January 2018 -- Silver Chips

Montgomery Blair High School SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

A public forum for student expression since 1937

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Discover y moves out of Silver Spring

January 31, 2018 VOL 80 NO 4

Signs of Strength

Más de 200,000 salvadoreños se quedan sin TPS

By William Donaldson

Por Michael Hernández

Discovery Communications announced that it would sell and relocate its global headquarters from Downtown Silver Spring to New York City in a press release on Jan. 9.

Discovery explained their reasoning in the publicly circulated memo, branding the move as an important step for the ensured “long-term success” of the company. In New York, Discovery hopes to “take advantage of the proximity to business, investment and production partners,” according to the press release.

Discovery’s headquarters has been in Maryland for 33 years and in its Silver Spring complex since 2003. David Zaslav, Discovery’s president and CEO, said that the choice was not an easy one to make.

“The decision to move our global headquarters from its founding home is one we do not take lightly,” he said in the press release.

Currently, the company’s Silver Spring headquarters employs about 1,300 local, full-time staff.

Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett released a statement, also on Jan. 9, detailing the effects of the move on the county.

“I was disappointed to hear the corporate decision by Discovery Communications to move its headquarters… I know this was a tough decision for Discovery,” he wrote.

Leggett also revealed that the county had been in

their March 2 paychecks. This includes teachers who attested before or after the Open Enrollment period began, did not attest at all, or were affected by a possible glitch. In an email to staff sent on Jan. 26, MCPS Chief Operating Officer Andrew Zuckerman called the refund a “first time exception.”

After the collective bargaining process in the spring of 2017, the surcharge went up to 25 percent from 3 percent, said Zuckerman.

El ocho de enero, la Secretaría de Seguridad Nacional, Kirstjen Nielsen, anunció la terminación del Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) para los más de 200,000 salvadoreños cubiertos bajo dicho programa. En su comunicado explicó que la cancelación no será inmediata, sino que ella demorará la terminación por un periodo de 18 meses, hasta el nueve de septiembre del año 2019. Según ella, esos meses aliviarán la transición de estos salvadoreños a su país natal y también servirá para darle tiempo de solicitar a los que califiquen para otro estatus legal.

El estatus de protección temporal para los salvadoreños fue aprobado en el 2001 por el Presidente Bush debido a la devastación causada por el huracán Mitch en el 1999 y también por los terremotos que ocurrieron a principios del año 2001. Los salvadoreños que cumplieron con los requisitos para este estatus han podido residir en los Estados Unidos de forma temporal y también han tenido la oportunidad de trabajar legalmente.

Antes de que la reciente decisión fuera tomada, muchos políticos en el interior, al igual que en el exterior, abogaron por la renovación del TPS para la comunidad salvadoreña. El tres de enero, Cities for Action, una coalición compuesta por 175 alcaldes y ejecutivos de condados que respaldan la integración

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MARCHING FOR EQUALITY Participants in the Women’s March on Jan. 20 hold up signs raising awareness of social issues that garnered a lot of attention in 2017, such as sexual harassment and DACA.

MCPS to correct healthcare mischarge

By Mindy Burton MCPS announced on Jan. 19 that they will refund the incorrect smoker surcharges made on approximately 3,000 teachers’ medical insurance that cost up to $230 in fees per family. Some teachers noticed a discrepancy in their Jan. 5 paychecks when they were charged for failing to attest to not using tobacco in the Open Enrollment period—a time when teachers must renew their health insurance for the following year. Others claimed

they were incorrectly charged by a technical glitch in the system.

The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) Board created a petition to demand refunds for all employees affected by incorrect deductions. In a letter to colleagues from the MCEA Board, members wrote that MCPS’s actions demonstrate “a lack of empathy and understanding for educators, their time, and their pay.”

MCPS will refund over $425,000 in surcharges to non-smoking teachers who were charged in

Black history comes to life on stage

By Noah Chopra-Khan “Don’t you know that you are free.

Well, at least in your mind if you want to be. Everybody. Stand, stand, stand.” – Sly and the Family Stone This year, over a hundred students will stand and perform in the vibrant, energetic, history-rich celebration of black culture that is Sankofa. The cast is twice as large as last year’s group, making it the largest Sankofa production in Blair history. “I think that the reason why we have [more people] is because Sankofa has just progressively gotten better ever since my freshman year, and people are seeing now how dope it is,” says senior Iyanu Bishop.

