as choosing to get behind the wheel while drunk, ride without a seatbelt, or rely on a drunk driver.

According to a report by National Centers for Biotechnology Information, 41 percent of frequent heavy drinkers admitted to riding with an intoxicated driver, compared with only 14 percent of people who don’t drink.

There is also strong correlation between a higher drinking age and a reduction in car accidents. According to a study done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, when the drinking age was increased to 21 in 1984, the number of deadly car accidents declined by 13 percent from 1975 to 2000, saving approximately 27,052 lives.

If the government were to lower the minimum drinking age, it would raise the risk that underage people will get behind the wheel while drunk, endangering their own lives and those of others.

Some believe that such a high drinking age increases the likelihood that teenagers will consume alcohol because teens are more inclined to drink rebelliously. In actuality, studies show that the higher the drinking age, the lower the likelihood that teens will drink.

According to Wake Forest University Professors of Addiction and Substance Abuse Mark Wolfson and Alexander Wagenaar, young people drink less with a higher Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) for a number of reasons.

In their article “Law Officers’ Views on Enforcement of the Minimum Drinking Age: A Four-State Study”, they say, “Youth may choose not to drink, or to drink less often, because of decreased social acceptability or increased risks from parental or legal authorities,” they said. “Licensed alcohol outlets may sell to minors less frequently, because of their perceptions that it is illegal, morally wrong, or because they might be caught.”

Allison Frey, a health educator on drugs and alcohol at Towson University, said that lowering the drinking age would change people’s perception of teenage drinking.

“A message saying it is ‘not okay’ becomes ‘okay,’” she said. Lowering the drinking age would normalize underage drinking.

Underage drinking is already an issue in modern America, and lowering the drinking age will only intensify the problem.

A drinking age of 21 offers a sweet spot for new drinkers, as it is a point of mental and physical maturation that 18-year-olds have not yet reached. The MLDA must remain 21 for the safety of youth and for America’s future.

Nati Assefa Senior

Calvin Dunn Freshman

Alanna Sibrian Sophomore

“No, I don’t because before you get to 21, your brain is still forming.”

“Yes, I think it should be 18 because in a lot of other countries it is 18.”

“No, when you’re 18 ... some people are still in high school, so that could put other people in danger.”

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

“No, I think it should stay at 21 because if it’s lowered to 18 ... I feel like the crime rate will [rise].”

“Yes, I’m turning 18... [and] I get to smoke cigarettes, but it’s not fair I [don’t] get to have a little swig [of alcohol].”

B2 Opinion

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Men: We must speak out

December 19, 2017

When faced with oppression, silence is complicity

By William Donaldson An opinion Over the past 18 months, I, as well as many other Americans, have been deeply shaken by the stories of the survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and rape perpetrated by men in positions of power. The bravery of the individuals who have come forward is compelling, and their stories demonstrate just how pervasive sexual assault is within our culture.

These public allegations against men have come in the midst of Blair’s own issues. The incident involving a relationship between a male substitute teacher and a female student here at Blair failed to spark a much-needed discussion about sexual assault, misogyny, and the role of men in protecting and advocating for women—a conversation Blair needs desperately.

There are two essential barriers preventing such a conversation from happening in America, as well as within Blair: privilege and frustration. They work together, intertwining to raise men onto a platform of blindness from which they are not able to recognize the challenges faced by women.

I hear too many stories of women being catcalled on their way back from the bathroom, of being objectified in our hallways and in group chats, of being the subject of lewd and unwarranted sexualizing remarks.

All of these are ugly manifestations of unmanaged and unaddressed male privilege.

The privilege of being a man means not having to worry about being objectified on a daily basis or being constantly scrutinized by our peers, teachers, and institutions; our privilege is not having to walk in our own neighborhoods at night with keys between our fingers in self-defense. We do not have to worry about rape, pregnancy, or abortion―we do not have to buy menstrual products or deal with the potential shame and stigma of natural bodily processes.

Dr. Tal Peretz, an assistant professor of

advocating for gender equality and justice for centuries. If we truly care about women, there are a myriad of resources from which one can learn. The internet, student organizations, parents, and peers all can give us a deeper understanding of the issues women face.

What is needed now is for all men, from Hollywood stars to high school students, to willingly commit themselves to the cause.

Men everywhere have an obligation to call out any sexist behavior, remarks, or attitudes in their daily lives. Without everyone working together, any further efforts are futile.

To Blair’s male population: I am not trying to alienate you. I am not trying to make it appear that all of you are misogynists, nor am I trying to insinuate that all of you participate in or encourage sexism.

All I hope to achieve from this is to help you understand that women need us to do our part, and that staying silent when misogyny is taking place makes you and I complicit in the oppression of women.

BEN MILLER

sociology at Auburn University, believes that there is no way to fully overcome male privilege because sexism is ingrained in our societal structures.

“Privilege doesn’t only happen when you interrupt a woman or take up more than your fair share of space - it also happens when other people assume that you’re smarter or more capable or more professional,” he wrote in an email. “You can’t control what other people are thinking about you, or how they treat you, let alone how society was set up before you were born.”

Although women are legally equal to men on many fronts, men dominate positions of power. This disparity exists even in education, which is one of the few profes-

sions where women hold the majority of schoolwide administrative positions, according to the Department for Professional Employees. According the American Association of School Administrators, however, only 13.6 percent of superintendents in the country are women.

On top of privilege, frustration can become a man’s worst enemy when talking to women about sexism. We get frustrated when we are called out for offensive remarks that we may not perceive as harmful or when we think that women are not helping to educate us about sexism.

Here is what men must understand: it is no longer an obligation for women to educate men about sexism. Women have been

Despite Montgomery County’s pronounced liberal tilt, our area still maintains a large disparity in median income between men and women. To learn more about the gap, check out this interactive graphic! You can scan the QR code or visit tinyurl.com/mocopaygap to view it.

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Opinion B3

Blame Hogan for our shortened spring break The MCPS Board of Education chose the best option for the county

By Elise Cauton An opinion Imagine traveling to a tropical country and lounging by the beach. Visiting family across the country. Or even just lounging in pajamas, hanging out with friends, and sleeping in. Most students love days off, especially if the break happens to last more than a week.

Unsurprisingly, next year’s calendar, which features a shorter spring break, has disappointed many students in Montgomery County. Although it is easy to blame the Board of Education for the decision, the true perpetrator of this arrangement is Governor Larry Hogan, who drove the Board into a corner as they scrambled to meet his new requirements for the school year. The state of Maryland mandates that there be at least 180 days

instructional days for religious holidays and ensure that there were enough professional days in between marking periods for teachers.

The county made the right decision to preserve Jewish holidays. If they instead decided to use the extra days to maintain the length of spring break, major financial and educational problems would arise.

Ortman-Fouse explained that the number of substitutes that would be needed to fill in for teachers on those holidays would be a monetary and organizational burden for the county. “Many of our teachers [are] Jewish, and to replace the teachers with substitutes is … a heavy lift because you have to find enough substitutes for all of the teachers that are out these days,” Ortman-Fouse said. She also added that the many students who could not attend school on these days would hinder teach-

SAMI MALLON

TOO JUUL FOR SCHOOL A student charges a JUUL on a Chromebook during class.

Addiction’s crown JUUL

TIFFANY MAO

of school, and on holidays like President’s Day and Memorial Day, school must be closed. Prior to this year, these demands were easily met and there was enough room for religious holidays, professional days, and a week-long spring break.

Everything changed when Hogan signed an executive order in August 2016 requiring that all Maryland public schools start after Labor Day but still end by June 15, shortening the school year by a week.

Hogan justified the executive order by explaining that it would create an economic boost for waterfront cities by increasing tourism.

Although it seemed like the governor was doing a favor to the Eastern Shore, he hurt school systems all around the state.

Due to the minimum number of required instructional days and closings, Hogan limited the number of days off during the school year. According to Board of Education member Jill Ortman-Fouse, creating a schedule that met those conditions was frustrating. “We end up with only six days left that we have a choice on how to program, [such as] professional days, spring break, holidays, or other noninstructional days,” she said. “It was very difficult.”

In the end, after consulting the community, the Board sacrificed two days of spring break in order to maintain non-

ers and classes, as they would have to make up instruction.

One of the proposed calendars for next year preserved the full spring break, but did not leave any full days for teacher preparation. While this may seem like the more favorable option for students, professional days are a necessity for teachers, as they allow them to create lessons, grade, and collaborate with other instructors.

Math teacher David Stein supported the Board’s decision to retain professional days during the school year because they are crucial for effective planning. “They’re the only time we have to get stuff ready for class … you can’t do it during the day because you’re teaching and grading,” he explained. “If there are no teacher preparation days … that work still has to be done. So it’s got to be done at home or late at night, and that’s what teachers end up doing.”

Frustrated students need to remember that the county is subject to the governor’s orders. By shortening spring break, the school board was trying to make the most of a decision that altered a calendar which has been in use for decades.

Governor Hogan placed more importance on the revenue of beachfront communities than the education of his young constituents, and that is the issue.

soapbox

How do you feel about the calendar for next year?

“I think the calendar is good because when you have a longer break after it’s over you have that feeling of not going to school again.”

— Manuel Fuentes, freshman “Yes, we need spring break. Breaks during the year are important for maintaining sanity.”

— Isaac Rattey, senior

Teens should know that e-cigarettes are not a harmless alternative to smoking

By Lucy Gavin An opinion In today’s society, there is a common understanding that cigarettes are bad for our health. According to HuffPost, the tobacco industry has declined due to this growing awareness, however, a new industry has begun to emerge in its place—e-cigarettes, which are intended to help nicotine addicts quit smoking, have burst on to the scene as the “healthy” way to smoke.

E-cigarettes have become especially popular among high school students, many of whom are not attempting to kick a cigarette addiction. E-cigarette usage among teens grew 900 percent between 2011 and 2015, according to a report by the US Surgeon General, one of the most popular e-cigarette models being the JUUL. JUULs and e-cigarettes alike, however, pose major negative effects—especially to teens—which are often overlooked.

Due to their novelty, some people discount the fact that the long-term effects of e-cigarettes are still widely unknown. According to the University of California, 69 of the chemicals in cigarettes are known to cause cancer, and while e-cigarettes deliver fewer of these chemicals, the full impact on heart and lung health and their cancer-causing potential is still unknown.

E-cigarettes also contain nicotine, the highly addictive component of cigarettes.

The nicotine in e-cigarettes comes in liquid form and can be deadly.

According to the New York Times, the liquid in e-cigarettes is a powerful neurotoxin that, if ingested, can cause symptoms such as seizures and vomiting, and in some cases, even be lethal.

A teaspoon of the liquid found in e-cigarettes, even if diluted, is powerful enough to kill a small child. In 2014, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported a significant rise in calls to poison centers regarding e-cigarettes, from one call a month in September 2010 to 215 calls a month in February 2014.

Nicotine can be harmful even when it

is not ingested. Early addiction to nicotine can lead to serious problems later in life, including mental health issues, and can even worsen pre-existing disorders in teenagers.

Natalia Goroiunova and Huibert Mansvelder of the University of Amsterdam, concluded that “Smoking during adolescence increases the risk of developing psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment in later life,” as well as attention deficit disorders, which get worse the longer one smokes.

The office of the Surgeon General and the US Department of Health corroborate Goroiunova and Mansvelder’s findings on their “Know the Risks” campaign website, linking nicotine use in adolescents and young adults to depression, anxiety, other mood disorders, difficulty concentrating, and reduced impulse control. These risks apply to both traditional cigarette and e-cigarette users.

Professor Amy Fairchild of Texas A&M University, who studies public health and e-cigarettes, acknowledges the heightened risk for teens. “Vigilance when it comes to kids is essential and kids should not use nicotine in any form,” she wrote in an email.

There is, however, some benefit to using e-cigarettes. Smokers trying to quit have been known to turn to them instead as an alternative to wean themselves off cigarettes. “While still contested, the evidence is building that they can help smokers quit,” Fairchild said. “This is a product that, at this time, is not a safe alternative for smokers but one that is far preferable to smoking.”

Nonetheless, research is still not conclusive, and e-cigarettes are only somewhat helpful for adults who are already addicted to smoking.

For adolescents who are not smokers, using a JUUL or other e-cigarette may simply create an addiction that could lead them to actual cigarettes, especially given that JUULs are significantly more expensive than cigarettes. Teenagers must “Know the Risks” before they reach for their JUULs again.

B4 Opinion

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Silent nights, unholy nights

Solitary confinement’s damages follow inmates after being released

By Telon Yan An opinion Through the gritty window, the snow outside is a reminder of memories with family together during the holiday season.

It has been months since seeing a family member and 23 hours of isolation since seeing a single face. The cramped cell room is ten feet in length with its gray metal door, solid gray encompassing walls, the grayish bed, and the utter void of inspiration and motivation.

Every day around the country, thousands of inmates are given solitary confinement in conditions like these for up to 23 hours a day for dangerously long sentences; inmates remain in solitary confinement for anywhere from 30 days to several years according to Solitary Watch, a nonprofit national solitary confinement watchdog organization. Solitary confinement is overused, grossly ineffective at rehabilitating criminals, and physically and psychologically damaging. Maryland state prisons need to treat prisoners humanely and eliminate this dated practice.

Research has repeatedly shown that solitary confinement may cause a plethora of health issues for those incarcerated. In Shira E. Gordon’s University of Michigan Law School paper, she cites Social psychologist Craig Haney’s book “Crime and Delinquency” that found a large portion of prisoners report anxiety, insomnia, and depression as a result of solitary confinement, even for those without any mental health issues. This research is not new. In 1951, McGill University students agreed to a controversial study where they would be mostly isolated for six weeks, but everyone dropped out within seven days, citing hallucinations, hypersensitivity, suicidal thoughts, and other symptoms. Since then, no similar tests have been done as they have been deemed inhumane. If simulat-

ing solitary confinement for a study is inhumane, then why are prisoners still subjected to such treatment?

Dr. Sarah Tahamont, a criminology and criminal justice Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, further explains that “even the most mentally healthy people will experience psychological degradation as a result of solitary confinement, even for a relatively short period of time.”

Inmates are sent to two different kinds of solitary confinement for different reason: “disciplinary segregation” to punish prisoners and “administrative segregation” for when an individual is deemed unsafe for the prison environment.

Usually, the prison warden can sentence anyone to administrative segregation for an indefinite amount of time according to Dr. Tahamont.

In an article by Thomas L. Hafemeister and Jeff George published in The University of Virginia School of Law, it was found that people with mental health disorders are three times more likely to be sent to prison than to go to a mental hospital and that combined with “the increasingly punitive nature of the American penological system, has resulted in a disproportionately large number of inmates with a mental disorder being housed in supermax confinement.” Solitary confinement only heightens the psychological damage for these people. Even though inmates with mental health disabilities put into segregation are usually housed in different units, their conditions are often no better, Dr. Tahamont said.

Using solitary confinement does a disservice to prisoners and prisons; one of a prison’s primary functions is to reduce crime in society. Ideally, someone who serves a sentence and then is released will go on to be a productive member of society, but if those who are released lose their

JEDIDIAH GRADY

BARRED AND BROKEN Inmates sent to solitary confinement often experience psychological breakdown and have higher recidivism rates. ability to effectively communicate with other people, then they cannot be productive. This increases recidivism rates, committing another offense and returning to prison. It is no wonder then that a 2006 study by the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas found that while 48.8 percent of all inmates reoffended in three years, 60.8 percent of inmates released directly from solitary reoffended within the same time. The increased recidivism rate among inmates who have gone through solitary confinement means that prisons will become increasingly populated and put more pressure on corrections officers in the future.

Despite the clear issues with solitary confinement, the prospect of soon stopping this practice is bleak in Maryland.

Progress is being made, albeit slowly. In 2014, The Baltimore Sun received a letter from Maryland’s corrections department head denying using solitary confinement, but it is confirmed to still be practiced to this day. In 2012, around 8.5 percent of all Maryland inmates went through some form of segregation, roughly twice the

national average that year according to a study by the VERA Institute of Justice, a national research and policy organization dedicated to tackling injustices in the country.

Many have proposed shortening solitary confinement sentences to prevent major psychological damage and bills requiring documentation of inmates in solitary in Maryland and establishing a task force regulating the use of solitary confinement have all been struck down.

Investing more into rehabilitation programs and creating a culture of positive incentivization are the real keys to improving the lives of inmates. Dr. Tahamont says that ongoing research shows how giving inmates benefits for behaving well and then taking them away as punishment may be a promising alternative to solitary confinement.

The few steps in the right direction have been slow, taking time that those suffering in solitary simply do not have.

Legislators must consider the basic rights of inmates and push for alternatives to this degrading practice.

Opinion B5

silverchips

December 19, 2017

My Blair: Personal Column

The reality of societal pressure CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

By Etsube Yitbarek In first person

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

By Kimberlie Phung-Tran Guest writer I’m walking through the crowded, narrow hallways of Montgomery Blair High School and I see many students on their cell phones. Even when I’m waiting in line for the bathroom I see students on their cell phones. During classroom instruction there are also students on their cell phones. So the real question is: when are students not on their cell phones?

According to our school’s agenda book, “The Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education allows high school students to have cell phones in the school building. Any student who needs to phone home in an emergency situation should go to his/her administrator or counselor to seek help rather than use a cell phone during the instructional periods. Cell phones may be used between classes, before school, during lunch, and after school.

Cell phones must be off and put away during instructional periods.” However, the majority of students don’t follow these policies. I admit that I am guilty of breaking these rules myself.

The main reason why some students use their phones is to for a sense of security.

They feel more relaxed and secure with their phone always in their hands or in their pockets. I rely on my phone whenever I have nothing to do or no one to talk to.

Especially during lunch when there’s an awkward silence I quickly look at my text messages, check emails, or scroll down my social media timelines. At certain corners of the cafeteria, I see a couple of students who have no one to sit with at lunch and are ending up on their phones the entire period. This is a serious problem that we are not addressing and we need to do so immediately because our phones are dividing us instead of connecting us together as a whole. Therefore, Blair should change their policy and unite students together without the constant distraction in our hands. Outside the classroom in a few school events, students should only be allowed to use their phones for emergency purposes.

