February 2020 — Silver Chips Print

Read about our special section on mental health on page B3.

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

February 4, 2020

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SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

VOL. 82 NO. 4

Field repairs following High School Nation event cost $40,000; Parks Department sought reimbursement from MCPS

By George Ashford Sarah Schiffgens Annie Mount

Managing News Editors & Guest Writer

Damage to Blazer Stadium from the Oct. 10 High School Nation (HSN) event cost approximately $40,000 to repair, Silver Chips has learned. The Parks Depart-

ment filed for reimbursement from MCPS for the cost of repair, according to MCPS Public Information Supervisor Gboyinde Onijala.

“This matter was settled between the two agencies, MCPS and Parks, through an insurance claim that was filed by Parks and Rec.,” Onijala wrote in an email. Silver Chips was unable to confirm the extent to and the method by which

MCPS reimbursed Montgomery Parks.

In Silver Chips’ November story on the HSN event, Principal Renay Johnson speculated that there could have been “damage prior to [HSN] from other groups that use the field on the weekend.”

John Nissel, Deputy Director of Montgomery Parks, responded that only the large trucks from

HSN caused the tear in the turf.

“Normal field usage [and] games… would not have caused the damage,” he wrote in an email. “The damage was caused by the weight of heavy trucks or vehicles running on the field without any protective matting.”

The field was closed for two weeks following the event, opening again on Oct. 25. Several of

the Blazer Stadium’s user groups had to be relocated to other park facilities during the closure, and the groups that could not be relocated received a full refund.

Silver Chips will continue to investigate MCPS’ reimbursement payment to Montgomery Parks and the status of High School Nation’s promised donation of $10,000 in recording equipment.

INSIDE CHIPS Boundary analysis County-wide review of school boundaries met with questions

page A3

Ramifications of new AP world course The unforeseen consequences of the new AP world curriculum

page B1

Talleres de yoga Una mirada a los talleres de yoga para ESOL que ofrecen todos los miércoles durante el almuerzo page MH1

Blair YouTubers The growth and success of Blazers’ channels page D3

The Mandalorian review A look into the new Disney + Star Wars show page E1

Fair Pay to Play California law spurs NCAA to consider paying student athletes

AUDREY LI

page F2

NEWSEUM CLOSES IN D.C. The Newseum, one of Washington D.C.’s treasures, shut its doors on Pennsylvania Avenue on Dec. 31, but its important and impassioned vision lives on. See ‘A mission with a building, not a building with a mission’ on page D3.

Graduation to be at UMBC

By Anna Fisher-Lopez

Staff Writer

For the first time in Montgomery Blair’s history, seniors will graduate from the Event Center on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) campus instead of the Xfinity Center on the University of Maryland, College Park campus. Principal Renay Johnson announced the change to Blair seniors during an assembly in the auditorium on Jan. 9.

news A2

op/ed B1

As the largest public high school in the county, Blair’s senior class cannot be accommodated in graduation venues typically used by smaller MCPS schools. For this reason, officials at the MCPS Central Office have reserved larger venues like the Xfinity Center for the past couple of years, according to Johnson.

This year, however, delays from Xfinity Center staff in communicating estimated prices and the high cost of reserving the venue prompted county officials to seek other options for Blair’s seniors. “The Xfinity Center costs… approximately three times higher than the per school rate offered at the UMBC Event Center,” Gboyinde Oninjala, an MCPS spokeswoman, said.

see GRADUATION page A6

La Esquina Latina C1

Roaches shut down cafeteria

By Abby Brier

Staff Writer

During third period on Jan. 9, the main office announced that the cafeteria would be closed for the day for maintenance and pizza would be served outside the kitchen instead. A notice the following week confirmed that the cafeteria closed due to discovery of roaches in equipment. The cafeteria remained closed through Jan. 10 and reopened the following school week.

features D1

Cafeteria staff found roaches in one warming table early that morning. Christine Blanton, cafeteria manager, reported the problem to Principal Renay Johnson, who immediately closed the cafeteria.

Blanton refused to comment.

Johnson called the MCPS Department of Facilities Management and ordered for the removal of all contaminated equipment from the building. “This equipment was removed from the kitchen because I’m not jeopardizing the level of cleanliness and safety for the students,” she said.

Pest control workers arrived that afternoon and conducted periodic inspections throughout the week.

On Jan. 16, students that requested to be informed of pesticide

At age nine, she learned that her babysitter was killed in a tragic car crash. But it wasn’t the accident that changed the course of her life: It was the drinks that followed.

Laura Burkhaulter, now 33, first turned to alcohol at age nine, hoping to numb the pain. Her parents were social drinkers, who

see ROACHES page A5

see ADDICTION page MH7

culture E1

Unspoken realities of addiction

By Abby Brier

Staff Writer

chips clips E5

sports F1

A2 News

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Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Winner of the 2019 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal

Editors-in-Chief: Prayag Gordy Uma Gupta Managing News Editors: George Ashford Sarah Schiffgens Managing Op/Ed Editors: Itamar Fiorino Amanda Liu Managing Features Editors: Elias Chen Mira Diamond-Berman Managing Culture Editors: Kie Donovan Paloma Williams Managing Sports Editor: Ethan Park Ombudsman: Victoria Xin Senior Staffer: Khushboo Rathore Columnist: Teddy Beamer Page Editors: Aviva Bechky Abby Brier Adam Chazan Ayush Dutta Oliver Goldman Kathryn LaLonde Rekha Leonard Anna Fisher Lopez Sarah McKinzie Khayla Robinson Anika Seth Ishaan Shrestha Simran Thakkar Ashley Thommana Abednego Togas Emilie Vigliotta Grace Walsh Charlie Wiebe Lilia Wong Clark Zhang La Esquina Latina Editor-in-Chief: Jasmine Mendez-Paredes La Esquina Latina Editor: Renata Muñoz La Esquina Latina Writers: Río Sánchez Ariel Lemus Godoy Tony Calderón González Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Yenmis Quiñones Alzahra Rodríguez Ivania Valladares Executive Business Directors: Preston Beatty Alyssa Ma Merete Oakes Business Staff: Joe Byler Marina Deane-Gonzalez Ryan Peralta Harris Alex Koehler Devasena Sitaram Managing Photo Editors: Dede Greenfield Lucy Martin Photographers: Christina Chen Miles Grovic Yuri Kim Audrey Li Delia Moran Edson Orellana Robert Ellington Walcott Padmore Elenora Rue Esther Tang Managing Media Coordinators: Tarun Mattikalli Alex Dong Managing Art Editors: Shashi Arnold Seoyoung Joo Artists: Gabriel Winston-Bailey Kelley Li Karen Yang Ivvone Zhou Jennifer Hu Duyen Phan Sonia Pivovarov Leela Mehta-Harwitz Puzzle Editor: Sophia Weng Copy Editors: Annie Hicks Adia Keene Bianca Sauro Gabe Worthington Jessica Ye La Esquina Latina Advisor: Dianette Coombs Maria Eugenia Tanos 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 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.

February 4, 2020

Proposed traffic cameras track mobile phone use

By Grace Walsh

Staff Writer

Tom Hucker, District 5 representative, and vice-president of the Montgomery County Council, published draft legislation to allow Montgomery County to install automated video cameras that detect when drivers are using cell phones on highways.

Hucker is working with Maryland Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher to introduce the legislation to the Maryland General Assembly, which has jurisdiction over state highways.

The proposed camera system will rely on police officers and artificial intelligence to identify cell phone usage by drivers. Offenders would be ticketed only after the image of their cell phone use was confirmed by a human screener, similar to the method used with red-light cameras.

During the Dec. 2 County Council session where the legislation was discussed, Hucker referenced “Vision Zero,” an international initiative to reduce roadway fatalities which the county adopted in 2017. He argued that taking any legislative motion using technology to enforce the traffic laws is moving in the right direction.

“I think we all know from the Vision Zero briefing that we are not doing a good job of either meeting our Vision Zero targets or expanding our camera program

for enforcement,” Hucker said at the session. “And to me, that is not a reason not to seek the enabling authority to be able to expand our enforcement in the future in this way.”

Councilmember Hans Reimer also spoke in support of the bill and clarified that the proposal would allow the use of cameras to catch distracted drivers, not mandate them.

“We don’t have all the details figured out but distracted driving is an epidemic,” Reimer said. “I have no doubt that the reason why pedestrian crashes are rising suddenly is just the explosion of distracted driving.”

The traffic cameras capture a picture of the driver’s seat and use artificial intelligence to detect if the driver is using their phone before having a person confirm. This technology did not exist a few years ago, and if the legislation is passed, Montgomery County will be one of the first in the United States to apply it.

During the session, Hucker and other involved councilmembers explained that they had been approached by a Montgomery County technology company about providing the cameras if implemented, but their decisions for a vendor are not final.

Sara Morningstar, a Legislative Analyst from the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, said that officials outside the County Coun-

DATA FROM MONTGOMERY COUNTY cil have reservations about the bill. “[There are] serious concerns expressed by both the police and the county attorney with the technology, with the extent of expanding our automated enforcement systems already, with potential privacy issues with what is on a cell phone,” Morningstar said.

Will Jawando, Councilmember At-Large, said during the session that he had a variety of concerns with the proposal, particularly related to privacy and the logistics of where and how the cameras are going to be placed.

“There is also the question of deployment, serious potential for racial equity issues and other types of, you know, socio-economic is-

GRAPH BY ANIKA SETH

sues,” he said. “As you have with all these issues, where are [the cameras] going to be deployed? What is the cost of that? Which communities are they going to focus [on], and what information are they going to be capturing of activities in the car? … I think that this is a really dangerous path to go down.”

Junior Molly Howard said that the cameras only affect those who text while driving, and they most likely will stop texting when they get into the monitoring zone. “It is no different than speeding cameras, it only affects those who break the law,” Howard said.

The Maryland General Assembly will deliberate on the legislation between Jan. 8 and Apr. 6 in the 2020 legislative session.

Purple Line risks access to affordable housing

By Kathryn LaLonde

Staff Writer

Montgomery County will need $100 million to preserve affordable housing as rents rise along the new Purple Line Corridor, according to a recent report from the Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC).

The Purple Line is expected to run for 16 miles through Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. Along that route, there are currently about 17,000 homes or apartment units affordable to families earning $70,000 or less.

The PLCC is a collaborative group of public and private organizations working with state officials to ensure that the Purple Line benefits the entire community surrounding the transit project.

Along with the needed $100 million for Montgomery County’s trust fund listed in the report, their Housing Action Plan lists 12 recommendations to ensure that houses along the line represent a diverse range of incomes, establish collaboration and engagement in the community, and improve the way that the PLCC works with local organizations and members of the community.

Chris Gillis, the Policy and Neighborhood Development Director at Montgomery Housing Partnership (MHP), a member organization of the PLCC, said the construction of the Purple Line poses problems for preserving affordable homes because transit can bring a lot of change to a community.

“Oftentimes with large infrastructure projects like the Purple Line, they can have a negative impact on housing affordability or displacement,” he said. “We definitely want new development but we are concerned about affordable housing possibly being redeveloped and

BOBBY PADMORE Dowtown Construction Workers build part of the new Purple Line track in Downtown Silver Spring. longtime residents not having an opportunity to stay in the communities that they love.”

Stephanie Prange Proestel, the Deputy Director at the non-profit Housing Initiative Partnership (HIP), another Coalition member, believes that planned high-rise, luxury developments will lead to gentrification. Several organizations, including Housing Innovation Partnership, are working to preserve affordable housing by implementing policies and increasing funds.

“The hope is that by trying to be proactive… in how we preserve housing and [by having] strategies and incentives for developers, that we are still able to maintain a wide range of housing opportunities for people both affordable and market rate along the Purple Line,” she said.

HIP, MHP, and other organizations are collaborating with the PLCC, local legislators, and affected community members to ensure that residents do not lose their

homes.

“The plan is really all about ways that we can try to preserve housing, whether it is keeping and improving existing housing or… as new housing is developed, affordable housing units are implemented,” Prange Proestel said. “The idea is that overall the net number of affordable apartments and homes will remain the same.”

Montgomery and PG Counties use incentive policies like the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) to encourage developers to preserve affordable housing.

According to Prange Proestel, organizations and local governments are trying to use these policies as incentives for developers along the Purple Line so that they can more regularly implement affordable housing within their developments.

Along with implementing and utilizing policies, Gillis said that increasing county trust funds and money set aside for affordable housing will greatly benefit com-

munities that are affected by future developments.

“Montgomery County [is] spending somewhere in the neighborhood of over $60 million a year… we are hoping to get that $60 million to $100 million,” he said.

“We know it’s not going to happen overnight, but [we] really need that investment from government to spur affordable housing.”

Lisa Govoni, a Housing Planner for the Montgomery County Planning Department is confident that the county can reach the goal of $100 million in funds for affordable housing. “I think that it’s a very ambitious target but I think that the county is serious about finding new funding streams and ways to reach that in the next couple of years,” Govoni said. “I think that we can get there.”

Proestel said that elected officials and other organizations understand the importance of preserving affordability.

“This is an incredibly important time to focus on affordable housing and small business development,” she said. “[Politicians are] making sure that the residences and businesses that are in the community are able to take advantage of this new infrastructure while still allowing for new development and new business as well.”

In Montgomery and PG Counties, elected officials are researching legislation to encourage inclusionary zoning and working to increase funding on previously established housing funds.

PLCC’s goal is to spend the next year implementing the policies and plans from their Housing Action Plan. “The idea of this plan is that it is a working document and that we are regularly checking in as a coalition to make sure that we are pushing forward the agenda,” Prange Proestel said.

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February 4, 2020

News A3

County-wide boundary analysis advances to next stage

Plan to examine school boundaries brings criticism and confusion at community meetings

By Adam Chazan Staff Writer MCPS’ countywide review of school boundaries continued through several more community meetings this January. The debate surrounding the analysis arrived at Montgomery Blair on Jan. 11 and was followed by two more meetings at Northwest and Walter Johnson.

In September, the consulting firm WXY Architecture + Urban

“The primary objective is to have a deep… and comprehensive understanding of the entire county as it relates to facility utilization, student diversity and geographic proximity,” MCPS Chief Operating Officer Andrew Zuckerman said.

Facility utilization refers to the number of students that are enrolled in a school divided by the school’s capacity. According to the packets WXY released at the meetings, MCPS aims to have schools enrolled

EDSON ORELLANA CLEARING THE AIR WXY representative Kushan Dave presents at the Blair on Jan. 11. It was the fourth of six community meetings.

Design won a $475,000 contract to conduct the analysis.

Throughout the meeting at Blair, Kushan Dave, presenter and planning director at WXY, reiterated that the analysis would not be making recommendations to the Board of Education regarding future boundary changes. “Our job is to be objective, [and] objectively record what the data is telling us, what the community is telling us.

And that’s it,” Dave said.

WXY will provide a report to the MCPS Board of Education for members to consult when making future decisions about school boundaries.

The report will have two components: statistical data and the testimony collected at community meetings.

at 80–100 percent capacity. WXY found that only 45 out of 135 elementary schools, 23 out of 40 middle schools, and 12 out of 25 high schools were within the target range.

WXY created statistics related to diversity using the number of students at a given school that have utilized the FARMS program at any point while enrolled in MCPS (Ever-FARMs.) WXY has stated that the final report will include other measurements of diversity.

Proximity is quantified by the percentage of students not assigned to the school closest to them, excluding magnet and choice programs.

According to WXY’s material, 45 percent of all middle school students do not attend their nearest school.

Up & Coming February 4 Report cards distributed

February 6, 7 & 8 Sankofa tickets available now

February 12

Schools and offices closed President’s day

February 28

Early release day for students Interims

Community meetings

The community boundary meetings are organized by Steve Brigham, who works for Public Engagement Associates, a subcontractor of WXY. “Our role is working with [WXY] and working with the school system to actually do the outreach and recruitment in planning for the meetings that we do with the public,” Brigham said.

Zuckerman, too, reminded community members that MCPS does not have further plans for the analysis after it is submitted to the Board of Education—a particular point of contention at the Walter Johnson meeting. “The final report will be presented to the Board of Education in June. At that point, the Board has the report,” he said. “What they do with it at that point becomes the question of how to use the reference document going forward.”

MCPS’ refusal to include future boundary recommendations in the scope of the analysis disappointed former Board of Education member Jill Ortman-Fouse. “This boundary assessment won’t even be making recommendations because the Board is not even including that in the scope of this study, and that’s problematic,” she said. “If we’re spending a half-million dollars on a group to look at all the data in the county, we want to get everything we can for that money.”

Following disruptions and hostility towards WXY presenters at the Julius West Middle School meeting on Dec. 11, WXY and Brigham chose to include a portion at the beginning of the presentation which answered frequently asked questions.

“Based on the first two meetings that we’ve held, in one of them which was quite contentious, we realized that there’s a lot of misinformation about what [we’re] doing,” Brigham said. “We want to make sure that as we’re looking at the results of all six meetings that people are basically hearing the same things.”

Ortman-Fouse believes that the conversation was dominated by a specific group of people. “You have this one area of the county that is your least diverse, highest income area as the loudest voices, trying to stop an assessment to ensure that our tax dollars are used responsibly for all of our school facilities and that all of our children are getting equitable opportunity,” she said.

At the Blair meeting, some raised concerns about including minority communities in the conversation. During a poll conducted by WXY as part of the presentation, 65 percent of the meeting’s attendants identified as white.

Brigham maintains that WXY is making an effort to include the communities that were not present at the first six community meetings.

“We’re doing 20 smaller meetings, anywhere from 10–30 people of harder-to-reach populations which are primarily immigrant populations, lower income populations, students, to make sure we’re hear-

EDSON ORELLANA

ABOVE MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman answers a question at the Walter Johnson meeting.

LEFT An attendee of the Walter Johnson meeting asks a question about the boundary analysis.

ing the voices of those who generally don’t or can’t attend public meetings when they’re held,” he said.

Each table had a facilitator tasked with promoting discussion and recording notes to be included in the final report. “As a facilitator I was charged with… making sure that the conversation stayed on topic so that we kept the conversation moving and productive,” Clarksburg senior Zoe Tishaev, a facilitator at the Walter Johnson meeting, said.

Mixed response County Councilman Tom Hucker attended the meeting at Blair. Hucker believes that the boundary analysis is a necessary part of life in MCPS. “The boundary study is long overdue,” he said.

“We routinely, regularly update political boundaries and school district boundaries for the school board members and all kinds of other things to make sure we’re optimally utilizing our public resources as populations change.”

Magruder English Teacher Eric Williams also attended the community meeting at Blair. During the group discussions, Williams expressed his support for the boundary analysis, which he said was harmless. “It is just data collection and there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “That’s a neutral thing.”

Despite MCPS’ efforts to clear

Student and Teacher Awards & Honors Michelle Tang, Tarun Mattikalli, Victoria Xin, Zach Zhao, Ambrose Yang were named top 300 scholars in the 79th Regeneron Science Talent Search

World Language Teacher Kerri Galloway and Special Education Resource Teacher Terel Reid recieved National Board Certification

Junior Alfred Worrell Jr. was named the Mongtomery County boys basketball Player of the Week

Senior Mahlet Tedla was awarded a full-tuition Posse scholarship to the University of Rochester

the air surrounding their analysis, the Facebook group titled ‘Montgomery County MD Neighbors for Local Schools Without Redistricting’ has amassed over 7,400 members at the time of publication.

The group’s description reads that they will “advocate for preserving local community school zones for our residents and fight MCPS board moves to bus children out of their schools,” something that MCPS has stated will not occur as part of this analysis.

Other community members like Gina McNeal, a parent, held signs in support of school integration at the entrance to the Walter Johnson meeting. “I believe there is an opportunity gap among students in our county and that essentially we have de-facto segregation in our schools,” she said.

WXY is developing a tool for the public to interact with the three different criteria for the study. “We’ll have an interactive tool where you’ll be able to set up, go in, and start to see what the school cluster [is] telling us,” Dave said. “You could give it a click, look at all the data, and assess for yourself where you are.”

Misconceptions about the prospect of boundary change recommendations prompted MCPS to release a Dec. 11 statement, clarifying that the study would not recommend changes and reaffirming the county’s commitment to diverse schools.

According to Zuckerman, an interim report for the boundary analysis will be released in February. The final boundary analysis report will be presented to the Board of Education in June.

Scan the QR codes below for more boundary analysis coverage Walter Johnson

Montgomery Blair

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February 4, 2020

News A5

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February 4, 2020

MCPS workgroup discusses possible grading changes

ing a grade lower than 50 percent, unless a student fails to complete any work. This wording has led to confusion as to how the rule should be implemented.

“Some people are giving 50 percent for random words on a page,” Leigh Tinsley, an AP Language and twelfth grade English teacher at Blair, said. “It’s not being applied evenly across the

The Secondary Grading & Reporting Work Group, formed by the Board of Education in the 2018-2019 school year, is currently revising the MCPS grading and reporting policy for the 2020-2021 school year, according to a Dec. 3 report from Superintendent Jack Smith.

Smith wrote that the workgroup is discussing changing the implementation of the “50 percent rule,” changing how assignments should be weighted, and streamlining the reassessment and attendance policies. The workgroup does not plan to bring back final exams or change the weighting of AP and Honors classes in GPA calculation.

Gboyinde Onijala, an MCPS Public Information Supervisor, said that the creation of the work group was part of a continuous effort to evaluate and improve the grading system. “Conversations around grading and reporting have been an ongoing thing in MCPS, so this isn’t new,” she said.

Onijala pointed to questions

board, which is confusing for students.”

The gradebook system itself will be seeing a change, according to a presentation from the MCPS

By Clark Zhang Staff Writer

surrounding grade inflation and lack of consistency in grading policy implementation as factors in the creation of the work group.