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Bishop, a three-year veteran of Sankofa, is co-directing the show this year with senior Erin Obaonrin. When asked about Sankofa, Bishop describes it as the pinnacle of her high school experience. “[Sankofa] is the most fun you’re ever going to have doing an extracurricular at Blair,” she says. “It’s about black culture, and black culture is just so fun and really anyone can appreciate it.”

The show’s namesake originates from the Akan tribe in Ghana. “Sankofa means look back, go forward, pay attention to your history so that you understand how history informs your present. And that’s not something that we invented at Blair,” says Vickie Adamson, head of the English de-

partment and one of the writers and directors of Sankofa. “It is just something that we honor and how we shape the show.”

The show will take the audience through a tour of the Museum of African American History and Culture and features various exhibitions coming to life. These exhibitions will depict well-known civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass, along with figures who are not as well represented in history text books like Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells.

The performances will also represent more contemporary icons such as Toni Morrison and Oprah

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Discriminación latina

Accohannock Tribe gains official Maryland state status

Una nueva perspectiva en la industria de la música latina

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BEHIND THE SCENES Cast members, including dancers and musicians, prepare for the Sankofa production, performing Feb. 9 and 10.

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Native American Tribe

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Visiting the best underrated museums in D.C.

A guide to the mental health resources available for students

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Museums

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A2 News silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 Phone: (301) 649-2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Winner of the 2015 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown Editors-in-Chief: Alexander Dacy and Olivia Gonzalez Managing News Editors: Gilda Geist and Leila Jackson Managing Op/Ed Editors: Serena Debesai and Erin Namovicz Managing Features Editors: Cole Greenberg and Isabella Tilley Managing Entertainment Editors: Emma Cross and Hermela Mengesha Managing Sports Editor: Henry Wiebe Ombudsman: Laura Espinoza Newsbriefs Editors: Gilda Geist and Leila Jackson Page Editors: Anson Berns Mindy Burton Elise Cauton Noah Chopra-Khan Miranda Rose Daly William Donaldson Arshiya Dutta Adenike Falade Lucy Gavin Hannah Lee Elias Monastersky Camden Roberts Marlena Tyldesley Telon Yan La Esquina Latina Editors-in-Chief: Michael Hernández and Sofía Muñoz La Esquina Latina Writers: Amanda Hernández Jasmine Méndez-Paredes Laura Méndez-Pinto Lourdes Reyes Yesenia Sorto Executive Business Directors: Karen Depenyou and Ariel Zhang Business Staff: Siena Butters Julia Henderson Honor Kalala Simran Krishna-Rogers Brenna Levitan-Garr Matt Morris Olena Zelinsky Managing Photo Editor: Chaminda Hangilipola and Sami Mallon Photographers: Avery Brooks Jedediah Grady Elia Griffin Amarins Laanstra-Corn Hannah Schwartz Maggie Lin Managing Media Coordinators: Ben Miller Aidan Lambiotte Managing Art Editors: Carly Tagen-Dye and Marissa He Artists: Jenny Cueva-Diaz Niamh Ducey Seoyoung Joo Amy Krimm Avery Liou Tiffany Mao Aritra Roy Sally Zhao Managing Design Editors: Hermela Mengesha and Isabella Tilley Puzzle Editors: Addie McDonough and Lucy Solomon Copy Editors: Ben Abramson Ben Auslin Will Ederer Divya John Brennan Winer La Esquina Latina Advisor: Dianette Coombs Advisor: Jeremy Stelzner Silver Chips is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the editorial board and are not necessarily those of the school.

Signed letters to the editor are encouraged.

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

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January 31, 2018

Montgomery County to realign Equity Initiatives Unit

Budget shortfall leads to cuts to the office in charge of closing the achievement gap

By Lucy Gavin In 2019’s proposed school budget, MCPS has decided to rework how the Department of Professional Learning and Equity Initiatives operates in schools.

That department works to close the racial achievement gap. Derek Turner, Director of Communications in MCPS, says this is extremely important to students.