Meanwhile, if a student’s cell phone goes off during a test or is used during class, the student’s phone shouldn’t just be taken away because they will definitely use their phones again in the future. Whenever students are caught on their phone, my teachers either ignore the situation or tell the student to put it away. On the other hand, a couple of teachers like Kevin Shindel are trying to hinder cell phone usage.

In his Media in Society class, students are required to participate in a week without technological devices. Everyone has to sign a contract stating all the apps you wouldn’t use with the possible exceptions of educational or emergency needs. Senior Aiyana Chery recalls, “I felt like I knew what I was getting into, it was going to be a little hard but it was something I could complete. Sometimes being with friends would be hard because they would be on their phones a lot and it would be awkward because there would be nothing to say but I got used to it. The only times I really had to use a laptop or my phone was for school work that teachers were assigning. After a few days I got used to it and it’s like a weight lifted off my shoulders not having to constantly reply to people.” Overall Chery felt that it was a good experience in which she learned a lot about herself.

I think that we should all use the Media in Society assignment as a template to follow. Our school should host a cell phone free day to help decrease the amount of cell phone usage and increase student interaction. This would be an optional event but students who do complete this activity would get an incentive. As our future becomes more reliant on technology, we must consider its consequences and act upon it.

So put down your cell phone and introduce yourself to a new individual.

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Letter to the Editor

By John MacDonald Guest writer I am responding to a November article in Silver Chips that I feel was both unwarranted and unfair. The article I refer to was written by Hannah Lee and was critical of Health Education; specifically drug and alcohol education in Montgomery County and here at Blair in particular. I am concerned because the writer of the article had not taken Health here and she based her opinion largely on the interview of only one student who took the course two years ago and did not remember what he was taught. In an effort to refute that statement, an interview of 30 students who had taken Health here at Blair was conducted and only one student said that he would be more likely to experiment with drugs and/or alcohol having learned about them in Health class. As a long-time Health Educator here at Blair, I was offended by the article and I speak for the other Health teachers here who echo that sentiment.

The writer interviewed me for the piece and since she stated her viewpoint beforehand, I was prepared to offer her many statistics and teaching methods that showed that the opposite of what she was proposing was true, however, none of that made the article. Statistics clearly show that tobacco, alcohol and drug use (with the exception of methamphetamine, heroin and opioid pain killers) is down in recent years among teenagers and this is, in no doubt, due to awareness and education and much of that comes from Health class. I am not trying to say that high school Health Education is the only reason for these statistics. Peer group, genetics and emotional difficulties all play a part, but so do Health Education classes.

Ms. Lee pointed out that lecture was ineffective to high school students even

after I told her that we use many videos and multiple guest speakers (including the Montgomery County Police Department and recovering addicts) to reach our students in ways other than traditional lecturing. She also wrote that college students are more enlightened because they are exposed to drunk vision goggles to experience what it’s like to be visually impaired after drinking. When we have police come in as they have the past 7 semesters or so, they usually bring in those same goggles and many current students here have experienced that method of teaching, so the very nature of those comments along with many others in the story are misleading and unfair to Health Education.

In fairness, I support the right for Ms. Lee to write her article. It was an opinion piece and she is entitled to her opinion. My point of contention and question is what was the motive? As stated, she had not been a student in a Health classroom at Blair so she doesn’t have first-hand experience with anything that she wrote about and she only quoted one student whose experience with the class came two years prior to that interview. So why disparage the reputation of teachers here and throughout the county who devote their professional lives to teaching these important issues by writing a story full of inaccuracies that she doesn’t seem to have a vested stake in? This is an important point because a lot of people were hurt by this opinion piece and the writer was given facts that did not support her theories. In the spirit of the upcoming holidays, all is forgiven on my part, but the story never should have been written to begin with and anybody who read it and doesn’t read this rebuttal will have an unfair bias against what we do every day in Health class.

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December 19, 2017

When diplomas are just a piece of paper

Last minute course recovery options are unfair to teachers and students There is no question that Blair is renowned for its academics.

Home to two magnet programs, above average test scores, and a diverse population, it can often seem like the perfect place to send your child to school, as well as the antithesis of Washington D.C.’s scandal-ridden Ballou High School.

In June, Ballou was applauded for graduating 100 percent of its seniors, all of whom were also accepted to college. On Nov. 28, however, an investigation by local radio station WAMU 88.5 revealed that many seniors should not have graduated. Although only 57 students were on track to graduate in April, all 164 seniors received their diplomas several weeks later.

Ballou teachers were coerced by school administration into giving seniors passing grades, despite the fact that “half of the graduates missed more than three months of school last year, unexcused,” according to the investigation.

The incident at Ballou may appear irrelevant to the Blair community, but in actuality, some of Blair’s questionable course recovery options bear an uncomfortable resemblance to Ballou’s.

There have long existed programs at Blair that, to varying degrees of effectiveness, allow Blazers to recover credits for required classes such as English and math that they did not obtain either due to failing grades or chronic absences. Summer school and High School Intervention (previ-

ously called High School Plus) are legitimate, though imperfect, options for credit recovery, where students work with teachers over the span of weeks or months to learn content that was taught in the class they failed.

Failing a student is a difficult decision, especially if only one or few credits bar that student from graduating. Some credit recovery options, however, do not meet appropriate standards of rigor, in which case the line between helping a struggling student and artificially inflating graduation rates can become blurry.

Towards the end of the school year, students who have not earned a credit necessary for graduation may be offered the opportunity to make up the missed work through a credit-recovery program. The traditional classroom setting fosters discussion and a comprehensive learning environment that emphasizes deadlines, and completing assignments from the semester that the student missed in one week does not do the curriculum justice.

Building upon skills developed in class, receiving edits from peers, and discussing chapters of a text cannot be replicated in this format. The credit redeemed through last-minute credit recovery programs in no way matches its actual worth.

Still, upon successful completion of last-minute credit recovery programs, these students are able to walk across the stage at gradu-

Editorial Cartoon

ation and, more significantly, contribute to the graduation rates that give Blair its stellar reputation.

These options are helpful for students with extenuating circumstances, such as long-term illnesses; but in many cases, they lessen the value of a Montgomery County high school diploma.

If short-term credit recovery processes were the only ways to keep kids from repeating their entire senior year, they may be justifiable. However, summer school exists. A student can retake a course during summer school, which resembles a traditional classroom format, and graduate in the summer.

As Blair and MCPS continue to offer innovative ways to maintain student success (and their oft-touted graduation rates), they need to ensure that they uphold the value of a diploma. Even if all seniors end up on the same ride, there is no justice in letting anyone skip the line. Fastpasses belong at Disney World, not high school graduation.

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CARLY TAGEN-DYE

A neutral internet is not up for debate

By Laura Espinoza It is Thursday, Dec. 14, and net neutrality is dead.

The Federal Communications Commission just voted to repeal net neutrality along party lines, but freedom of the internet is not a partisan issue.

In 2014, when companies wanted to create deals with internet service providers to gain access to faster internet highways, the FCC was prepared to allow this type of paid prioritization. The Obama administration stepped in and encouraged the agency to reclassify broadband service as a public utility, like water or electricity, and would allow the government to further regulate these companies. With this, net neutrality was solidified.

Net neutrality prevents cable and telecommunications companies, think Verizon and AT&T, from charging consumers or websites more for access to content.

They could also not give preferential treatment to any companies on the internet.

This policy has clear and obvious benefits. No one has to pay their internet service provider more money to access certain websites. Verizon cannot make the streaming speeds on Netflix slower than on Hulu.

Most importantly, no corporation can prevent consumers from seeing content on news or informational websites.

Now, there is no telling what will happen.

Another place in the world where a body has control over the internet? China, where the Great

Ombudsman Laura Espinoza Firewall prevents citizens from accessing websites that many in America consider a staple of everyday life: Facebook, Twitter, Google. Instead, they access Chinese versions that are heavily monitored by the government.

Content disappears without a trace, and websites will become inactive for seemingly no reason.

Burma’s government filters emails and blocks websites that are critical of them. In Cuba, only pro-government users can upload content.

Saudi Arabia blocks content that is anti-Islam or incompatible with the monarchy. Bloggers in Syria and Iran that refuse to cooperate with the government can be

jailed or killed.

American access to internet could move in any of these directions if the federal government refuses to act.

Lack of government regulation to ensure public freedoms could be almost as bad for the United States as extreme government control.

Comcast-owned NBC could have faster loading speeds and be more accessible than competing news organizations like CNN or ABC for Comcast subscribers. If the Washington Post or the New York Times writes a particularly scathing article about T-Mobile, mobile users on that network could very well find that their

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

news apps refuse to load.

If the censorship of news outlets is not scary enough, consider what will happen if access to social media networks stalls or stops at the hands of specific service providers.

For the 67 percent of Americans who get at least some of their news from social media, any blocks to access could be detrimental to staying informed about current events and breaking news in their communities. The tidbits of breaking news that you see on Twitter or Facebook could be severely delayed or blocked off for corporate gain.

This decision was made and promoted as a manner of “increas-

ing competition” in the internet market.

Ajit Pai, the chairman of the FCC and former legal counsel to Verizon, firmly believes this change in policy will lead to better, faster, and cheaper internet for consumers. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, he stated that there will be “greater investment in digital infrastructure” that will “create jobs.”

Where are the studies and research papers that prove this?

Essentially, Pai and the other two FCC votes to repeal net neutrality are taking the internet service providers at their word - a handshake agreement with no guarantees.

When the University of Maryland presented Pai’s logic to survey participants, 83 percent of people opposed the appeal.

For the Americans who are not rich enough to afford extra fees for internet and information access, a pinky promise is not enough. An uncertain future is scary for news organizations, entertainment companies, and internet businesses but also for consumers.

This decision should have everyone up in arms. The hidden ways in which the government is slowly stripping Americans of the truth is concerning. If we do not fight to stop it, unfortunately, no one else will.

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19 de diciembre, 2017

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La Esquina Latina

Silver Chips el 19 de diciembre 2017

Consejos para buscar ayuda e incrementar las calificaciones

Será más fácil llegar a la meta de superación académica si uno pone empeño

Por Lourdes Reyes Valenzuela Una opinión

El pasado 22 de noviembre fueron entregadas las calificaciones del primer periodo académico. La Señora Carrillo, vice administradora del departamento de ESOL e Idiomas Mundiales, está muy orgullosa con el trabajo hecho por los estudiantes latinos de Blair.

Aunque las calificaciones son de gran importancia, para algunos estudiantes aprender a demostrar sus conocimientos es una mejor meta. Darwin Durón, un estudiante de undécimo grado que sacó A en sus calificaciones dijo que, “En el pasado periodo académico me fue muy bien. Aún sacando todas mis calificaciones de A no me sentí satisfecho porque algunas fueron bajas.” Durón reconoció que lo que puede hacer para poder incrementar sus notas es, “No faltar a clases, hacer siempre mis tareas, prepararme para exámenes y estudiar solo en casa.” Su experiencia y su método de aprendizaje puede ayudarle a todo estudiante que tenga en mente progresar y tener éxito. Al final de todo, se nota como lo que hace Durón también pudiese ser de ayuda para una gran parte de los estudiantes. Existen maneras para tener éxito en la escuela cuando uno trabaja duro en todas las materias y tiene en cuenta que lo más importante es aprender.

Hay varias maneras en las que se puede obtener el éxito en las calificaciones. Según el periódico El Tiempo, una de las maneras es de asegurarse que uno tenga suficiente

tiempo para estudiar, el cual es un tema muy relevante e incómodo para algunos estudiantes. Se ha demostrado que los estudiantes que toman por lo menos dos horas luego de la escuela para estudiar, son más vistos a obtener calificaciones más altas en sus exámenes y pruebas. Adicionalmente, las tareas deben de ser completadas en un lugar aislado en el que el individuo se sienta cómodo pero no tanto. Se recomienda a nunca hacer las tareas sobre la cama, ni siquiera sentado porque da somnolencia. Además de estas recomendaciones, es importante que los estudiantes también se ayuden a sí mismos.

No obstante de las calificaciones, el desarrollo del inglés es sumamente importante. La señora Adler, encargada del departamento de ESOL, dijo que, “Para poder aprender inglés, los estudiantes latinos de ESOL deben de tomar ventaja de todas las oportunidades que tengan para hablar y practicar inglés en todas sus clases. Los estudiantes pueden también, ver programas y películas en inglés y leer periódicos, también mantenerse hablando lo más que se pueda de ingles aquí en la escuela.” Ella, como encargada del departamento de ESOL, quiere ver la mejoría de los estudiantes para así poder tener éxito. José Jacinto Ortega, un estudiante de duodécimo grado, contó sobre cómo implementará estas sugerencias. Él dijo que, “Para yo poder aprender más ingles yo me pondré al tanto con mis maestros y también me quiero acostumbrar más a hablarlo fuera de la escuela.” Ortega dejó

MAGGIE LIN

Salón 155

Sra. Levesque, ayudando a un estudiante latino de ESOL

claro que quiere superarse más en el inglés para así nivelar todas sus clases.

Para algunos estudiantes latinos el problema de subir sus calificaciones no está en no poder hablar más el inglés o no entregar sus trabajos a tiempo. Muchos se distraen hablando con amigos o usando aparatos electrónicos durante sus clases. Cuando los estudiantes se distraen utilizando algún tipo de dispositivo electrónico u otro contenido no relevante a la clase no retienen la información que se está dando en la clase. Esto es demostrado por un estudio hecho por la cadena CNN donde se demostró que en escuelas donde restringieron el uso de teléfonos durante las clases, el nivel de aprendizaje incrementó un 6.4 por ciento.

Dentro de la escuela también hay lugares para buscar ayuda escolar y así incrementar las notas. En Blair existen aulas donde se ofrece apoyo académico para todas las materias escolares. Una de de estas aulas es la de apoyo en ESOL en el salón 155. Otra idea que puede servir de ayuda para estudiar en casa es visitando la página web www.tutors. mbhs.edu. Ahí se puede encontrar un tutor BLISS, del programa en Blair, totalmente gratis. La clave para tener éxito en todas las materias está en tener dedicación y usar los recursos que ofrece la escuela para obtener éxito académico. Todo estudiante debe desarrollar el hábito de tomar la iniciativa de buscarla para echar hacia delante en lo que respecta el progreso académico.

Administración de Trump en proceso de desmantelar el TPS El Congreso afronta presión para proteger inmigrantes bajo este programa

Por Amanda Hernández Después de la decisión del Presidente Trump de eliminar la Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA), la población latina indocumentada de los Estados Unidos fue obligada a aceptar que sus vidas podrían cambiar significativamente.

Con la ayuda de órdenes ejecutivas, Trump ha comenzado a enfocarse en otra población inmigrante, aquellos protegidos bajo el programa del Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS).

El TPS permite que el gobierno conceda autorizaciones de trabajo temporal y protección contra la deportación de ciertos inmigrantes. La mayoría de los inmigrantes protegidos son ciudadanos de países que fueron impactados negativamente por desastres naturales, guerras civiles, crisis económicas y otros conflictos graves que representan una amenaza a las vidas de miles de personas inocentes.

A pesar de la división en el congreso sobre TPS, Trump ha argumentado que la política y legislación sobre el TPS tiene muchos errores debido a las extensiones aprobadas por administraciones anteriores.

Aunque el estatus es temporal, muchos de los países involucrados han luchado contra sus crisis por décadas, lo cual resultó en que miles de los beneficiarios prolongarán sus estadías en los Estados Unidos. Debido a eso, muchos de los beneficiarios han creado y mantenido sus vidas aquí por años.

Con el desmantelamiento del programa, la mayoría de estos beneficiarios tendrán que regresar a un país que ya no conocen.

De acuerdo al noticiero CNN, más de 86,000 hondureños, 5,300 nicaragüenses y 263,000 salvadoreños están protegidos bajo este programa. En los siguientes seis meses,

el congreso va a decidir si el estatus será prolongado para los países involucrados – una decisión que cambiará las vidas de miles.

A inicios de noviembre, Trump anunció que el TPS para los nicaragüenses terminará en enero del año 2019. Este anuncio ha resultado en temor en la comunidad Latina porque marca un período de tremendo cambio. Los presidentes de Honduras y El Salvador han presionado a Trump para extender el TPS para sus connacionales. Sin embargo, el presidente nicaragüense, Daniel Ortega, no pidió una extensión.

Respondiendo al pedido del presidente de Honduras, la administración de Trump ha extendido el TPS para hondureños hasta julio del año 2019. En este momento, el gobierno americano está investigando si Honduras califica para extensiones después de esa fecha. El TPS para los inmigrantes salvadoreños expira en marzo del año 2018. De acuerdo al noticiero CNN, el gobierno americano tiene que anunciar su decisión sobre una posible extensión 60 días antes de que la decisión final pase por el congreso.

A medida de que algunos países se recuperen de sus conflictos, otros empeoran progresivamente y enfrentan más dificultades graves. Según Oscar Chacón, cofundador y director ejecutivo de Alianza Américas, una organización enfocada en mejorar la calidad de vidas de miles de inmigrantes latinos, El Salvador y Honduras tienen unos de los niveles más altos de asesinatos en comparación a otros países. Es probable que los congresistas demócratas y muchos activistas van a continuar su trabajo por la lucha de conseguir una extensión de TPS para los hondureños y salvadoreños.

De acuerdo al noticiero Miami Herald, tres miembros del congreso están preparando legislación que va a permitir a los bene-

ficiarios de TPS para solicitar para recibir

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la residencia permanente en el país. La ley, apodada como el “ASPIRE Act”, dejará a cada persona bajo el programa desde el primero de enero del año 2017 a solicitar por residencia permanente. Los solicitantes tienen que demostrarle a un juez que si son obligados a ir de regreso a su país van a padecer dificultades graves.

En una declaración reciente, Michelle Lujan Grisham, la presidenta del Caucus Hispano del Congreso (CHC) habló sobre las acciones de Trump y los impactos dirigidos a familias con TPS. Grisham dijo lo siguiente, “La decisión de la administración de Trump para eliminar el TPS para nicaragüenses resultará en la separación de familias y cambiará drásticamente las vidas de muchas personas trabajadoras.”