“They’re looking at a range of issues including… addressing concerns about a lack of consistency within and among schools, the meaning of a grade—as you know, there’s been conversations across the state about grade inflation, that’s always something we’re hearing from the community…” she said.

By the time the last meeting ends in May, the group will submit their set of recommendations to the superintendent. “From there, more than likely, the superintendents and the Board will look over them and decide if and when these changes should be made,” a member of the workgroup said.

MCPS Regulation IKA-RA, which outlines the grading policy, prohibits assign-

Montgomery County Council to create Police Advisory Commission T

he Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a plan to create a Police Advisory Commission. The commission is intended to prevent police misconduct following the 2018 shooting of 41-year-old Robert White by Officer Anand Badgujar.

The Police Advisory Commission’s job will be to provide the County Council with recommendations on policies and programs that the Montgomery County Police Department can implement to improve their policing. “[We want the commission] to improve police-community relations, to give the community a voice in decisions about how police work is done, to build more support for police work, and to strengthen public safety and build the kind of police department that our community will really rally behind,” Councilmember Hans Riemer, who introduced and sponsored the legislation, said.

The police department will not make immediate changes to their policies. “We do not anticipate any changes in our policies currently,” Montgomery County Police spokesperson Thomas Jordan wrote in an email. “Recommendations by the Commission would be evaluated for policy changes in the future.”

Before the Council approved the commission, Riemer wrote a letter to his fellow councilmembers to ask them to vote in favor of the creation of the commission.

“Our public safety agencies do an excellent job of keeping us safe.

But our police can only keep all Montgomery County residents safe if they have the full trust of everyone in our community,” he wrote.

“Recent events in our county and the growing national dialogue about the role

and practices KELLEY LI of police, particularly in communities of color, have put a sharp focus on trust, transparency, and accountability.”

The commission will consist of 13 voting members and two nonvoting members: one from the police department and the other from an employee organization. Each of the nine council members will nominate one public citizen who is interested in policing matters to the commission. The remaining four will be private citizens nominated by the County Executive.

At least one of the members will be under the age of 25 and another between the ages of 25 and 35.

The Council believes that young people’s perspectives will be important in discussions about police-

By Simran Thakkar Staff Writer

Board of Education. According to some teachers who attended the presentation, the workgroup is also considering replacing the lettergrade system with a percentagebased system. However, the workgroup member said the grading system was outside the scope of the group’s jurisdiction.

The member of the workgroup they are considering several different recommendations about streamlining the current formative-summativehomework system. “There are recommendations… specifically [about] the homework category: Should it be more than 10 percent?” the member said.

The formative-summative weighting system was originally made to delineate which assignments could be retaken. However, “I don’t understand why that part can’t just simply be communicated to students,” Tinsley said.

Also, multiple categories of grades makes certain assignments

a lot more impactful than others, according to Tinsley. “When I go as a teacher, sometimes when I enter something in[to the gradebook], I’m like, wow, that was worth a lot more than I thought it would,” Tinsley said.

The general goal of the workgroup is to grant teachers the freedom to personalize their classes while establishing general guidelines. “[You] ensure that while you provide teachers the leniency and the ability to run their classroom the way they G see fit, N HA that you Z K AR also have a way CL of ensuring that students are treated fairly across schools and across the county,” the member said.

The workgroup, composed of 41 teachers, parents, students, and members of the MCPS Board of Education, meets monthly to discuss the grading policy. During each meeting, members break off into subcommittees to discuss each issue at hand, including the 50 percent rule and grade weighting.

“Right now we’re still in a more research and refining process,” the member of the workgroup said.

“We’re looking at ways to gather more information on subjects, and then we’ll continue to share opinions and gathering information to make final recommendations.”

The finalization and implementation of these recommendations are out of the scope of the workgroup. “We aren’t really concerned with… how they’re implemented,” the member said. “We are just making recommendations to the superintendent about how to proceed.”

Infest-igation

community relations. “[Police work] has an impact on young people,” Riemer said. “We just felt like it was a good way to try to build a stronger relationship [between young people and the police rollment form at the beginning of from ROACHES page A1 department] and a good chance for the year received the notice. the county to engage some thought- use in the building received a no“They sent out an exterminaful young advocates in the pro- tice from the principal’s secretary, tor to blast bomb the kitchen and cess.”

Claudine Biggs. The pesticide, put down traps and those kind of Riemer worked with the disodium octaborate tetrahydrate things,” Johnson said. “That’s why Montgomery County chap- (NIBOR-D), was scheduled to be Ms. Biggs had to send a letter to ter of the NAACP when used on Jan. 17 in the cafeteria and families.” Joseph Likambi, the planning the commission. concession stands to rid the facili- Environmental Design Assistant “They had a variety of dif- ties of roaches. for MCPS Department of Faciliferent ideas,” Riemer said.

Only students who submitted ties, was unable to be reached for “We explored the different the Pesticide Notification List En- a comment. approaches for commissions and ultimately settled on the one that we chose.”

Councilmember Riemer also gained support for the commission from organizations such as the Jews United for Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. “[T]he Commission will provide a direct voice for communities that have not always been heard on policing issues,” the organizations wrote in a combined letter to the County Executive.

“We strongly believe that our voice has not been sufficiently heard and that the Policing Family owned and operated since 1954 Advisory Commission offers a pathway to a Same day delivery ~ Local & Nationwide better and more sustained dialog between (301) 593-4700 ~ 24 hours a day all segments of the community and the Police Department.”

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February 4, 2020

Graduation to be held at UMBC

Seniors will graduate at UMBC instead of College Park from GRADUATION page A1

“The Xfinity Center has presented a rate that is just really too high for our schools.”

Principal Johnson estimates that Montgomery Blair will pay approximately $5,000 less to graduate from UMBC than from the Xfinity Center. A contributing factor to

“We will never overcharge kids. ” - Renay Johnson

the cost reduction is the absence of parking fees: The Xfinity Center charged for parking, whereas UMBC does not.

In addition, the Central Office may supply transportation by bus to the Event Center on the morning of graduation, further reducing costs. “I haven’t got the full details yet, but I was told that [the Central Office] can provide buses,” John-

son said.

Since administration calculated senior graduation dues with the expectation that Blazers would be graduating from the Xfinity Center, the reduced cost of the new venue means that there will be money left over. If the remaining funds don’t need to go towards bus transportation, seniors may be partially refunded or be able to choose how the money is spent. “We will never overcharge kids,” Johnson said. “If we can refund them we can, or maybe the class will say… ‘let’s get together and let’s vote on what we should give to the school.’”

Part of the reason why the Event Center is cheaper is that it has significantly fewer seats than the Xfinity Center and can hold less than a third of the people. As a result, students will be limited in the number of additional people they can invite to graduation.

The original graduation form said that students would have 12 tickets to give to family members, but the location change reduces the amount of available tickets.

“I’m hopeful that we can squeeze six [tickets],” Johnson said. “That’s comparable with what the other

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[MCPS schools offer].”

While some students have no strong opinions about the change, others are not happy about the added challenges that the new location presents. Senior Nekkeisha

Low was under the impression that she would be able to invite 12 family members. “I have no extras,” she said. “I don’t want to… have to choose between who gets to be there and who [doesn’t get] to be there.”

Senior Alanna Sibrian shared similar concerns. “It’s kind of annoying knowing that we were promised 12 tickets in the beginning,” Sibrian said. “Now it just means that we have to drive farther and not as many people can come.”

The drive from Blair to UMBC’s campus is almost twice as long as the drive from Blair to the University of Maryland’s College Park campus. Potential buses provided by Central Office will only transport students to the venue, not back home.

Montgomery County’s four biggest high schools, which include Montgomery Blair, Richard Montgomery, Walter Johnson, and Northwest, along with Paint Branch, will graduate on different dates at UMBC. The other 22 high schools in Montgomery County will graduate from DAR Constitution Hall, Mt. St. Mary’s University, or their own campus.

February 4, 2020

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B1 Op/Ed

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February 4, 2020

Trump’s divisive executive order is a weak attempt to stop antisemitism

By Aviva Bechky Staff Writer

President Trump signed Executive Order 13899 on Dec. 11, claiming it would combat antisemitism. The backlash was immediate.

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) denounced it as “an attempt to delegitimize and silence Palestine organizing on campuses.”

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) described it as a “dangerous, authoritarian attempt to silence student activism in support of Palestinian rights.” The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement said it “stifl[es] criticism of Israel and ebb[s] the steady growth of accountability measures coming out of US campuses that give Palestinians hope.”

The fierce uproar from pro-Palestinian groups like these illustrate the anger and divisions that the order has sown. Given that the order entirely fails to prevent antisemitism, those divisions are its only creation.

The executive order focuses narrowly on how Jews are covered under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which enables the federal government to withhold public funding from universities that allow discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or national origin. The order clarifies that discrimination against Jews specifically on the basis of those three characteristics is covered under Title VI. But colleges are not where efforts against antisemitism need to focus. Trump’s order begins by saying that his administration is committed to combating the rise of antisemitism, yet he fails to address the rampant antisemitic violence and white supremacism in our country today. He signed the order just one day after two people opened fire in a deadly antisemitic attack at a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, but the order, aimed at stopping antisemitism, does nothing to prevent such attacks from repeating themselves.

Instead, the order concentrates on what

it calls antisemitic harrassment on college campuses—a problem, perhaps, but certainly not the biggest one. This focus on universities clearly targets the activities of pro-Palestinian groups like SJP, JVP, and BDS. These groups advocate for the rights of Palestinians who live in and around Israel, and for the most part they are anti-Zionist, meaning they oppose the existence of the state of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The question of whether their anti-Zionist beliefs are antisemitic has arisen again and again for decades.

The order tries to answer that question by including a new legal definition of antisemitism which explicitly includes anti-Zionism.

Among other references to Israel, the definition calls “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” antisemitic. The problem with that definition? Almost all pro-Palestinian groups support similar sentiments, and to them, such beliefs are not antisemitic but a way to stand up for human

Trump never should have issued such an incendiary, counterproductive order under the guise of fighting antisemitism

Where in the world did the time go?

By Rekha Leonard Staff Writer

Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and the Shang Dynasty all shaped the world we live in today. Until this year, students studied these civilizations in their world history classes. This year, however, any student hoping to explore why Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River is unfortunately out of luck. The College Board has replaced AP World History with a new course, “AP World History: Modern,” which only focuses on history after 1200 C.E. College Board decided to make this curriculum change after feedback from teachers indicated that under the old curriculum, they did not have enough time to teach the dense content. “We had to cover so much historical time [before, but now] we can provide more depth with the new model,” AP World teacher James Mogge said.

College Board’s intention with the new curriculum is positive, but there are unintended consequences. Students may come out of the class with a deeper understanding of the material, but they will lack knowledge about significant portions of history.

Students taking “AP World History: Modern” this year will not have the opportunity to explore ancient history now that it is no longer part of the world history course. They are, however, somewhat expected to have a general knowledge of events prior to 1200 C.E.—information that most MCPS students only learned in seventh grade.

“The argument that people often make is that [students] learned [ancient history] in middle school,” Mogge said. “But I don’t know [if] that happened because [they’re] very specific in seventh grade about the places that you study, so you don’t get that global approach.” Such a global understanding is essential in discerning the relationships between different countries and cultures in modern history.

Many MCPS students most likely do not

SEOYOUNG JOO

rights.

In essence, the order labels some of the central claims of these groups as a form of hate. Under the order, universities must suppress the views of these pro-Palestinian groups or risk losing federal funding.

So naturally there is anger. Of course there is outrage. To those who believe that Israel is oppressive and racist, this order amounts to a repression of their free speech. Trump never should have issued such an incendiary, counterproductive order under the guise of fighting antisemitism, when he could have—and should have—given a unifying denunciation of white supremacist antisemitism.

To clarify, the question here is not whether pro-Palestinian groups’ beliefs are intrinsically antisemitic. It’s whether classifying them as such prevents antisemitism in a practical way. The clear answer is no.

Calling their beliefs antisemitic just increases tensions between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel advocates. “I expect that [the order] will deepen the opposition and hostility between the two groups,” David Myers, a

professor of Jewish history at the University of California, Los Angeles, said. “That kind of chasm [between them] will only widen.”

SJP acknowledged that outright in its statement decrying the order. “Such an authoritarian attack… will not protect Jewish students, but will rather, in fact, exacerbate divisions in places where solidarity is more crucial than ever,” they said. On this issue, they are exactly right.

Stifling what pro-Palestinian groups say will not make their opinions vanish, nor is it likely to truly change the environment on any college campus. To solve any of the issues at the root of the conflict between supporters of Israel and those of Palestine, we need more compromise and more willingness to come to the table. This order works against those ideals.

Are anti-Zionist movements antisemitic?

The answer to that question is worth discussion. But anti-Zionists are not the greatest threat to Jewish lives today. On that front, we need real, open dialogue. Save the executive orders for truly protecting American Jews.

The unintentional consequences of College Board’s new AP World History curriculum

remember the world history material they learned in seventh grade. Furthermore, middle school history curriculum are not standardized throughout the country. As an organization that serves high schools across the United States, College Board must recognize this crucial inequity.

Junior Isabella Fan, a current “AP World History: Modern” student, does not remember much from her seventh grade world history class and would have liked to study ancient history in high school. “With the old version of AP world, they succeeded with the idea of giving us a general summary of the

history of human beings on earth,” Fan said.

Many AP World History students, like Fan, do not have an extensive background knowledge about ancient history so will not be able to connect how ancient history has directly shaped modern society.

Thus, under the shortened curriculum, students no longer learn for themselves how ancient history has shaped the modern world but are instead spoon-fed the correlations.

“I’m sad to see [the ancient history] gone because there’s certain connections that were easier for students to make, whereas now I’m having to give them the connections,” AP

KAREN YANG

World teacher Rondai Ravilious said. “You learn better when you’re making your own [connections] and finding your own information.”

Another unforeseen problem with cutting out ancient history from the curriculum is that the removal of ancient history can unintentionally lead to cultural erasure of nonwhite cultures. The new course contains a lot of information about white societies, and most of what was cut out was information about non-white societies. “By focusing on this time period, we’re focusing on the time where Europeans sort of assumed the most influence,” Mogge said.

College Board is aware of the fact that the new course is heavily centered on Europe and said in a statement that it took these concerns into consideration. Originally, the curriculum was to include history from 1450 to modern times. College Board, however, received strong backlash from teachers and students saying that the course was too Europe-focused, so it extended the time period to 1200 in order to include developments in Africa, the Americas, and Asia that are also important to the present era.

College Board does have plans to develop a separate course, “AP World History: Ancient,” that goes into depth on the ancient history that is no longer in the modern course. Unfortunately, this will not solve everything because many students do not have enough room in their schedules for schools to make both classes required courses.

“I don’t see it working out, especially in a school this size,” Ravilious said. “I honestly think that it’s going to have to be an elective unless something changes.” The same issues of students not learning important aspects of history and cultural erasure will persist if students do not take both classes.

“AP World History: Modern” has the potential to encourage great improvements in students’ understanding of the modern topics covered, but it comes at the cost of students missing out on essential parts of history.

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February 4, 2020

Op/Ed B2

Personal Column

Neurodiversity in technology

By Nate Kelkay Guest Writer

ELENORA RUE

My mother’s diagnosis of schizophrenia catalyzed my curiosity about the human brain. Because of my mother’s traumatizing experiences, I began to understand how untreated mental health issues can result in mental, emotional, and psychological conditions. Soon afterward, I learned about the warning signs and symptoms which helped me garner a greater appreciation for the mental health community and the neurodiversity movement.

A person said to be neurodiverse means that they have a difference in how their brain works. This could be a person with autism, dyslexia, or even schizophrenia. The social model of disability posits that an individual’s ability to function in society is not determined by their mental condition, but the constraints of society. When a person with one of these conditions is not able to function in school, the work force, or even in public, society sees that as a

disability. We should rather see this as a learning difference.

For example, a person in a wheelchair not being able to go up stairs is seen as the person being disabled.

But really, society is the one that put those constraints on those individuals to disable them. They should be seen as people with different abilities and we should find ways to help them. In this case, there are ramps for those individuals, but oftentimes that ramp is missing for a person with a neurological condition.

Modern technology is becoming accessible to a wider range of people compared to previous generations. My research along with interacting with computers and robots has helped me understand how technology can be leveraged to create innovations that improve mental health.

An approach to helping neurodiverse people is through neuroindividualism, which is the building

of a new system with artificial intelligence that will automatically adjust to an individual’s preferences. The emerging field of computational and engineering approaches to brain science along with emphasizing the need to explore innovation in virtual, artificial, and augmented reality, will increase the prevalence of neuro individualism.

An example of something technology has helped with in the past is for people who have dyslexia and visual stress elements. The visual stress elements cause reading difficulties, specifically with text font and size. There are apps to help with this when reading on a screen, but even that is very limited. And again, we are all different and have learning curves. Going forward, just like how there is a ramp for a person with a physical ability, we should harness the power of neuro individualism and create ‘mental’ ramps for neurodiverse people.

Corrections: December 2019 In the photo credit on page A4, Elenora Rue’s name was misspelled.

In art credits on pages C1 and D4, Seoyoung Joo’s name was misspelled.

In “Subtract the ads” on page B2, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s name was misspelled.

In the art credits on page E4, Shashi Arnold’s name was misspelled.

In “Takoma gas station converts to electric” on page A4, Teddy Beamer was referred to as a staff writer. He is a senior columnist.

In the graphic on page B1, the number of students in MCPS should be 162,860.

Winter Sports headed into playoffs soon! Support!

Indoor Track to Regionals on 2/6 and States on 2/18!

Wrestling County Championships on 2/22, Regionals on 2/29 and States on 3/7!

Swim and Dive heads to Metros on 2/8, Regionals on 2/15 and States on 2/22!

Girls and Boys basketball playoffs start on 2/28!

Spring Sports start on February 29th! See the coaches for details!

Informational meeting will be held during lunch on Tuesday February 4th near the gyms.

Our spring sports are: Baseball Softball Boys Lacrosse Girls Lacrosse Track and Field Gymnastics Boys and Coed Volleyball Boys and Girls Tennis Allied Softball

Thank you to our fantastic Booster Club for their support!

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B3 Editorial

The Coronavirus does not excuse prejudice

More than 170 dead. Over 7,000 sickened around the world. Person-to-person contraction reported in Chicago.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019nCoV) outbreak is gaining momentum. According to the Center for Disease Control, the 2019-nCoV causes “mild to moderate upperrespiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold.” Symptoms include a sore throat, fever, and cough.

Although the virus is thought to have originated from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, China, it appears that the illness is now being spread between humans as it crosses continents.

As more live updates roll in and the number of infected individuals climbs, fear and hysteria become just as severe a threat as the virus itself. So, before you decide to move into a sterile bunker or swear off seafood completely, let’s take a moment to be logical.

Transmission occurs primarily between patients with recognized illness rather than from patients with mild, nonspecific signs.

Avoiding members of a certain ethnic group is not going to help you avoid the 2019nCoV. But it will definitely help you contract racism and unfounded prejudice.

The Guardian has already reported spikes in racism against Chinese Canadians following the confirmation of the 2019-nCoV in the country.

Following a performance by the popular K-

pop group BTS at the 2020 Grammys, tweets about what to do if they started coughing began to flood Twitter.

The disease’s rapid spread throughout China does not warrant pinpointing the disease on one ethnic group. Fear-mongering based upon false information will only prevent people from taking actually beneficial measures to keep themselves safe.

Don’t overreact if the person next to you is coughing. Odds are they are just dealing with the common flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicted at least 8,200 deaths from the common flu this year alone, and this year’s flu shot isn’t very effective against certain widespread flu strains this year. This should be a bigger concern than the 2019-nCoV. While five cases of the 2019-nCoV have been reported in America as of Jan. 30, there have been no confirmed reports of the 2019nCoV in Maryland.

However, the CDC has counted over 13 million cases of influenza in the U.S. for the 2019-2020 season, and Maryland state health officials have reported four deaths from influenza as of Jan. 5.

The news reporting surrounding the 2019nCoV parallels the situation with Ebola. Both originated in a foreign country and are deadly in their own right. And both were heavily discussed to the point of sensationalism through news sources across America.

A healthy discussion

By Victoria Xin Ombudsman According to the Department of Health and Human Services, one in five adolescents experience a serious mental health disorder at some point in their life, and half of all these disorders begin by age 14—when most of us begin high school.

As we go through our four years here at Montgomery Blair, many of us will encounter others with serious mental health conditions or experience one ourselves.

With such frequent occurrences, we should certainly be talking about mental health issues in high school. Whether the discussions are school-sponsored or studentsponsored, we should make sure to inform ourselves about these issues.

This cycle, Silver Chips has dedicated parts of our Op/Ed and Features sections to the discussion of mental health. La Esquina Latina has also dedicated a page to Spanishlanguage mental health stories.

In an effort to cover these issues in an accurate, realistic light, our staff has been work-

February 4, 2020 SHASHI ARNOLD KELLEY LI

Ebola was certainly a public health crisis, but media sensationalism did nothing to help and contributed to the alienation of Africans who had no connection to the disease.

Instead of taking action, we scared ourselves into silence. Let’s not repeat this mistake with the 2019-nCoV. Right now, China needs support, not hysteria.

The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management

and Homeland Security, the CDC, and the World Health Organization are monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates if the situation changes, according to a recent email from MCPS. To stay healthy, the CDC recommends that people follow customary flu season practices. Wash your hands frequently, avoid close contact with sick individuals, and get your influenza vaccination. Just don’t falsely put the blame on an entire ethnic group.