“We all come with our own experience to the classroom and the one size fits all model of connecting with students just doesn’t work,” he said. “The Equity Unit has really helped to break down those walls by addressing issues of implicit bias and helps [staff] understand how to connect with students who may not be of the same background as the teacher or the staff member.”

The Equity Unit supports schools in the county in various ways. “We work with principals and school leadership teams to help them develop the skills to look at their practices through a culturally responsive lens, provide skill development to teachers, support the Office of Curriculum to create culturally responsive teaching, and work with the Office of Student and Family Support and Engagement to help with more culturally responsive parent engagement,” John Landesman, Equity Unit employee and study circles coordinator, said in an email.

In Superintendent Jack Smith’s proposed budget for the 2018-19 school year, however, the Equity Unit will have a different role. “The Department of Professional Learning and Equity Initiatives has been disbanded in the new budget,” Landesman said. “The positions of all five teacher learning specialists, one director, and seven Equity Specialists have been eliminated.”

Landesman does not think that

these changes are beneficial for the county. “I believe that MCPS can only be successful if we are intentional about equity and have dedicated, [knowledgeable] staff supporting equity,” he said.

Turner’s perspective differs from Landesman’s, as he believes the changes to the Equity Unit will be helpful to staff and students across the county.

“Cut is the wrong word, we’re really thinking about a realignment here. Right now the equity unit is housed in—and is really thought of as—a central office role that is deployed to schools to support equity initiatives and to train staff,” he said. “In the new model, what we are really thinking about is getting the equity training closer to the

schools … we’re reorganizing how we support schools so it’s more of a model where equity professionals are going to be in clusters.”

Smith intended to make clear that equity will not be neglected during a Board of Education meeting on January 25. “We’re going to have all of the people working in equity that we have now and more,” he said. “I don’t think I can say that any plainer.”

He later clarified how this new equity model will operate during the meeting as well. “We can do a better job of ensuring consistency,” he said.

“If we have people on the ground in schools who are able to identify, ‘this school—and I’ll just be blunt—isn’t taking this work se-

OLIVIA GONZALEZ

riously so we need to gather around the school and help them understand that.’”

According to Turner, this is the best plan for working with students with experiences that may differ from that of their teachers.

“This is actually going to strengthen professional learning for our staff and for our teachers,” he said. “Students have teachers who are better prepared to address issues of people having different backgrounds and better connect with students.”

He also stressed that the county has not decided to forget issues of equity. “It’s not like we’re eliminating our support around equity,” Turner said. “We are really just putting them in a way that they are not, in theory, miles away from the school, but really a part of that school community.”

In fact, equity improvements will become mandatory, and no longer up to the individual school’s discretion, according to Smith. “[It is] not just choose what you want to do, but it will have to be in their school improvement plan,” he said.

In the BOE meeting, Smith explained that equity has become a top priority for this school district.

“No one in this building or in this school system should say ‘I don’t work in the equity area,’” he said.

“Everybody should say, ‘I work in equity’ and it should be beyond lip service.”

Smith emphasized the equity hiring push once again. “I just have to say emphatically we’ll have more people in 2019 working in equity than ever before,” he said. “And that will grow in 2020, and 21 and over time it should [continue to] grow.”

Landesman said he believes that the Equity Initiatives Unit has been successful in its mission. “Many schools that have taken advantage of the EIU’s support have seen a decrease in the [achievement] gap,” he said. “I will say that our evaluations are very strong and … our training modules have waiting lists.”

In next year’s proposed budget, the Department of Professional Learning and Equity Initiatives is not the only office in MCPS whose employment decisions may be affected.

“The Office of School Support and Improvement is also being reorganized,” Landesman said.

“They will get additional specialists who may support equity along with other initiatives. However, as far as I know, the job descriptions for them have not yet been written.”

January 31, 2018

News A3

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Discovery announces plans to leave Silver Spring

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from DISCOVERY page A1 negotiations with Discovery to keep their headquarters in Silver Spring. “The County and State made a substantial proposal designed to accommodate Discovery’s challenges,” he wrote. “Together, we were ready to provide considerable incentives to retain their presence in the County.”

The move, which is scheduled to be finalized in 2019, will likely negatively impact Downtown Silver Spring’s economy, according to David Petr, president and CEO of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC). Although no study has fully explored the economic effects of Discovery’s departure, Petr asserted that the economy will likely take a hit.