De acuerdo al noticiero, Miami Herald, la representante Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) dijo lo siguiente sobre las opiniones generales de republicanos en el congreso. Ros-Lehtinen explicó, “No hay muchas ganas de parte de los republicanos para dejar que beneficiarios

de TPS soliciten residencia permanente.”

AMANDA HERNÁNDEZ

Hay un gran apoyo de la protección de TPS entre republicanos y demócratas pero todavía hay un división ideológica immensa entre ellos, lo cual afecta las decisiones legislativas.

Aunque esta situación parece como un conflicto nacional en vez de local, nuestra comunidad latina en Blair podría ser afectada significativamente. Eddie Valdez Montero, un estudiante en el grado 12, dijo lo siguiente sobre los acciones del gobierno americano, “En mi opinión, el gobierno piensa que lo que están haciendo es algo bueno para la mayoridad de la población pero en realidad están separando familias.”

Es patente que las decisiones tomadas por la administración de Trump podrían damnificar las vidas de muchos inmigrantes latina en nuestra comunidad del área metropolitano de D.C. Como estudiantes de Blair, una escuela diversa, es imperativo que entendamos los efectos de las acciones de Trump y su gabinete en nuestra escuela y la comunidad Latina.

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19 de diciembre, 2017

La importancia de preservar tradiciones y celebraciones Familias inmigrantes pierden sus tradiciones, pero hay una simple solución

Por Laura Méndez-Pinto Una opinión

Cada país y familia latinoamericana tiene sus propias tradiciones. Ellas forman parte de las vidas diarias en diferentes magnitudes. Las tradiciones representan una parte importante de nuestra cultura como latinos. Nos recuerdan que somos parte de una historia que define nuestro pasado, determina quiénes somos hoy y en quién nos convertiremos en el futuro. Las tradiciones y celebraciones aportan una sensación de comodidad y pertenencia en nuestro ámbito habitual. Al igual, reúnen a familias y les permiten a las personas a volver a conectarse con sus seres queridos. Celebrar y participar en tradiciones también da la oportunidad a que personas creen memorias y recuerdos que puedan apreciar. Las tradiciones también refuerzan valores como la fe, la integridad, la responsabilidad personal y una ética de trabajo. Adicionalmente, si las tradiciones son religiosas, ayudan a que las personas se conecten con sus creencias a un nivel espiritual. Desafortunadamente, muchas veces cuando las familias se mudan de sus países a los Estados Unidos, estas tradiciones son pérdidas. Esto es especialmente evidente con los hijos que son americanos de primera generación.

En el transcurso de adaptarse a sus nuevas vidas, muchas familias inmigrantes dejan de participar en sus tradiciones y también empiezan a olvidar sus raíces. Estas familias están tan enfocadas en asimilarse a la cultura estadounidense y en establecerse en el nuevo país que no se ponen a pensar en la importancia de mantener intactas las tradiciones. Erica Callejas, del grado once, dijo que sabe que hay muchas tradiciones que han sido pérdidas en su propia familia.

Un ejemplo es la celebración del Carnaval de San Miguel, el cual ocurre anualmente en El Salvador. Callejas describe el evento como,

“un desfile y no un festival.” Ella piensa que si la tradición fuera celebrada en otros lugares a parte de El Salvador la misma experiencia no fuera ni se sintiera igual, ya que en su país el carnaval es celebrado enormemente y a todo dar. Callejas y su familia ya no participan o celebran el Carnaval de San Miguel porque piensan que, “solo sería más tradicional si estuviéramos en El Salvador.”

Estas mismas razones de no celebrar tradiciones son similares en muchas familias inmigrantes estadounidenses. Según información publicada en un artículo del periódico New York Times, hay más de cuarenta millones de hispanos (casi el 14 por ciento de la población total) en los Estados Unidos incluyendo nacimientos y nuevos inmigrantes. Con una población tan grande, que crece cada año y tiene tanta influencia, es crucial mantener nuestras tradiciones vivas porque sin esas nuestra cultura disminuiría y sería olvidada. Sin cultura la comunidad latina estadounidense estuviera desconectada con sus familiares en Latinoamérica. De acuerdo a una cita del Pew Research Center, entre los hijos de inmigrantes estadounidenses, la clasificación “americano” se usa más comúnmente como término principal de auto identificación. Solo un 41 por ciento se refiere a sí mismos primero por el país de origen de sus padres.

Hay muchas maneras de tratar de preservar las tradiciones perdidas. Las personas pueden empezar a hacer la diferencia en su familia. Uno puede hablar sobre este problema durante la hora de la cena y tratar de aprender más sobre tradiciones que no son muy comúnmente celebradas. Luego, uno puede empezar a participar en estas celebraciones nuevamente. Leslie Alcántara, del grado once, y su familia son un ejemplo de esto. Ella dijo que aunque reconoce que

no sabe todo de su cultura, “Pienso que estoy intacta con aspectos de mi cultura por mis padres. Ellos me enseñaron sobre mis tradiciones, como la comida y la música.”

Al contrario, el estudiante Eric Moreno, del grado once dijo que, “En mi país descendiente, México, en los doce días antes de navidad, familias se reúnen para tener una fiesta cada noche pero mi papá y yo no participamos en esa tradición porque él no tiene familia aquí.”

El empezar a hacer estas tradiciones de nuevo puede animar a otras personas a investigar más sobre su propia cultura y la historia de su familia.

Esta nueva información también puede conectar más personas a la comunidad latina y ellos pueden sentirse más orgullosos de sus raíces latinoamericanas. Luego de reanimar viejas tradiciones y posiblemente empezar nuevas en sus familias, lo mismo puede pasar con grupos de amigos. Uno también puede hablar con conocidos y amigos de otros países latinoamericanos para sugerir que ellos traten de reavivar

sus tradiciones y enseñarles la importancia de mantener las tradiciones culturales latinas. El darle estas sugerencias a amigos puede empezar una reacción de cadena en donde ellos pueden informarles a otras personas sobre la preservación de las tradiciones en la comunidad latina.

De acuerdo a Callejas, la preservación de las culturas latinas en forma de tradiciones no para en las personas conocidas, pero también puede ser implementada en otros lados. Callejas comentó que, “Yo siento que empezar un club ayudaría, pero también es muy importante alcanzar a todos los tipos de personas y empezar un movimiento en las redes sociales.” Llevar este problema a una plataforma social como Facebook, Twitter o Instagram amplía la importancia y conecta a incluso más personas que pueden estar pasando por la misma situación. La cultura Latina de todos los países debiera de ser celebrada, no olvidada.

Aunque la comunidad latina enfrenta muchos problemas, JENNIFER CUEVA DÍAZ este es igual de importante. Las historias, las memorias y las tradiciones de los países de origen pueden unir a la comunidad hispano hablante en tiempos difíciles. El perder y olvidar las tradiciones es un problema grave con una solución simple, si todos tratan de priorizar sus tradiciones y celebraciones, otros seguirán.

Es importante hablar de la preservación para que las personas sepan la gravedad de perder tradiciones por completo. Si este problema sale a la luz pública por medio de clubes, grupos, organizaciones y por las redes sociales, la cultura y raíces de los latinos pueden ser salvadas.

¿Quien será el campeón ¡MasterChef Latino, de la copa mundial 2018? pronto por Telemundo!

Por Yesenia Sorto

Los equipos representando países de todo el mundo competirán para de ganar la Copa Mundial de la FIFA en el verano de 2018. 32 equipos participarán, divididos en ocho grupos de cuatro equipos cada uno.

El 1 diciembre fue el sorteo para elegir en qué grupo los 32 equipos estarán. Los grupos quedaron compuestos así: En el grupo A se encuentran los siguientes equipos: Rusia, Arabia Saudí, Egipto y Uruguay. El grupo B está conformado por los equipos de: Portugal, España, Marruecos y RI de Irán.

El grupo C los equipos son: Francia, Australia, Perú y Dinamarca. El grupo D se encuentran los equipos de: Argentina, Islandia, Croacia y Nigeria. Ívania Rivera, del grado nueve, piensa que quién ganará la copa a su criterio es Argentina. Esto es porque para ella, “ es uno de los mejores equipos.” En el grupo E los equipos son: Brasil, Suiza, Costa Rica y Serbia. Idalia Rivera, del grado nueve, dijo que, “Brasil y México son mis favoritos porque son dos de los equipos más grandes, también porque representan a países latinos.”

El grupo F está por los equipos de: Alemania, México, Suecia y República de Corea.

Idalia no cree que el actual campeón Alemania gane otra vez y dijo que, “Pienso que los demás equipos vienen más preparados y dispuesMARISSA HE to a llevarse la copa.” En el grupo G los equipos son los

siguientes: Bélgica, Panamá, Túnez e Inglaterra. Finalmente, el grupo H, que es el último grupo, l o s equipos son: Polonia, Seneg a l , Colombia y Japón.

Idalia cree q u e quien ganará HE A S RIS MA será Inglaterra o España porque ambos equipos tienen buenos jugadores y su estilo de fútbol es muy bueno.

Darlyn Meléndrez, del grado once, cree que los equipos que podrían ganar son Portugal, Argentina o España. Ella piensa que son buenos equipos, han demostrado en muchos juegos que tienen la capacidad y buenas estrategias en el terreno de juego.

La Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2018 se jugará en Rusia a partir del 14 de junio de 2018 en 12 estadios de diferentes ciudades de Rusia. El resto del mundo y la comunidad la latina de Blair estará viendo para MARISSA HE ver qué país obtenga el título de campeón del mundo.

Por Yesenia Sorto

MasterChef es un programa reconocido, de competencia culinaria en donde personas que les gusta cocinar participan para ganar el título de MasterChef y un premio económico. El programa original de MasterChef, como se conoce en inglés, fue transmitido por primera vez el 27 de julio de 2010.

Después de ver la acojida del público fue subtitulado o doblado en va-rios países. Actualmente MasterChef tiene 8 temporadas y el reconocido chef Gordon Ramsay es el juez principal. Dicho programa será televisado por primera vez para la comunidad hispana de los Estados Unidos por la cadena de televisión Telemundo.

Los concursantes competirán y serán evaluados por tres reconocidos chefs quienes serán los jueces para encontrar el primer MasterChef latino. Los tres jueces serán Benito Molina quien es un chef mexicano y dueño del restaurante Manzanilla en Baja California; Claudia Sandoval quien ganó la sexta temporada de MasterChef y tiene un restaurante llamado Claudia’s Kitchen y Ennio Carota un chef italiano que fue juez en MasterChef Junior en Chile.

Aracely Arámbula, quien es una actriz, cantante y modelo, será la animadora del programa. MasterChef Latino aceptará a todos los participantes que aman la cocina de diferentes culturas, pero que tengan 18 años o más. También tienen que ser ciudadanos o residentes legales de los Estados Unidos, otro requisito es que necesitan dominar el inglés. Lo más importante es que, “nadie que se gane la vida cocinando puede participar”, como es explicado en la página web de Telemundo.

Sandra Saravia, del grado once, comentó que aunque no sabe mucho sobre el programa es bueno que permitan a los latinos mostrar el talento que ellos poseen. Saravia dijo, “Los americanos u otras personas

pueden participar en dicho concurso. Toda persona quien tenga la misma capacidad po-

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

drá ganar el título de MasterChef Latino.”

Brenda Macario, quien también cursa el grado once, es amante de la cocina y espera con ansias el programa cuando este salga al aire en 2018. Macario comentó que ha visto la mayoría de las temporadas de MasterChef.

Siendo latina, el nuevo programa es especialmente interesante y ella dijo que, “Me alegra mucho que en este programa pueden participar personas latinas, ya que ellos podrán demostrar las riquísimas comidas que se preparan en países latinoamericanos.”

La creación del programa MasterChef Latino demostrará que no importa de qué país latinoamericano sean. Lo importante es gozar de la cocina y tener una increíble habilidad para cocinar. Esto es un ejemplo que la comunidad hispana está integrándose cada vez más en la cultura americana con los programas famosos.

19 de diciembre, 2017

español C3

silverchips

¡Ya llegó Pollo Campero al centro de Silver Spring!

Gran variedad de platillos para el apetito de todos los latinos

costumbres de la comida norteamericana. frita, plátanos o repollo. El menú conSin embargo, muchos tratan de no olvidar tiene “frescos,” bebidas que satisfacen la Un restaurante de pollo con sabor latino sus raíces y Pollo Campero ha sido de gran sed, como Horchata, Tamarindo, Jamaica que comenzó como una pequeña empresa importancia para poder compartir con todas y Guayaba. ¿Qué es un restaurante sin familiar, ahora es una de las cadenas de restaurantes más grandes del mundo. Por más de cuarenta años, el restaurante Pollo Campero ha desempeñado un papel importante en la cultura latina. Con más de 250 restaurantes alrededor del mundo y más de setenta restaurantes localizados en los Estados Unidos, un nuevo restaurante de Pollo Campero abrió sus puertas en el centro de Silver Spring el 25 de octubre.

La mayoría de los latinos han probado este pollo pero muchos no saben la historia detrás de este restaurante. El primer Pollo Campero empezó como un pequeño negocio familiar por Juan Gutiérrez y su familia en la ciudad de Guatemala, en 1971. Desde entonces, Pollo Campero comenzó a expandirse nacionalmente e internacionalmente.

Después de haberse expandido por Centroamérica y Sudamérica, Pollo Campero entró en el mercado estadounidense. En el año 2002, Pollo Campero abrió su primer establecimiento estadounidense en Los Ángeles, California. El negocio también se ha expandido a diferentes regiones, como Europa y ELIA GRIFFIN hasta en el Medio Oriente.

SILVER SPRING El nuevo Pollo Campero ya está abierto para toda la comunidad.

Entonces, ¿Cuál es el impacto del Pollo Campero en la comunidad latina en los Estapostre? Según el menú de Pollo Campero, el dos Unidos? Cuando un latino que vive en las generaciones. cliente puede ordenar flan y también una los Estados Unidos prueba un exquisito plaHay una variedad de platillos de pollo empanada de dulce de leche. to de Pollo Campero, al saborear este le hace en el nuevo Pollo Campero localizado en el El centro de Silver Spring es reconocido recordar los recuerdos que compartió con su centro de Silver Spring. Todos han probado por ser un lugar muy diverso por la cantifamilia y amigos en su país de origen. Los las piezas del pollo tradicional pero hay dad de personas, adultos y estudiantes que hispanos también miran a este restaurante otras opciones saludables que contienen lo visitan. El restaurante de Pollo Campero como parte de su cultura por la popularidad menos calorías como el pollo a la parilla. No ha atraído no solamente a latinos pero tamque ha tenido en sus países. Además, Pollo solamente hay piezas de pollo en el menú, bién a personas de diferentes culturas por Campero ha sido una conexión entre las nue- también venden camperitos, empanadas y la diversidad de la ciudad y también por la vas generaciones que nacieron en este país tazónes de pollo. curiosidad de probar un pollo con un sabor con la cultura latina. Muchos latinos nacidos Además de eso, se puede acompañar los latino. en los Estados Unidos han crecido con las platillos de comida con la opción de yuca Una estudiante del décimo grado, Ana

Por Jasmine Méndez-Paredes

Fagoaga, responde positivamente a la apertura del nuevo restaurante. Fagoaga dice, “Es genial tener el nuevo Pollo Campero porque hay pocos restaurantes hispanos en el centro de Silver Spring.”

Lesly Rodríguez, una estudiante del doceavo grado que vive en Silver Spring, habla acerca del impacto del nuevo Pollo Campero, “El restaurante está más cerca lo cual es más conveniente y el lugar es estratégico para negocios porque el lugar es muy diverso.” Rodríguez también admira la manera en como Pollo Campero prepara la comida como en los países latinos. Rodríguez dijo, “El pollo está preparado cuidadosamente y no es tan grasoso como en algunos otros restaurantes. Ellos elaboran la comida en una manera tradicional en que las personas pueden recordar sus países.”

De la misma manera Juan Estrada Vargas un estudiante del décimo grado opina acerca de los platos de Pollo Campero, “Las pechugas y alas de pollo las fríen bien, no les dejan mucho aceite, quedan bien tostadas, son de tamaño perfecto y dan muchas piezas.” Estrada Vargas evalúa el nuevo Pollo Campero del Centro de Silver Spring como un excelente restaurante. Estrada Vargas dijo, “Este es un restaurante de 5 estrellas por lo excelente que es!”

La apertura del nuevo Pollo Campero en el centro de Silver Spring permite a la comunidad latina de Blair a conocer, recordar y disfrutar el sabor latino de uno de los restaurantes más populares de los países latinoamericanos. Además, el restaurante provee un ambiente agradable donde las personas pueden compartir y pasar un momento placentero con sus familiares y amistades. El restaurante Pollo Campero de Silver Spring está ubicado en el 8662 de la calle Colesville en Silver Spring y están abiertos todos los días de 10:00 am hasta las 9:00 pm con sus precios que son muy razonables.

silverc

December 19, 2017

SantaClauses are In the weeks leading up to Christmas, parking lots across the country fill with people preparing for the holidays. Christmas music blasts through speakers, hassled shoppers dash from store to store and in the middle of all the buzz, with his signature white beard and red coat, sits Santa Claus, the center of the holiday cheer.

Malls are not the only place you will spy Santa, though. Jolly Santas jump into action come December for the holiday season. From stores to festive performances, Santas are in high demand, and all over, they work to bring Santa, red suit and all, to cities across the country. But behind each beard is a Santa with his own story.

for neighbors and then I started ham says.

In Orange County, California work come Thanksgiving. Fergu Order of Real Bearded Santas (F dent of the Orange County chap At night, Ferguson works for cations like hospitals and Radio C his own company where he take people who want their Santa pho

The Santas

Howard Graham sits on the Board of Directors for the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas (IBRBS) and acts as Santa for the Radio City Music Hall, the U.S. Postal Service’s Operation Santa and St. Jude’s and Virginia Hospitals. With all of that on his plate, Graham dedicates at least November and December of each year to playing Saint Nick.

Graham first began playing the role 35 years ago to entertain his son, a newborn baby at the time.

As his son grew, Graham found a growing audience of Santa-lovers around the neighborhood.