Silver Chips includes a mental health cycle

ing on these articles for the past two months and have gone through several additional rounds of edits.

From the everyday issues of how apps like Instagram and TikTok influence our self perception to situations like how a lowincome household manages a parent with schizophrenia, Silver Chips’ investigations into mental health shed light onto these painfully real issues.

This cycle, we dedicated our PRO/CON column to the topic of social media. The concurrent rise of social media and rates of mental health disorders has certainly led some to believe that a causal relationship exists. But is it fair to place the blame on social media?

Alongside this common debate, we wanted to highlight the more obscure and underdiscussed aspects of mental health. Situations like the impacts of parental abuse leading to panic attacks, and teenage alcohol addiction leading to pregnancy and rehab, are the stark reality for some students at Blair and their families.

We should be aware of the situations that

many of our peers face—environments that have impacted their attitudes, behaviors, and lives.

And at our school, Innovation Periods barely scratch the surface of deep, nuanced topics like child sexual abuse. The negligent and careless discussion of these issues can even trigger panic attacks in victims, and those apathetic PowerPoint presentations can do more harm than good.

The student body’s concerns on the topic of mental health deserve to be raised, and a student newspaper is the exact place to voice them. With this cycle’s mental health section, I hope Silver Chips has given students insight into the underexposed sides to mental health, and I hope we encourage open conversations.

Now is the time for discussion. Read these stories and talk with your friends, teachers, and counselors. I highly encourage personal column submissions and letters to the editor on any mental health-related experiences, opinions, or concerns. If you wish to remain anonymous, we can accomodate. Don’t be afraid to share your side to mental health.

YURI KIM

To connect with Victoria, email her at ombudsmansilver chips@gmail.com

4 de febrero de 2020

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RENATA MUÑOZ & SEYOUNG JOO

Por: Tony Calderón González Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Renata Muñoz Escritores En Blair existen dos programas de estudios a los que los estudiantes pueden solicitar acceso en el octavo grado: el programa de comunicaciones y artes (CAP) y el programa de ciencias y matemáticas (Magnet).

En estos programas los estudiantes pueden cursar clases más avanzadas y difíciles. Sin embargo, estos programas no reflejan la comunidad latina de Blair. Originalmente, los programas académicos de CAP y Magnet fueron creados para aumentar la población de estudiantes blancos y asiáticos en la escuela.

La coordinadora del programa CAP, Sarah Fillman, explica que, “programas de magnet fueron creados en escuelas de bajo rendimiento para diversificar la población y traer estudiantes con alto rendimiento… y evitar [que] padres pongan sus hijos en escuelas privadas”. Este fenómeno se conoce como “la fuga de los blancos” y debido a este propósito histórico, estos programas tienen una población con mayoría de estudiantes blancos y asiáticos que no son latinos.

CAP fue establecido en 1988 para ayudar a que los estudiantes fortalezcan sus habilidades en las áreas de las humanidades y los medios de comunicación y como una continuación del programa de humanidades de la escuela intermedia de Eastern. De acuerdo con la página web de Magnet, el programa está diseñado para “ofrecer cursos acelerados e interdisciplinarios en ciencias, matemáticas e informática para estudiantes altamente capacitados que estén particularmente interesados en ​​ estas materias”.

Según la página web de MCPS, en el año escolar del 2017-2018, 22.5 por ciento de los estudiantes de Blair son blancos, mientras 33.9 por ciento son hispanos o latinos.

Fillman dice que “Todas las investigaciones acerca de programas de magnet sugieren que la población de tu programa de magnet debería reflejar la de la escuela, pero nuestro [programa] simplemente no [lo refleja]”.

La demografía de CAP y Magnet son similares con respeto a la falta de estudiantes latinos. Según Peter Ostrander, el coordinador de Magnet, de los 450 estudiantes en el Magnet, solamente 16 son latino o en otras palabras, 3.5 por ciento del total. Ostrander explica que “Los primeros años el programa fue principalmente blanco. Y ahora lo que vemos es que nuestro programa es principalmente asiático”.

Comparado a otros programas avanzados, CAP es típicamente más diverso. No obstan-

te, todavía no hay suficiente diversidad. Filmman comenta, “Desafortunadamente, somos más diversos que muchos programas…[y] nosotros fluctuamos entre… 55 a 60, 65 por ciento blanco”.

Aunque actualmente la población de latinos en CAP y Magnet es escasa , cada vez más latinos se postulan. Según Ostrander, el año pasado, 7.7 por ciento de los solicitantes para Magnet eran latinos y de los 689 solicitantes, sólo ocho de los estudiantes aceptados eran latinos, de los cuales seis aceptaron la oferta.

De los solicitantes para CAP de la clase del 2023, nueve latinos se postularon y cinco fueron aceptados. Sin embargo, a causa d e l nuevo proceso para solicitar a escuelas secundarias en MCPS, de los solicitantes de la clase del 2024, 38 estudiantes, o sea el 10.9 por ciento, son latinos. La clase de CAP del 2024 no ha sido aceptada todavía.

En algunos casos, los solicitantes latinos no tienen los mismos recursos que otros solicitantes blancos y asiáticos. Kevin Shindel, un profesor de CAP y el fundador de Conexiones, un programa que ayuda a conectar estudiantes de ESOL y latinos con profesores, añade, “están sacando de una comunidad latinx que por aquí no tiene los mismos recursos y entonces… ellos no compiten tan bien en las aplicaciones”.

Una razón por la que los estudiantes latinos no solicitan el ingreso a los programas es por la falta de educación entre la población latina en EE.UU. Según el Pew Research Center, 6.2 por ciento de inmigrantes mexicanos y 9.2 por ciento de inmigrantes cen-

“... la población de tu programa de magnet debería reflejar la de la escuela, pero nuestro [programa] simplemente no [lo refleja]”.

- Sarah Fillman troamericanos tienen una licenciatura o nivel más alto. Además, el 32.3% de inmigrantes de América del Sur tienen una licenciatura o más. En comparación el 52.1 por ciento de inmigrantes del sur y este de Asia tienen una licenciatura o más y el 40% de inmigrantes africanos subsaharianos tienen licenciatura o más.

Esta falta de educación en muchos padres de estudiantes latinos causa que no sepan sobre los programas de Magnet y CAP.

Por otro lado, algunas personas piensan que los padres latinos deberían hacer más para informarse sobre las oportunidades disponibles. Shindel dice, “los padres siempre podrían estar haciendo mas, cierto. Pero yo no creo que la carga necessariamente cae encima de la comunidad latinx. Yo creo que, de lejos, las disparidades que vemos son disparidades sistemicas”. Fillman añade, “un padre puede buscar información si quiere, pero si no lo pueden encontrar o no lo pueden leer porque no está en su idioma nativo, eso es culpa de la escuela, no del padre”.

Además de la información disponible para padres latinos, algunos programas acelerados tienen mala fama. Fillman sigue, “hay una percepción que [es como]... una cosa más para blancos o asiáticos”.

En parte p o r esta razón, algunos solicitantes latinos q u e son

aceptados deciden rechazar la oferta. Shind e l explica, “Esos estudiantes que si tienen recursos, ellos tampoco sienten que CAP y Magnet son programas para ellos debido a la exclusión y exclusividad histórica… hay varios estudiantes… que son más que capaz de estar en CAP y Magnet que simplemente deciden no ser parte del programa porque es una mayoría, por los menos hasta este punto, un programa blanco”.

La falta de latinos en el CAP y Magnet no solo afecta los estudiantes que no tienen los recursos suficiente para postular o ser aceptados, pero también a los estudiantes que ya están en los programas.

En siendo uno de los latinos en un programa, estudiantes latino llevan una carga pesada. Shindel dice, “estudiantes latinx [que] deciden algunas veces no asimilar y mantener aspectos fuertes de su identidad cultural y herencia típicamente son reconocidos como estudiantes quien… hablan por la cultura… y hablan por todos los estudiantes latinx y eso… nunca debería ser el caso... estás consciente que eres un estudiante latinx pero también eres un estudiante en CAP y entonces hasta qué punto pueden esas dos cosas ser fusionadas y combinadas para enriquecer tu experiencia o en cualquier momento es que necesitas suprimir uno de esos… por el

bienestar del individuo”.

También la falta de estudiantes latinos causa que estudiantes no tengan nadie con quien hablar con sobre sus experiencias. Mathew Calderón un estudiante del décimo grado en el programa Magnet dice que “no me gusta que no se nadie con que puedo verme … No sé otros latinos que puedo conversar de las problemas que tenemos o tal vez experiencias que podemos hablar. Es un poco difícil hablar con los estudiantes asiáticos que hay en la programa no tengo otra gente con que hablar [cómodamente]... Es difícil [relacionar] a ellos porque no venimos de la misma [cultura]”.

Para resolver este problema, hay una variedad de opciones. Shindel dice, “Yo creo que debería haber más reclutamiento activo, yo creo que deberia haber mas retención activa”. Ostrander dice que muchas veces en las escuelas donde tienen muchos estudiantes bajo el estándar no empujan tanto a estudiantes avanzados, “creo que parte del problema es que las escuelas no se miden en mover a los niños más allá de un estándar.

Se miden en llevar a los niños al estándar”.

Este año, CAP está promoviendo el programa de forma más inclusiva. Su nuevo video promocional y panfletos de información están traducido en español. Fillman dice, “cambiamos nuestras estrategias de reclutamiento y más o menos damos un vistazo a nuestro programa a estudiantes en el verano…[pero] cuando lleguen, ¿son capaz los profesores de dar la equidad a los estudiantes?... También tenemos que pensar en alfabetización equitativa donde modificamos nuestro currículo para que refleja las identidades de los estudiantes”.

Sin embargo, el nuevo proceso de postular a programas en MCPS podría cambiar la demografía de los programas debido a que raza y etnicidad no están incluidos en las solicitudes. Los estudiantes serán elegidos sin que se sepa su grupo étnico, su raza, nombre, escuela o numero de identificacion.

Adicionalmente, los coordinadores de los programas tienen menos influencia en la selección de estudiantes.

Fillman espera que este sistema ayudará a aumentar la diversidad, “estoy esperando que una vez que hagamos esta estrategia tendremos equidad y diversidad como resultado y si no tenemos, que podremos cambiar nuestras selecciones, pero… yo creo que la respuesta [del condado] va ser ‘no’”.

Aún con la nueva aplicación, los programas acelerados necesitan más diversidad e inclusividad. Fillman ve este problema con esperanza, “todos estamos creciendo, todos estamos aprendiendo y tratando de mejorar entonces esa es mi misión… yo creo que vamos por un buen camino”.

C2 La Esquina Latina

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4 de febrero de 2020

Mi experiencia en el centro de detención Afirmamos al comienzo del artículo que el autor ha elegido protejer su identidad.

El gobierno de los Estados Unidos, posee diferentes tipos de albergues para migrantes. Separan a los hombres y las mujeres para poder evitar relaciones entre ellos. También, existen albergues para personas que entran a los Estados Unidos y se entregan a migración con hijos menores de edad. Muchos de estos centros de detención no cuentan con los suficientes recursos, para alimentar o brindar objetos de higiene personal. Cabe recalcar que algunos de estos albergues están ubicados en zonas poco seguras para los migrantes. Por ejemplo, un albergue llamado el Tornillo que estaba ubicado en El Paso, Texas...

Para llegar a este lugar, tuve que tomar dos aviones. Este albergue fue causa de mucha polémica porque estaba en una zona donde constantemente se crean tormentas de arena ya que se localizaba en una área desértica entre la frontera con México y Estados Unidos. Al llegar al albergue mis primeras impresiones fueron que el lugar donde íbamos a dormir eran carpas y que era muy pequeño. Debido a esto había pocos baños y cada vez que alguien necesitaba ir, uno de los encargados del grupo tenía que acompañarlo o todo el grupo salía al mismo tiempo.

Esta fue una gran diferencia entre este

Noticia breve Terremotos en Puerto Rico El suroeste de Puerto Rico ha sentido más de 2,000 temblores de distintas intensidades desde el 28 de diciembre del 2019. El mayor de estos sismos fue de magnitud 6.4 en la escala Richter el 7 de enero de 2020 y cuyo epicentro fue el pueblo de Guánica.

Este impacto fue sentido en todos lugares de la isla.

Puerto Rico está en medio de las placas tectónicas de América del Norte y el Caribe, poniéndolo en alto riesgo de terremotos.

También, está en una zona de falla submarina que podría producir un tsunami. El Centro Nacional de Alerta de Tsunamis de los Estados Unidos asegura que no hay amenazas de tsunamis. Por el momento, se predice que los temblores continuarán.

Wanda Vázquez, la gobernadora de Puerto Rico, siguió el protocolo de cerrar las escuelas y las que han sido aprobadas por ingenieros estructurales abrieron las puertas a partir del 28 de enero. El Departamento de Educación está considerando usar 589 millones de fondos federales para alquilar salones móviles, toldos y servicios sanitarios para educar a la población de estudiantes cuyas escuelas no son aptas para reapertura SHASHI ARNOLD a causa de los daños estructurales.

A sido evidente que las poblaciones afectadas por los movimientos sísmicos tienen personas que han requerido apoyo psicológico y médico. Los menores de edad están siendo afectados al ver a sus padres angustiados ya que no saben lo que el futuro les traerá. El médico de las Brigadas Salubristas, Heriberto Marín, sugiere conversar con personas impactadas. “Hay que darles herramientas para poder manejar [sus emociones] y de preparación [a futuros eventos]”. Mientras tanto, los puertorriqueños continúan luchando para sobrellevar los retos que la naturaleza les trae.

Por: Tony Calderón González

centro de detención y el primero al cual llegue. El Baptist Child and Family Services (BCFS), fue un lugar donde todo era diferente. Los dormitorios poseen colchones cosa que los dormitorios de El Tornillo no tenían, por otra parte BCFS eran edificios en los cuales dormíamos 4 personas por cuarto y cada cuarto tenía un baño asi que no necesitábamos ir a otro lugar o que alguien nos acompañará. La comida en BCFS era muy mala y daban pequeñas raciones por lo que todos los migrantes se quejaban por eso todos los días ya que siempre se quedaban hambrientos pero nunca prestaban atención a sus quejas. Por otra parte, durante mi estadía en el Tornillo no podíamos permanecer mucho tiempo afuera, el calor era tanto que en cada una de las carpas o cada grupo de migrantes tenían un aire acondicionado para mantenerse frío.

Cada migrante tenía que tomar de 8 a 10 botellas de agua por día, debido a la deshidratación que el calor provocaba. Todos los migrantes que estábamos en ese albergue teníamos un horario muy acoplado al ambiente en el que nos encontrábamos; por la mañana nos levantábamos a lavarnos los dientes y la cara, después teníamos que limpiar nuestras carpas y ordenar nuestras camas. Luego era hora de ir a la cafetería para desayunar, todos teníamos un número de carpa, así que teníamos que ir de grupo en grupo a la cafetería para entrar de una forma ordenada. La comida en este lugar era muy buena, cada dia era algo diferente y las raciones de comi-

muchos de los migrantes empezaron a tener da eran abundantes a comparacion de otros problemas físicos y mentales ya que el estar albergues donde la comida es muy escasa todo el día adentro de una carpa y solo salir y no es tan buena. Ya adentro, cada grupo a comer o a jugar por solo una hora no les tenía que sentarse en la misma mesa y espegustaba y se desesperaban. Cabe recalcar rar hasta que todos acabaran de comer, para que durante el tiempo que pasábamos luego salir en el mismo orden que entraron. fuera de las carpas muchas veces Por la tarde teníamos aproximadamente teníamos que usar máscaras una hora para jugar futbol. Antes de salir para cubrirnos la boca de la carpa, todos y la nariz, ya que como teníamos que era una zona desértica el colocaraire levantaba mucha nos bloarena y no nos queapodíamos arriesgar dor a que la arena se solar metiera en nuesen la tros pulmones. piel Cuando un por lo migrante sale caliente del albergue que era para irse con ese lugar su familia, tiene y si no que ir durante nos colomedia noche a que cábamos le expliquen los pasos bloqueador D que tiene que seguir. AproximaL resultábamos con quemaO N I AR SHASH damente a las dos y media de duras de insolación en la piel. la madrugada se toma un autobús que lo Después de esto teníamos que lleva al aeropuerto donde dos personas del regresar a nuestras carpas y descansar hasta gobierno lo acompañan hasta entregarlo que llegara la hora de ir a comer. Al termicon sus padres. nar el almuerzo de igual forma teníamos Es de gran importancia mostrar que así que volver a las carpas y esperar hasta que como yo, varias personas tienen la obligaanocheciera para volver a salir a jugar, pero ción de abandonar sus países buscando una esta vez era tiempo para jugar baloncesto. mejor vida y les toca pasar por el mismo Cuando nos marchabamos de las canchas proceso por el cual me toco pasar y que recibiamos una pequeña merienda y posteademás en el camino pueden pasar por riormente era tiempo de tomar una ducha cosas mucho peores. La trayectoria es difícil y lavarnos los dientes para luego ir a dormir pero con tenacidad y valentía se puede justo a las once de la noche. lograr.

Estando en este centro de detención

Los programas de música en Blair: La falta de latinos en clases avanzadas

Por: Cecilia Clemens Vargas y Río Sánchez Escritoras Una opinión En Latinoamérica la música tiene un rol muy importante dentro de la cultura. La variedad en tradiciones causa que cada país tenga sus propios bailes e instrumentos que influyen la música. Esto ha creado géneros diversos como la salsa y el reggaeton y cada tipo de música añade algo a la cultura de cada latino.

Luis Ávila, un estudiante del grado doce, dice, “Siendo latino creo que la música [nos] afecta mucho en el sentido cultural de la manera que así nos expresamos en varias maneras. Bailando, cantando expresamos nuestra historia de nuestro país... Como la bachata, [y la] cumbia vienen de diferentes partes del mundo, de Centroamérica”.

Entonces, ¿por qué no hay más estudiantes latinos matriculados en las clases más avanzadas de música? Esta es una pregunta intrigante. Ávila cree que “mayormente es porque hay muchos hispanos que saben tocar instrumentos o saben bailar esos tipos de

música no les da la confianza de hacer esas actividades dado a la barrera del idioma”.

En el programa de ESOL de la escuela, la mayoría de los estudiantes son latinos y la barrera del idioma causa que no puedan tomar las clases más avanzadas de música. El señor Christopher Mercado, quien enseña los niveles uno y dos de guitarra y el nivel uno de piano en Blair, dice que en su clase de guitarra de nivel uno “varía según la clase, pero por ejemplo, mi clase del primer período es mitad y mitad, la mitad son los estudiantes de ESOL que llegaron, sin hablar inglés y luego la otra mitad [de] estudiantes que pueden hablar inglés”.

Mercado dice que él cambió su manera de enseñar la clase debido a los estudiantes que no hablan inglés y que aprendió palabras en español para poder explicarle las clases a los estudiantes de ESOL. Él comenta que “...es un gran desafío y durante esos primeros meses ... ellos tal vez no han tenido ninguna SHASHI ARNOLD exposición al inglés en absoluto ... entonces lo hace como una clase con doble instruc-

ción”.

La señora Michelle Roberts, la maestra de orquesta y la clase de tecnologia de música, comenta que a pesar de que las otras clases son más diversas solamente tiene 12 estudiantes hispanos y 19 estudiantes extranjeros.

Además añadió que ‘‘la música es un lugar acogedor aquí en Blair y los estudiantes no deberían tener miedo y si tienen dudas, pueden venir a preguntarme’’. Roberts cree que tal vez la causa es que las clases con instrumentos “comienzan a una edad más temprana y por lo tanto, no sé si hay un problema con el acceso antes, ya sabes, en la escuela primaria e intermedia”. Ella añade que no ha oído de ningún programa en el condado de Montgomery que trate de atraer estudiantes latinos a clases de música, por lo tanto, la falta de acceso se ve reflejada en quiénes participan en estas clases.

En Blair, se ofrece una gran variedad de clases de música incluyendo piano, guitarra, coro y banda. Hay una clase para todos los que aman la música y debería haber más latinos en estas clases avanzadas.

4 de febrero de 2020

silverchips

La Esquina Latina MH1

La salud mental en la comunidad latina Por: Alzahra Rodríguez Gómez Editora

La salud mental es un tema de suma importancia, debido a que cualquier persona puede ser propensa a padecer de una enfermedad mental. En Latinoamérica existe un estigma hacia la salud mental. El señor Gerasimowicz, un profesor de ESOL, dice, “Entiendo que la salud mental es un estigma en las culturas latinoamericanas, lo que dificulta que muchos de mis estudiantes puedan obtener ayuda”. Por ejemplo, según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), México está posicionado como el segundo país en el mundo donde existe más prejuicio sobre la salud mental. Emely Guevara, una estudiante del grado doce opina, “Creo que hay un estigma en la salud mental, ya que...hay muchas personas que no creen que alguien sufra por eso”.

El estigma mental desmotiva a las personas a buscar ayuda. La señora Salazar, quien es encargada del centro de carreras, comenta, “Creo que existe un gran estigma con la salud mental, especialmente...en la comunidad hispana. Una cosa que siempre he escuchado... es que ‘no se supone que debes ir a terapia o asesoramiento, no es así como resuelves los problemas, tienes que resolverlos tú solo’.

Siento que si hay una mención de...buscar ayuda para lograr una mejor salud mental muchas veces la comunidad hispana...se alejará porque parece que estás dando tus problemas a un extraño”.

Varias de las personas que padecen de una enfermedad mental prefieren ocultarlo para evitar ser juzgados o excluidos. “Generalmente los chicos que tienen una condición de salud mental sufren en silencio porque sienten que a lo mejor enseguida los categorizan de una manera negativa”, dice señora Davison, profesora de español para hispanohablantes uno.