“We recognize it may be a significant challenge for Silver Spring until we find a replacement company or solution for that site,” he said.

Discovery does plan to keep a small presence in Maryland with what it calls a “Maryland Hub Network.” The said network would “continue to support and draw from the robust Maryland and DC-area community” while planning to “house select network and support functions, as well as other select functions,” according to the press release. However, Discovery has yet to make a decision on the location of this hub.

This relocation is not the only large-scale business venture Discovery has undertaken in the past few months. In July 2017, Discovery acquired Scripps Networks Interactive, owner of the Food Network and HGTV, in a deal worth $11.9 billion.

If the deal is finalized later this year, Discovery will condense all New York-based Scripps employees with existing employees into their new global headquarters. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo touted Discovery’s move to the state.

“We are proud to welcome one of the world’s leading media companies to help

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SAYING GOODBYE TO DISCOVERY Their 2019 move will vacate about 545,420 square feet, or about five percent, of the Downtown Silver Spring office space.

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drive jobs and growth in New York,” he wrote in a Jan. 9 press release.

For the 1,300 local employees, decisions about individual job status, according to the press release, will be determined following the finalization of the Scripps deal.

It is still unclear when the Silver Spring headquarters will fully close, as most of Discovery’s future moves rely on the finalization of the Scripps transaction. Discovery, however, believes that the location in Silver Spring will be fully closed “approximately one year from closing the Scripps transaction.”

Despite their imminent move, Discovery expressed their appreciation for Maryland and their employees in Silver Spring.

“We remain unwavering in our support of the Maryland and Greater Washington, DC area,” their statement said.

“We thank the leadership of the State of Maryland, Montgomery County and, most importantly, our employees for their cooperation and understanding as we make this important next step for the long-term success of Discovery.”

The process of replacing the building complex that Discovery will vacate will be handled by the MCEDC. Petr said that while Discovery finalizes their move, MCEDC will be working on finding a replacement to fill the site in Silver Spring.

“This is going to be a recruitment scenario, so we will be recruiting a company from either Montgomery County or Maryland, or even broader domestically or internationally,” he said.

Discovery’s decision to leave comes in the midst of Amazon’s search for the right site for their new headquarters, HQ2. Amazon recently released the list of 20 potential locations for HQ2, including Montgomery County, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Amazon’s HQ2 would add around 50,000 jobs to the local economy, according to The Washington Post.

Superintendent proposes operational budget for 2019 Jack Smith recommends a $67 million increase despite deficit

By Elise Cauton On Dec. 19, MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith proposed a $2.59 billion operating budget for the 2019 fiscal year. This motion includes a $67 million increase from the previous year, despite the county’s $120 million budget shortfall.

The expanded budget is meant to account for inflation and the county’s growing student population. Michael Durso, President of the Board of Education, noted that rising enrollment subsequently leads to the hiring of more teachers and the need for new school buildings, such as Richard Montgomery Elementary. “[Enrollment] has a ripple effect,” Durso said. “Needing additional teachers [and] opening up the new elementary school in September … that will have an impact.”

According to the proposed budget for the 2019 fiscal year, 81.2 percent of total expenditures, around $2 billion, were allocated for instruction. This includes salaries for teachers, administrators, and building service workers.

Smith’s proposed budget also adjusts the funding for the county’s English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program. According to the proposal, MCPS is expecting around 3,000 more students to enroll in ESOL classes next year, and is preemptively increasing the program’s budget by more than $2 million.

According to Dr. Arronza LaBatt, the Executive Director to the Deputy Superintendent, the expansion of the ESOL program is an example of the county adjusting its budget to suit the needs of schools. “We’re looking where our student population may shift,” LaBatt stated. “ Where we’re seeing an increase in numbers of students with specialized needs, that’s where we realign our funds to make sure that we are meeting their needs.”

In order to account for the deficit, the

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county is currently enacting an emergency savings plan. According to Hans Reimer, President of the Montgomery County Council, this plan will reduce the shortfall by $60

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million. The savings plan will involve cuts from all departments in the county, including MCPS. “The county executive works with all of his department directors, and

tells them how much money he wants to [save],” Reimer said.

The departments will then decide themselves what they will cut to meet their required amount.