“I started doing it for parties and I started doing it

Similar to Graham, Ferguson of his first daughter in 1976. “I f on sale,” Ferguson says. “And I’v mas parties for years.” Six years a him to go pro. As he was helping same grocery-store Santa suit, he like Santa,” and that he should did just that and found an expen it’s just like the movie ‘Santa Cla

The Organ

Across the country, Santas ha support other Santas and improv Santa conventions all over the Graham, these conventions are a world, including members of org IBRBS, the group Graham is a ty to coordinate and keep the Sa an organization where Santas can about issues within the industry IBRBS also offers Santas an protection in the event of a San background insurance for them them,” Graham says. “Every S al Brotherhood of Real Beard done to make sure that they philes, they don’t have do anything like that.”

In addition to offerin coordinates events like Celebration. According aims to help the Santa Santa or Mrs. Claus o how to become bette FORBS membe lunch gatherings. A cialize and reflect each other how to b work with each ot

Features D1/D2

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re back in business

d doing it for the VA hospital,” Gra-

a, Greg Ferguson’s Santa starts up his uson is vice president of the Fraternal FORBS)’s national chapter and presipter. r various agents playing Santas at loo City. During the day, Ferguson runs kes pictures on California beaches for hotos in front of the ocean.

n’s Santa career began with the birth found a cheap suit at a grocery store ’ve been doing my own family Christs ago, Ferguson’s grandson convinced ng his grandfather get dressed in that he told Ferguson that “you really look d look into making it a job. Ferguson ensive suit. “Once you put on the suit laus,’” he says. He knew it was right.

nizations

have grouped up into organizations to ove their own work as Santa. “There’s e place,” Graham says. According to attended by Santas from all over the rganizations like IBRBS and FORBS. a part of, offers Santas an opportuniSanta profession alive and jolly. “It is an meet and talk amongst themselves y,” he says. and the people they meet financial anta visit going badly. “We provide m and we provide security checks for Santa that belongs to the Internationrded Santas has a background check ey’re not criminals, they’re not pedoomestic abuse charges against them,

ing Santas logistical services, IBRBS e the Denver 2018 International Santa ng to the registration site, the retreat a community “remember why we are or a Christmas spirit (like an elf) and tter.” bers celebrate Santa with monthly . At these lunches, 30 to 40 Santas soct on the job they all share. “We teach o be Santa Claus,” Ferguson says. “We other on what [being] Santa Claus is.”

At their luncheons, FORBS also raises money for its primary charity, Breast Cancer Angels, which supports families with mothers suffering from cancer. The Santas submit items they would like to raffle off, and by the end of the year, each of the chapters has three or four thousand dollars to spend on charity.

FORBS will host its 24th Annual Reunion in January. The reunion,

“I listen to their hopes and their dreams and their aspirations for gifts.”

he says.

The Character

During most of the year, Ferguson works for a municipal bus line.

Year-round, though, his wardrobe consists of red. That, combined with the beard, means he has Santa interactions all year. “You can be at a mall or a store or a restaurant and some parent will across the room say ‘Be careful Santa Claus is watching you,’” Ferguson says.

“You’ll see kids turn totally around. Instead of being bad, all of the sudden they’re little angels.”

Besides the clothing, beards are a crucial part of playing Santa.

“You have to have facial hair in order to become a Real Bearded Santa,” Graham says. “Otherwise, you’re a Traditional Bearded Santa.

That’s usually the designer beards and stuff like that.”

-Howard Graham

which includes a two-day stay in California and an “Aquarium of the Pacific Tour,” is marketed as an opportunity for FORBS Santas to be together after their holiday season wraps up. The event is considered “A time of Reflection, Learning, and a Jolly Good Time,” according to the website.

The Job

In reality, Santa’s job stretches much farther than making a list and checking it twice. “I meet and greet with the children,” Graham says. “I talk to the children. I listen to their hopes and their dreams and their aspirations for gifts … and hopefully I put a smile on their faces.”

However, when he’s talking with kids, Graham has to be careful not to over-promise. Graham explains to kids that he has a lot of gifts to deliver and that he can’t fit that horse that they want in his sleigh.

“And they usually say, ‘Oh! Oh well, okay!’” Graham says. “So [I tell them] ‘I think you need to talk to mom and dad about that one.’”

Ferguson finds a lot of kids who are afraid of Santa Claus. As the parents struggle to have their children take a picture with him, Ferguson has worked out a way to get through to them. “If you get down to their size, get down on your knees and talk to them, and try to talk to them about something you think they might like, you can

get a kid that’s afraid [not to be],” Ferguson says. And he isn’t the only one who notices.

“The look even on the parents’ faces when all of a sudden the kid is on Santa’s lap taking pictures and 10 minutes before that the kid was crying afraid to see Santa Claus [is a rewarding part of the job],”

However, those who can’t grow beards aren’t necessarily banned from Santa organizations. “They can still become associate members,” Graham says. “But they can’t be full members until they grow their own facial hair.”

For Santas who do grow their own beards, the maintenance process is intense. “Myself, I have to bleach my hair and my beard every ten days to keep it pure white,” Graham says. Santas who don’t want to commit to their roles all year use white theatrical makeup instead of bleaching to get the signature Santa beard.

Come December, Santas work day in, day out, bringing Christmas cheer to malls, hospitals and cities, and, according to Graham, it’s worth it. “It’s a great job,” he says. “I love what I do … I’m just blessed that I found this.”

Story By Marlena Tyldesley Art By Marissa He Photo By Elia Griffin Design By Isabella Tilley

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D3 Features

December 19, 2017

Keeping students Post-ed A look inside the day of Montgomery County SMOB Matt Post

By Erin Namovicz On a windy December Tuesday, Matt Post leaves his classes at Sherwood in Olney and heads for the Carver Educational Services Center, MCPS’s headquarters located in downtown Rockville. His car waits patiently in a space labeled “Reserved for Matthew Post” while he goes inside to attend to his Student Member of the Board (SMOB) duties. Today, his job is to film the “SMOB Minute” television episode.

not as many as he would like.

Often, Post can tell if a school is playing his video or not. Recently, he received an influx of messages from Pyle Middle about the Board’s decision to shorten spring break, proving to Post that the school aired the

address of his next destination into Google Maps and presses “go.” Walking out to the parking lot, he remarks, “This job would be virtually impossible without a license.”

Post’s campaign trail took him to every middle and high

vated, what kind of homework we get, what days we go to school; all of that is decided by a group called the Board of Education,” he says. “The Board of Education is comprised of seven adults and one kid. I’m that kid.”

60 seconds of fame

Walking down a narrow flight of stairs to the building’s subterranean television studio, Post says that this building used to be an all-black high school back when MCPS was segregated. Today, the structure is recognized as a historical building, which keeps it from being completely renovated. At the bottom of the stairs rests a small television studio, home of MCPS staples such as “Homework Hotline Live” and Post’s show, “SMOB Minute.”

Sitting on the familiar stool in front of the green screen, Post removes his glasses and becomes the recognizable televised persona, “Matthew Post: Your Student Member of the Board.”

“Can we get somebody to do the powder?” he asks the two-person crew. “There’s no shame—I don’t want to look sweaty,” Post admits.

It turns out the makeup man is out today, but the teleprompter operator reassures Post that he need not worry.

“You always look good Matt, very charismatic,” he says.

As Post and the crew make edits to the teleprompter script, Post explains that many schools, including Blair, incorporate SMOB Minute into their morning announcements—but

ERIN NAMOVICZ

STUDENT DISCOURSE A Rocky Hill Middle student tells Matt Post his school lunch preferences as Post hands him a packet on how to take action against rules about cellphones at lunch. video in which he addressed the issue.

Post’s ultimate goal is to reach every student in MCPS through these bi-weekly episodes, but to him, getting a few students to watch is better than none at all. As he points out, if he is able to inform and broadcast his message to only one percent of Montgomery County’s students, that is still 1,615 students.

Middle school meetup

Since Matt Post began campaigning for SMOB, his car has been his best friend. When he finishes filming, he plugs in the

school in the county, and this year, he is well on his way to repeating the feat. Today, his destination is Rocky Hill Middle in Clarksburg, a 20-minute drive from Carver. His mission: reach out to the school’s SGA to find issues to discuss in future Board of Education meetings.

The regular school day has ended by the time Post arrives in the small yellow classroom, but he is greeted by the twodozen sixth through eighth graders waiting for him with respectful enthusiasm.

He kick starts the discussion with an explanation of his many powers on the Board.

“When our schools are reno-

As he brings up budget issues and the new school year calendar that has recently been passed through the Board, some students are ready with hesitant questions, but others stare blankly ahead. They become more engaged once Post starts talking about issues that matter to them: career pathways they will be able to take in high school, school Wi-Fi restrictions, and, of course, lunches.

“At the high school measure, there’s a lot more discussion about big picture things, like racial and socioeconomic disparities and opportunities in achievement,” he explains.

ERIN NAMOVICZ

MAN IN ACTION Matt Post explains his job and powers as a Student Member of the Board to Rocky Hill Middle students, and asks them what they believe some of the issues most pertinent to middle school students such as themselves are.

“But at the middle school level, they do care about cell phones during lunch, and the Wi-Fi, and school lunches, which are important as well.”

Post explains these issues to the middle schoolers in a slightly more simplified manner compared to how he explains them to his peers. However, standing up in front of the classroom, with his suit and a face full of stubble, he appears twice their age. When he visited Wheaton Woods Elementary earlier this year to read to the children, some asked him how many kids of his own he has. “The facial hair doesn’t help. At the end, they’re like, ‘Wait, he wasn’t thirty years old?’” Post says with a smile.

Once the students realize that he is their link to communicating the issues they care about, they raise their hands assuredly and tell him about how they have to wait in long lunch lines for sub-par food and how they wish they had more time to go outside during the “pseudo-recess” part of their lunch.

With some school-wide issues that Post knows he cannot affect, such as recess, he offers a canned reply, “interesting.”

Other students bring up the exact insight he came for.

One student offers that the reason for long lunch lines is cash payments because students encounter a five dollar fee when attempting to add money to their online accounts.

After Post says his farewell, he remarks that comments such as these made this one of the good visits. “This school was interesting in that the kids were very engaged, they gave good feedback,” he says. “I’m definitely going to go talk to the Board about that.”

Toward the end of the meeting, Post has to reassume his teacher persona to quiet down the children who are excitedly telling him what they consider the best cafeteria food—pizza, ice cream, or chips—to introduce his last talking point: phones at lunch. He tells the students about how he helped Tilden Middle launch a campaign within their school to get rid of this ban as he hands out packets with resources if they, as an SGA, want to do something similar. By acknowledging his support for a chiefly middle school issue, he returns from authority figure to fellow student.

“I don’t want to ever lose sight of what’s important to these kids, because what’s important to them, I need to bring up and discuss and pursue at the Board table, because ultimately, I’m representing them,” Post says.

A little past 4:30 p.m., Post walks out of Rocky Hill and plugs one last destination into Google Maps: home.

December 19, 2017

Features D4

silverchips

Tuning in to journalism and politics

A Q&A with National Public Radio’s lead political editor

By Ben Miller and Laura Espinoza

hard to find an objective truth, but it’s our job to get as close as possible. Sometimes what’s fair is not always equal. Some people lie more than others.

I think it’s important that the free press hold people in power accountable. It’s just our jobs, and we have to be fair to them. We shouldn’t be trying to “take down” President Trump or anyone else. That’s not our role.

Our role is to take the confusing stuff that people say make it less confusing and try to find the best, most objective sources possible to better inform the public.

Domenico Montanaro, lead political editor for National Public Radio (NPR), directs political coverage for stories and broadcasts aired all over the nation. A former high school English teacher, and editor at NBC News, Montanaro leverages his experience to be an effective journalist and pundit.

Q: What is your role at NPR? What do you do on a day-to-day basis?

I help with the organization of the Washington desk, trying to figure out the stories we want to work on. I collaborate with our other editors to figure out what we’re going to be doing that week, who’s going to be doing the stories, and what shape they should take. I also have an on-air role where I talk about politics, and it’s always a lot of fun trying to distill really complicated projects in a way that is understandable. And I write a lot.

Q: Across your career, is there a favorite story you can point to that was particularly meaningful or impactful?

I still think about my very first year working as a newspaper reporter when I did a series of stories about an old drawbridge on the Jersey Shore. Every summer, people would drive over this thing, and if it got stuck, or it was too hot, or it didn’t open, people couldn’t get through. The state had gotten federal funding to a build a new, bigger bridge, but it would have wiped out several homes and closed many businesses.

After I was on the job for three or four weeks, I found out that the Coast Guard was supposed to approve this bridge after a series of public meetings, but those public meetings hadn’t taken place. There was no application for this bridge.

In part because of my work, they wound up making a hybrid bridge, which meant

Q: As we enter this era of change in journalism, what do you think is going to be the role of journalism, whether that is print, digital, or radio, in the modern world?

COURTESY OF DOMENICO MONTANARO

SHAPING STATIC As political editor of NPR, Domenico Montanaro covers a wide array of topics as he navigates the dynamic world of journalism. that only one house had to be razed, and all of the businesses stayed open.

Q: In your role as a political pundit, how do you predict elections or gain insight into how events will turn out?

What I do on election nights is all based on data. I was very proud of myself during the Alabama special senate election because I identified several counties beforehand that were going to be key to the race based on their past results and demographics.

As the results rolled in that night and Roy Moore was leading, I looked at those specific counties and saw that most of the reported vote came in places that were strong for Moore and that there were still many votes

to go in places where Doug Jones held a lot of support.

Even when Jones was down by 23,000 votes, I knew he still had a chance to win.

I wasn’t going too far out on that ledge, but I could share what the data was telling me and use this impartial information to not predict a result but rather offer some insight into the situation.

Q: NPR oftens creates pieces that fact check statements made by politicians, especially President Trump. What is your objective in creating those stories? Does the objective truth you try to convey have the same power it once did?

Truth is our north star as journalists. It’s

There’s always going to be a need for news. There’s always going to be a need for information. But it’s clearly going to change.

As much as I love newspapers, I could see that I needed different skills to adapt to a new journalism environment. For instance, I needed to know how to shoot and edit my own video. You’ve got to stay on the leading edge of what the platforms are.

I still think content is king, and I think as long as you have good, rock solid information, we can find ways to get that information out there.

I love NPR. I love listening to NPR, but we’ve also got to reach people where they are. Are they consuming it on their phones?

Then guess what? Paragraphs have to be shorter.

You have to think about how people take in information and making it most adaptable to them without dumbing it down.

That’s the challenge.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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D5 Features

December 19, 2017

Seven principles for seven days of celebration

How the Blair community embraces Kwanzaa

By Hannah Lee

SALLY ZHAO

Working retail during big Black Friday sales

By Elise Cauton Senior Lilian Carranza weaves through the throngs of people in the footwear section of JC Penney, balancing multiple shoe boxes as she tries to spot the customers she was just helping. Carranza deftly steps over footwear, plastic bags, and general trash that is scattered across the floor, an area she cleaned just five minutes ago.

She barely has time to hand the boxes to the customer before another shopper is thrusting shoes towards her, asking for a different size. Carranza takes a breath and plunges back into the crowd. Her seven hour shift was far from over.

According to CNN Money, around 150 million Americans resist sleep in order to get the best deals on Black Friday every year. But behind the façade of cheerful consumerism, Black Friday is also known for its aggressive and generally chaotic nature.

The unsung heroes of this yearly ordeal are the employees that facilitate the chaos of the day. Among these workers are Blair students, like Carranza, who have to brave the hordes of shoppers in order to get their paychecks. Before Black Friday, senior Angelo Tydings-Lynch, who works at Michaels in Silver Spring, predicted that the day would be very disorganized.

Tydings-Lynch said that because earlier holidays, like Halloween, were hectic for the store, he expected even more on Black Friday. “It’s just going to be very crazy,” Tydings-Lynch says. “Michaels is a store that is actually actively participating in Black Friday, and … we’re kind of understaffed, and it’s been kind of chaotic already.”

Senior Trinity Martin, who works at Hot Topic in Wheaton mall, was informed by her manager to pay attention to her surroundings and the customers in the store. “My manager just told me … to be aware [and] make sure that nothing gets taken,” she explains. According to TIME Money, shoplifting cost the United States retail industry $17.8 billion in 2016. While both Tydings-Lynch and Martin were assigned to work on Black Friday because they have permanent positions at their jobs, Carranza chose to work in the midst of the chaos.

In order to obtain a part time spot for the holidays, she told the interviewers that she could work on Black Friday, to help accommodate the holiday rush. “[The interviewers] had asked us before if we were willing to work on Black Friday, and if we were up for it,” Carranza says. “I told them that I could work on the day of my interview, I guess that was the one of the reasons why I probably got the job, too.”

For Tydings-Lynch, who worked later in the day, Black Friday was like any other shift at the cash register. “It wasn’t as crazy as I thought, because my shift was from 11 [a.m.] to [4 p.m.], so I think I missed the initial early morning rush for stuff,” Tydings-Lynch explains. “It was crowded … but [there

soapbox

Did you go Black Friday shopping this year? If so, what was the craziest thing you saw?

“I saw this lady who put 10 candles from Bath and Body Works into her bag and no one noticed and she just walked out.”

— Ashley Gomez, freshman “The craziest thing I saw that day was a lady taking a shirt from a kid in Macy’s.”

— Ryan Philip, senior weren’t] overwhelming lines or anything until the end.”

Martin, who ended up working a ten hour shift, noticed that while there were more customers in the store than she had ever seen, she had expected the experience to be more hectic.

Still, some parts of her shift were very tiring. Martin had to constantly organize clothes, refolding the shirts that customers had cast off. “That was a little overwhelming because every time I folded one thing, someone came over and messed it all up again,” Martin says.

Carranza, however, had a more exhausting and irritating experience, possibly because she works at a department store, which attracts a wider range of consumers.

She describes how customers became frustrated when she took too long to ring up items. “Sometimes they’re very impatient [and] they get irritated when things don’t go their way,” she says. “You get used to people being rude to you, or [when] they just don’t show that much compassion.”