No se invierte en la salud mental Los presupuestos que los países latinoamericanos establecen para la salud mental son bajos. Estadísticas de la Organización Pa-

Todos los miércoles durante el almuerzo la señora Gil y la señora Block se reúnen en la sala once, del departamento de arte, para ofrecer un taller de yoga a los estudiantes de ESOL. Ambas, siendo profesoras de ESOL, conocen los retos y muchas veces las experiencias traumáticas por las que pasaron muchos de sus estudiantes. Por esta razón ellas decidieron ofrecer un curso de yoga muy especial, su enfoque siendo cómo lidiar con situaciones traumáticas.

La señora Gil compartió “Ser un estudiante o ser un maestro puede ser una situación muy estresante por muchas razones. Específicamente para los estudiantes de ESOL, creo que lo que la señora Block y yo queríamos hacer...era una práctica de yoga enfocada en trauma...Los jóvenes a veces simplemente no tienen las herramientas para procesar y lidiar con el trauma en sus vidas”. Durante la entrevista me habló sobre su propia expe-

namericana de la Salud (OPS) muestran que en las Américas entre el 1 por ciento al 5 por ciento del presupuesto de salud es destinado a la salud mental. También, la OPS comenta que hay escasez de recursos, “La prestación de servicios tiende a fragmentarse y hay una mala coordinación entre los niveles de atención de salud. Los recursos materiales y humanos asignados son escasos, desiguales y están mal distribuidos”.

La salud mental en la comunidad LGBTQ+

a su familia su manera de autoidentificarse.

Ella nos dice, “Me siento...liberada hoy puedo usar lo que yo quiera, hoy no me discrimina nadie y si me discriminan a mi no me importa...mi vida ya esta feliz...pero todavía hay algunas emociones acumuladas dentro de mi, siento que es muy difícil para los padres que lo acepten a uno”.

La aceptación es lo mejor para prevenir condiciones mentales en los miembros LGBTQ+. “[La aceptación] tiene que ser en todo el mundo porque en todos los países hay miembros LGBTQ+”, comenta David Cruz.

Emely Guevara, quien se denomina como bisexual, dice, “Siento que existirá el sistema de apoyo que se necesita ya que al lidearlo en solitario crea una gran carga”.

En Latinoamérica existe otro gran estigma. Este es hacia la comunidad LGBTQ+, lo cual puede afectar la salud mental de miembros de dicha comunidad. Según la Fundación “Todo Mejora”, los miembros del LGBLa experiencia migratoria afecta TQ+ cuentan con una tasa de suicidio cuatro la salud mental veces más alta que el resto de la población.

David Cruz una estudiante transgénero del Emigrar a otro país es una experiencia undécimo grado menciona, “Muchos papás dolorosa que muchas veces genera traumas. no apoyan a sus hijos...o todavía Muchos inmigrantes, inellos no saben...A veces cluyendo alumnos esto hace que algunas de Blair, han crupersonas tengan zado la frontera y ganas de… [daalgunos hasta ñarse] pero hay han sido sepasoluciones para rados de sus eso, hay que familias. Esto hablar con los puede caupadres claramensar trastorte y darles tiempo no de estrés para aceptar la nueva postraumático realidad”.

(TEPT), depreSer parte de la comusión, entre otras nidad LGBTQ+ no es una enfermedad enfermedades mental. Es cierto que las personas SHASHI ARNOLD mentales. “La maLGBTQ+ son más susceptibles a yoría de mis estudiansufrir de depresión, ansiedad, aislamiento y tes...pasan ilegalmente, han cruzado la problemas alimenticios pero es por el temor frontera y muchos de ellos han visto violade no ser aceptados. “A mi me ha costado ciones, crímenes, cosas violentas y muchas salir del closet...es muy difícil porque a veces veces no están ni dispuestos a hablar...Esos tienes muchas emociones...tú estás adentro y recuerdos a veces les atormentan mucho”, dices ‘yo me quiero poner esas pestañas, yo cuenta la señora Davison. Basado en las exme quiero maquillar’...te sientes como apar- periencias que estudiantes le han contado, la te”, menciona Cruz. Es muy difícil ocultar señora Salazar piensa, “Creo que causa mutodas esas emociones y tu propia identidad chos traumas en el sentido de abandonar un por eso hay que hablar con alguien que uno país que has conocido como hogar por tantos confie y así poder terminar con esta lucha in- años, a veces tu familia es separada, a veces terna. Hace unos meses David le comunicó no puedes hablar o comunicarte con la fami-

lia”. Sobre su llegada a los Estados Unidos, el estudiante David Cruz cuenta, “Me deprimi porque cuando vine...me sentía diferente… había gente de toda clase... a uno lo miraban como una basura. Pero...ya con el tiempo vas aprendiendo”.

Trabajar y estudiar

Es común ver que los alumnos estudien y trabajen. Esto puede ser una causa de estrés.

El señor Gerasimowicz afirma, “Las presiones de los niños que sienten que tienen que trabajar pueden contribuir a su salud mental al provocarles ansiedad, nerviosismo y depresión... La escuela a veces se deja al lado debido a las necesidades financieras inmediatas”.

Es por eso que se recomienda comer bien, descansar y hacer ejercicio para evitar un desbalance.

Hay distintas maneras de lograr una buena salud mental

Pedir ayuda es una acción muy valiente, sobre todo si es para mejorar tu salud mental.

La señora Salazar hace lo siguiente para tener una buena salud mental, “Estoy en mi propia terapia donde aprendo muchas técnicas sobre cómo lidiar con ciertas situaciones...

Me diagnosticaron depresión, por lo que ir a mi terapeuta...me ayuda a hablar sobre todo los problemas con los que estoy lidiando y lo recomiendo encarecidamente...porque... puede cambiar tu vida en una dirección positiva”. La señora Salazar aconseja, “Si estás con alguien que perturba tu paz mental, no vale la pena... Al proteger tu mente, proteges tu corazón y también estás protegiendo todo tu espíritu y tu cuerpo”. Juntarte con personas que te valoran y apoyan es esencial.

La estudiante Dayanna Manchame, del noveno grado, dice, “Me junto con gente que me hacen sentir bien, que me apoyan y no le pongo...atención a las cosas negativas porque poco a poco te van afectando”. También se recomienda hacer ejercicio o actividades que a uno le gusten. Es imperativo darle prioridad a la salud mental. Está en nosotros el proveer apoyo a familiares y amigos que lo necesiten y acabar con el estigma que desafortunadamente plaga este tema.

Yoga en la salud mental riencia con el yoga y los diferentes tipos que existen. “Empecé a practicar yoga hace casi 20 años en la escuela de posgrado por intervalos...empecé a probarlo porque...era popular...y pensé que sería interesante. A medida que comencé a aprender más sobre el yoga, aprendí las diferentes formas de practicarlo. Ya sea si se trata de un yoga de meditación relajante o más de un yoga atlético, para construir realmente el tono muscular...

Simplemente disfruto los beneficios tanto del aspecto físico como del aspecto meditativo.”

Siendo maestra de ESOL ella conoció varios estudiantes que compartieron sus experiencias de cómo llegaron aquí y el impacto que esto tuvo en ellos. También obtuvo más información sobre el tema en los talleres de salud mental ejercidos por el condado de Montgomery este año escolar. “Por eso quisimos... crear este taller de yoga para ellos, para que ellos se sintieran cómodos viniendo porque sabemos que a veces son tímidos y no se sienten cómodos con estudiantes que... americanos”. A raíz un estigma sobre la salud mental en la población latina, no solo de Blair, pero alrededor del mundo, la señora Gil quiso que sus estudiantes se sintieran a

gusto en estos talleres.

Esta iniciativa tiene como objetivo proveer no solo un lugar seguro para que los estudiantes mediten sus problemas pero también un cambio de ropa donados por una fundación para aquellos estudiantes que no se sienten cómodos en hacer yoga con su ropa de día. La sala donde esta actividad toma lugar, cuenta con colchonetas de yoga y todo el equipo que se necesita para disfrutar de media hora de completa tranquilidad en un ambiente amigable. La práctica que enseñan la señora Gil y señora Block se llama autorregulación, y es parte del programa de yoga traumática. “Básicamente es una lección en como controlar tu emociones y problemas. El trauma por supuesto influye en eso.” El ejercicio del yoga enseña a cómo lidiar con situaciones fuera de nuestro control, por lo cual la señora Gil intenta enseñar a los estudiantes como respirar profundamente y aprender a

controlar las emociones que estas causan.

El tema de la salud mental no es muy hablado en la comunidad latina. Muchos estudiantes no están dispuestos a intentar estos ejercicio por miedo al qué dirán o para evitar ser llamados ”loco”. La señora Gil busca derribar estas barreras para asegurar que estos estudiantes encuentren una manera de manejar las emociones que el venir a un país extranjero causa, aún más cuando esa experiencia es traumática. “También queríamos algo que se enfocara más en sus necesidades y especialmente en la violencia que pueden haber experimentado...”, dice la señora Gil. Todos los interesados son bienvenidos. La sala es un poco oscura para crear un ambiente más calmado y personal, esto ayuda a los estudiantes a relajarse sin tener miedo de quien los esté viendo. Para más información sobre los talleres de yoga, puede ir a ver a la señora Gil a la sala 154 durante el almuerzo o simplemente puede venir a uno de los talleres, así de paso aprende algo de flexibilidad. Yo tengo la intención de asistir a el taller de yoga. ¡Atrevete!

SHASHI ARNOLD

MH2 Mental Health

February 4, 2020

NO

ESTHER TANG

ESTHER TANG

YES

silverchips Has the internet had an overall positive effect on mental health among teenagers?

By Grace Walsh Staff Writer

By Adam Chazan Staff Writer

t is blatantly clear that the internet, without fail, can make us crazy. We have heard this from parents, the media, and even some mental health professionals. They say that social media will make us isolated, anxious, addicted, and depressed. But Cally Tate’s 431,000 Instagram followers would disagree.

“This page makes me feel so understood, I’ve always went to bed feeling like no one will ever understand me but now I know that’s not true,” said one of the hundreds of comments under Tate’s post, praising the difference that social media can make.

“Social media can tie all those people together and make you realize that you’re not alone,” Tate, who started the Instagram account “@ emotions_therapy” last year as she was recovering from an eating disorder, said.

Tate is not alone in her effort. There are dozens of similar accounts on every social media platform designed to provide a safe place for those in need. Accounts like Tate’s are just one way that people are using the internet to help address the current mental health crisis. Social media is a positive outlet that allows people to express themselves and reach out for help.

Experts agree that diagnoses of mental health problems have been steadily increasing for the past several decades, long before the internet and social media. But the problem has not dissipated.

In 2018, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association released a report on the rates of diagnosis of major depressive disorder. “Between 2013 and 2016, diagnoses increased 63 percent among adolescents and 47 percent among millennials,” they concluded. With such a dramatic increase, it is no surprise that researchers are looking at the role of the internet and social media to potentially find a correlation.

A study of 500 teens by Sarah Coyne, a professor of family life at Brigham Young Univer-

concluded that “having no in-person relationship with [social media] contacts is associated with increased depressive symptoms.”

Despite some of these concerns, many use social media positively, and social media can provide the benefit of online communities and resources to get help. Still, the reality is that our experiences online do not occur in a vacuum. We are constantly influenced by the things around us, including the companies that own the applications we use. Just like any other addiction, we cannot expect the problem to go away because a select few users are able to avoid these pitfalls.

Some social media companies, such as Instagram, have recognized that their platforms can negatively impact the mental health of their users and have taken steps to improve their platforms, such as removing likes or implementing time management tools.

“We’re increasingly making decisions that prioritize the well-being of our community over our business—for example, reducing pressure on Instagram by hiding likes,” Liza Crenshaw, a spokeswoman for Instagram, wrote in an email.

However, these measures are not enough, since any significant decrease in user engagement would be harmful to revenue for social media companies. “If [social media companies] really think some brilliant intervention is going to reduce a teenager’s average use from 3.5 hours a day to 2.2 hours a day, they are not going to do that,” Primack said.

Rather than waiting for social media companies to act against their own interests, it’s imperative that we make the necessary adaptations in our own lives. While the statistics suggest overall negative impacts of social media on mental health, in the right hands it can be a positive and productive tool. The responsibility falls on us— the consumers—to think critically about our usage of social media and adjust our online activity as much as possible to promote mental wellness.

ESTHER TANG

voicebox

Michael Hands Sophomore

YES “It has a positive effect because if it had a negative effect less people would be on social media.”

Sephora Depenyou Freshman

YES “Having access to social media you can talk to people you wouldn’t really talk to– you can create a community online.”

KELLEY LI

sity, found “no link at all between the time spent on social media and depression or anxiety.”

Coyne concluded that what mattered most was what people did with their time online. “I think it was surprising,” Coyne said of the study. “It went against our hypothesis, it went against the public debate.”

Additionally, a review of 70 studies by a team of Australian researchers found the same conclusion. One of the authors, Peggy Kern, wrote in an article titled “Is Social Media Good for You?” that the degree of impact of social media depends more on the individual’s personality and preferences than on the platform or amount of screen time.

“Across the studies, it appears that it’s not so much that social media causes anxiety and depression, but that people have different ways of using social media, which may be more or less helpful,” Kern wrote.

So how can social media and the internet help with mental health issues? In exactly the same way that the internet has transformed every other part of society: by increasing awareness, providing access to help, and building communities. Across the internet, one can find campaigns dedicated to educating and bringing attention to mental illness, ranging from sharing prevention hotlines to initiating conversations through hashtags on social media platforms.

For nearly every mental health problem, there is an online resource that is available 24/7, around the world. Twelve-step programs for addiction, alcoholism, and eating disorders now offer online meetings so that anyone who needs help can get it even without leaving their home.

Apps and web services like talkspace.com and betterhelp.com offer one-on-one live therapy sessions from your smartphone.

And most importantly, the internet has helped to build communities of people struggling with mental health issues, breaking down the isolation and stigma that so often prevent those who need help from getting it. Like Tate’s account, many communities develop spontaneously on existing social media platforms.

“The platform is really helpful, and it helps me see that there’s so many people that feel the exact same way you do or feel similar things or are in a completely different boat,” Tate said. “It really helped me because every time I get on that account it’s just like a reminder that I can do this.”

Social media has the ability to connect people and share stories. Junior Noelle Efantis uses private Snapchat stories as an outlet to release anxiety and stress. “I have all these feelings that I want to share [with] people and if I can’t share them then they are bottled up inside,” Efantis said.

She posts on her private story as a less stressful way to get support without directly asking people. “I [post] because it’s hard to go and ask for help from someone but if they offer to help you after they hear your situation then it’s a lot easier to accept the help,” Efantis said.

So despite what you may have heard, social media can be the first step to a happier and healthier life. But the question of whether the internet causes or cures mental health problems does not have a simple answer. It can do either, or both, depending on how each person uses it.

Coyne summed up the complex power of the internet. “You can build people up,” she said.

“You can tear people down, right, you can be happy, you can be sad, you can connect, you can disconnect. It’s really the way that you use it.”

F

or many of us, social media is no longer just a medium of communication, but an essential part of our social lives. Information about almost anything or anyone is readily available, entertainment feels endless, and trends spread like wildfire. Stepping away from social media is daunting, but it has its benefits, especially for mental health.

Despite its undeniable appeal, the meteoric rise of social media has led to new concerns about mental health. A poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association reported that 67 percent of adults related social media usage to feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Benefits, including easy access to valuable information about mental health, simply do not outweigh the many harmful effects of social media.

A 2017 review of 110 existing social mediarelated studies from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that increased social media use is “linearly associated with prevalence of mental health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.”

Brian Primack, who co-authored the study, was surprised to find a definitive relationship between social media use and negative mental health symptoms. “What the data showed was that there is basically a straight line,” he said.

“The more social media people used, the more depressed they were, the more anxious they were, the more lonely they felt.”

This correlation between social media and mental health concerns reflects the experiences of many students at Blair. Senior Jason Amaya took an extended break from social media after he realized that his excessive use of social media was eclipsing his life offline. “I was on my phone six, seven hours a day,” he said. “My parents would tell me to do something and I would get mad because I was on my phone doing stuff and I didn’t want to do anything else.”

Once he stopped using social media, however, he realized that it was not a priority. “Leaving social media and then coming back to it a month later, [I saw that] I didn’t need social media at all in the first place,” he said.

Unfortunately, Amaya’s choice to leave social media is not the norm. It is often difficult to break away from the online world, especially as teenagers, when we are so influenced by the opinions of those around us. Social media offers constant validation and approval from peers, even if it is not legitimate. “Every notification you get, you feel good about it, like people care about you,” Amaya said.

Social media companies have a monetary interest in ensuring that users spend as much time on their sites as possible so that they will be attractive to potential advertisers. Instagram, for example, frequently sends push notifications that are designed to get the user to click into their app, and Snapchat streaks, which measure the number of consecutive days that two users communicate, apply pressure to stay on the app.

Time sacrificed on social media could instead be spent developing real-world relationships that benefit mental health. According to a March 2018 poll by Common Sense Media, an organization that helps families and schools navigate the online world, teenagers prefer texting as their method of interacting with friends. This drift away from in-person interactions is alarming, as data suggest that online relationships without an in-person foundation can have negative effects on mental health. Another study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

voicebox

ESTHER TANG

I

Aaron Abraham Junior

NO “I think it has a negative affect on mental health because they like to compare themselves to public figures.”

Iftu Kadi

Sophomore NO “Social media is toxic because girls compare each other to other girls.”

Mental Health MH3

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February 4, 2020

MCPS needs transparency about mental health support

By Aviva Bechky Staff Writer

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

Over the summer, isolated and unhappy, Layla stayed home and broke down. Diagnosed with depression the year before, and now without school to force her out of the house, she found herself struggling to do any of her work.

When she began her freshman year this fall, her teachers approached her to ask why she had not turned in her summer homework. Layla told two teachers, but avoided opening up to a third. She worried that the teacher would escalate her situation, perhaps arranging a meeting with her parents and counselor. “I [didn’t] really want it to become a big deal,” she said.

Layla’s situation illustrates a wider problem with mental health support in MCPS. Students do not know how different teachers will respond if they open up about mental illnesses, so too often, they choose to stay silent. Bottling up about the problems they are dealing with can only exacerbate them, so it is essential that the county encourage students to ask for help.

With that in mind, MCPS must clarify to students what will happen when they come forward. The county already has basic guidelines in place regarding mental health, like their protocol for what a teacher should do if they learn that

a student is suicidal. It is beyond simple to teach students about these guidelines during an innovation period.

Of course, every teacher supports their students’ mental health slightly differently. While that individuality can be helpful in connecting with students, it leads to problems in terms of transparency.

According to counselor Kirk Simms, “It’s at the teacher’s discretion… whether they report to us or not.” In other words, depending on who they turn to, students get a wide range of responses.

English teacher Peter Lynch has one approach. He knows how delicate the issue can be, but acknowledges that some things must go to the counselors. “You have to be careful and you have to follow up,” he said. “If you come across any idea that a student is in danger… by law, you have to report that.”

Chemistry teacher Allie Coyle

goes about it differently. She works with counselors in some cases, but she also reaches out to people beyond the counseling office if she thinks her students need it, referring them to groups like the Street Outreach Network, a gang inter-

what each teacher will do with the information that they confide. Yes, every teacher is different, and yes, every case is different, but no matter what, certain measures must hold true: that the teacher maintains privacy whenever possible, that they speak to a counselor if the student is at immediate risk, and most of all, that students understand these guidelines. It is entirely up to JENNIFER HU teachers whether they want to take a more out-of-the-box approach, but if so, they must ensure that the student is comfortable with the measures they plan to take.

Right now, students like freshman Mary Oliver are afraid to come forward because they do not have a vention program. “I’ll call anyone good idea of what their teachers’ I know to help a kid out,” Coyle reactions will be. This fall, strugsaid. gling with depression, an eating Both of their approaches are disorder, and obsessive-compulreasonable. However, such varia- sive personality disorder, Oliver tion between teachers means that watched her grades plummet. Decurrently, students cannot be sure spite that, she convinced herself not

A turn in terms

to ask for help from her teachers.

“I just need to hold it in,” she thought. “[Teachers] probably won’t care or they probably won’t help.”

Eventually, when an upsetting incident caused her to panic during class, Oliver revealed what was going on to one teacher.

That teacher was supportive, and a weight lifted off Oliver’s shoulders. But if that incident had not happened, and Oliver never had the cause to panic, she may never have spoken to that teacher and never have received that help.

MCPS needs to encourage students to come forward, and that means being clear about what students can expect. It is terrifying to approach a teacher—or anyone else—to talk candidly about mental health problems. To ask students to do it without knowing what will happen next is absurd.

Layla still has not told that third teacher about her struggles with mental illness. Besides the academic support she needed, she just wanted someone to listen, and she found that in another teacher.

Approaching this one for help was just not worth the risk of escalation.

Every student like Layla is entitled to support from each of their teachers. But until students know what to expect, they will be reluctant to ask for it.

Transparent MCPS guidelines will make clear that help is always available, regardless of the student and regardless of the teacher.

Misusing illness related terms devalues the experiences of those that deal with mental illnesses

By Khayla Robinson Staff Writer

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

Isabel struggles with both anxiety and depression, two illnesses that affect her on a daily basis.

With one compelling her to care too much, and the other forcing her to rarely care at all, Isabel has to maintain the difficult balance of coping with both. Now imagine what it’s like to hear somebody use these illnesses to exaggerate the severity of minute situations, or make it the base of a joke.