County executives asked the Board to cut $25 million from county’s current budget by the end of the school year. Durso explained that although the request will be difficult to finance, it could be worse, considering the amount of the deficit. “[MCPS is] about half of the county’s budget, so fortunately we didn’t get saddled with half of that shortfall,” Durso said. “Twenty five million is going to hurt a bit, but I think we can handle it.”

While the county has not yet decided where these cuts will be made, Durso predicts that they will not directly affect students in the classroom. Durso also stressed that Smith’s proposed budget is not final, and that much can change by the time it is approved in May. “There are a lot of things that have to happen between now and when the budget is officially approved,” he said.

The county is holding public hearings to gather the opinions of the community, and the school board will continue to conduct work sessions to debate and arrange the details of the budget.

Shebra Evans, Vice President of the Board of Education, said she believes that Smith is addressing the correct issues for the county in his budget. “I like that his focus is on meeting the needs of our students, and … he does a great job of laying out what our school system looks like,” Evans said.

Durso also said he considers the superintendent’s budget to be relevant to a diverse and evolving Montgomery County. “I think he’s right on track in terms of the needs for an ever-changing school system,” he said.

“The superintendent is well aware that we have challenges with our second language learners, and just kind of keeping up with capacity.”

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Newsbriefs

Samir Paul endorsed by MCEA, MSEA, and RunForSomething The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) and the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) recently endorsed computer science teacher Samir Paul, who is running for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 16. He was also endorsed by RunForSomething, an anti-Trump organization that recruits progressive millenials to run for office.

Paul expressed appreciation for the support of the organizations. “I was absolutely over the moon about receiving these endorsements … to have the support of Montgomery County and all of Maryland teachers, to have the backing of a Trump resistance organization that is encouraging young people to take their place at the table … is a huge boost to me,” Paul said.

According to Angie Ardis, UniServ Director/Political Organizer for MCEA, Paul was selected because his views on the public education system aligned strongly with those of MCEA and MSEA, and because of his work as a member of the MCEA. “He is on the same track with [MCEA] and our state organization, [MSEA], on making sure that our schools are funded, that public dollars stay in public schools,“ Ardis said. “He has played a very active part from a building rep to … the co-chair of our political committee.”

To receive an endorsement from the MCEA and MSEA, candidates must go through a rigorous process that includes a questionnaire, an interview, and several rounds of voting by bodies of elected MCEA and MSEA representatives, as well as the MCEA and MSEA Board of Directors.

“The apple ballot is a very coveted recommendation in the area and one of the reasons is the integrity of the process,” Ardis said.

Former security guard sentenced to probation Former MCPS security guard Mike Anthony Lievano was sentenced to five years of supervised probation in December after pleading guilty to second-degree assault and fourth-degree sex offense.

Lievano, who worked at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School, was arrested in May for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 14 yearold student at the school, according to Bethesda Beat. As part of his plea deal, Lievano was not charged for sexually abusing a minor.

MCPS has no opinion on the sentence. “That is really the purview of the justice system to make those decisions,” county spokesperson Derek Turner said. “We are focused on keeping our kids safe, and we are glad that we were able to address this issue quickly, and make sure that E. Brooke Lee is a safe place for kids to learn.”

Following Lievano’s arrest, MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith emphasized the school district’s commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment for students in a May 15, 2017 press release.

“MCPS remains committed to the safety of our students. We have developed and implemented staff training on preventing, recognizing and reporting child abuse as well as a curriculum on personal body safety for students at all grade levels. We will continue to take every appropriate measure to ensure our schools are safe and welcoming places to learn for students,” Smith wrote.

Newsbriefs compiled by Serena Debesai

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January 31, 2018

Maryland experiences budget crisis

State officials fight for Children’s Health Insurance Program

By Hannah Lee Maryland may experience shortfalls in its budget for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as early as February, according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.

The deadline for the bill’s funding, which provides health services for about 10 percent of Maryland’s children, expired Sept. 30 last year.

Maryland could lose funding for the program as early as April.

President Donald Trump has signed onto a spending bill proposed by the Senate and House that will provide CHIP with six years of federal money, around $124 billion, until the end of 2023.

States that experienced the budget crisis for over 110 days applied short-term patches, which appropriate unused state CHIP funds to distribute money to 20 in-debt states within the first quarter of 2018, according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.

Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, explained the unnecessary stress that the patches cause for states and families.

“These patches are very confusing for states, and by extension for families, trying to figure out whether there is enough money keep CHIP going,” Alker said.

“These haphazard funding extensions make it very hard for states to fulfill their commitment to keep kids covered.”

Another source of funding states can use is unused money from state funds, as it goes to a redistribution pool, which can be used for other states that may need more funding, according to the Georgetown Policy Health Insti-

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tute. States have a choice to enroll eligible children in Medicaid, as Maryland does, create a separate CHIP program, or use a combination of both.

Gov. Larry Hogan wrote a letter to leaders of both parties in Congress to reauthorize the bill. He stressed the negative effects on citizens’ and the state’s financial position if the bill were to be removed.

“We should all be able to agree that needy kids should never become a political football,” Hogan wrote.

“This potential worst-case outcome places a tremendous financial and administrative burden on our state and sows fear and confusion among some of our most vulnerable positions.”

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vides health coverage for children up to age 19 who do not qualify for Medicaid, but are unable to afford private insurance.

Alker emphasized how implementing long-term funding for CHIP saves money for the government. “The latest calculations from the Congressional Budget Office show that renewing this program actually costs very little,” Alker said. “In fact, CHIP is so cost effective that funding it for 10 years would actually save the government money it would have to spend on other programs.”

The Maryland Children’s Health Program provides health benefits to children in need, specifically those in poverty, foster care, and with disabilities. 79 percent of children living in or near poverty,

32 percent of children with health care needs, and all children in foster care depend on the program, according to Georgetown University’s Snapshot of Children’s Coverage. States forced to end the program will need to determine whether children under CHIP are eligible for Medicaid, or whether their family will need to seek insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Although CHIP’s budget has been extended, states still prepared for the program’s defunding, such as sending letters to families warning that their coverage could be affected.

Uninsured students may be eligible for help and should encourage their families to check out marylandhealth connection.gov for more information.

Legislature proposes sexual harassment panel Announcement follows recent policy changes

By William Donaldson On Jan. 24, Maryland State Senate President Thomas Mike Miller and Speaker of the House of Delegates Michael Busch announced the creation of a panel that will submit recommendations to the legislature responding to sexual harassment within the General Assembly.

The panel will be comprised of twelve women and two men who represent both the public and private sectors. The panel will review methods that other states and countries have successfully used to combat sexual harassment, according to The Baltimore Sun. Delegate Ariana Kelly, President of the Women Legislators of Maryland caucus and a Democrat representing Montgomery County’s District 16, said she was initially confused by the proposed panel because the women’s caucus already implements most of the functions of the new panel. “I’m not sure what [the Senate President’s panel] is going to do,” she said. “We already have a panel in place and it’s going to be making recommendations within the next few weeks.”

The women’s caucus gave preliminary approval to a set of recommendations for the General Assembly on Jan. 24. These proposals include increased training for legislators and hiring an expert who would oversee all harassment complaints, according to The Washington Post.

Miller and Busch’s announcement comes one month after a December decision by the Leg-

islative Policy Committee that mandated that the General Human Resources Office begin tracking complaints of sexual harassment perpetrated by legislators.

The mandate updated the existing sexual harassment policy, requiring the Human Resources Office to examine the claims, how they were resolved, and report the information to legislators.

Kelly emphasized that the work being done by the women’s caucus will expand on the changes made to the policy in December. “[Our panel’s] recommendations are going to go well beyond what they

did in December with the Legislative Policy Committee,” she said.

The women’s caucus first formed their panel on sexual harassment in Nov. 2016, following the election of President Donald Trump amidst accusations that he sexually assaulted over a dozen women. “We were really ready to address this issue after the Access Hollywood tape broke and this became more of a discussion on people’s minds,” said Kelly. “Sexual harassment was something that we began talking about up around that time for that reason.”

The previous sexual harass-

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A UNITED FRONT The Women Legislators of Maryland caucus, shown above, are pushing for better harassment policy in the legislature.

ment policy for the Maryland legislature was crafted in 1993 in response to an allegation that a former male legislator had sexually harassed two lobbyists. The eight-page directive faced immediate criticism for failing to identify a means for workers outside of the General Assembly to file complaints with the legislature.