Carranza recounts that many customers did not read the details when signing up for in-store credit cards, which caused further confusion and stress. “I did get irritated, [but] I assured [them] that I wasn’t upset … because you don’t want the customer to think that they’re a bother,” Carranza explains.

Despite the strain of Black Friday, Carranza says that she would do it again in the future because of the high pay rate. “I wouldn’t mind because I need the money,” Carranza says.

For Martin, working on Black Friday was a valuable learning experience. She experienced firsthand the importance of being kind to employees, and recognizes the impact her actions can have on workers. “[Working] makes me want to be a more polite customer, because I now realize how much salespeople have to go through on Black Friday,” she says.

Every year, Blair counselor Daryl Howard’s friends and family gather for the lighting of the first Kwanzaa candle on Dec. 26, a celebration dedicated to embracing African American culture. With six more candles to light throughout the week, the group knows there are six more days of food, music, and poetry to celebrate.

Howard is one of the millions of people who celebrate Kwanzaa every year. Beginning on Dec. 26 and ending on Jan. 1, the African American and Pan-African holiday aims to celebrate African culture and life.

The name of the holiday is derived from the African phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which translates to “first fruits,” or the “first harvest” in Swahili.

Kwanzaa originated from the black-nationalist movement of the 1960s, though it did not become a holiday until 1996, when it was created by Maulana Karenga, chairman of Black Studies at California State University at Riverside.

The holiday’s goal is to unite the African American community and to help African Americans reconnect with African culture through the seven principles of African heritage, according to Ernest H. Johnson, the Founding Director and Chairman of Champions for Peace Leadership and Mastermind Institute.

These seven principles, called Nguzo Saba, were developed by Karenga. Each candle corresponds to a principle and is lit in a specific order: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Kuumba (creativity), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Nia (purpose), and Imani (faith).

Following each night’s candle lighting ceremony, participants discuss what each day’s principle means to them. “You’re supposed to reflect on how you move forward with the new goal and new commitment to living your life in a better way,” Howard says.

Howard began celebrating the holiday as a means of not only appreciating his own Black American culture, but also merging with their preexisting holiday traditions.

“We [my family and I] always seemed to have a holiday celebration near the end of the year,” he explains. “As I began to do more self-study… I thought it would be appropriate to begin examining, then celebrating the holiday.”

As Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, there is no uniform way to celebrate the occasion. Different people use unique methods of entertainment and gathering.

For Howard’s family, Kwanzaa consists

of an array of different activities involving those in his community.

“Sometimes you just come and you observe and people ask questions about the Kwanzaa materials and sometimes you actively have a celebration, discussion, singing, poetry, food, and music,” Howard says.

“Different dishes are prepared and speak to African, and/or Caribbean culture as well as southern Black culture.”

Melvin Deal, founder of African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, a dance company originating in Washington, D.C., celebrates the holiday with ways to appreciate others and value important life qualities.

“One of the main traditions is the pouring of the libation and honoring our ancestors,” Deal says. “Then we have the exchange of gifts coming together for our meals and our feasting, which comes with performing and reminding all who attend about the seven principles of Kwanzaa.”

Food and discussion are not the only ways people celebrate the holiday locally.

Near the Blair community, there are museums, poetry, and dance performances for people to attend annually.

The Anacostia Museum in Washington, D.C. hosts a free festival from Dec. 26 to Dec. 28, with activities such as arts and crafts, as well as performances of African percussive instruments, dance performances, and storytelling presentations.

The African Heritage Dancers and Drummers have been performing at Kwanzaa festivals annually in the Washington metro area since 1968 as a method of uniting people of all ages in his community. “[Performing] is the way of showing the talent of the community,” he said. “[Kwanzaa] is special because it gives us an opportunity to remind ourselves and the people of our necessity to come together and to do positive and good things.”

For some, dressing up in brightly colored traditional African clothing with intricate embroidery and beading, and hosting large celebrations for families and friends is a way to celebrate Kwanzaa, according to Adorably African, a company that sells traditional African clothes.

For others, holding small discussions and outlets to recognize the community is another way.

For Howard, Kwanzaa is chance to embrace and educate others about his culture as the year comes to a close.

“There are things about Black American culture that many people don’t know,” he says. “I think it’s a good opportunity for Black Americans as well as others to be exposed to certain principles and traditions as you close out one year and begin to enter a new year.”

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

December 19, 2017

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Not a fault in their stars

December 19, 2017

Three reporters visit the worst reviewed restaurants in Silver Spring

By Cole Greenberg, Ben Miller, Henry Wiebe In first person

their bathroom. It was a fitting end to this stellar example of culinary failure.

It was 8:00 p.m. on a Thursday night, and Henry Wiebe had already thrown up three times. His face was pale and fatigued, his shoulders sagging with bloated exhaustion.

He looked less like a high school senior and more like a dazed survivor hobbling out of the wreckage of an airplane crash. And yet, summoning what strength he had left, Henry teetered out of his chair and went for a seventh plate of lukewarm sushi.

Blue Pearl Buffet & Grill 8661 Colesville Road

All three of us love finding new places to eat. We live for the thrill that comes from walking into a restaurant for the first time and experiencing new tastes and flavors.

Thankfully, websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor provide thousands of restaurant reviews, letting us search for hidden gems and great cuisine from the comfort of our phones.

But what about the restaurants that are scorned by online reviews? The places that people take special time from their days to viciously attack? We wanted to evaluate the quality of poorly-reviewed restaurants in the Silver Spring area for ourselves and see if they lived up to their internet infamy. Armed with empty stomachs and promises of Silver Chips reimbursement, we set out to try our luck at the worst reviewed restaurants we could find, all in one glorious, painful night.

Fresh Greek Grill - 25 W. University Boulevard

We began our night of culinary courage at Fresh Greek Grill, a small Mediterranean joint tucked behind the Gamestop in Four Corners. Fresh Greek Grill received an average of 2.5 stars from 40 Yelp reviews, which does not seem too bad except for the fact that none of the first 90 Silver Spring restaurants listed on Yelp got lower than 3.5 stars.

Online commentators did not seem particularly enamored with the place, blasting the restaurant’s “microwaved” gyros and “zero customer service.”

As we walked in, the restaurant failed to wow us with its ambience. The flickering lights and blaring Fox News did little to distract from what looked more like a liquor store than a Greek restaurant. Nothing about the place seemed particularly welcoming, except perhaps for the drunk Redskins fan who kept offering to buy us beers. As we watched the manager/chef/cashier leave the register to flick on the dim fluorescent lights in the kitchen, we decidedly lowered our expectations.

Luckily (and a little surprisingly), our food helped to compensate for the subpar environment. The dolmades, cold grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, were briny but rich with a well-seasoned filling. The crispy Aegean shrimp were more breading than

MARISSA HE

shellfish yet still offered us a salty, satisfying warmth. When it came to the much-reviled gyros, most of the online anger seemed misplaced. Sure, the tzatziki was bland and the meat a little underwhelming, but the pita was delightfully chewy and the wraps’ vegetables were respectably fresh.

With dessert, however, Fresh Greek Grill lost momentum. Our baklava, sweet as it was, lacked any warmth or crispiness and was instead dense enough to make short work of our plastic knives. The pastry was leathery and tough, probably because it had been sitting out since the Trojan War. Dessert aside, Fresh Greek Grill exceeded our rock-bottom expectations. Overall, our food was edible and occasionally enjoyable, certainly better than what online reviews had led us to expect. Even if it cannot stand up to more polished Mediterranean options in the Silver Spring area, Fresh Greek Grill is a respectable choice for a quick, affordable bite to eat in Four Corners.

Fire Station 1 Restaurant & Bar - 8131 Georgia Avenue We barely made it to Downtown Silver Spring before Henry was throwing up a medley of half-digested Greek cuisine

BEN MILLER

A KITCHEN ON FIRE An order of Fire Station 1’s pretzel dogs and “3 Alarm” wings.

onto the sidewalk. He was already sick, and the addition of so much food in his gullet pushed him over the edge. It was not a pretty sight, but after giving him a moment to collect himself, we pressed on toward our second destination of the night: Fire Station 1 Restaurant & Bar. Like Fresh Greek Grill, Fire Station 1 received 2.5 stars on Yelp, with critics targeting both the restaurant’s uninspired and poorly-executed menu and the incredibly slow service.

Fire Station 1 occupies what used to be Silver Spring’s first fire station, but don’t worry, because they will never let you forget it.

From the shiny fire engine bumper jammed in the front of the restaurant to the thematically named dishes, Fire Station 1 makes Chicago Fire look subtle.

Walking in, we could not help but feel lonely. A drifting tumbleweed would hardly have seemed out of place in the cavernous, empty restaurant. After an Oregon Trailesque trek across the vast open dining room, we finally reached our booth. Unlike at Fresh Greek Grill, though, our food did little to counterbalance the subpar environment.

We began our meal with pretzel dogs, which tasted more like pigs in a blanket at the worst Super Bowl party ever. Each roll was burnt and dripping with grease, not to mention comically bland.

When we attempted to add some flavor by dipping the dogs in the homemade mustard they came with, we were met with a brutal, vinegary concoction that nearly put tears in our eyes.

Other offerings did little to improve from the pretzel dogs’ example. The “3 Alarm” wings were painfully sour, enough that we had to remind each other we were eating buffalo wings and not Warheads. While the meat itself was only slightly overcooked, it was impossible to get past the acrid slime it was coated in.

Our “Silver Sliders” were no better, with patties so dense and burnt that they seemed more at home as pucks in our women’s hockey story on F2. While bracketed by legitimately tasty cheddar and jalapeno buns, the incinerated meat was topped by soggy onion straws which only added insult to injury.

One area of relief in this otherwise blazing inferno of mediocrity was the service.

Online reviewers consistently blasted Fire Station 1’s staff for being slow and inattentive, but our waitress was actually quite reliable and pleasant. To be fair, everyone in the restaurant could have fit into a 2008 Honda Accord, so we did not have much competition for attention. Even still, Fire Station 1’s service could not make up for fundamentally awful food.

Henry capped off our time at this grease fire of a restaurant by running off to puke in

Dragging along Henry’s increasingly lifeless body, we arrived at our final destination of the night: Blue Pearl Buffet, a vast expanse of worn gray carpeting and buffet tables which covers much of the bottom floor of Ellsworth Place.

Like Fresh Greek Grill and Fire Station 1, Blue Pearl earned an average of 2.5 stars across 85 Yelp reviews, with online critics attacking the restaurant’s food, service, decor, restrooms, and just about everything else save the cell reception.

Going on our fourth hour of mediocre food, it was hard to build much of an appetite, but we paid the $14 per person and trudged to the buffet. The smorgasbord was nothing if not extensive.

At least 100 feet long, the buffet offered a broad assortment of fruits and vegetables, desserts, American fare, soups, noodles, and faux-Chinese classics like beef and broccoli and General Tso’s chicken. At least, that is what we thought they were, because almost nothing was labeled. While large trilingual placards marked each section, very few dishes were individually labeled, making building a plate a terrifying guessing game.

We began our final journey with a broad sampling of the buffet, grabbing lukewarm heaps of as many offerings as possible. Nothing panned out. The pork stir fry was somehow soggy and dry, the lo mein was greasy and burnt, and the General Tso’s chicken was

BEN MILLER

DIVING INTO THE UNKNOWN We still cannot identify this dish from Blue Pearl.

rubbery enough to out-bounce a Super Ball.

Henry was soon scrambling to the bathroom for his third vomit of the night, though at this point it was impossible to tell just what restaurant or dish was to blame.

Subsequent plates did little to improve our fortunes. All the American food we tried was predictably lackluster, with the spring rolls seemingly more at home in a nuclear winter.

Ben made a point of courting listeria by trying every type of shellfish on the buffet, from the off-color crawfish and mushy headon shrimp to the traumatically crunchy mussels.

Even the dessert choices fell flat, from the indestructible cheesecake down to the shardridden ice cream.

Defying logic and decency, Henry returned from the bathroom with a second wind, wolfing down plate after plate of whatever the buffet could throw at him. It was a thing of beauty, like a majestic lion pouncing on a fleeing gazelle.

Except Henry was that gazelle, soon to be torn apart by the growing lion of predatory food inside of him. After plate number eight, we cut him off and shuttled him out of the restaurant, never looking back.

December 19, 2017

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Entertainment E2

Blair’s strange addictions

Students share some of their most peculiar habits

By Miranda Rose Daly From guzzling gallons of water to compulsively playing with food, Blair students have strange habits.

Drawing from the infamous show, “My Strange Addiction,” where people with extreme compulsive behaviors share their stories, three students from Blair share their strange habits.

Water woman

Junior Emma O’Driscoll is addicted to water. She drinks about 200 fluid ounces, or 1.5 gallons in the seven hours she is at Blair, one gallon more than the recommended daily average. “[That’s] in a school day,” she laughs. “And then I drink more water when I get home.”

The habit began when O’Driscoll was in seventh grade when she was on the school soccer and cross country team, which required her to stay hydrated.

A desire to be healthier also fueled her obsession. “I had to do sports,” O’Driscoll says. “But also, I wanted to be really healthy so I started drinking more water, and it kind of got out of hand.”

O’Driscoll has been to multiple doctors about the issue. They have urged her to stop drinking so much water, but she does not know how to cut down her intake.

“Doctors have told me that I should drink

less water, [but] I just… I can’t,” she says.

“I’ve tried to stop ... but I’m just so thirsty all the time.”

This habit has started to take a toll on O’Driscoll’s health. She often gets dizzy, and constantly has urges to drink more.

She also suffered from water intoxication, a condition that occurs from drinking too much water, which upset her electrolyte balance. “[Once] I hallucinated and did things that I did not remember,” she says.

In an effort to control her habit, O’Driscoll bought a water bottle with a top

that needed to be completely unscrewed to open, so she could not constantly slurp from the straw.

Salt lover

Junior Anna Moore has a different habit.

She enjoys eating small handfuls of salt, prefAMY KRIMM erably Himalayan pink salt. “I take the little salt [shaker], and I just put a pinch in my hand,” Moore says. “It tastes good.”

Although she has no routine, Moore makes sure she has some plain salt at least once a week.

“Maybe once a week... [but] there’s no set day,” she says. “It’s a craving.”

There may be an explanation for her cravings— researchers at Duke University and the University of Melbourne have found that the same nerve cells for our liking of salt are strongly associated with the nerve cells for addiction to cocaine and heroin.

Moore has been munching on salt for as long as she remembers, but has never needed to see a doctor.

Yet, she admits that AMY KRIMM she rarely drinks water.

“I don’t drink a lot of water.

Maybe that’s related? I don’t like the taste of water,” she says.

Gouging GoGurts

Junior Ruby Santana loves GoGurts.

More specifically, she loves stabbing GoGurts with a fork.

“A lot of GoGurts have cartoon characters on them. So what I do is get a fork, and poke the mouth of the cartoon character so it looks like they are vomiting,” Santana says, laughing. “I think it’s hilarious.”

Santana has GoGurts in her lunch every other week and has been doing this since her freshman year. She started doing to get a laugh, but now, she cannot imagine eating a GoGurt any other way.

“At this point, if I ate GoGurts without doing it, I would feel a sense of loss,” she says.

Piercing the GoGurt is not as simple as it

sounds; Santana puts in quite a bit of effort to puncture the plastic. “I have to try really hard, and sometimes it’s not successful.

A couple of times, I’ve sprayed people with yogurt,” she says.

Once she stabs the character’s face, Santana squeezes out the yogurt and licks it off the side of the plastic.

“That part is kind of gross, but I gotta do what I gotta do.”

Not even a GoGurt without a character will deter her from stabbing the container.

Santana admits that she will continue this habit for the time being.

“I don’t think I can see myself stopping in the near future,” Santana says.

There is a reason for these strange behaviors. AP Psychology teacher Julia Smrek explains what happens in the brain biologically to cause an addiction or strong habit.

“It is an imbalance of a neuAMY KRIMM rotransmitter... many times it is hereditary, but it could be environmental,” she says.

No matter the reason, these Blazers will continue to embrace their odd behaviors.

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December 19, 2017

The small screen on a world stage

Blazers of Note

A list of international television to add to your watchlist

By Anson Berns

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Moira Johnson Senior

Senior Moira Johnson is used to her role as a student, friend, and older sister, and now she is excited to be a Councilmember for a day. She recently won Montgomery County Councilmember Craig Rice’s essay competition, which asked students to describe the most important public policy issue facing young people today and to present their ideas for dealing with the issue.

In her essay, Johnson wrote about the struggle of having a parent diagnosed with cancer or another long term illness, a hardship millions of kids deal with every day. She felt very close to this issue, as her mother had recently beaten breast cancer. “[The essay] was a research-based project on my mom’s cancer,” she said. “Because it’s a family matter, people don’t realize that when parents have long term illnesses, kids are not only having to be a student but also parent at home,” she says.

Johnson is looking forward to shadowing Councilmember Rice for a day. “I get to sit with the other councilmembers and hear about the issues, I get to talk about why my project is important, and hopefully help Craig Rice propose something that will help my issue,” she said.

Johnson’s passion for this issue extends beyond writing essays. She also volunteers and fundraises for Camp Kesem, a camp for kids who have a parent diagnosed with cancer. “It’s basically a one-week free camp so kids get a break from being an adult in their household,” she said.

In an era of a globalized culture where Americans follow international trends in food and fashion, the vast majority of what we watch on television still originates in the United States.

Aside from the occasional British series, almost every popular movie and show in America is domestic. When available, foreign television shows are often saddled with the burden of subtitles or dubbing. But quality international television is no longer the exclusive realm of arthouse theatres; great series from around the world can now be enjoyed at home. Here are a few international shows that are well worth watching.

Germany

“Deutschland 83,” set in 1983, is an International Emmy Award-winning spy thriller about Cold War Germany. The show is told from the perspective of Martin Rauch, a 24-year old agent of the Soviet East who is sent to infiltrate the capitalist West. The collaboration between American writer Anna Winger and her husband, German producer Joerg Winger, is a slick and engaging look into a part of history usually treated with more severity. While the show bears many similarities to FX’s “The Americans,” the spying of “Deutschland 83” gains a relatability due to the comparative youth and naïveté of its protagonist. The lighter color palette and filmography that focuses on daily settings like houses and office buildings give the heavier subject material a more personal feeling. The show’s 1980’s setting is developed heavily through its music by the usage of classic artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Nicks. “Deutschland 83” received overwhelming international support—it was broadcast on the American Sundance channel—so the show has been renewed for two new seasons, set in ‘86 and ‘89 respectively.