Feeling sad or nervous isn’t the problem—everybody encounters these emotions.

The problem is how using “depression” to express temporary sadness, or using “anxiety” to coincide with feeling nervous five minutes before a presentation, has a real impact on the image behind mental illnesses.

When people don’t consider these differences and use these terms lightly, it feeds into the stigma behind them, trivializing the difficult reality that those with mental illnesses face.

When people are unaware of the impact of misusing illness-related terms, or blatantly ignore the effect they have to exaggerate the severity of their own situations, it alters the image of mental illnesses and what those that deal with them face. When the media misuses terms, presenting illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as less severe than they

appear to be through generalizations, that forms fabricated images of these illnesses while invalidating the feelings of those that deal with them.

Many jokes about OCD revolve around the belief that small actions such as color-coding a to-do list or constantly rearranging the orders of inanimate objects is all there is to it. In reality, OCD tends to be more fluid than people think, affecting people in distinct ways.

According to HelpGuide, a mental health and wellness website, OCD may mean that a person checks a stove 20 times even after turned off, fearing that something will go wrong, or have involuntary

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thoughts about a situation that occurred in their life that replays constantly. Yet the media still generalizes OCD as a “cleanliness” disorder, overlooking the consuming effects it has on people.

Senior Hailey Mitchell’s experiences with OCD are fairly different from how the media portrays it.

Instead of it affecting how “clean” she is, it takes a toll on her way of

thinking. “For me, I’m not a clean freak,” she said. “If you’ve seen my room, it looks like a tornado hit it.” “[Other people may think] ‘Oh, I’m not a clean freak! Then I must not have OCD’—that’s not necessarily true,” Mitchell adds.

Instead, Mitchell has intrusive thoughts that replay in her head due to OCD. On one occasion, Mitchell thought about a friend’s experience with self harm, describing it as a traumatic experience.

Although she wasn’t compelled to hurt herself, those repetitive thoughts—caused by OCD—made her think about the situation regardless.

“[I didn’t want] to do that to myself, but it was still thoughts that would not go away,” Mitchell said.

W h e n it’s time for those actually dealing with OCD to seek help, they may hesitate due to what the media portrays. In a text message, therapist Sangeeta Mehra wrote that mental illness related jokes harm those who need help, while affecting how the illnesses are perceived to others.

“When one jokes about a mental illness with malintent, it further stigmatizes the condition, thus preventing an individual from seeking the help that could be life changing,” Mehra wrote.

Junior Francesco Berrett, diagnosed with depression and anxiety, explained that the misuse of terms causes him to question his feelings,

even when it’s evident that what he encounters is severe.

“When someone is like ‘Oh, I’m super depressed because I missed my bus,’” Berrett said, “It feels like, ‘Well then are my emotions not valid?… Am I just over exaggerating everything?’”

Instead of debating whether or not the misuse of terms affects those with illnesses from stand-

points of little comprehension, realize that the generalization of illnesses continues to pose a threat to the topic of mental illness, affecting those who need certain labels. Whether it’s the invalidation of feelings or the false portrayal of illnesses, inappropriately using terms feeds into the stigma behind mental illness, negatively impacting those who truly need the help.

soapbox Do you think terms like anxiety and depression relating to mental illness are overused? If so, what is the consequence?

“Anxiety and depression are definitely overused.

This takes away from actual victims who aren’t heard.”

— Erick Alvarado, junior “The words anxiety and depression are way overused. People just throw those words around like they mean nothing.... Unless you’ve been diagnosed by a real doctor or therapist, you shouldn’t say you have depression or anxiety.”

— Grace Williams, freshman “I do think that the terms are overused but people do not understand the difference between the emotion ‘depressed’ and the mental state and lifestyle of depression.”

— Max Nieman, sophomore

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February 4, 2020

Mental Health MH4/MH5

Living with trauma: the trickling effects of abuse

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

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains descriptions of and information about abuse and trauma which some readers may find disturbing.

W

hen Susie realized that November’s innovation period, Blair’s occasional wellness initiative, would focus on abuse, she was deeply unsettled. She never thought that she would be confronted with her trauma during the school day.

Filled with anxiety, Susie started to tremble and fidget, feeling the anticipation of an oncoming breakdown. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but it was of no use. The background noises faded out until she could only hear her teacher’s voice. Susie then saw the following words on the Promethean board: “You notice that your friend has a bruise on their arm…”

That specific statement took Susie back a year, to a night that she never wanted to remember at school. Remnants of that traumatic evening have haunted her far past the incident, and linger painfully in her daily life. “[Trauma] affects our lives pervasively… body, mind, and soul,” Alan Nathan, a clinical psychologist and motivational psychoanalyst, says. “It is possible for somebody to look like they’re functioning okay, but to be struggling quite severely.”

There is often no warning before episodes like Susie’s are triggered. “Anything could trigger [a victim] because the emergency [fight or flight] mode becomes your normal,” Nathan says.

“Maybe if I stay still”

In her classroom, Susie dissociated from her environment and froze in a state of shock, mentally reliving a disturbing event that transpired a year before and was the culmination of years of physical and verbal abuse from her mother.

Susie lives with her mother, a single parent, who dominates every aspect of her life. As Susie has grown older, her mother has become increasingly controlling. “We stay in the same room,” Susie says, “even though we have this big wonderful house that has an office space and dining room space that we could separately work in.” Susie’s mom routinely sits with her every night for hours to ensure that Susie is not off task when she completes her homework.

But her mother’s dominance does not end when Susie finishes her homework. Susie often has to share her twin size bed with her

mother, despite the fact that they have their own designated rooms. Even in the most intimate areas, her mother’s overbearing directives have rendered Susie’s privacy virtually nonexistent.

One night at 3 a.m., Susie awoke to the chills of her barren and enclosed bedroom. The room was still, filled only with the sound of her bed creaking. Still drowsy, she opened her eyes to see her mother sitting up in bed glaring at her, instead of peacefully sleeping next to her.

“She [was] really worked up about something, she started yelling, and I got scared,” Susie says. “I [tried] to leave the bed.”

Susie’s mother maneuvered herself and placed herself on top of Susie, trapping her with her body. She began

her bedside with a stuffed animal on top as her makeshift pillow for the night.

Susie spent the next hour relaying the events that had just occurred, trying to make sense of the situation. It was still the middle of the night, and Susie’s room was surrounded in a veil of dark blue light.

Staring at the clock and watching the shadows of her bedroom objects, she let her tears fall. “I was just lying on the floor, I was crying,” Susie recalls. She couldn’t sleep as feelings of vulnerability, sorrow, and isolation washed over her.

As Susie lay awake, she found herself yearning for a supportive figure. “I wish I had someone there to comfort me, but the only person that was there to comfort me was the person who made me cry,” she says.

“I kept going back to the night before”

“ Trauma affects our lives pervasively... body, mind, and soul” - Alan Nathan

to yell at Susie, unleashing unbridled anger. But Susie paid no attention to her words. “What is going on? What is she going to do next? Is she going to do something worse?” Susie thought at the time.

As her mother grappled with Susie’s body, Susie thrashed around, trying to break free. Without warning, her mother leaned down and bit her just above her elbow.

Susie was paralyzed. “Maybe if I… stay still,” Susie considered, “and don’t react too much, then she’ll calm down and she’ll get off of me.”

After some time, Susie was able to finally regain control from her mother. She rolled off of her bed and slept on the floor, using books by

During the next school day, the events of the previous night still echoed inside Susie’s mind. “I was struggling to stay [alert] and keep my focus in the classroom,” she says. “I kept going back to the night before and thinking about lying there on the carpet.” She started to tremble and her heart pounded in her chest, even though there was nothing in the classroom to remind her of the previous evening.

Even in situations when no real threat is present, the body lives in a continuous fight or flight state. “Your parasympathetic nervous system, [one of the things] that helps you relax, can get stuck,” Beth Wheeler, licensed clinical social worker and the director of Edges Education and Consulting, says. This internal reaction can often lead to a host of physical symptoms, including shaking and heart palpitations.

Months after Susie’s trauma occurred, her brain still recognized her experience as a present and ongoing threat. What she saw on the board became a reminder of her trauma and provoked her body’s natural fight or flight response. “When our systems are overwhelmed with fear and rage and emotional pain in a way, we’re not eligible to take effective action to resolve what’s happening to us,” Nathan says.

Although these symptoms are typical a few days after the incident, diagnoses of mental illness such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) apply when the symptoms persist and become present in daily life. “One of the most serious problems is when you can’t get out of [the flight or fight] state,” Nathan says. “You tend to shut down or freeze up. And that is what often keeps the symptoms of trauma going unresolved.”

“School is my safe place, my happy place”

Susie views school as a haven—a getaway from her home environment. “School is my safe place, my happy place. I know some people really hate school, but that’s not me,” Susie says.

School is generally the only time when Susie has a chance to meet with her friends, who serve as her support group. “Even though they haven’t personally experienced something similar to what I have,” Susie says, “they… value me as a person and they care about me as a friend, and they want me to be healthy.”

Having outside support, as Susie has, is a vital part of the healing process. “People tend to recover [quicker] or have less likelihood of PTSD if they’ve had somebody with them,” Wheeler says. “They’re not alone.”

However, the process of healing is never achieved through a single solution. “If you only talk, you’re not going to fully heal,” Wheeler says. “If [victims] don’t work through some of what’s going on in the body, symptoms can still remain.”

“You never know who it’s going to be significant to”

After a traumatic experience, many victims have trouble concentrating, remembering, and communicating.

Therefore, classroom behavior can be a prime indicator of adolescent trauma.

When Susie faced such a blatant reminder of her abuse, she had no choice but to disengage from the lesson on abuse by placing her head in her arms. Although Susie’s withdrawal may have been seen as disrespectful toward her teacher, it was her way of hiding from past abuse.

Trauma-informed teaching is an approach that trains educators to interact with students who have suffered trauma mindfully and respectfully. “[Teachers should be aware] if a person is responding a certain way, particularly if it’s not their usual way of being,” Wheeler says.

Susie wishes that teachers would discuss topics like trauma more carefully. “[In class], people are thinking about a million other things and nobody really wants to pay attention, but as a teacher you have to take action against that kind of feeling and approach,” Susie says. “Because you never know who it’s going to be significant to.”

Before her emotional breakdown in the innovation period, Susie had long thought that the effects of her traumatic event had worn off. “That [lesson] was surprising to me, because I thought I was over it,” Susie says. “But I guess you never really are.”

Story by Design by Art by

Abednego Togas Lilia Wong Abednego Togas Shashi Arnold Ivvone Zhou

MH6 Mental Health

February 4, 2020

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Hidden barriers: the cost of mental health treatment

By Khushboo Rathore Anika Seth Senior Writer & Staff Writer When senior Natnael Kelkay and his two younger siblings get home from school, Kelkay doesn’t reach straight for video games or even for his homework. Instead, he checks on his mother, Maritu Akalu, whose diagnosis of schizophrenia means that she has to be watched constantly.

The single-income family tries to keep tabs on her, checking in every thirty minutes to an hour. If they don’t, she may leave the house, getting lost for hours at a time.

When mental illness hinders a parent’s abilities, students are often compelled to balance additional responsibilities with their day-to-day lives. But in low-income families, the environment is often more taxing. “We have 16-year-olds who are taking on responsibilities that an adult is usually taking on, and that can be very stressful to people, with that and school on top of it,” Stephany Ponciano, a mental health counselor from the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), says.

Balancing act

This trend is evident in Kelkay’s family, where his mother’s limitations increase Kelkay’s responsibilities. “My personal experience is that I have to do the things that my mother can’t do,” Kelkay says. “As she lost her independence, I gained my own.”

Over the years, Kelkay’s family has developed a process to find Akalu when she’s disappeared, which starts by checking the locations they regularly visit. “Sometimes we find her in those places, around the park or on the street,” Wondwossen Abesha, Kelkay’s father says.

But if the family can’t find Akalu within an hour or two, the police department will get involved, taking her picture and helping the family find her. “If we leave her alone in the home, we cannot find her,” Abesha says.

“We know, after five, six hours… it’s difficult to find her.”

Abesha, Kelkay’s father, works the building services night shift at Montgomery College. He takes care of his wife during the day and works during the night, staying in touch with his children for updates about his wife.

“When I am going to work, all the kids are in the home… they can follow what she is doing,” he says. “At very hard times, they are going to call me and [I am] just going to come… and help them.”

His $16-per-hour wage is the only income

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supporting his family of six. Of Abesha’s approximately $35,000 annual income before taxes, $3,000 goes to Abesha’s oldest daughter’s college education. The family will eventually have to pay for their other children’s university fees, starting with Kelkay’s next year. According to research by Amy Glasmeier from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the estimated living wage for a family with three children and two adults in Montgomery County is nearly $75,000.

Katherine Martin, a private clinical psychologist, explains that individuals who work lower-income jobs are usually unable to take the time to go to therapy. “They are not going to sacrifice going to work to seek mental health treatment because… the basic demands of going to work and acquiring enough income to pay their bills, take care of their children, and put food on the table is [a] greater priority than their mental health,” she says.

Between overseeing Akalu during the day and working late into the night, Abesha has little time to take care of his own needs.

“Of course, I cannot get enough rest,” he explains. “In the day I cannot sleep more because when I sleep, I don’t know what she’s going to do. So I have to follow her, [and see] what she’s doing all day.”

The insurance battle

According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, Medicaid—a public health insurance program—provided health coverage for 97 million low-income Americans over the course of 2015.

In addition to overall health coverage, Medicaid also has benefits for people struggling with their mental health. “If you have Medicaid and you are seeking individual therapy for depression or anxiety, something like that, Medicaid automatically pays—without any question—for 12 sessions,” Martin says.

Akalu is insured under this Medicaid program, which covers the expenses of medication and monthly therapy appointments.

However, the quality of care under Medicaid is limited. “We have regular appointments… her doctor checks on her every month, once a month,” Abesha says. “But, the doctor only increases and decreases the dose of the medication.”

Martin accepts Medicaid as an insurance provider. Her usual rate is $170-per-hour, a rate that is normal for the area, but Medicaid pays her $79-per-hour.

However, since Medicaid pays her less than half of her usual rate, Martin restricts

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the number of Medicaid patients she takes to about 20 percent of her overall clientele to meet her own financial requirements. “The problem is I’m a solo practitioner,” Martin explains. “I simply can’t make my own bottom line if I see too many Medicaid clients.”

Alternatives to insured treatment

There are, however, limitations to Medicaid’s mental health benefits. Because of the relatively low rate that Medicaid pays, many solo practitioners do not accept the insurance provider. In addition, undocumented people cannot enroll in Medicaid.

To help alleviate insurance struggles and other access barriers, the Silver Spring YMCA partners with the Downcounty Consortium to provide both documented and undocumented students with short-term counseling services in school. “[Our programs are] designed to help individuals who have either no insurance… or insurance that may have a long wait list, or maybe they have a high co-payment,” Ponciano says.

One of the program’s greatest benefits is enabling students to receive help without

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leaving the school building. “The parents can go to work and have peace of mind that their kids are getting the mental health care that they need and they're not running around trying to get them to their appointments,” Ponciano says.

Counselors can refer students to the YMCA based on their judgement, and in the past, there have been no questions about insurance providers. But this year’s referral form now contains four questions about insurance, including provider information and a reason that the student cannot be treated through their own insurance plan.

While the intention of this program is to focus on students who don’t have other means of getting help, the new questions can disincentivize youth from seeking the care they need. Because many students don’t know whether they have insurance, Blair counselor Emily Putney considers the new questions “yet another barrier.”

Culture shock

A large part of the YMCA’s work at Blair involves students from immigrant families. Many recent immigrants from Central America have problems adjusting because of the new language and culture, according to Ponciano. “We help to adjust and help them cope with [the move],” she says. “Sometimes [immigrant children] feel anxiety or they may feel depressed that they had to leave everything behind, and that's a lot of the issues that we see.”

This narrative holds true for Kelkay’s family as well. When they moved to the US in 2009, his mother struggled with adjusting to a new country while also managing her already present condition. “I think what added to her stress and her mental health [was] the culture shock,” Kelkay says. “And I don’t think she was able to cope with it.”

Kelkay’s mother often goes back home to Ethiopia for a more comforting form of treatment. “Around the church, there is the holy water, and even the priestesses pray for her,” Abesha says. “She gets the spiritual or religious treatment according to our Christianity… In addition to this, she is taking her medication.”

His mother feels more comfortable in her home country, giving her more control over her mental health. “When my mother goes to Ethiopia… she feels more welcome, and she feels more at home, at ease,” Kelkay says. “She’s able to calm down.”

The family’s access to treatment plans, domestically or overseas, is restricted by what Medicaid allows. “We don’t [pay] any additional cost, but the insurance is limited,” Abesha says. “We can find any other, better treatment and better doctor, but the insurance is limited. [It] doesn’t cover all treatment, so she only gets the treatment that the insurance covers.”

February 4, 2020

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Mental Health MH7

Addiction: an unrecognized mental illness from ADDICTION page A1 drank to relax after work or with friends. “I thought I had seen it help other people, and I thought it would make me feel better,” she says. “And then it worked. It did make me feel better, and I always remembered that.”

Throughout her childhood, her parents knew she struggled with eating disorders and mental health issues. Burkhaulter hid her alcohol addiction from her friends and family before high school, but the scene changed drastically when she enrolled in Idyllwild Arts Academy in Southern California after earning a vocal scholarship. Fueled by exposure to a variety of drugs and people with addictions, Burkahulter became dependent on drugs for the next decade-and-a-half.

Burkhaulter’s own recognition of her substance abuse was no match for the hold it took on her mental state and lifestyle. Sent to rehab by her parents, Burkhaulter was forced to recognize her substance abuse but remained stuck in the grip of addiction. “The first time I was forced to stop was when I was 15 in rehab. I didn’t even make it 60 days,” Burkhaulter says. “I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin… in my own body and mind.”

‘It hurts to love you’

Burkhaulters’ adolescent addictions guided the course of her adult life, taking her to a point that even she couldn’t bear. Addicted while pregnant, disgusted by her own actions, Burkhaulter faced a harsh emotional reality in the summer of 2015. “I had my second son, who was born addicted to heroin and fentanyl,” she says. “That was just the worst experience of my life.”

Addiction often takes a toll on family members to the point of complete emotional exhaustion. “It hurts to love you, and I can’t care anymore,” Burkhaulter’s father once told her.

“It still makes me cry to this day because I never thought I would hear my dad, who’s my best friend, say something like that to me,” Burkhaulter says.

Born ill from exposure to opioids, her son suffered for three weeks in neonatal intensive care.

Left to reflect on the pain she had caused her dad, an innocent baby, and all her loved ones, Burkhaulter felt nearly suicidal and knew she needed help for the last time.

“I really wanted to live, but I wanted to die at the same time,” she says. “I had what in AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] we call that ‘moment of desperation,’ where I asked for help and took it.”

From belonging to isolation

Students often come to Blair hoping to find a bubble of acceptance in a sea of over three thousand students.

In an effort to get closer to a boy she liked, Campbell Walsh, a former Blazer who graduated in 2019, fell into a lifestyle that completely disrupted the stability of her life. “He was a big druggie,” Walsh says. “I wanted to impress this guy… [and] I started hanging out with a social group that was just all about doing drugs.”

As she continued through high school, an initial means of social inclusion led to isolation. Once her dependence on nicotine began to hinder all aspects of her life, Walsh switched to online school and continued to fall further into isolation and lack of motivation.

“My day consisted [primarily] of waking up and smoking, and then chilling, playing a video game, eating food, and then going back to sleep, and I repeated that for at least a month,” she says. “I was totally separated from everyone else from Blair.”

Attempting to recover from her isolation and addiction, Walsh noticed that she never developed healthy coping mechanisms because of her drug dependency, which made growing into an adult much harder.

“In a way [using drugs] wouldn’t help me mature… because I was stuck in this cycle of using drugs as a way to cope with my life,” she says. “I never developed healthy coping mechanisms.”

Fighting the illness

Recently, conversations around substance abuse center around adolescents and the increasing prominence of drugs like marijuana and nicotine.

According to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, approximately 11 percent of high school seniors vape nicotine daily.

For anyone with substance-abusing tendencies, recovery is a process that often requires outside help. Walsh began to receive treatment for depression and anxiety in her sophomore year and joined an AA group, which she credits with bringing forth the motivation to move forward in her life.

Also recognizing her need for professional help after her son’s birth, Burkhaulter went to an inpatient treatment in Ethle, Louisiana where she began attending AA meetings at age 29. The reflective nature of the steps of AA contributed to her self-awareness and compassion, she believes. “[AA] helps you see your character defects,” Burkhaulter says. “It really makes you become a humble and kind human being.”

Samantha Yates, a former addict who now works at a rehabilitation and treatment center, says that AA is only one of a variety of available treatments. “Our evidence-based therapies treat addiction in tandem with mental-health disorders, ranging from posttraumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) to anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and many others.”

Despite the work of people like Yates, the problem of addiction isn’t going away.

According to the 2016 National Survey and Drug Use and Health, 89 percent of the 19.9 million adults with substance use disorders are not receiving services in the U.S. As Burkhaulter believes, providing platforms to talk about addiction is a powerful way to fight it.

No one wants to become an addict, but through proper treatment and services those who suffer can heal. “We didn’t have childhood dreams of becoming an addict, we never wanted to hurt our families or watch our friends die. We suffer from a disease. If we get help, we can recover,” Yates writes.

Now with recovered relationships and a sober lifestyle, Burkhalter is proud of who she has become, for herself as well as for her loved ones.“I get to show up as a daughter for [my dad], I get to show up as a sister, I get to show up as a mother to my kids.”