Brazil

“3%”, the first Netflix original series from Brazil, is a new project from director César Charlone, who is most famous for his gritty 2002 movie “City of God”. The show, which is available with dubbed English au-

COURTESY OF NICOLE AMARTEIFIO

A NEW KIND OF TV Female castmembers of “An African City” strike a pose. dio on Netflix, tells the story of a world divided into the dystopian “Inland” and the “Offshore,” a paradise that a series of intelligence tests known as “the Process” allows only 3% of the population to gain entry to.

Unlike much of the recent dystopian fiction trend, “3%” follows adults, instead of teenagers, allowing for deep and complex emotional performances. Even with subtitles or her voice overdubbed, Bianca Comparato’s portrayal of protagonist Michele Santana is stirring and powerful. The show uses this science fiction premise to explore themes of earning one’s place in the world, family ties, and life with a disability — which it does through the wheelchair-bound character of Fernando Carvalho, played by Michel Gomes. Netflix’s move to globalize its original series program signals a new era of television in which creators from all around the globe can distribute their content internationally. In the age of online streaming, it is easier than ever for foreign content to be easily accessible.

Ghana

The English language webseries “An African City” tells the story of 5 women returning to the city of Accra in Ghana. Through

the show’s tales of personal lives and sexual escapades, creator Nicole Amarteifio aims to provide the same female empowerment to African women that the similar show “Sex and the City” did in America.

In an interview with CNN, Amarteifio described the lack of sufficient mainstream depictions of African daily life. “I was tired of the sole narrative of the African woman being about poverty and disease,” she said.

“I wanted to see another narrative—one of beauty, glamor and intelligence.” In a typical scene, the five young, female protagonists sit around a dinner table ordering avocado rolls and drinks as they talk about their personal lives, American and African cultures, social issues, and men. “An African City” is distinctly unlike more traditional depictions of Africa in American cinema, of which often tell the stereotypical story of an unjust war raging in a nameless country, like the award-winning “Hotel Rwanda”, which depicts the horrors of the Rwandan genocide. Instead of focusing on the conflict commonly associated with African society, “An African City” is an uplifting story of liberated, three-dimensional characters that should be familiar even to viewers continents away.

Making up for lost time

The evolution of makeup for people of all shades

By Hannah Lee

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Andrew Komo Senior

Senior Andrew Komo won the $100,000 Top Individual Prize in the 2017 Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. Over the summer, Komo designed a security protocol which can be used to protect online auctions from threats of fraud.

Komo had long been interested in computer science and economics. His mentor, Dr. Lawrence Ausubel, an economist at the University of Maryland, suggested cryptography as an intersection of both disciplines. “These auctions are very high stakes, some of these auctions are used to sell billions of dollars worth of goods and services and the security is lackluster,” he said. “My protocol can help harden the security.”

Komo said the greatest lesson he learned from his work is the importance of resilience in problem solving. “If you get stuck on a problem you have to attack it from multiple angles,” he said. “Just because the first method doesn’t work doesn’t mean there will be no method.”

Komo didn’t expect to get very far in the competition and is very appreciative that others recognize the value of his work. “It felt really validating, like it just felt really great knowing that other people thought my work was useful as well,” he said.

By Noah Chopra-Khan

Human skin ranges from the darkest of brown to the lightest of shades, with 66 different tones. Despite this, well known makeup companies, such as Glossier, provide as little as five shades for concealer and foundation. While makeup itself may have made strides in terms of proliferation and quantity, darker shades of makeup have only recently gained recognition.

The use of makeup first originated in Ancient Egypt around 4,000 BCE, as women applied galena mesdemet and malachite to their faces for contour and definition. Fast forward to 1914 when foundation consisting of talc was created by Max Factor, men and women were provided with a healthy alternative to everyday makeup. Throughout these changes, an explicit definition of beauty has been established through advertisements and companies. Fair and Lovely, the creator of the world’s first fairness cream in 1975, based their advertisements on glorifying “fair” skin tones, showing how people with lighter skin tones are generally better accepted by society, such as easily finding jobs and getting married, implying that darker skinned people are considered less beautiful by society.

Many people criticized ColourPop, a makeup company originated in Los Angeles, last year after contrastingly naming their contour sticks for different shades. The lighter shades would be named “Gummy Bear”, “Castle”, or “Illuminati” while the darker shades would be named “Yikes” or “Typo”, words with obvious negative connotations.

Although cosmetics are prevalent in almost every culture, the makeup industry’s establishment of a bias towards a lighter skin tone and Eurocentric features reflects upon society’s beauty standards in general.

Due to the preference towards people of lighter shades on behalf of many makeup

companies, people of darker skin to experience difficulty in finding the right product.

For some, finding a foundation matching one’s skin tone is looked as a one step process: grab a bottle and go. However, people of less common skin tones having trouble finding the right shade can be provided with wrong undertones or depth of shade. The foundation can either make the skin look bruised or orange.

Junior Kennedy Rogers, a freelance makeup artist, emphasized that the makeup industry needs to increase inclusivity on products other than foundation. “They [the makeup industry] should try to create more of a wider range as far as eyeshadows and lipsticks that can fit darker skin tones,” she explained. “Light pinks, tan, and nudes, usually come out pretty ashy. We usually have to go for darker colors like burgundy, red, or a deep brown color.

Rogers also highlighted makeup companies specifically for women of color that

GLOSSIER, NARS COSMETICS, BLACK OPAL BEAUTY, AND FENTY BEAUTY

already exist, such as Black Opal Beauty, a makeup brand that launched in 1994, whose products are available at convenience stores such as Walmart or CVS. The release of Rihanna’s cosmetic line, Fenty Beauty, earned positive attention for its 40 shades of foundation and compatibility with people of very dark or light skin tones, such as albinos. Although her line is the first to provide such an extensive range of foundation, 40 models for 40 shades, many people focused on the message of inclusivity preached in its release. Fenty Beauty marked a turning point, earning $72 million in a month and outpacing the release of other makeup companies started by other celebrities, such as Kylie Cosmetics.

Senior Iyanu Bishop emphasized the importance for makeup companies to include everyone, regardless of skin color. “It honestly should be a standard, not just dark skin but all skin types,” she said. “People deserve to feel represented.”

HANNAH LEE AND CAMDEN ROBERTS

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December 19, 2017

Entertainment E4

Classic, but not classy Iconic films should be considered within their historical context

By Mindy Burton On a cold and blustery day off from school, many students find themselves inside their homes under a pile of blankets and with a cup of hot chocolate, ready to stream a Netflix marathon of ageold movies.

In theater reruns throughout the summer and on snow days in the winter, people are caught in a vicious cycle of boasting the same

“classic” movies whose humor often comes with racist undertones.

While these classics, such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sixteen Candles, and Gone with the Wind, remain an integral piece of our art history, it is crucial for viewers to recognize their racial implications and watch them in the context of their time.

While movies today feature a more diverse array of characters and focus their humor on witty jokes and clever wordplay, it has not always been like that. Many classic movies include, at most, one character of a minority race, who usually serves as the butt of racist, stereotypical jokes.

The iconic 1984 coming-of-age film Sixteen Candles follows teen Sam Baker throughout her sixteenth birthday as she attempts to make high school senior Jake fall in love with her.

While this was intended as a light-hearted romantic comedy, an anti-Asian subtext runs deeper.

Foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong is mocked for his accent, dance moves, and ability to date.

Similarly, the 1961 romantic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s was declared “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress in 2012, yet it derives much of its humor from the over-stereotyped Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. He is portrayed as bumbling, annoying, and incoherent due to his large buckteeth.

Stepping even further back into history, many of the original movies of the early twentieth century only feature white actors.

Although there were non-white characters in old movies, they were played by white actors, who

did so by either strongly emphasizing negative racial stereotypes or painting their faces with makeup to appear a different ethnicity.

White actor Mickey Rooney, for instance, plays Mr. Yunioshi, an Asian character, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Rooney has tanner skin, darker hair, taped eyelids, and glasses in order to “look Asian.”

In another instance, Russian actor Yul Brynner portrays

and won an Oscar for her performance, was not even allowed to attend the Atlanta premiere of the film, because of segregation.

This history is relevant to recognizing the need for increased diversity in films today but is too often swept under the rug.

According to University of Maryland, Baltimore County assistant professor of art Vin Grabill, watching these movies in their context helps viewers to appreci-

JENNY CUEVA DIAZ

the Asian King Mongkut in the 1956 film The King and I. For the role, Rooney shaved his head and dressed in Siamese costume.

Similarly, the 1983 comedy Trading Places includes white actor Dan Aykroyd in blackface and dreadlocks.

While this may have once been socially acceptable, this racism disguised as humor often goes unnoticed today.

These films are considered valuable artifacts of our society’s cinematic history and are recognized as groundbreaking in technology and comedy, yet at the same time, they need to be viewed with a fuller understanding of the historical context.

If movies are watched without acknowledging racism, viewers may not understand that the same mocking decisions would not be acceptable today.

Many classic films that our society heralds as “iconic” were produced almost a century ago in a culture with a very different set of beliefs and values. The 1939 drama Gone with the Wind is often praised for featuring a female lead and remaining true to the book, but it also contains a glorified representation of slavery.

All of the black characters are stereotypical maids, servants, and house help, typical of life during the movie’s Civil War-era setting, who are over-glamorized to avoid showing the real, negative treatment of black people.

The movie’s glamour often hides this fact, and some may even praise the film for featuring black actors, as opposed to the norm of white actors in blackface.

However, it is a little known fact that Hattie McDaniel, the lead black actress who played Mammy

ate and value the cultural history surrounding the films.

“We learn a lot about who we are and how our culture has developed by watching movies from the past,” Grabill said in an email.

“We should watch all of these films, but we should always consider the cultural conditions that defined how they were made …

Understanding the context and the history of the era in which an artwork was made is always a valuable way to more fully appreciate a film or any work of art.”

As winter break and days of movie marathons draw near, it is time to remember and educate others about the context surrounding these classic movies and view them hand-in-hand with a history book.

According to University of Maryland, Baltimore County assistant professor of art Vin Grabill, watching these movies in their context helps viewers to appreciate and value the cultural history surrounding the films.

“We learn a lot about who we are and how our culture has developed by watching movies from the past,” Grabill said in an email. “We should watch all of these films, but we should always consider the cultural conditions that defined how they were made … Understanding the context and the history of the era in which an artwork was made is always a valuable way to more fully appreciate a film or any work of art.”

As winter break and days of movie marathons draw near, it is time to remember and educate others about the context surrounding these classic movies and view them hand-in-hand with a history book.

By Elias Monastersky I like movies. And like most people, I have opinions about those movies and the movie industry as a whole. Now that I have a forum to express my opinions, expect to hear me complain about every little thing that bothers me. Enjoy!

There are many intricacies that go into how an actor is paid for a film. For starters, if the actor is in a union, they are most likely being paid based off of the rates set by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Said rates are determined by the budget of a given film, and while unionized actors are able to negotiate for higher pay, they cannot be payed any less than the SAG rate.

More famous actors, however, can negotiate a certain percentage of the box office revenue as part of their contract. A famous example of this would be Robert Downey Jr. negotiating box office bonuses for Marvel movies following the success of Iron Man. According to the Hollywood Reporter, this deal led to Downey Jr. taking home upwards of $50 million from The Avengers.

This instance is an anomaly due to the imbalance that it puts on the how the stars are treated in the movie. It occurs as a result of the pay differences between each actor. While Downey Jr. got $50 million, his co-stars Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans made only around $2 to $3 million. Most actors get a much smaller percentage of the box office revenue, meaning that the movie’s success does little to affect how much money they make.

These deals are called back end points. Forgoing a set salary in return for a share of the box office processes is a gamble, ensuring that the amount paid to the actor is proportional to the success of the movie.

It is not common knowledge where a consumer’s money ends up after they purchase a movie ticket. For the first couple weeks of a movie’s release, the theater only keeps around a quarter of the ticket profits.

As the weeks go by, the theater gets to keep more of the profits until the movie becomes too old and no longer profitable to keep showing. Money not kept by the theater goes back to the film’s production company and is used for distribution, production, marketing, promotion, and salaries.

Actors are usually paid during the production with money that the producers received from investors. Therefore, part of the box office profits will also go back to the investors.

When people say they do not want to see a movie because they do not want to financially support one of the actors, for instance boycotting Baby Driver because of Kevin Spacey’s role, they are most likely wrong in believing that the proceeds from the box office are going to transfer into Spacey’s bank account.

The majority of the money Spacey made from the movie was probably given to him when he initially signed his contract, months before the theatrical release.

Movies are huge undertakings that take thousands of hours of labor from hundreds of people.

When people boycotted Man-

chester by the Sea last year due to Casey Affleck’s sexual harassment allegations, they failed to consider that not only had Affleck probably already been paid for his part in the movie, but there were also many other people that worked tirelessly to make the movie what it was.

Obtaining this impartiality comes down to being able to separate the art from the artist and examine movies in a more objective light. Actors like Spacey and directors like Roman Polanski should be cast out of Hollywood and experience consequences for their actions. But great works of art like Chinatown and Baby Driver should not be discounted or ignored.

By watching these films, you are not necessarily showing support for a person who has done terrible things, but rather you are enjoying a piece of art without bias or the impact that the outside world has on your perceptions.

This calls into question the two main points of the boycott: to make the movie do worse in the box office, and decrease the chances that the person in question is hired for another movie later on.

While this may sound good on paper, it does not necessarily lead to change. The talent of the actor, actress, or director is what sells the movie, especially to audiences who remain less informed on the current happenings in Hollywood.

When he is not busy directing, Roman Polanski spends his time being a fugitive of the United States justice system. He fled the country after he was charged with drugging and raping a thirteen-year-old girl.

Despite fleeing the United States government, Polanski continued to make wildly successful films in Paris, where he was hiding. Two of the films, Tess and The Pianist, even went on to win a combined six Academy Awards.

No matter how despicable Polanski’s actions were or how many atrocities he committed, he was still able to find support for his films, and efforts to boycott his movies were not effective in preventing their successes.

We, as viewers, will never be able to watch a movie completely objectively, untainted by our outside views and opinions.

Knowing that there are so many people that work to make the art that is film a reality, sometimes the best way to experience it is to think less about who is creating it, and think more about the creation itself.

The eighth Star Wars film came out on December 15th. While Elias was not able to write about it this cycle, check out this video for his first impressions of the movie. To view the video, scan the QR code or visit tinyurl.com/monasterskystarwars

E5 Entertainment

silverchips

December 19, 2017

The thrills behind the chills Why society is obsessed with terrifying films

By Lucy Gavin When junior Willis Moran was ten years old, he was introduced to the world of horror films with the 2006 remake of “The Hills Have Eyes.” Moran was enthralled by the bloodthirsty mutants hunting a poor family stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He has been addicted to the exhilarating rush of horror films ever since. Moran is not alone; horror is one of the most popular movie genres.

Horror movies have drawn people in and kept them on the edge of their seats or cowering under covers since 1896. Recently, 2017’s “It” has been named the highest-grossing R-rated horror film ever. But what about being terrified by murderous clowns is so attractive? An explanation can be found by examining our psychological response to these films.

Some seek out horror movies because of the chemical reaction that occurs in the brain in exciting situations. “I think the average Joe likes horror movies for the same reason people like rollercoasters,” Moran says. “It’s

just an adrenaline rush.”

According to Psychcentral, approximately ten percent of the population enjoys the adrenaline rush that accompanies horror movies. This psychological stimulation will linger even after the film is over, so the emotions the viewer experiences after the movie will be intensified.

Others use horror movies as a way to introduce drama into their lives. Most have relatively calm lifestyles, so they seek out horror films for an exciting and different experience.

According to the Daily Beast, this could explain why teenagers especially enjoy horror movies, as they are more likely to search for intense experiences.

While creating a buzz is why some people enjoy seeing disturbing images on screen, others use the genre to prove to themselves that they are able to face their fears.

Professor Glenn Sparks of Purdue University, who specializes in analyzing the cognitive and emotional effects of the media, has completed substantial research on the effects of frightening films and televi-

soapbox Do you like horror movies? Why or why not?

“Yes! Jeepers Creepers! It tests my limits every time. I don’t get scared easily so I want to be proven wrong.”

— Bereket Belay, senior “I hate horror movies. I am the biggest scaredy cat, I know.

I jump at everything, even things that aren’t scary, and then I can’t fall asleep. The only ‘horror’ movie that I liked was ‘Get Out.’” — Jaya Hinton, senior

MARISSA HE

sion programs. “As real fears in the society increase, people are drawn to frightening films as a way of reassuring themselves that there are fears that can actually be conquered,” he writes in an email.

Not many people, however, want to face these fears alone, so horror movies are often watched in groups. These movies encourage social bonding, which explains why they are often the genre of choice for groups of friends or people on dates. “There is just the hype behind watching a horror movie with your friends,” Moran says.

In a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, researchers tested this theory. They showed a group two films: one that was considered traumatic to the viewers and one that was not. They found that the group’s sense of bonding increased more after the traumatic movie.

Many people are drawn to horror movies because they come in many different forms —which is partially why Moran is

such an avid fan. “Horror movies have subgenres of every other type of movie and that makes them appealing to me,” he explains.

“There are very scary ones, funny ones, action-packed ones, romantic ones, and so on.”

Sparks adds that people with different kinds of personalities are attracted to different kinds of horror films.

“Films with very novel special effects may attract people who are drawn to see things that they can’t see every day and are very curious about how certain things look,” he says. “Films that feature lots of suspense and mystery may appeal to people who prefer a more analytical movie.”

Although there are many complex psychological reasons that explain the popularity of horror movies, sometimes there is a much simpler reason for liking them.

“I think that there’s a little kid in all of us who just wants to get a little scared,” Moran says.

Chips Clips E6

silverchips

December 19, 2017 Holiday Special

by Bennett Coukos-Wiley Guest submission

Across 1. “Total Drama” host Chris 7. Hook’s first mate 11. Tatooine scavenger 15. Basketball player Allwell 16. Trick 17. A movie based on a book about a board game 20. Pavillion 21. Government agency that works to preserve nature (abbr.)

24. Organization that contributes to the “Journal of Trauma” (abbr.)

25. Bob Newby of “Stranger Things 2” 27. “To face unafraid, the plans that we’ve made...”

31. Shad in French 32. Diminished 33. Wear away 34. Bream 35. The largest man-made satellite (abbr.)

36. Older than 12, according to restaurant menus (3 words) 38. Dealt 39. Oft-injured knee ligament (abbr.)

40. Personification of death in Greek mythology 42. Where some claim Obama was born 43. Common ultrasound heart scan (abbr.)

44. Blot lightly 47. GOP’s presidential primary convention 48. Five V, Three III, _____ 50. FDA’s online food reporting service 53. Website for checking if your personal data has been compromised (abbr.)

55. “...Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring” 59. Inventor Whitney 60. CDC’s online learning service 61. Earthy yellow color 62. Insurance provider for military personnel and veterans (abbr.)

63. Dangerous beach currents 67. Capital of 154-across’ northern neighbor 68. HIV, e.g.

69. Record label now known as PWE 71. Confidentiality agreement (abbr.)

73. Spanish “the”s 74. Scrape 76. One of Santa’s helpers 77. “...It’s the best time of the year” 85. Long takes in movies 86. Bread-making fungus

87. A third of Santa’s catchphrase (2 words) 88. “You better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why...”

97. Queen of Dragons in “Bone” 98. Order of the Temple of the East (abbr.)

99. Your of olde 100. Not and or 101. ba-dum-___ 102. Departments in charge of following 119-across (abbr.)

103. Dressed 105. Inserted 109. Dorothy’s first companion 111. Eowyn’s brother 113. Original mobile game made by PopCap (abbr.)

114. How often red blood cells sediment (abbr.)

115. “I’m dreaming of a...”

119. Policy of equal hiring (abbr.)

120. Physical might (abbr.)

121. Vow 122. T-shaped birth control device (abbr.)

123. AFAIK 124. Video game “luck” (abbr.)

125. Trade, especially outside a monopoly 129. T. Stark, B. Banner, _______ 133. Internet slang for significant other 134. Predecessor to The Odyssey 135. Alveolus (2 words) 136. Disney’s second movie universe (abbr.)

139. Styled like the recent past 141. Gasped in pain 142. Japanese art of tree growing 143. Belonging to Richard (abbr.)

145. “Make my wish come true, oh baby...”

150. Putin and Lenin, e.g.

151. A strange statue in Herning, Denmark 152. Program introduced in Trade Act (abbr.)

153. The highest-grossing movie of all time 154. The first country to hold elections over the internet 155. Main ingredients of tofu 156. MP Samus, HL Gordon, _______ 157. Inverses of exponents 158. Places featuring saunas and massages 159. Desires for excess

Sudoku (hard)

Down 1. What the titular species of “Gremlins” start as 2. South African villages 3. Valentin and Toth, e.g.

4. Shrieks of fear 5. Atmospheric 6. Noble light provider 7. Foreleg 8. Castle barrier 9. Soothe 10. Radical 11. The only summer month with 30 days 12. Pretending to answer questions on Reddit (2 words, abbr.)

13. Didn’t want to (3 words) 14. Amundsen or Weddell, e.g. (2 words) 17. Blasé 18. “...Jingle all the way” 19. Famous film archaeologist’s nickname 21. Improves 22. A type of winter coat 23. Anticipate 25. Covered in fireplace residue 26. Charmed 28. What many ask about the former capital of the Byzantine Empire (3 words, 1 abbr.)

29. Opposite of outside 30. A type of bird 37. A tributary of the Elbe 41. The “cool” way to write winter precipitation 42. Titular witch of a Studio Ghibli movie 44. Decrees 45. ROTJ VI, ESB V, _____ 46. One way to write computer monitor colors 49. European Parliament

ODYSSEY, PART 2

COURTESY OF WEBSUDOKU

group including the PiS 51. Taking a leaf out of Edward Snowden’s book (3 words) 52. Kits for playing “The Game of World Domination” (2 words) 54. Disappearance interjection 55. Lightly tease 56. The last major western naval battle fought with rowing ships 57. Laboratory known as “Project Y” during the Manhattan Project (abbr.)

58. Woman 64. Quarterback Manning 65. Abbreviation for warm affection 66. Kinda 70. Breakfast cereal which the first ever commercial jingle advertised 72. Yakut fertility deity 75. Characters and credentials 78. 1,000,000,000 years 79. Second Life programming language (abbr.)

80. 21-across subgroup run by the Chief Information Officer (abbr.)

81. Other Spanish “the”s 82. Area including the Virgo Cluster and the Local Group (abbr.)

83. Fred and George’s brother 84. Bon ___ (quip) 88. “...It’s Christmas time in the city” 89. Yangtze crossbow, Nile bow-and-arrow, _______ 90. Consumed 91. Free healthcare for everyone (abbr.)

92. Speck 93. Auto race that had a Camaro model named after it (abbr.)

94. Sound of meditation 95. Inflict 96. International project using SRV and PLARS 97. Mobile version of Mojang’s famous game (abbr.)

104. Traditional Australian instrument 106. C.S. L. TCoN, J.K. R. HP, _______ 107. Inhabitant of the Forest Moon of Endor 108. ____ Omega-3 110. _______-jigger (hyphenated) 112. Delivering media without a MSO 116. Internet acronym that signals a statement about the current group of comments 117. Beehive tombs 118. Mario’s wedding words?

126. Musical phrases 127. Ohio election organization (abbr.)

128. Speak to 130. Kirsten who played 42down 131. Popular social media site (abbr.)

132. French Broad or Nolichucky e.g. (2 words, 1 abbr.)

134. The region of ancient Anatolia near Smyrna 136. Reaping tool 137. Made a gasp of surprise 138. Overthrows 139. Speak incoherently 140. Due (to) 142. Alloy of copper and zinc 144. A question one might ask about an iPhone (3 words) 146. Fey and Brown, e.g.

147. Horse gait sound 148. Certain greeting 149. Frodo B., Pippin T., ______ DENNY TSITSIWU

E7 Entertainment

silverchips

Archives

December 19, 2017

Edited by Ben Miller and Laura Espinoza

For the fourth part of our 80th anniversary retrospective series, we take a look back at Silver Chips in the 1970s. The decade represented a period of awkward transition for the paper, as Vietnam-fueled upheaval faded into reactionary calm.

Chips stories from the early 70s continued to focus on student resistance and social change, but as the decade progressed that emphasis gradually shifted toward covering the backlash against teenage wildness and freedom. Silver Chips articles documented the curtailing of smoking at Blair, the raising of the drinking age, and local authorities’ aggressive targeting of teenage drug use.

The paper also chronicled the rapid evolution of contemporary Silver Spring, as redevelopment and demographic change fitfully produced the diverse, cosmopolitan Blair community of the present day. Similarly, Silver Chips began to focus on decidedly modern issues like terrorism, globalization, and political instability.

“To do the job well you really have to put in about 30-35 hours a week. Believe me, it is an enormous job,” says Israel who is skeptical as to whether or not a student can fulfill these requirements.

HOMOSEXUALS IGNORED June 4, 1974

Dear Sir: It has come to the attention of several of us students that during our years here your newspaper has virtually ignored the existence of one minority group among us. We are referring to the homosexual population at Blair. Many of us, both gay and straight, find this omission ot be insupportable, and we suggest that in the future you attempt to rectify this inadequacy, unusual in a newspaper with a preutation [sic] for such thorough coverage.

It matters little to us from what point of view any article or articles you should choose to publish on this subject would be written, but most students would certainly agree with us that some attention to homosexuals is necessary. Believe it or not, they do exist!

A Concerned Group of Blairites (Nineteen Blair students signed their names to the above letter; all but one requested that their names be withheld.)

“The School Playground: Do we deserve the image?”

September 26, 1979 Sherry Kennedy in the same apartment complex less than a month earlier.

Police have reenacted the murder as follows: Shortly after arriving home from shopping, Mrs. Kalberer was subdued by the killer when he held a knife to her neck.

Next, the killer knocked her unconscious with some blunt instrument, tore off her clothes, and proceeded to slash her with his knife. The assailant then wiped her body off, put her purple dress back on, and dumped her in a neighbor’s car.

Mrs. Kalberer was a very popular woman who, said a friend, “looked younger than her age.” Her neighbors found her very friendly and helpful, as well as dedicated to her profession.

The police, though working steadily for the past two weeks, have been unable to solve either the murder of Mrs. Kalberer or the one of Sherry Kennedy.

“The Bustling Intersection of Colesvile Rd. and Georgia Ave.” June 4, 1974 STUDENTS GET BOARD VOICE Oct. 27, 1976

1974 Editor’s Note: If and when this minority makes a relevant and important contribution to the school, Silver Chips will give them coverage.

The Montgomery County Board of Education has approved the concept of a nonvoting student member on the Board.

MCR has been trying to get a student on the Board for the past three to four years, according to board member Thomas S. Isreal [sic]. He has opposed the proposal in the past as did the rest of the Board which voted down a similar bid just last year.

He adds, “It’s impossible for one student to be representative of all student views,” Israel explains that since the student will only serve a tenure of one year, while other board members serve for four, consistency and rapport between the student and the rest of the board may suffer.

Many board members opposed the idea of a student member attending the sessions which involve subjects such as teacher dismissals or pay raises. The executive session conflict is the major point of revision in the legislation.

TEACHER SLAIN; ASSAILANT SOUGHT Feb. 10, 1970 Mrs. Catherine Kalberer, on personal illness leave from Montgomery Blair, was brutally murdered on January 28 in her apartment in the Spring Lake complex in Bethesda, Md. Her body was “methodically slashed more than 100 times in symmetrical patterns” explained Dr. John G. Ball, Montgomery County Medical Examiner. In addition, there were nine deep stab wounds and evidence of a blow to her head.

Ball, who had never seen a body so mutilated, revealed that her knife wounds were “like crosses or X’s.” A few “even looked like initials.”

Mrs. Kalberer, a lovely, ash blonde 33-year-old, might have been murdered by the same madman who killed 14-year-old

2017 Note: The murders of Catherine Kalberer and Sherry Kennedy remained unsolved until 2012, when they were finally attributed to deceased serial killer Thomas Francis Edwards, a.k.a. “the Beltway Butcher.”

STATE MAY RAISE DRINKING AGE TO 21 March 1, 1977 A few years ago eighteen year olds were widely accepted as adults, and as such were given many new rights and responsibilities.

Well now, in at least one such area, the clock has begun to be reset as the Maryland Senate has voted to rescind the measure they passed over two years ago which allowed eighteen year olds to buy beer and light wine.

Senate opposition stemmed from other points basically charging that such a measure was unfair. Some contend that it could possibly be unconstitutional since it would deprive citizens of a right after it had previously been granted them.

Many also feel that instead of involving eighteen year olds (or twenty one year olds if raised) as the middlemen, they would line the pockets of “winos” who could receive commissions of liquor for their purchasing services.

SILVER SPRING METRO TO OPEN Jan. 25, 1978

Metrorail’s Silver Spring station, the first outside of the District of Columbia, will open on Friday, February 3, with free rides between 10 am and 3 pm. Governor Blair Lee, III will speak. The Red Line’s new sixmile stretch, with stations at Brookland, Fort Totten, Takoma Park, and Silver Spring, will begin revenue service on February 6.

The “subway” (so called despite the fact that the six new miles and a good number of the existing 18 are above ground) operates Monday - Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Metrorail fares from Silver Spring will range from 40 cents to $1 during rush hour and 40 cents to 70 cents at all other times.

Metro’s plan calls for the Red Line to extend north along Georgia Avenue to Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont. But there is doubt as to whether that line will ever be built at all.

TERRORISTS WIELD FRIGHTENING POWER March 29, 1977

Terrorists, more than ever, are dictating the behavior of the rest of society by committing heinous acts.

In light of the recent siege of the Hanafi Muslims, this town especially is becoming aware of terrorism and its effect on our lives.

Security everywhere in the metropolitan area is being stepped up.

Speaking at a recent symposium on terrorism at the University of Maryland, Dr. Harvey Greisman, a lecturer and author on terrorism, said that terrorist groups are in competition with one another and try to outdo one another by choosing more spectacular targets.

One seemingly more practical solution, or more accurately, partial solution to terrorism is to punish terrorists. According to statistics, 80 percent of all terrorists are never punished for their crimes.

Dr. Greisman added ironically, “Why shouldn’t they do it? There’s great job-security, great income, and all kinds of publicity.”

December 19, 2017

silverchips

Sports F1

Kicking it back with Rita Boule

An inside look into the life of Blair’s Athletic Director

By Telon Yan

with soccer.

A multitalented athlete since she was young, Rita Boule, the Montgomery Blair Athletics Director, sits down with Silver Chips for a Q&A about her own experiences as an athlete, how she came to Blair, and more.

Q: What differences did you find between college and high school sports?

Q: What first got you interested in a wide variety of sports?

A: I’m from upstate New York, where I grew up as one of six siblings, four of which are my brothers and one sister. Us and our friends, that’s just what we did, we were always playing sports or outside doing activities. [It] kept us busy, there wasn’t a lot else to do, and we were all kind of talented in athletics so it made it more enjoyable. I don’t remember ever not doing some kind of sport or athletic event.

Q: As a student, what sports did you participate in?

A: In high school, I played soccer, basketball, and softball. I went to a small private school, so they didn’t have a lot of sports so I chose those. I played four years of college soccer. My first two years were in Division One, and then I transferred schools so in my junior and senior years I played in Division Three.

Q: What attracted you to soccer in particular?

A: My best sport was probably softball or basketball, but I did not enjoy those sports as much as soccer. I just loved the game of soccer, it was very appealing to me. I was good at it but I had to work hard in it to get better. It probably had something to do with my speed, or lack thereof, I used to be much faster. It’s a team sport, [and] I love team sports, and I’ve always had good coaches in soccer and I’ve always had good experiences

A: High school is much more of a social event. You get all your friends together, everybody plays a sport together, you have fun, you do team dinners. In college, it’s a job. It’s fun if you love the sport, but it’s a lot of work. And if you don’t love it, it’s miserable. Your physical capacities are built up, you’re in incredibly good shape, three or four hours a day is dedicated to your sport and then study halls. You’re traveling, you’re on trips, you’re in study halls, you’re missing classes, and you’re making up work. It can be a grind.

Division One is about winning and the coach needs to win and the team wants to win, and it’s the best 11 players on the field at all times. Division Three I thought was a bit more social, less intense but still intense enough where if you were competitive it was fun. The coaches weren’t on you all the time, you weren’t spending five hours around soccer . . . [but] it was still a high level of play and intense.

Q: After college, what field did you want to pursue?

A: I was originally a math major, and then a business major, and those were the areas I really wanted to go into. Business felt like my passion at the time. I took an educationtype class to fill up my general electives, and I just fell in love with it. At the same time, one of my old coaches asked me to help coach a youth team over the summer and that just sealed the deal. I knew I wanted to go into education, so I switched majors again, went into education. I wanted to teach high school for sure. Right after I graduated, I coached in the fall and I’ve coached ever since. I moved to Maryland, was a graduate assistant at Frostburg State University for my master’s, and just decided to stay in Maryland. I coached and taught for many years at Ken-

nedy High School. It was coming to a point at the 17 year mark where I wasn’t done with coaching, but I felt like I didn’t have as much energy for coaching as I used to, but I still wanted to stay involved in athletics…so I chose athletic administration.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being an athletic director?

A: Since the beginning of my teaching tenure, the best part of teaching, coaching, and being athletic director, is the kids. Just watching kids be successful and hopefully having a positive impact on kids being successful is the best part of what I do, without a doubt.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How did playing sports affect you academically?

A: I think playing sports really developed my time management skills more than anything, so when it was time for academics, I was very focused on academics. Same with academics, and same with friendships.

There were so many time ranges through the day where it’s these two hours of this, these two hours of that. You just became focused on whatever activity you were doing. You didn’t have all day, all night to do whatever.

Academics were always extremely important to me. I didn’t need to be too motivated.

I knew I wanted to go to college. I knew I wanted to get a degree, so, those . . . already motivated [me].

AVERY BROOKS

HARD AT WORK Blair Athletic Director Rita Boule works tirelessly to ensure that all Blair athletes are provided with the resources they need.

F2 Sports

Vegetables are vital to success

silverchips

December 19, 2017

Athletes look to healthy eating to improve performance

By Adenike Falade When choosing between a cookie and a stick of broccoli, most children would opt for the cookie. The same cannot be said for the many athletes that have taken to proper nutrition to improve their game. Both student and professional athletes have taken up healthier and more restrictive diets to increase their athletic performance and endurance.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson eats nine meals a day, consuming a total of 4,800 calories. He focuses on lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables and has cut out foods that cause inflammation like gluten, yeast, and dairy, according to Wilson’s nutritionist.

The forty-year-old New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who was described by Bleacher Report as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, also plans to maintain his success with a strict nutrition plan handled by his personal chef. Eighty percent of Brady’s diet consists of organic vegetables, while the remaining 20 percent is made up of lean meats.

For professionals, arduous training schedules and nearly unlimited nutrition resources help produce staggering results on the field. Student-athletes create their own paths to get similar results. Young athletes dedicate themselves to improving and excelling inspires them to take up their own special diets.

Senior Ryan Holland is devoted to crosscountry in the fall, wrestling in the winter, and track in the spring. To stay in shape for the upcoming seasons, Holland began working out over the summer and dieting, increasing his cutbacks with the start of the cross-country season.

“During the athletic seasons, I try to avoid most sweets, chips, cake, [and] ice cream,” says Holland, “I try to only drink water, milk, and then maybe some type of protein shake or smoothie.”