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Before accessibility comes awareness Informing the student body of mental health resources third annual Mental Health and Wellness Forum.

In addition to these initiatives to reach out to students, there are several resources within the counselling department, one of which is a therapist from the YMCA. Kirsten Anderson, the senior director of intervention services at YMCA Youth and Family Services, provides therapy to underprivileged students.

“We serve kids who have no insurance [or who] have private insurance but really can’t access [therapy],” Anderson says. “Maybe their copay is too high… [or] maybe their parents work too many hours [or] they can’t find someone who speaks Spanish.”

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Advertising programs and initiatives

Bolstering the resources

By Ashley Thommana Staff Writer As the bell rings to mark the end of first period, Blazers pour out of their classes and trek through the hallways. Contrary to their normal schedule, however, students are not headed to their second class of the day. Instead, they meet with their homeroom teachers for 30 minutes of Innovation Period.

The purpose of this half hour is to inform students about topics ranging from restorative justice to mental wellness. Specifically, this attempt to highlight mental wellness resources is part of a bigger push in Blair to advertise mental health initiatives.

Last year, the Blair counseling department recognized a lack of support in the social and emotional wellbeing of students. “Looking at the program holistically… that was one area that we saw as a department [where] we really needed to do more to support our students,” counselor Raolat Agbedina says.

Thus far, Blair’s student wellbeing initiatives have included opportunities to socialize with guide dogs, posters to color in the hallways, and signs around the school with mental wellness information.

The counselling department and PTSA also scheduled and hosted an Emotional Health & Wellness Night in December. Similarly, in early January, MCPS and the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations (MCCPTA) also hosted their

Although there are several mental health programs, including the aforementioned therapist, promoting this information can be challenging. “Nationally, people aren’t aware of the resources of school counseling,” Makeyda Soriano, Blair’s counselling resource officer, says.

As the counselling resource officer, Soriano must make sure that students, parents, and teachers stay informed about the programs and initiatives Blair offers.

“One big part of my role is to help ensure that our community is fully aware of those initiatives and to also enhance different opportunities for mental health awareness,” she says.

While Soriano tries to keep the Blair community informed of mental health resources within the school, MCPS has similarly set up the online county-wide BeWell365 program, which hopes to address the lack of knowledge about certain resources, like psychologists, and how to reach them.

Nevertheless, despite the county and counseling department’s advertising pushes, some students are still unaware of the mental health resources.

“It is upsetting that we don’t have a lot of information about [mental health initiatives and programs],” junior Isabelle Megosh says.

“I think a lot of students would benefit from those resources and they just don’t know that they are here.”

More progress to be made

In addition to the lack of advertisement, there are still many mental health resources that haven’t made their way into Blair. EveryMind, for example, is an external mental wellness organization which works to give students access to mental health programs.

The organization connects communities with resources that bolster mental wellbeing.

“One of the goals of our programming and the target of what we do is to make sure that our youth and family have access to those high-quality mental health services,” Diana Barney, the division director of youth and family services at EveryMind, says.

EveryMind has wellness centers in schools across the county, including Watkins Mills and Gaithersburg, as well as other programs staffed with trained mental health professionals.

However, Blair doesn’t currently have a wellness center, as the process to obtain one is quite lengthy.

Barney believes that having EveryMind and other mental health resources in schools is beneficial to the entire community as it encourages discussion of mental health. “It creates a culture for the school, it creates a culture for the staff, it creates a very different environment than in places where that doesn’t exist,” Barney says.

She hopes that in the future the county will expand the mental health resources provided

by EveryMind. “More schools need more services,” Barney says. “There’s 204 schools or so … [but] there’s only four [high school] wellness centers.”

As Blair and the county continue to implement and advertise their several mental health programs, their main focus is to bolster student wellbeing and promote a positive school climate. “Our goal is that we want to make sure all of our students are supported social emotionally,” Agbedina says.

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D1 Photo

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! 新年快乐

鼠年

YEAR OF THE RAT Festival-goers, including senior Sky Bloomer (below left), gathered in Chinatown on Jan. 26 to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Art by Shashi Arnold Photos by Delia Moran and Miles Grovic Design by Aviva Bechky, Esther Tang, Audrey Li, and Lucy Martin

February 4, 2020

February 4, 2020

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D3 Features

You too can YouTube

February 4, 2020

A showcase of Blair’s talented student creators

By Anna Fisher Lopez Staff Writer Ever wanted to watch a bunch of high schoolers trying the spicy ramen noodle challenge, a kid solving a Rubik’s cube while backflipping, or Jake Paul playing pickup basketball at the LA Fitness in Silver Spring?

Montgomery Blair’s YouTubers can deliver, with diverse and successful channels that have amassed thousands of subscribers and hundreds of thousands of views.

Since YouTube’s creation nearly 15 years ago, the platform has evolved into a way for small-scale creators to share their passions and talents with a global audience. With just under 2 billion users, YouTube is the second most popular social network in the world, behind only Facebook. The simplicity of creating a channel makes it easy for anyone, even busy high schoolers, to start their own.

Senior Daniel Greigg was watching YouTube when he first got the inspiration to create a channel focused on his intense yet relatively obscure hobby: speed cubing. Speed cubing involves solving different types of Rubik’s cubes as quickly as possible, sometimes while competing against other “speedcubers.” Since he began his channel, “Lights, Camera, Cubing,” Greigg has connected with other cubers who share his interests. “Starting my channel kind of allowed me to meet new people all across the country, all across the world, people I never would have talked to before,” he says.

Part of the reason that Greigg has reached so many people through his channel is because of its niche popularity. Greigg started to gain recognition after uploading a video from a popular cubing competition, and his momentum only increased when he landed a sponsorship from The Cubicle, a company from which Greigg often buys Rubik’s

COURTESY OF DANIEL GREIGG

INFLUENCER Senior Daniel and tells his subscribers

Greigg reviews Rubik’s which ones are worth

Cubes. Now, over three years since his first video was uploaded in 2016, “Lights, Camera, Cubing” has gained over 9,000 subscribers and has multiple videos with more than 45,000 views.

Greigg enjoys running his channel, but balancing a high school schedule with a successful YouTube channel isn’t easy. Greigg often finds himself filming multiple videos in a weekend in order to take advantage of the free time he lacks during the week. “I don’t really have an upload schedule,” he says.

“Whenever I have free time, not doing homework, I’ll try to get stuff out.”

Another Blair creator who has to juggle uploading YouTube videos with other res-

Cubes buying

ponsibilities is senior Beka Edao, founder of the channel “Goodmen” that posts vlogs and skits created by him and his friends.

Edao loves making videos, but as the only one of his friends who knows how to edit, the workload can be time consuming. “I’ve got school, work, and then I have to find a way how to [finish] the vlog… so we can be consistent,” he says.

Edao decided to create the channel at the beginning of his sophomore year. “I just thought it would be cool to be a YouTuber, and I knew that our lives are interesting,” he says. “One day, I told my friend ‘I’m gonna just pull out my phone, we’re gonna start a YouTube channel.’” Spontaneous and en-

tertaining, “Goodmen” videos document the antics of Edao and his friend group, giving Edao the opportunity to share his experiences with the Blair community. “It’s just who we are,” he says. “We have our fun moments and we just want people to see it, and when people liked it we kept on going.”

As “Goodmen” began to grow in popularity, Edao and his friends started getting recognized from their videos. “We went to an away game one time [and] someone called us out by our channel,” he says. “It’s pretty fun that people know about the channel and enjoy our work.”

Edao believes that those with an unexpressed interest should create a channel, regardless of the views or subscribers they might receive. “Don’t stress about numbers and whatnot if you like what you’re doing,” he says. “If you have your own passion or something that you want to share… then go do it.”

Despite being told by other YouTubers not to worry about numbers, sophomore Adiratou Sy feels gratified when one of her uploads gets more views than expected.

“When I recorded my vlog to Africa… I was just surprised by how many views I got,” she says. “And I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I should post more things to boost up my views.’”

Sy started her channel, “Queenx Adiratou,” about a year ago, and posts vlogs from trips around the world and her daily high school life. One of her main focuses is boosting her subscriber count. “I’ve been trying to shoot for 100, so I can reach the next benchmark which is 500, and from 500 to 1000, and so forth,” she says.

The common struggle of gaining initial subscribers can be challenging, but Sy has no regrets about creating her channel. “Youtube is fun!” she says. “When I put memes in my videos, I just start laughing because it’s so funny. I’m like, ‘I hope people enjoy this!’”

‘A mission with a building, not a building with a mission’ The Newseum closes its doors after 11 years, but its vision lives on

By Oliver Goldman Staff Writer Along historic Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., only six blocks from the Capitol and a mere nine blocks from the White House, lies a towering glass structure.

With a stone slab etched with the words of the First Amendment looming over its entrance and a display of 80 daily front pages from newspapers around the world lining the sidewalk below, the building was home to one of Washington D.C.’s treasures for 11 years. But on Dec. 31, the Newseum opened its doors to visitors for the last time.

The extensive seven-story museum sought to increase the public’s understanding of the freedoms granted by the First Amendment through evocative and engaging exhibits covering a wide but interconnected array of material.

The decision to close left longtime employees disheartened. “I am going to cry when we close in December,” Janet Purnell, an 11-year employee, said in the lead up to the closure. “It is going to be so sad.”

The Newseum was both funded and founded by a parent organization called the Freedom Forum, who decided to sell the space to Johns Hopkins University after deeming the museum’s home in the heart of the Natio-

nal Mall too expensive. “The Newseum is an expensive place to keep up, through staffing, through just powering it up everyday,” John Maynard, a senior director of programs, says.

“It just was not financially sustainable.”

The museum’s finances have been turbulent ever since its inauguration in 2008. “We were in trouble right away when the recession hit,” he says. “Some of our founding partners, major media organizations, also went through some financial difficulties [over] the last decade… A combination of those two things really led to the financial downfall of the building itself.”

Mary Bethmoore, a 10-year volunteer at the Newseum, expressed that the closure came at an especially regrettable time. “[The closure] seems untimely, in particular, since we are all trying to strive for the Freedom of the Press, [the] Freedom of Religion, and all the First Amendment freedoms that are fundamental to our existence,” she says. “[The Newseum] served a really important purpose of keeping everybody’s mind set on what we are so lucky to have in our Constitution.”

Walking through the Newseum was both a civics lesson about the five core freedoms of the First Amendment and a history lesson on more than 400 years worth of major events in America and the press’ role in them. From the “Berlin Wall Gallery,” the largest display

of the original wall outside of Germany; to “1776–Breaking News: Independence,” the story of the American Revolution as conveyed through a graphic novel; to the “Journalists Memorial,” a towering glass structure that mourned and recognized the more than 2,000 journalists who have died while reporting the news, the Newseum blended swaths of history into one cohesive and enthralling journey.

Just as distinctive as the values represented in the exhibits was the impressive modern architecture of the building itself. Designed and constructed by the Freedom Forum, the extensive space served to remind visitors of the Forum’s vision while also entertaining them.

Hogwarts-esque staircases and news helicopters loomed above the Great Hall and a sixth-floor terrace overlooked the Capitol and vivacious Pennsylvania Avenue. Maynard identified the building’s glass walls as the aspect of the space that he will miss the most. “I think the glass sort of represented transparency, which is what the media should be: transparent in how they cover things,” he says.

The Newseum’s departure will leave the public without the instrumental messages

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and warnings essential to guaranteeing and safeguarding the five freedoms today. “95-96 percent of people that left [did so] with a better sense of what the First Amendment is and how it is important to their lives,” Maynard says.

While the space that the Newseum occupied will now be taken over by a graduate program at Johns Hopkins University, the Freedom Forum plans to continue espousing the freedoms of the First Amendment.

The forum has a new workspace on Capitol Hill and plans to coordinate programs and exhibits in the future. As for the artifacts, the ones that were on loan will be returned to their owners and the others will be kept in a storage facility outside of D.C. because, as Maynard explains, “everyone’s hope [is] that we can have [another] museum.”

“We are far from making any type of announcement or even knowing where that might be,” Maynard says when discussing the possibility of a new museum. But he highlighted that the Freedom Forum’s mission to defend the First Amendment lives on, even in the absence of a museum space. “We are a mission with a building, not a building with a mission,” he says. “The mission of the museum lives on.”

February 4, 2020

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TikTok Takeover

By Ayush Dutta Staff Writer TikTok, a video-sharing app that features user-created 15–60 second lip-sync and comedy content, has exploded onto the online video-sharing scene. Having amassed over 800 million worldwide users, Maryland high schoolers have also joined in on the craze around the app, with many of them creating their own TikTok videos.

The app directs users to a semi-personalized “For You” page—similar to Instagram’s “Explore” page—compiled by a mysterious algorithm that promotes certain videos, allowing some to rack up millions of views.

On this page, the TikTok algorithm is likely to feature teenage stars dancing to popular choreography, viral trends, or, in the case of many DMV locals, Maryland-themed videos.

“I saw my first Maryland themed TikTok like two months ago, and my reaction was like, ‘Oh my gosh, people actually know Maryland is a state,’” Junior Noelle Efantis, an avid TikTok user, says.

Searching “#maryland” on the app reveals thousands of videos explaining popular Maryland trends, from DMV slang that one can hear around the halls of Blair to teens ranking Maryland schools and various plays on the Maryland “lax boy with a Jeep and Old Bay” stereotype. “I made one about the most attractive schools in Montgomery County,” Efantis says, “and that one kind of went viral.” As of publishing, it has accumulated 35,200 views.

While location-targeted content isn’t a new phenomenon, the spike in local videos has many users concerned about their privacy. In TikTok’s privacy policy, the company explicitly states its use of users’ locations.

“When you use the Platform on a mobile device, we will collect information about your location,” the policy reads.

However, many users claim they were unaware of this collection entirely. “I never

put my location into TikTok,” Efantis says.

“I had no idea they knew where I lived.”

The appeal of going “viral” and becoming “TikTok famous” is one way the app has garnered such rapid success with the teenage community. “One of my videos actually got 200,000 views,” Efantis says. She downloaded the app on a whim but claims it has now transformed into much more. “I downloaded [TikTok] as a joke last year and now I spend six hours a day on it. It’s very addicting.”

The TikTok algorithm has found a unique way to keep users captivated by mixing content from popular creators with content from amateur users, raising questions about how the app decides which videos get popular. A Google search reveals thousands of articles and YouTube videos containing unfounded theories surrounding the “For You” page algorithm, and how to increase one’s chances of landing videos on it.

From using trending music to making shorter videos, the efforts to reach TikTok stardom are plentiful, though effort does not directly correlate with success. “I didn’t really make videos to try to become famous…

I didn’t put too much thought into it,” Junior Jeremy Masson says, whose video poking fun of the use of the term “yello,” garnered 1.8 million views.

“I just made a joke about White dads,” he says, but didn’t expect the video to gain as much traction as it did. “I was really confused at first … It just kept getting shared more and more; it was really surprising.”

The general consensus, between multiple online sources, is that the more interaction— likes, comments, and shares—a video gets, the more exposure it gains on more users’ “For You” pages.

This system has turned everyday highschoolers into overnight Internet sensations, most notably Charli D’Amelio, a 15-yearold Connecticut native who has amassed over 20 million followers and just under one billion likes on her dancing videos. Crazy,

Culture E1 How the ‘For You’ page is transforming social media

right?

The simplicity of going “viral” on the app, combined with the youth’s fascination with fame and an enormous platform with millions of daily users, strongly appeals to

ESTHER TANG teens and captivates many of them for hours on end. TikTok will continue to grow its audience throughout U.S. high schools as their app design bears potential to become the most downloaded app of all time.

Bounties, blasters, and Baby Yoda A review of The Mandalorian

By Ashley Thommana Staff Writer To someone who has never seen Star Wars, Disney+’s The Mandalorian may seem alien. However, its endearing characters, action-packed plot line, and great visual and auditory effects are sure to captivate its audience as it guides them through a cinematic universe like no other.

“The show presents a host of characters from different planets.

The intricate details of their costumes, builds, character development, and the variety of languages, species, appearances, and customs throughout the series are a joy to behold.”

The Mandalorian follows the escapades of a rugged and mysterious bounty hunter, five years after the conclusion of the original Star Wars trilogy. Fortunately, for those who are unfamiliar with the Star Wars franchise, the show’s storyline is not related to the franchise’s main plot, so no prior knowledge of Star Wars is required to enjoy the show.

But that does not mean The Mandalorian does not have something to offer die-hard Star War fans, too: The show is ripe with references to the Star Wars universe and is sure to appeal to lore buffs.

The main character, a Mandalorian, dons armor and a helmet that never comes off, commanding respect and awe from all those around him. A skilled fighter, he is aided by what is possibly the world’s cutest sidekick, the Child—more often referred to as “Baby Yoda” by fans. The eight-episode television series follows the Mandalorian as he and the Child embark on a wild journey across the universe.

As he hurls through space, making pit stops at different planets, the Mandalorian fights to protect the Child from the greedy

hands of The Client, an unnamed man who wants his bounty, the Child.

Balance is the key to the dynamic between the Child and the Mandalorian: The Child’s adorable curiosity and softness appropriately counterbalances Mandalorian’s serious, quiet, and reserved nature. The pair make an endearing combination, especially as the Mandalorian grows to care about the Child and his tough exterior slowly begins to melt away.

Although it has a few shortcomings, the show

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compensates for them with superb visual effects and a diverse cast of characters, for which the Star Wars universe is well known. *SPOILER ALERT* The final episode ties the show together well, while still leaving plenty of plot threads for a second season to explore: The Mandalorian is able to fight his way to freedom from the clutches of Moff Gideon, an imperial officer who had employed the Client to obtain the Child. After his escape, the Mandalorian realizes that he needs to find the Child’s home.

With this realization, the Mandalorian recognizes that he must act as the Child’s father until he can return the Child to his family. This is a monumental moment in the show, one that solidifies the relationship between these two main characters.

Interestingly, in the last scene of the final episode, we witness Moff Gideon’s survival from a riveting final battle with the Mandalorian and the reveal of his weapon, the Darksaber (a contrast to the Star Wars franchise’s familiar lightsaber).

This setup places the Mandalorian on another wild journey to elude his formidable opponent, Moff Gideon, who wants the Child, his prized bounty. *END SPOILER ALERT* As for what happens next?

We will have to wait for season two to see if the Child is returned to his family and learn exactly why he is so important.

But in the meantime, we have these eight satisfying and exciting episodes of the first season to enjoy.

While The Mandalorian isn’t the perfect show, it comes pretty close, and is a wonderful watch for any and all.

9.75/10

International Newsbriefs Wildfires blaze accross Australian landscape Since July 2019, Australia has been experiencing some of the worst wildfires it has seen in decades. The state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s most populous state, has been impacted harder than any other.

As of Jan. 25, the bushfires have killed 33 people (25 in NSW) and damaged over 3,000 homes. Buildings on the outskirts of Sydney and Melbourne have also sustained damage, and haze from the fires continues to smother both cities at dangerous levels.

At least 18 million acres of land—more than twice the size of Maryland—have burned.

Scientists point to climate change as a cause and perpetuator of these fires, as changing climate conditions have made heat and drought more common throughout the country. Australia is currently experiencing an extreme period of drought, with its spring of 2019 having been the driest on record. Wind is also a huge factor in the fires’ devastation, allowing flames to spread quickly across long distances.

For months, authorities have been working to fight the fires, with NSW declaring a state of emergency in January.

Currently, thunderstorms and rain have put out the fires, but some of the land is so dry that it cannot absorb water, causing flooding.

Airstrike sparks Iranian protests On Jan. 11, the Iranian government admitted that it was responsible for shooting down a Ukrainian airliner on Jan. 8—causing 176 deaths—after three days of denying the allegations.

Protests have since formed, mostly among university students and members of the middle-class. They have taken to the streets of Tehran to protest the initial government denials about the Ukranian plane crash, reportedly chanting “death to the dictator” among other things.

Iranian state media has not covered the protests, but protestors have shared videos and images of the situation through social media.

Many other media sources have condemned the government’s response to the fallen plane. Kian Abdollahi is the editor-in-chief of Tasnim, a right-wing news agency. He is connected with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces that protect the Islamic republic political system. Abdollahi denounced Iran’s authorities for hiding the truth from its citizens. “Officials who misled the media are guilty too,” Abdollahi tweeted. “We are all ashamed before the people.”

Some Iranian journalists working for the state-run media, called the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), have also resigned to defy the government. One television news anchor who quit, Gelare Jabbari, apologized for lying to the people on an Instagram post.

“It was very hard for me to believe that our people have been killed,” Jabbari said. “Forgive me that I got to know this late. And forgive me for the 13 years I told you lies.”

International Newsbriefs compiled by Ishaan Shrestha

February 4, 2020

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E2 Culture

New Year’s Res-illusions

Students change absolutely nothing for 2020

By Emilie Vigliotta Staff Writer

Congratulations. It is sixteen days into the new year and absolutely nothing has changed. You had your chance to make lifechanging decisions, but your New Year’s resolution is broken, or was never made in the first place.

Maybe you decided that you didn’t have anything to change—that you were perfect, a shining star in the darkness of high school. Now, you have to live with yourself until the next New Year’s Eve rolls around!

Perhaps it isn’t too late. Pick something.

Going to the gym once a week? Sure, that’s a good idea. Straight As? These goals are getting better and better. Create several successful business ventures?

Absolutely golden.

This isn’t something you have to do alone!

Ask family and friends for suggestions on what you’re doing wrong. Make inquiries to your peers and educators as to what they believe are your most critical failures as a human being.