He also has specific diets depending on which sport is in season. In the fall, he specifically eats pasta, which helps with running, but then begins intensive dieting in the winter for wrestling. “[Wrestling season is] when you cut back on the portion sizes and because wrestling is weight-based…,” Holland says, “It’s like emphasis on proteins, chickens, steak…like yogurt and nuts and bars.”

For cross-country, the consequences can be dire when kids do not eat right.

“We’ve had people puke on runs before and it’s really easy if you’re eating food that’s not good for running,” says Holland. He personally feels more comfortable working out when he eats properly.

Sophomore Quan’ell Kitchen has a more moderate approach to healthy eating for when she participates in Blair’s varsity cheerleading, basketball, and softball teams. Kitchen eats the healthy food options that her mother gives her.

“Instead of making fries [my mom will] CAMDEN ROBERTS make spinach and broccoli and asparagus PUCK DROP A Wisconsin player and a Boston University player wait for the faceoff with baked chicken, not fried,” says Kitchon Sat., Nov. 25 during the third game of the NCAA tournament. en.

During swim season, Senior Samantha Grant focuses on eating lots of protein and carbohydrates before meets. Grant swims for Blair and outside of school for Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP). She adjusts her diet after swim practices to help her body recuperate.

“After a really hard practice… I’ll go to Chipotle and try to have more meat…,” Grant says. “We [also] try to drink a lot of chocolate milk because [it’s] supposed to help your muscles recover.”

Both Grant and Holland received advice By Camden Roberts The Terriers met the Badgers to open the from their coaches to eat healthier. Holsecond day of the tournament. BU struck land’s coach taught him about the noticeOn Nov. 24 and 25, the Boston University first, with Bach scoring less than a minute able difference proper nutrition can play in Terriers, Minnesota State University Manka- into the first period. performance. to Mavericks, Northeastern University HusUnlike the previous day’s game, the Bad“My cross-country coach gave us a kies, and University of Wisconsin Badgers gers made it clear from the beginning that whole speech this year about [how] nu- womens’ hockey teams competed in the “D1 they had no intention of falling behind for trition is one of the factors that separates in DC” tournament, with the Huskies finish- long. good athletes from great athletes.” Grant’s ing the tournament winning both of their Wisconsin scored two goals in the first NCAP coaches send monthly emails to her games. period and one in the third. Bach answered team with suggestions for how to eat.

This was the second edition of the ‘D1 in with another goal in the last five minutes The American Dietetic Association and DC’ tournament, hosted by the Washington of the game, but Wisconsin’s Kepler scored the American College of Sports Medicine Pride, a local club team, to showcase the tal- with about three minutes left, to put away a both insist that a balanced diet is essential ent in the NCAA to younger female athletes, 4-2 Wisconsin win. for an athlete to compete at peak perfor- and illustrate how those players made it to The final game of the weekend pitted mance. Susan Levin, a registered dietitian the college level.

Minnesota State-Mankato against Northeastat the Physician’s Committee for ResponThe Terriers, led by forward Rebecca Les- ern. The Mavericks only managed one goal sible Medicine recommends a focused diet lie, entered the weekend with a record of to the Huskies’s six, and their defense was for all athletes. four wins, six losses and two ties. A total of outmatched at every turn. Northeastern se“My blanket recommendation is often three seniors from this season’s roster were nior Denisa Krizova starred in the victory, that you need to focus on a diet high in drafted to the National Women’s Hockey scoring a hat trick, while junior goalie Britcarbs, adequate in proteins, and minimal in League (NWHL). Leslie and forward Re- tany Bugalski turned away 19 of 20 Maverick fat,” she says. becca Bach were drafted by the Metropolitan shots.

Many athletes who see a long future Riveters, while forward Nina Rodgers was Outside of the games, there were meet in their sport are beginning to realize that selected by the Connecticut Whale. and greets with each team, and a meeting nutritional sacrifices are worth the boosted The Mavericks, led by defenseman Anna between games both days where girls interperformance. Although a salad is less glam- Keys, entered play with the worst record, ested in playing college hockey could learn orous than lifting weights or doing physi- two wins, eleven losses, and one tie. more about what it takes to get there. cal activity to stay fit, nutritional health is The Huskies, led by forward Shelby Her“It was that kind of meeting that really just as vital to success as physical health, rington, entered the weekend with a record started my college process, so it was defiwhether at a county wrestling match or the of seven wins, seven losses, and two ties. nitely helpful for people that are starting the Super Bowl.

Similar to the Terriers, three of their current process,” says Blair junior Mollie Dalbey, a players have been drafted to NWHL teams: Washington Pride forward who attended the forward McKenna Brand went to the Riveters, forward Denisa Krizova went to the Whale, and defenseman Lauren Kelly went to the Boston Pride.

Ranked first in the country, the Badgers, led by forwards Baylee Wellhausen and Claudia Kepler, entered the weekend with an undefeated record of sixteen wins and no losses, good for the fourth longest winning streak in team history.

Boston University defeated Minnesota -Mollie Dalbey, State-Mankato 5-2 in the first game, with TerJunior riers senior Victoria Bach netting a hat trick, backed by senior Nina Rodgers’ two goals.

When the second game, between Northeastern University and the University of Wisconsin, began, it was immediately ob- tournament. vious that the teams were far more evenly The event was advertised by USA Hockmatched. ey, and Washington Pride hockey director The Huskies scored the first two goals of Kush Sidhu promoted it on ‘Crashing the the game, once in the first period and one Net,’ a podcast hosted by Washington Post in the second. With two goals against them, sports writer Neil Greenberg. the Badgers’ play started to deteriorate. It The Pride also contacted other club teams became evident that the team was scared to in the area. lose their winning streak, and they were un“We reached out to every youth hockey able to play through it. club in the Maryland, D.C., and Virginia Wisconsin scored in the latter half of the area.” Sidhu says. second period, but NU tacked on another He is thrilled with how well the event goal in the third, making it 3-1. The Badgers went. scored in the last few seconds of the game on “[The teams] put on a great show and a final push, but it was not enough to force they really enjoyed being here, and the peothe win, breaking their streak. Husky fresh- ple that came to watch, I think were very imman goaltender, Aerin Frankel, was the play- pressed with the level of play and they were er of the game, making 39 saves on 41 shots. entertained,” Sidhu said.

Growing the game

Local NCAA tour nament shines light on women’s hockey

“It was definitely helpful for people that are starting the process.”

AVERY LIOU

December 19, 2017

Sports F3

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Tripping up on judgment Grayson Allen’s unjustified hate

By Henry Wiebe

By Emma Cross An opinion Boos ring throughout the stadium as Grayson Allen’s name is called at the beginning of a Duke basketball game. Allen, quite possibly the most hated basketball player in the NCAA, has followed in the footsteps of many Duke players before him, suffering the consequences of playing for one of the most successful basketball teams in the nation.

The opinions of the Duke University men’s basketball team are extremely polar; people either love them or despise them.

Since Mike Krzyzewski joined the Blue Devils as their coach in 1980, the team has experienced great success, winning five NCAA championships and 14 conference championships. The team had continued to do well, currently holding the number four spot in the nation, as well as recruiting some of the best high school players in the country. One of those players was Grayson Allen, who was a 2014 McDonald’s All-American, the winner of the slam dunk contest at the Powerade Jam Fest, and a five star recruit out of high school. Now a senior at Duke, Allen has started for the team 60 times and has seen great success, scoring double figures 64 times and playing in 11 NCAA Tournament games.

After a short one-game suspension for multiple allegations of foul play on the court, Allen has been a target for accusations of bad moral. Since then, the camera seemed to follow Allen’s feet especially closely, and articles are still published bashing his actions.

Critics slammed Allen with criticism and labeled him as a dirty player after his most infamous scandal when he tripped an opponent in a game against Elon in December 2016.

Allen is not the first college basketball player to purposely trip others. Oregon State’s Jarmal Reid intentionally tripped a referee in 2016, but the event gained far less attention compared to Allen’s stint.

The key factor that separates Allen from the rest of his peers is the team he plays for.

Allen is no dirtier than many other players in the NCAA, but for those who hate Duke, Allen is the perfect manifestation of everything that there is to hate.

For many people, Duke has been on top for most of their lifetime. Thirty years of triumph are a proud memory for Duke fans, but a recipe for hatred among everyone else.

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As an elite academic school, Duke is even more disliked, following the idea that elite schools should not be good at sports.

Keeping this history in mind, many are reminded of Duke’s more unsavory players.

In light of Allen’s tripping allegations, people were reminiscent of former Duke player Christian Laettner’s infamous chest stomp on Aminu Timberlake in 1992. Allen seems to take the heat for not only his own scandals, but those of his predecessors.

Psychologically, the widespread hatred of Duke makes sense. In the Seattle Times article, “The psychology of being a sports fan,” Larry Stone writes, “This leads into another concept, that of cognitive bias, also known as confirmation bias, which causes fans to help explain away defeats by blaming out-

side factors, such as referees.” People who are extremely invested in their teams need to place blame when they lose. In this sense, Duke is the perfect team to hate. Duke has been successful for so long that it is easy for people to blame their losses on the team that is always winning. As captain of the Duke basketball team, Allen is put at the forefront of this aversion.

Grayson Allen holds the weight of Duke’s history on his shoulders. This history, coupled with unjustified hate and attention, will likely last until Duke starts to lose its seemingly forever-lasting success. Whether he is sinking a free throw or slamming a dunk, Allen will continue to be despised until the next talented Duke player comes along to take his place.

If I am Mike Rizzo, I am currently jumping for joy and sending prayers of thanks to the almighty gods of baseball.

Giancarlo Stanton, the 2017 National League MVP and a once-in-a-generation talent, has been traded by the Derek Jeter-led Miami Marlins to the New York Yankees. This move may just shift the scales enough to convince Bryce Harper to stay in Washington.

Bryce grew up a Yankee fan. As soon as it became clear that he was going to test his luck in the talent-heavy 2018 free agent class, everyone began to speculate that he might wind up in pinstripes. But the Yankees now possess one of the most crowded outfields in baseball, with viable starters in Stanton, Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brett Gardner, along with prospects, making the idea of the Yankees signing Harper sound even more far-fetched.

The Yankees simply don’t have a need for another middle-of-the-order bat or outfielder, nor will they have the cap space, as the danger of crossing the luxury tax looms over Stanton’s $325 million contract.

This trade is just as monumental for the broader picture of the MLB as a whole as it is for the Nationals. The Yankees lineup now becomes the Golden State Warriors of baseball. The middle of the order contains arguably three of the best right handed power hitters in baseball in Stanton, Judge, and catcher Gary Sanchez. Last year was meant to be a rebuilding year for the Yankees, but with the last season’s unexpected success and the aggressive trades made by the club so far this offseason, the front office has made it clear that they plan on immediately becoming a top World Series contender. With one of the best farm systems in the MLB, and with their core three players all under the age of 28, the Yankees have set themselves up to be a dominant force in the league for the foreseeable future.

“Wiebe’s World” is a monthly column where sports editor Henry Wiebe expresses on current events in the world of sports.

Girls’ basketball trounces Rockville 51-12 Physical play pushes the Blazers past the Rams from BASKETBALL page A1

COURTESY OF MORGAN CASEY

REBOUND FOR GLORY Rockville and Blair players get ready to fight for the ball.

we worked together to achieve our common goal, which was to win!”

Coach Pete Stephan praised his team’s strong and consistent teamwork.

“The girls played hard; they played together,” he said.

Though the team is still working on adjusting to the dynamics of a new coach and a new group of players, the lopsided victory was the perfect opportunity for the team to work out new plays and further develop their chemistry.

“I thought it was good that we outmatched [them] a little bit so we could run some of our new [plays],” junior Megan Burke said.

“I thought that we stayed focused … and we ran our defense really well, [which] we’ve been working on, and I think it was generally just a good opportunity for us to keep building our trust with each other.”

Stephan credits the team’s overall physicality, aggression, and intensity for the win.

“They showed a lot of energy on offense and defense,” Stephan said. “Great job on the offensive boards.”

Stephan said he believes that overall, the way Blair played against Rockville bodes well for the rest of the season.

“I’d say it was a total team win,” Stephan said.

Next, the girls’ team will face Gaithersburg at home on December 20 at 7:15 p.m.

COURTESY OF MORGAN CASEY

EYE ON THE PRIZE Blair’s Kate Hildebrandt reaches for the basketball.

F4 Sports

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December 19, 2017

The best sports movies in a crowded field A selection of the more poignant, feel-good pieces

By William Donaldson There is no movie genre more dynamic than sports movies. Sports films can range from being outrageously silly and childish to heart-wrenching tearjerkers, and everything in between.

The breadth of content to choose from can be overwhelming—especially when you do not know whether you will connect with a chosen movie, or whether it will miss the mark completely.

To help all movie fans find a quality sports film out of a packed house, here is a highly subjective list of the five best sports movies out there.

The Blind Side “The Blind Side” was inspired by the true story of Michael Oher, a National Football League (NFL) offensive lineman selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 draft.

Oher, who moved around Tennessee schools and lived on the streets for most of his youth, is taken in by a wealthy family who recognizes his athletic gifts and helps tutor him academically. Through the family’s encouragement, along with his natural perseverance, Oher is able to make it to college and ultimately to the NFL. The storyline within the film is a testament to the powerful bonds that families possess. Oher’s adopted family is able to provide him with a stable home, an encouraging work environment, and the love that he had never before received.

The most touching parts of this movie, however, are not when the Oher surpasses another hurdle, but rather when Oher’s careful example redefines the values of those around him. No situation from the movie stands out more than when Oher and the family celebrate their first Thanksgiving together. While everyone else in the family fill their plates and sit down to watch Thanksgiving football, Oher remembers his manners and takes a seat alone at the dinner table.

All in all, “The Blind Side” captures the worry that comes with stepping out of one’s comfort zone, and reflects on the changes it causes in the lives of everyone watching.

Bend it Like Beckham If you’re looking for something humorous, witty, and still relevant, this movie is for you. The plot follows Jess, an avid soccer fan who is forbidden from playing on a soccer team by her strict Indian parents.

Even so, one girl takes note of Jess’ skills during a pick-up game, and invites her to play on her own semi-pro team, setting the stage for family conflict, budding romance, and the achievement of lifelong goals. The movie successfully deals with heavy topics in a light-hearted manner, confronting body image, sexism, gender roles, and cultural clashes with crisp dialogue and empowering performances.

“Bend it Like Beckham” examines the environment of women’s sports, which is so often unexplored and underrepresented in popular culture. This film, though fictional, offers an in-depth look that highlights the same passion, grit, and determination women have for the games they love to play.

Remember the Titans After rewatching Denzel Washington’s performance as the Titans’ head coach in this movie, I could not keep from including the film in this collection.

“Remember the Titans” portrays the true story of the newly appointed black head coach of T.C. Williams High School’s football team as he wrestles with the responsibilities of managing a recently integrated team while fielding the pressures of the whole

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school community.

Forced desegregation of the schools causes a mounting friction between the new black players and the returning white players, which leads to angry confrontations be-

“Remember the Titans” is more than just a feel-good sports movie narrative—it grapples with the many facets of racism, and shows that people of different colors can come together to have fun on the football

soapbox What are some of your favorite sports movies? “‘Harry Potter’ counts as sports movies, right? They do play a lot of quidditch. The first one was pretty nice.”

— Zan Xu, senior

“The best sports movie would have to be ‘Happy Gilmore.’ A satire of the generic movie with all the major players, an underdog, a rich opponent, and a mentor.”

— Gautom Das, sophomore

“I like the movie ‘Pelé: Birth of a Legend’!

It’s about a great soccer player who was born in a poor society of Brazil... now he can be an unforgettable legend and can be a model for the world.”

“My favorite sports movie is ‘Moneyball,’ because it shows an aspect of sports that you’d otherwise never see. It also details an important historical event, the introduction of stats to baseball.”

— Natnael Feleke, senior

— Ayush Varshney, freshman

tween teammates, parents, and spectators.

Against stacked odds, the team is able to overcome the racial barriers that initially divided them. This movie is so successful because it does not sugarcoat the racism present in America, allowing the viewer to glean a deeper understanding of how racism shapes everyday interactions between peers.

At every turn, the head coach’s job is made harder and harder, but his belief in his team as a collective unit is infectious, allowing the players to persevere through even the most divisive of times.

field.

Glory Road Though the history of basketball movies is full of spectacular films, “Glory Road” steals the spotlight.

The film follows the true story of the Division I men’s basketball team at Texas Western University in their 1966 season. The team’s new coach is tasked with recruiting more players on a tight budget, leading him to turn to previously untapped potential:

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black players. Fielding the first NCAA basketball team with black players in its starting lineup, the coach leads the no-name school deep into the NCAA tournament.

Sports movies are uniquely apt at tackling racism because they have the ability to show that there is much more that unites us than divides. They demonstrate that sports bring individuals from different backgrounds together in a shared spirit of competition.

What makes “Glory Road” stand out is not only its ability to depict the nuances of integrating a basketball team for the first time, but also its message that using one’s talents to unite is an objective worthy of pursuit.

A League of Their Own

Set in 1943, right after the United States entered World War II, this film follows two sisters, Kit and Dottie, who live on a farm in the Midwest and love to play softball in their free time. When the war calls professional male athletes to serve overseas, Major League Baseball (MLB) asks a few dozen talented women to continue professional baseball during the war. Kit and Dottie are able to make one of the teams, and their star power, coupled with their talented teammates, carry them all the way to the World Series. Things get tense when a trade separates Kit and Dottie, leaving them pinned against one another in the championship game.

The film confronts many powerful topics, from sexism and gender equality to following one’s dreams. The compelling storylines within the movie strengthen its appeal, displaying tangy sibling rivalry, savory teammate camaraderie, sour defeat, and bittersweet nostalgia. Based on a true story, the movie conveys the power of friendship, and proves that women are capable of doing anything that men do.

By no means is this a complete list of the best sports movies. There are many more films that could have easily made it into this article. Those mentioned within this piece, however, all confront the most pressing issues in our society through the lens of sports.

These movies are not only engaging, but leave a lasting imprint on the viewer, beckoning them to explore the perspectives offered by these films. The diversity in representation in these movies, coupled with their entertainment value, make them premier sports titles.