Research shows that rates of failure for New Year’s Resolutions are steadily climbing. Strava, a social media exercise-sharing app, tracked user data from 2018 and explained that the greatest drop in data occurs on the second Friday in January. For 2020, that benchmark

occured on Jan. 10.

It is important to understand that you are not going to change anything by doing nothing. Nothing magical is going to happen—you won’t grow three inches overnight or discover hundreds of extra dollars in your bank account.

You thought that 2020 was going to be different. The new decade was supposed to be a turning point.

Almost a month later, it is an important question to ask yourself:

IVVONE ZHOU

Did you follow through?

When looking to make critical lifestyle adjustments, consider simple resolutions. There are still changes you can make in your daily agenda. Consider a simple goal for the high school student: learning something new. You can, for example, discover the number of ceiling tiles your math class has, counting from one side of the room to the other while your teacher gives a boring lecture.

If you set your sights even higher, you could learn what is under the vending machine, or read the messages scrawled on the side of the bathroom stalls. Did you learn anything from these valuable resolutions? Probably not; they were worth nothing. After wasting your 2020 resolution, you only have to wait another ten-anda-half

months to find something new to devote your time to.

Maybe you should choose something that actually matters. Instead of wasting your time with delinquency in the bathroom, you can use it for what it’s really for: sitting in the stall for 90 minutes with your pants around your ankles, skipping that math test you didn’t study for and shifting stalls every couple of minutes to keep the motion sensor lights on.

If you plan on making healthier habits, the bathroom is a good

Blazers of Note

By Anika Seth

Corporal Sharese Junious In early January, Blair’s School Resource Officer (SRO) Sharese Junious was promoted to the rank of corporal in the Montgomery County Police Department. SROs serve as intermediaries between the police department and the school at which they are located. “My job is basically acting as a liaison between the police department and the school,” Junious says, “and basically making sure that the school has any law enforcement support that it needs.”

According to the Montgomery County Police Department’s website, SROs are responsible for assisting with emergency preparedness education, crime prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, and community outreach, among other

tasks.

Junious believes that the most important part of her role is building connections with Blazers so that they feel comfortable bringing their concerns to her attention. “Relationships [with students] are very important because they allow me to be able to talk to students or for students to feel comfortable coming to me when there’s an issue in the school,” Junious explains.

Junious has been Blair’s SRO for five years now; however, as a result of her recent promotion, she will be leaving Blair at the end of the school year. “There are no corporal SROs,” Junious says.

“More than likely, I will finish out this school year, and then they will transfer me to a different unit in the

Judy Goldstein

so many more types of Judaism than I ever thought.”

As a result, Goldstein feels a stronger attachment to Israel as a Jew. However, she finds it difficult to reconcile that love with her views on the country’s political climate.

“My ancestors for thousands of years have been telling [the story of ChanuCOURTESY OF JUDY GOLDSTEIN kah], and… every year on have the opportunity to travel to Chanukah, you say, ‘Next different locations in Israel, such year in Jerusalem,’ right? The idea as Safad, one of the four holy cities [is] that one day, they’ll be back of Judaism. For Goldstein, cultural at the temple, praying,” Goldstein moments like these have proven says. transformative to the way she con“It means so much to me that nects with her faith.

I’m here because they couldn’t be “[Safad] is this city where there’s here… but I have a lot of problems this really interesting branch of Ju- with the way that Israel was founddaism… called Kabbalah,” Gold- ed,” she adds. “To get their counstein says. “[It’s] like Judaism, but try they had to kick out and kill so much more spiritual… I don’t know many Palestinians… so now they’re if I identify with that, but there [are] struggling to rule over a people that

Junior Judy Goldstein hasn’t spent the last several weeks grinding through junior year in the Blair hallways. Instead, she has been studying abroad in Israel since early December and plans to return to the United States—and Blair—at the end of January.

Goldstein, who is Jewish, is in Israel as part of a program run

by Alexander Muss High School in Israel, which enables Goldstein to attend school in Israel for two months. For half of the days, participants attend classes; for the other half, they have the opportunity to travel the country.

The program’s rigorous academic schedule involves material specific to Israel and Jewish culture, as well as general schoolrelated commitments. Aside from classwork, Goldstein and her peers

place to catch up on sleep, if you can handle a quick nap in the unique aroma. It’s the first step towards bettering yourself, if you can keep it up for the rest of the year.

According to the University of Scranton, only eight percent of people keep their resolutions through the entire year.

If there’s a 92 percent chance that you won’t follow through, is there a point in making one?

Will you stick to the resolution that you made a month ago?

Will you change nothing, and stay stuck in the primitive ways of 2019?

Take some words of advice before you leave. Those resolutions that you were planning on making? Statistically, it is not going to happen. Success is futile. To ensure that previous mistakes don’t catch up to you, you should dedicate your time to worrying about the past instead of the future.

Remember last quarter, when you only turned in half of your homework assignments and got a C in the class? It’s probably best to keep beating yourself up over that, and do it exactly the same next semester, instead of pretending that you could do any better.

That boyfriend that dumped you in 2019? Yeah, don’t resolve to get another one. You don’t want to end up single for prom season, scarred by the tragic end to your romance.

Don’t get upset that life is not getting any better—everyone is experiencing this same series of unfortunate events. The numbers are working against you! Maybe better luck will come your way in 2021.

DELIA MORAN

department.” After leaving Blair, she expects to return to a patrol shift.

In addition to working for the

Staff Writer

police department, Junious is an Air Force reservist. Serving as part of law enforcement has been her dream since she was young.

“I wanted to be a police officer since I was a little kid, so much so that when I graduated high school, I joined the military because I wanted to be military police,” Junious says. “I did that for nine years on a full-time capacity, so active duty, [and then] got out and became a Montgomery County police officer.”

As she leaves Blair, Junious expects to miss the relationships that she has forged with students and staff. “Even though I’m the only police officer in the building… I feel like I’m a part of the staff,” Junious says. “And the relationships that I’ve built with [the students are]… probably what I’m going to miss the most.”

didn’t want to be ruled over.”

While Goldstein believes Israel to be integral for Jewish people, she disagrees with its attitude towards refugees.

“I think that Israel is an important place for Jews, but I don’t like the way that they treat refugees, and there’s also so much racism here,” Goldstein says. “My personal opinion is that Israel should be attempting to take in as many [refugees] as possible… but a lot of people don’t agree with that because they think it’s really important to maintain a Jewish majority in the population.”

Nevertheless, being able to experience this self-discovery alongside peers who are experiencing similar feelings has inspired a sense of solidarity in Goldstein. “It’s really hard to explain to people at home how I’m feeling, but the people here just get it,” Goldstein says. “I don’t even have to put it into words.”

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February 4, 2020

What’s poppin’?

AUDREY LI

Interviewing The Washington Post pop music critic

By Teddy Beamer Columnist Itamar Forino & Op/Ed Editor Ethan Park Sports Editor Chris Richards is the Pop Music Critic at The Washington Post. He writes music reviews, concert reviews, profiles, and more. He began his journalism career as a writer for his high school paper and self-published fanzine, and has worked at The Post for over a decade. This interview was edited for length & clarity.

As the pop music critic, what would you say is your primary focus or responsibility?

I think that pop music is this huge swath of styles and sounds and generations.

Technically, everything counts that isn’t classical music. How you begin to make sense of that for readers is another question, because it’s just so, so much. The balancing act that the editors and I have come away with is a balance of what Washington Post readers want to know about and what I want them to know about.

It used to be this thing where people counted on music critics to tell them whether or not they should actually walk to a record store and spend $17.99 on a compact disc that they had never heard before—those days are obviously over.

If Taylor Swift drops an album right now, you guys can listen to it as soon as it’s there, you don’t need to go read a review to see if you should bother and spend the money you made working at your weekend job on this thing. So that’s great, and I think it’s a really exciting time for criticism in that sense.

Do you have a specific rubric or criteria when you listen to a song or project?

I think what I’m trying to do is figure out what makes the music unique to itself. Not all music is completely original and e ve r y thing is built on tradition, in a lot of ways.

In fact, it’s almost impossible to hear any kind of music that doesn’t have some kind of traditional root. Because if it did, it would not make sense to us.

It would be like music from an alien civilization; we wouldn’t understand it without that context. What I’m

trying to hear is what gives the music its character—what makes it different. That’s what I’m trying to listen for whenever I’m experiencing something.

I ask, “What is this saying? What is this music communicating? What does this experience feel like that doesn’t feel like anything else?” And, from there, you can start making qualitative judgments about whether it’s good or bad.

But I don’t know if saying something is good or bad even really matters—I think it’s more about trying to locate what happens, the essence of it.

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band—Sleater Kinney. So in my fanzine, I had written something about “Hurry up and see them now before the balding critics of The Washington Post start caring about them.”

Here I am [he takes off his hat]. All these years later, you know what I mean, I became the enemy, so to speak. So, technically, I think that’s the first concert I ever reviewed—I was chastising my future self, in a weird cosmic loop.

do, and it makes me believe in their belief, if that makes sense. And Whereas music helped me forge identity when I was young, I think it helps me forge empathy and understanding as I get older.

So, in terms of how the criticism has changed—yeah, for sure, I hope that I’m more engaged than my predecessors many generations before were. I would hope so.

And I would hope that someone who comes after me is more so than I am.

Have the “bald-headed critics” of The Washington Post changed their perspectives?

Want to know more about Richards’ opinions on EDM, DMV rap, K-Pop, and the job of being a music reviewer? Scan the QR code below to read the extended interview transcript: https://qrco.de/bbPQV0

I would hope so. I mean, I think when you’re young, or at least when I was young, part of it was this romantic raging against what the world was giving you.

And I found incredible empowerment in punk music because it felt like, one, a tacit rejection of capitalism, which was really empowering at the time, and at the same time it made me feel special as a person.

When I was young, music helped me figure out who I was and who I wanted to be, and as I got older, I started to go to concerts that I wouldn’t normally go to—country shows, gospel performances— Now you’re suddenly surrounded by people who are figuring out who they are through music. And even though a gospel concert might not make me believe in God, it does make me believe in people.

It makes me believe in the people who

How has your personal enjoyment of music changed as a reviewer?

I think if I felt that the deadlines and the pressure of the working part of it were somehow corroding my connection to music, then I’d probably quit or find something else to do. But fortunately, I have found it to be the other way around.

The more I think about this stuff, the more I get to talk about it with people I know and don’t know. I mean just talking to you guys today, it’s like everything just kind of intensifies my relationship to music in a really cool way. I want to be around music no matter what. I feel very fortunate to have found a job that allows me to be completely immersed in it, which is great.

There are times when I get exhausted by it.

Grammy week is a nightmare. It’s really difficult, and I think the Grammys are such a flawed institution as a whole. But, guess what? It’s music’s biggest night, and it’s this nationally televised event, and it’s suddenly a night when American people are told to care a lot about pop music.

I know a lot of eyes are coming to me.

So, I want to make the best of it and try to say something meaningful about this thing other than, “Turn it off next year, don’t watch it!”

Do you remember the first concert you attended with the goal of reporting on it?

Technically, I started reviewing shows I was going to for my fanzine in high school. So old shows at the Black Cat. I AUDREY LI think I had seen this

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By Teddy Beamer Columnist We’ve all been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But what makes breakfast so important? It’s probably because it’s the only acceptable time of day to eat Belgian waffles, the pinnacle of a.m. guilty pleasure food. But I’m not talking about the hotel breakfast, make-ityourself Belgian waffles: I went out to find some of the best professionally-made and delectable Belgian waffles our area has to offer.

EGGSPECTATIONS Eggspectations delivered two of the most filling and rich Belgian waffles I’ve ever had. First was the traditional Belgian, presented with real maple syrup and a smooth scoop of creamy butter in tin cups. Already broken up into quarters, each piece was stacked on the other in a line.

This minimalistic and precise display looked as good as it tasted. When the butter was spread and the syrup was drizzled, there was no stopping me from finishing these waffles.

The Chocolate Cocoa Waffle was thick and gooey with chocolate, a sweet tooth’s daydream and a diabetic’s nightmare. The coffee-colored waffle had cocoa and chocolate chips in the batter, and was topped with a sweet mascarpone dollop. Maple syrup and a caramel sauce were already drizzled on top of and absorbed by the waffle, oozing out with every cut. The waffle was a bit messy, and sticky syrup is one of my least favorite things to get on myself, but in all honesty it was worth it.

There was also a mystery flavor in the Cocoa waffle that my photographers and I could not put our finger on, prompting us to pass ideas around about what it could be. Guesses ranged from cinnamon to nutmeg, but a closer look at the menu revealed that it was orange zest, mixed into

the marscapone cheese. I feel if I had noticed the detail that there would be orange zest in my waffle originally I would have been hesitant to order it, as I am normally averted to chocolate with citrus. However, its surprising and entertaining presence proves Eggspectation’s ability to create unique dishes by juxtaposing flavors.

4.5/5 stars MARK’S KITCHEN Mark’s Kitchen provides entree and dessert options of their specialty flavors of Belgian waffles, with a savory cheddar and a sweet chocolate banana waffle on the menu. I was surprised when I first read the options on the menu: I’d never heard of cheese on a waffle, so I was excited to try it.

The cheddar was sprinkled into the batter before it was pressed, cooked, and melted into the waffle, almost like a grilled cheese sandwich. Now that I’ve eaten it, I wish savory waffles were more common.

The chocolate banana waffle was a perfect follow-up to the cheddar waffle, contrasting the sharpness of the cheddar with a milder breakfast classic. The rich melted chocolate chips in the waffle were enhanced by the soft, thin banana slices. The chocolate-fruit combo was familiar yet refreshing, reminding me of breakfasts from my childhood. The tastes weren’t quite as chocolate-y or as detailed as the Cocoa waffle from Eggspectations, yet were almost a match due to simple yet strong flavors.

Mark’s Kitchen’s waffles were not as big nor as filling as the Eggspectations waffles, and were presented with much less style and elegance. However, the price of the cheddar and chocolate banana waffles combined was less than the price of the Cocoa waffle alone. Although the quality and the presentation of Mark’s were not near that of Eggspectations, the significantly cheaper price makes the two close competitors.

E4 Archives

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Archives

February 4, 2020

Compiled by Alex Dong, Ishaan Shrestha, Mira Diamond-Berman, Teddy Beamer

In Silver Chips’ 82nd year, we will continue the tradition of our dear predecessors by going through our archives and finding the best, most timely, and most local stories. Without further ado, some of our favorites.

DECA members capture awards at convention April 20, 1967

April 11 was an exciting day for Margaret Captuo, a senior majoring in business at Blair.

That was the day of the annual DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) State Leadership Conference in Baltimore. And it was the day that Margaret was crowned Maryland’s DECA Sweetheart.

Margaret, who is also a salesgirl at Lansburgh’s department store, won the award on the basis of possessing spiritual, moral and

physical wholesomeness. She competed against girls from 19 other schools around the state with DECA chapters.

Another winner is Thomas Flanagan, also a senior at Blair, who won first prize in the public speaking contest. Thomas, who works as a salesman at Sears & Roebuck, and Margaret will now go to Chicago for the National DECA Leadership Conference.

There they will compete for national awards with the outstanding business students from

high schools all over the country.

They were not the only Blair students that brought home awards from the state convention, however. Nine of the 10 Blair students sent to Baltimore came back with honors.

These students were judged by professionals, representing different areas of the business world. To earn their awards, the Blairites were called on to give examples of their various business skills.

The other winners were: Bob

Gerhold, third place, window display; Chuck Hopkins, third place, advertising contest; Lee Mandis, second place, job interview contest; Danny Mischaud, second place, sales demonstration contest, and third place, spelling contest.

Also winning awards were: Neil Mueller, second place, Mr. DECA award; Pat Persun, second place, Girl Student of the Year Award; and Sharon Ruby, second place, merchandise evaluation contest.

Clements, author of the oneword reaction which opened this article, opposes the rule because he feels the dunk provides several positive results— especially “motivation.”

“Why abolish the dunk?” he asks. “It’s a challenge—it makes players want to improve their jumping ability.

“I don’t care about the dunk itself—it’s strictly for show. But I don’t care what motivates my players to try to jump higher.

The fact is, the dunk does just that—I know it does.”

Clements added that he has not heard a single positive reac-

tion to the new rule from anyone associated with the county league. A quick check around the county verified this.

The coach also stated that he is not at all convinced that the “dangers” cited by the committee are widespread to the point that they justify the change.

We must take issue with the coach’s stand, however. It should be just as much motivation for a player who is really concerned about scoring to be able to get above the rim and drop the ball in for a sure two points.

There is no reason why he must shove it through so that he risks damaging the equipment and injury to himself or another player in the process.

There is a thin line between the skill of dropping the ball in at the top of a high leap and the barbarism of smashing it through. But that line is important.

Art from 1978 article: “Influenza invades country; many Blair students affected”

To Dunk or Not to Dunk

The rule applies to all levels of organized basketball except

by Robert Levin professional.

April 20, 1967 The rules committee cited several reasons for the change, “Ridiculous!” “I like to see but stressed two in particular. kids dunk ‘em in.” “Referees just call them as they see them— First, many rims and backboards have been broken by we don’t care.”

Those are some of the reac- tall players leaping high to dunk the ball. tions from around the MontSecond, other players caught gomery County League to the under the bucket on a dunk new rule recently passed by shot have been injured by the the national basketball rules hard thrust of the ball. The committee declaring that the committee felt that the set two “dunk” shot—shoving the ball through the basket from above factors were continuing dangers as long as the dunk was legal. the level of the rim—is illegal Blair basketball coach Ed starting next year.

February 4, 2020

On the Vine

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IVVONE ZHOU

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February 4, 2020

February 4, 2020

‘California Dreamin’ of a better system

By Oliver Goldman Staff Writer Should college athletes be paid? And, if so, what should the model look like?

These questions have lingered over the hardwoods and gridirons of collegiate athletics for years, as money has funnelled into the likes of football and men’s basketball at exorbitant levels.

Despite a rapidly growing market for collegiate athletics, not a (legal) penny has fallen into the pockets of those who actually generate billions of dollars annually. Instead, coaches, commissioners, and the rest of the infrastructure of collegiate athletics pocket large sums while the athletes are left out of the equation.

But the tide may finally be turning.

In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Fair Pay to Play Act into law. The act bypasses current NCAA policy by permitting college athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, effectively allowing them to hire agents and be paid for endorsements.

Following the California law, the NCAA spurred into action, signifying the first budge from an entity known for its steadfast reluctance to compensate student athletes. The association’s Board of Governors directed a working group to gather feedback on how best to respond to the state and federal legislative pressure and asked each of the three NCAA divisions to introduce new rules based on the group’s findings no later than January 2021.

Jeremi Duru, a sports law professor at American University, expressed that the California act will help aid the development of similar legislation across the country. “I think the [California] legislature let the toothpaste out of the tube,” he said. “I’d say up to a dozen or more states are following California’s footsteps in trying to put together such legislation.”

Now that debate and deliberation is on the horizon, the question becomes whether the

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name, image, and likeness model is the most adequate for allowing compensation.

The verdict: It seems to be the most realistic.

A myriad of ideas on how to best compensate athletes have been brought to the table, including the popular approach of paying athletes a working wage. Just days after the NCAA’s announcement in October, a former Villanova University football player sued the NCAA, accusing them of being in violation of minimum-wage laws.

As promising as paying athletes a working wage may seem on the surface, the prospect reveals itself as more complicated and consequential when considering its effects on collegiate athletics as a whole.

The problem lies in the simple fact that only big-name football and men’s basketball schools rake in the cash, with the exception of a few women’s basketball schools and schools that feature regionally popular sports, such as wrestling in the Midwest.

“The biggest athletic schools operate at a profit, but many of the small ones do not,” Duru said. “If institutions have to pay these athletes some sort of working wage, the institutions will not be able to carry the sports any more. The whole system will collapse upon itself.”

The name, image, and likeness model, unlike the working wage approach, is sustainable—an important prerequisite for any proposed change to the current model. Yes, it would mean that only the star athletes would be attracting agent and sponsorship opportunities, but the name, image, and likeness model also gives those athletes the power to extend the opportunities to their teammates.

“When you have that sort of dynamic, you are able to package things,” Duru said. “A quarterback could seek out an endorsement together with his offensive line, for example, because he does not want those guys left behind.” And no matter how you look at it, money in the hands of some players is better than

California’s Fair Pay to Play Act forces NCAA to consider a system in which college athletes can profit

SEOYOUNG JOO money in the hands of no players.

But, as Duru is quick to highlight, the solution will take time to develop. “There is not going to be any short-term movement on this,” he said. The California legislation does not go into effect until 2023, so the NCAA essentially has three years to come up with a response.

What could happen in the short-term, though, is the passage of more acts like California’s through state legislatures; the more laws, the more pressure on the NCAA to adopt the name, image, and likeness model in an across-the-board fashion.

There is even the potential of federal legislation, Duru said, which would nullify any attempt by the NCAA to work around the California law. “Federal legislation [would take]

the ball out of the NCAA’s court,” he said.

If nothing else, the NCAA must decide what to do in California. Once the clock strikes 2023, student athletes at schools in the state can bypass the NCAA policy and engage in money-making opportunities. Subsequently, star athletes would overwhelmingly elect to attend schools in California, dissolving the crucial element of parity in sports and creating a system lopsided in California schools’ favor.

For now, though, the ball remains in the NCAA’s court. They can watch developments unfold in state legislatures and ruminate over what measures to take. But it is only a matter of time before the egregious apparatus of the NCAA as we know it will be upended. “The system is transforming,” Duru said, “and that is not stopping.”

The perfect mixture

Professional vs college sports; how fans are able to intertwine likings for both

By Khayla Robinson Staff Writer The Baltimore Ravens versus the Pittsburgh Steelers or the University of Maryland Terrapins versus the Penn State Nittany Lions: Both are heated rivalries, sure to put on spectacles worth watching, but if presented the choice to pick one or the other, some may find it difficult.

This choice between professional and college sports may appear to pose the question of which field of sports is better, but among the Blair community, these preferences allow fans to create individual identities from a combination of passions for all types of sporting events.

In senior Matthew Weinsheimer’s case, this combination arises from family exposure to both professional and college sports, causing him to prefer college basketball and NFL football over their counterparts.

“My dad went to Marquette [University], which is a big college basketball school.

They’re usually in the NCAA tournament, and have won it a couple times, but they don’t have a college football team,” Weinsheimer says.

“My mom went to the University of Virginia, which has a much better basketball team than they do a football team,” he adds.

“So, that’s probably partly influenced me, as I’ve never had a college football team that I was super pas-

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sionate about. But I’ve always had college basketball interests.”

Although this passion for sports arises from Weinsheimer’s parents and their experiences, other factors, like the structure of games and energy of the fans and players, affects how others perceive both sporting events.

Junior Luke Treanor’s preference lies in college sports, but this wasn’t always the case.

He became more invested in college football after the introduction of the College Football Playoffs (CFP) in 2014. “[The CFP] made it way more interesting… [and] more possible for a bunch of teams to compete; [it is] more inclusive,” Treanor says.

In college football, the CFP selection committee is in charge of organizing team matchups based on a team’s records, strengths, and statistics. They then choose four teams to compete in two semifinals, rotating among six different game bowls: Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, and Sugar. Each semifinal is then played around the New Year’s holiday, with the national title game occurring a week later on Monday night.

Not only does the structure of competition affect people’s preferences, but so does the energy from the players. Junior Julian Heppen-Ibanez believes both realms of athletics are intriguing to watch, but he leans towards college sports because of the tenacity and effort that the athletes display, specifically when the best of the best are competing.

“For college, there are a lot of games that are just two bad teams that I don’t really care about, or one good team playing a really bad team,” Heppen-Ibanez says. “But I prefer when two of the best college teams are playing to when two of the best pros teams are playing, just because in college, they try a lot harder—they have something to prove.”

The energy of

sports goes both ways, as fans can also contribute to atmospheres that make some types of sports more appealing than others. Junior Emma Smith, a college sports fan, is normally driven away from watching professional sports because of the negative energy from fans of professional teams.

“The atmosphere surrounding [college] teams is different than in professional [sports],” Smith says. “In professional, it can get really toxic, almost, and much more negative than it can in college.”

However to some fans, like junior Phillip Woodings, professional and college sports are equal. As a lover of professional hockey and baseball, but also of college basketball and football, he finds it difficult to choose between college and professional leagues.

“For basketball and football, the college sports and professional sports are very even

in competitiveness and entertain[ment].

[For example], Duke Basketball is very polarizing and adds a lot of fun to college basketball,” Woodings says. “In college football especially, it was entertaining and captivating because there were three teams that were ahead of the pack—Clemson, Ohio State, and LSU—and the storylines… were very intriguing and interesting to watch.

But also in the NFL, the Patriots losing and [that] loss of dynasty there is very [unbelievable and shocking].”

Aside from the similarities and differences of both realms of sports and how people feel about one or the other, the idea that people from various backgrounds can form fan identities to fit their likings is what makes sports so special.

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By Ishaan Shrestha Staff Writer

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Not so super after all

73 wins and nine losses.

In the 2015-16 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors broke the regular season win record, winning almost 90 percent of their games. With three All-Stars, their games were seemingly over before they even began.

That prolific Warriors team, despite falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals, fit the textbook definition of a superteam: A team filled with stars in their primes, including Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and the reigning MVP, Stephen Curry. The following year, the team added seven-time AllStar and 2013-14 MVP Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Although the thrill of witnessing such greatness may have been exciting for many at first, their dominance hurt the NBA. In 2018, despite a stellar playoff performance

by LeBron James and the Cavaliers, the Warriors strolled their way to their second trophy in three years.

NBA icon Michael Jordan, a central piece of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that won 72 games, said that superteams ruin the NBA’s balance. “You’re going to have one or two teams that are going to be great, and another 28 teams that are going to be garbage,” he said in an interview with the American magazine Cigar Aficionado in 2017, a year after Durant joined the Warriors. “Or they’re going to have a tough time surviving in the business environment.”

So far, Jordan has been right. In response

to Golden State’s success, teams tried to con- between good teams and bad teams grew. solidate star power, disregarding the league’s The gap shrunk following Durant’s desalary cap. This meant that the parture from Golden State over the sumleague was extremely top-heavy— mer. Sophomore Benson Mwangachuchu a small group of teams had the is enthusiastic about the NBA now that the majority of superstars—and Warriors superteam has dismantled. small-market organizations “It’s nice to not know who’s gowere left with scraps. ing to win,” he said. “It’s a really With high-powered juginteresting season. One day, you gernauts like Golden State think it’s the Lakers, one day it’s (who earned $164 million the Bucks, next day it’s the Clipin 2017-18 ticket sales) pers. When some of the lower and Cleveland ($77 teams are making runs, it’s just a million) in the fold, lot more fun.” smaller teams like the Fans of smaller teams have more Phoenix Suns ($36 hope when they do not have to face off million) and Orlando against behemoth teams with several Magic ($35 million) All-Stars. “[The parity] provide[s] were effectively irrelan incentive for competition,” evant from a marketMwangachuchu said. “Everyone, ing standpoint. especially in the Western ConferThis lack of fience, feels like they have a shot… I nancial relevancy feel like those players are playing just only made as hard knowing that they could be it harder for knocking on the door of a them to imchampionship.” prove. SuAs balance returns to perstars the NBA, some are seekdid not ing out the culprit who w a n t created these superteams to sign in the first place. Naturally, with mediteams want ocre small-market teams; to be as good as they can, they wanted the flashing lights SEOYOUNG JOO so they should not be faulted for seeking to and glamor of dynamic superteams and have the best players. Similarly, many playtheir high-profile cities. Thus, the disparity ers want to create great legacies and win

February 4, 2020

many rings, and the easiest route to that is joining teams with star-studded squads.

While Durant faced cries of “ring-chasing” for joining the Warriors, he was simply trying to better his own career and leave his mark on the league.

As it stands, no single entity is in the wrong here, but more can be done to stop superteams from forming. Currently, the main way of stopping their formation is the salary cap.

The central idea behind the salary cap is that teams are limited to how much they are allowed to pay their players. Superstars generally command hefty sums for their work, making it more difficult to accumulate many stars on one team. However, this falls apart completely when players are willing to take pay cuts in order to join other stars, like when Durant took a $10 million pay cut to join the Warriors.

On rare occasions, when there would be too much star power consolidated on one team, NBA commissioners stopped blockbuster trades from happening, like when then-commissioner David Stern prevented Chris Paul from going to the Kobe Bryantled Lakers in 2011.

While superteams are rare and there are several ways the NBA tries to prevent them, they have existed in the past, and probably will in the future. However, the balance of today’s NBA, without superteams, makes one thing clear: The game is more exciting, engaging, and beneficial for all parties involved, fans, players, and teams alike.

Athletic scholarships and equity

By Sarah Mckinzie Staff Writer The total national student debt now stands at a staggering 1.5 trillion dollars. For student athletes across the nation, athletic scholarships can be great opportunities to alleviate the growing costs of higher education, especially for those who would otherwise struggle to afford tuition. But when a magnifying glass is held up to the system, it’s unclear whether the scouting process and the treatment of student athletes are truly foundationally equitable for lower income students. Essentially, athletic scholarships fill an increasingly inequitable spot in the crumbling American landscape of scholarships, tuition, and student loan debt.

According to varsity football coach Sam Nosoff, athletic scholarships are of huge importance to the athletes of Blair. “I think for our football program here at Blair, just about every senior that we graduate is relying on a football or athletic scholarship to be able to reasonably afford the college that they want to go to,” Nosoff says. “There may only be one or two that could go to college and not have to rely on a scholarship of any kind, but for us it’s pretty close to 100 percent.”

For Alex Zokouri, senior on the Blair football team, these scholarships open up a broad array of college choices. “Certain schools that I would have never thought of applying to,” Zokouri says, “I want to apply there because maybe they’re interested in me athletically.”

According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) website, “Divisions I and II schools provide more than $2.9 billion in athletics scholarships annually to more than 150,000 student-athletes.” Despite this, the National College Players Association has conducted research indicating that the average men’s college basketball or football player will still graduate with roughly $12,000 in debt, including those who attend college with athletic, academic and incomebased aid.

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

For athletes who attend college with a full ride, athletic scholarships seldom if ever cover the entire cost of tuition, and are instead supplemented by academic and income based aid.

The same 1991 NCAA vote which cut off the number of allowed scholarships by ten percent allowed Division I and II schools to fill their grant requirement through not only athletic scholarships, but any kind of institutional aid. “I had a friend freshman year that went to Kentucky on a full ride athletic scholarship,” senior and varsity football player Zaire Cooper recalls. “He told me that most of his tuition was covered by the athletic scholarship, but there was still a chunk that wasn’t.”

Annual scholarship funding for individual students averages at about $10,400 a year, a figure which drops to $8,700 a year when excluding from the average the substantially more lucrative men’s football and basketball scholarships. In contrast, the average cost of American public universities is around $20,770 annually, and the yearly scholarship and grant spending of the NCAA is about ten million.

As the cost of college tuition has risen, these scholarships have been able to cover smaller and smaller fractions of the cost of higher education, and financial aid has been increasingly unable to keep up. The impact on those who would benefit from them is evident.

Issues of equity in the scouting and recruitment process far precede scholarships and college applications, however. The implicit costs that go into training athletes from a young age put high income student athletes at a disproportionate advantage when being considered by scouting programs. The cost of equipment, clubs, transportation and training can be a definite barrier for student athletes.

“In this area, that’s where there’s a big difference,” Nosoff says. “In the current climate of football itself, there’s such sportspecific training… individual position trainers, gyms that have specific sports training, programs that are being run independently from the school system—all those things cost money, [but] not everyone has the ability to pay for that [sport]-specific training.”

Students who do not have access to these kinds of training opportunities usually rely on the school system to acquire the skills and knowledge which will make them potential college athletes. Especially for students in low income areas, these school-based resources are hard-pressed to keep up private programs. Both in terms of accessibility and efficacy, it’s evident that athletic scholarships take after the larger model of higher education: They don’t operate on an even playing field.

“Ethan’s Park” is a monthly column where sports editor Ethan Park expresses an opinion on current events in sports.

Since its inception, the WNBA has struggled to fully find its footing. Working in the shadow of the booming NBA, the league has suffered from diminishing demand and, thus, lower revenue. Although ESPN broadcast ratings have increased over the past few years, average attendance last season dropped to a modest 6,535 fans per game.

Compare this to the NBA: The team with the lowest average attendance—the Minnesota Timberwolves—currently boasts more than double the WNBA’s league average with 14,584 per game.

Though these disparities may seem like natural growing pains in the life cycle of a sports league founded only 23 years ago, the sustainability of the WNBA’s model has been called into question. With a decline in demand that shows no imminent signs of reversing itself, how will the WNBA be able to grow?

With all this mounting uncertainty, the league took a groundbreaking step this past month. In a landmark deal with the player’s association, the WNBA announced a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) set to come with significant pay increases, progressive maternity leave policy, and in-season tournaments for cash prizes. Additionally, the policy change will introduce a 50-50 player-league revenue split in 2021, a massive upgrade from the 20 to 30-percent share that players currently receive.

This shift in policy is a step in the right direction—it is necessary for the well-being of WNBA players and the growth of the league.

However, such radical changes are a gamble. The extra money is, in fact, not coming from the NBA. It’s coming from the league’s own teams and owners investing.

The WNBA and its sponsors are betting

on their players, many of whom will now make six figures, to generate enough revenue and help reverse the average annual loss of $10 million each season.

By paying players more, they will hopefully be less inclined to play overseas and risk injury or burnout. Breanna Stewart, the 2018 MVP, sat out of the 2019 season with an Achilles tendon tear suffered in one of her games overseas. An increase in salary caps across the board—especially for star players like Stewart and Washington, D.C.’s own Ellena Delle Donne—will incentivize players to prioritize the WNBA and attract more fans.

The WNBA has now gone all the way in, waist-deep in a financial gamble that relies heavily on the players’ commitment to the growth of the league. Although some overseas teams offer seven-figure financial opportunities for top players, the WNBA’s stars must go all the way in as well, betting on the league to reverse the diminishing demand.

Though the WNBA has experienced steady financial decline over the past decade, the potential for a sports league as exciting and prosperous as its male counterpart is still present. With female athletes like the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team heralded on a global scale as gifted players with exceptional talent, the untapped gold mines of potential women’s basketball fans across the country are there for the taking.

The future could very much hold a Mystics championship parade as large as the Nationals’ or Capitals’, but the foundation for that future must be laid now. Paying the players their fair share was the first significant step forward. Now, it’s up to the players, owners, and fans alike to spur a new, prosperous generation of WNBA basketball.

February 4, 2020

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Moneyball and the minors

February 4, 2020

Discussing the possibility of minor league cuts Another reason the minor league system should remain untouched is its connection with small towns. By allowing fans to see professional players up-close and in person, minor league teams provide a uniquely personal experience. “It’s just a more intimate atmosphere, and that can really draw younger kids in,” Rogers said.

For some fans, minor league baseball is the only professional baseball they can see without driving six or more hours. In that way, minor league organizations boost accessibility to America’s pastime in states more remote from Major League ballparks such as Montana and Mississippi.

Without that accessibility, it’s clear that interest in the sport will immediately decrease. “If you cut those teams, you’re really alienating a lot of potential young baseball fans, and I think that’s the opposite of what the sport needs right now,” Rogers said.

Manfred also cites poor pay for minor leaguers as a reason to go through with the cuts.

It is true that insufficient pay for minor leaguers is a major probIA RN OL D

azza was picked in the sixty second round prior to the draft shrinking to 40 rounds.

Manfred’s argument neglects the human aspect of baseball: more

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n March 26, people across the country will cram into stadium seats to watch their favorite teams on opening day for Major League Baseball. But in smaller cities and towns across the nation, baseball fans will instead fill minor league stands, eager to see their local teams play.

Going out to the ballpark has been an American tradition since the sport was invented and popularized in the 1800s, and minor league teams have helped provide a more intimate and accessible professional baseball experience for fans across the nation. Unfortunately, many fans may soon be unable to partake in this experience, following Major League commissioner Rob Manfred’s recent proposal to eliminate 42 minor league teams and shorten the draft from 40 rounds to 25.

Although this plan may seem to have minimal effects on major league fans in big cities like New York or Washington, D.C., a closer look into the functioning of the minors reveals how important they are to communities and aspiring players alike and how wrong Manfred would be to cut them.

For one, the minor league system provides big-league opportunities for nearly a thousand MLB hopefuls. The structured levels allow players to prove themselves and earn spots at the next stage, even if

they are drafted late. This is often the only opportunity for aspiring MLB players, some of whom went to smaller schools that are not given much attention by media or professional scouts.

“If [a deeper draft] isn’t an option anymore, there will be a negative impact on a lot of college players who have the talent but just aren’t as exposed as some of the guys at bigger schools,” Chris Rogers, Vice President of Operations and Assistant General Manager of Bethesda Big Train, said. The Big Train is a collegelevel team based in Maryland that has multiple players drafted each year.

Manfred’s main counterargument to this concern is that Major League analytics are now advanced enough to identify which players will and will not become stars. However, this argument has been disproven time and time again. San Diego’s Kirby Yates, widely considered among the best relievers in baseball, was selected in the twenty sixth round of the 2005 draft. Additionally, Hall of Famer and Major League legend Mike Pi-

SH

By Charlie Wiebe Staff Writer

specifically, the drive of players to perform at the highest standard possible in order to get to the next level. It is true that the likelihood of a fortieth round pick making it to the bigs is lower than a first rounder, but that does not justify Manfred’s argument that current analytics exempt the need for a deep, opportunity-rich minor league system.

lem in the realm of baseball. This becomes apparent when stories circulate of players picking up second and third jobs to pay rent, or the fact that the minimum salary for MLB players will be raised to $563,500 next season while some lower level players make as little as $5,500 a season.

A closer look into Manfred’s actions reveals that neither he nor the MLB are worried about minor league pay in the slightest. For example, in 2018, the MLB successfully lobbied to exclude minor league players from federal minimum wage regulations, arguing that they should be classified as seasonal workers. The truth is, minor league players could very easily be paid sufficient salaries; team owners would prefer, however, to keep the money for themselves.

Since news of the proposal broke, it has faced opposition from numerous politicians such as Senator Bernie Sanders, who took to Twitter to voice his concerns. “This has nothing to do with what’s good for baseball and everything to do with greed,” he wrote.

A slash to the number of minor league teams would be devastating to small town communities across the nation, as well as to Major League hopefuls who have dedicated their lives to playing baseball.

It is not morally right for a decision with potentially harmful and widespread repercussions to be rooted in such selfishness.

Blair wrestling pins Whitman 51-19 Sophomore Aaron Vernon used the meet as an opportunity to break into his new 220-pound CLARK ZHANG weight class.

ELBOW CONTROL McCaw hold his opponent in place “Recently I’ve been wresBy Clark Zhang tling heavyweights,” Vernon said.

Staff Writer “I think they’re definitely harder ALT WHITMAN, Jan. to pin, so I’m getting used to that.”

22— Facing a shorthand- Nevertheless, Vernon pinned his ed Whitman wrestling opponent with nineteen seconds squad, the Blazers took a 51-19 win to spare, earning the team an early 12-0 lead. without giving up a single pin.

The Vikings suffered numerous In the 285-pound weight class— injuries, which was reflected in their the heaviest of the evening—senior roster. “I knew Whitman is tradi- Mervin Mancia secured a pin within tionally [a] pretty tough team, but the first period of the match, earnI know they have a lot of injuries,” ing Blair another six points. Mancia Coach Tim Grover said. “Some of was not too surprised by the result. their best kids didn’t suit up today.” “This is natural. [I] go out there and The match kicked off with team just do what I learn, do what I was captain Elias Chen (a Silver Chips taught,” Mancia said.

Managing Features Editor) in the The lightweight matches started 195-pound weight class. Nearly with sophomore Holden DuBois pinned a couple of times, Chen in the 106-pound weight class. This did not seem to be at the top of his match was DuBois’ first appeargame since he has been cutting to ance following a five-week injury. “I reach the 182-pound weight class. messed up my tooth, and I should Even so, Chen was able to work have gotten cleared earlier, but my around his early disadvantage, pin- dentist wouldn’t let me,” DuBois ning his opponent by the start of the said. second period and earning the team The referee called a stalemate after three periods, as DuBois and his six points to start off the match.

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inside SPORTS

Professional vs. college sports

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opponent were locked in a neutral position. But DuBois had earned three more individual points than his opponent, so DuBois won the match by decision and earned Blair three more points, extending their lead.

In the 113-pound weight class, senior Sideeg Abdulla struggled to gain control of his opponent at first.

But as the match dragged on into three periods, Abdulla’s endurance allowed him to put up a good fight.

“I almost had the pin at least two times… I feel like at some positions, the ref could have called it, [but] that’s not my choice,” Abdulla said.

Time ran out, and Whitman took the win by major decision, scoring them their first four points of the match.

Junior Brian McCaw, who normally wrestles in the 106-pound weight class, faced off in the 120-pound weight class. Despite the weight difference, he pinned his opponent by the end of the third period and earned the hundredth victory of his high school career.

He is the second Blair wrestler in school history to reach this landmark, joining Ryan Holland from the class of 2018.

In the 126-pound weight class, a rematch took place between Blair senior Aiden Rogers and Whitman senior Peyton Casamento. “I wrestled him two years ago,” Rog-

ers said. “He pinned me then. So I’m happy that this time it was a closer match.”

Rogers lost by major decision CLARK ZHANG 8-0, conceding RAPID “RUDY” Fonseka sets up his favorite pin only four points Due to no-shows from their opto Whitman.

The match continued with ponents, sophomore Junior Kim sophomore Nikolai Tochilin in and freshman Nelson Manzoeto, in the 132-pound weight class. Having 145-pound and 152-pound classes taken a break from wrestling, Toch- respectively, both secured six autoilin has been trying to find his stride matic points, adding onto the Blazers’ 51-8 lead. again during the past few meets.

“I feel like I kind of went out of In the 160-pound, 170-pound, shape, and it took a long time for and 182-pound weight classes, me to get back to 100 percent,” Whitman won by two decisions and Tochilin said. But with a fast pin a technical fall, but it was not nearly within the first minute of the match, enough to catch up to Blair’s stagTochilin seemed to get his mojo gering thirty-two point lead at 51-19. back and extended the Blazers’ Despite the results, Coach Grover thought the team could still use a lead to 33-8.

Facing an aggressive opponent, lot of improvement. “There were senior Nimesh Fonseka in the some weight [classes] where we lost 138-pound weight class wanted to that we could have won,” Grover secure an early pin without injury. said. “Even the matches that we With seconds to spare in the first won… we could have looked a little period, Fonseka tried various tech- crisper in technique.” niques to get his opponent on his Even despite Grover’s claim that this was Blair’s “worst match in a back.

“I let him get up onto his hands month,” he remains optimistic for and his knees… grabbed his wrist, the rest of the season. “The fact that pushed forward, and twisted him we can have a bad match and still over.” Fonseka secured the pin, win by 30 is probably a pretty good thing for our team,” Grover said. earning Blair six more points.

NBA Superteams

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Ethan’s Park: WNBA

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