The policy received additional critique because it was written without input from female legislators.

State Senator Cheryl Kagan (District 17), representing Rockville and Gaithersburg, said that acting on women’s issues in the legislature should always require input from women. “It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t seem to be evident to everyone,” she said. “Those of us who, frankly and unfortunately, are the most expert at these issues should definitely always be consulted.”

The newly drafted policies combating sexual misconduct in the General Assembly come in the midst of the national #MeToo campaign, in which women and men from across the country have come forward with their own stories of sexual harassment.

Kagan said that new policies moving forward must continue to focus on abolishing sexual harassment from all workplaces. “As someone who has experienced my share of #MeToo incidents, I think it’s pretty clear that there’s a problem that has not yet been addressed,” she stated. “Simply the prevalence of some men’s actions means that there isn’t enough fear of repercussions.”

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January 31, 2018

Native American tribe recognized by Maryland

Accohannock Tribe of Eastern Shore gains state Indian Status

By Arshiya Dutta The Accohannock Tribe on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has obtained official Indian Status through an executive order by Gov. Larry Hogan, which was presented to the Statehouse and members of the Accohannock Tribe on Dec. 19.

When a tribe is given Indian Status by the state, both the tribe and the tribe’s historical background are officially recognized as legitimate. The status also offers support for the tribe and the community events and activities they partake in.

According to the Washington Post, along with recognition, Maryland Indian Status qualifies them for “federal, state and nonprofit assistance for its work.”

State recognition can also create financial opportunities for the tribe. Although it does not financially sustain them, with state recognition, the Accohannock Tribe can apply for grants.

These grants will provide funding for cultural centers and hosting fees for free public cultural awareness events. The tribe will use the money from their grants for public causes.

In a Delmarva Now article by Jeremy Cox, the Accohannock Tribal Chairman Mike Hinman said, “We want it known the Native Americans are doing this for you.”

The Accohannock Tribe is one of Maryland’s oldest Native American tribes and is a subtribe of the Powhatan Nation. According to the Office of Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, the Accohannock tribe participates in several community initiatives, including the maintenance of the Bending Water Park in Somerset County. The tribe also hosts an an-

COURTESY OF JANSI MEDINA-TAYAC

NATIVE AMERICAN RITUALS The Piscataway Indian Nation was recognized by Maryland legislators in 2012. Pictured is the tribal chief along with other members of the tribe. nual pow-wow at the Bending Water Park, the “Healing of All Nations,” to display their cultural practices and educate the public.

For the Accohannock, gaining Maryland Indian Status was a multi-stage process. The path to gaining Indian Status includes pass-

ing an executive order, complying with an extensive list of requirements, and undergoing a “rigorous petitioning process,” according to a statement by the Maryland Governor’s Press Office. The recognition also involves official documents and proof of the

tribe’s legitimacy. Sophomore Jansi MedinaTayac, who is a member of the Piscataway Indian Nation, said, “In Maryland, you need a lot of documents and proof to gain recognition.”

Aside from the assistance and protection on the state and federal levels, the Indian Status is a step in the right direction concerning Native American culture awareness.

The executive order gives the tribe assurance that the government will address their concerns.

In a Washington Post article, Hinman said, “Today we can say with more meaning than ever, we are still here, where we have always been, and where we will go into the future until the creator tells us we are no more.”

The Accohannock tribe is not the only tribe that has been recognized by Maryland.

Both the Piscataway-Conoy tribe and the Piscataway Indian Nation were recognized by Gov. Martin O’Malley. Much like the Accohannock tribe, the Piscataway Indian Nation struggled to attain official status. “My tribe fought to gain state recognition for about 18 years,” Medina-Tayac said. Although state recognition does not guarantee substantial financial support or security, Medina-Tayac said it shows slight progression towards alleviating the erasure of Native American culture and their struggles.

“Compared to other problems that Native Americans are facing, such as poverty and racism, the state recognition of a tribe is a very small step towards progress,” MedinaTayac stated. “Of course, even very small steps can still be important when solving a bigger issue.”

Up and Coming February 5 Report Cards Distributed

February 9-10, 7:00 p.m.

Sankofa

February 19 Presidents’ Day, No School

March 2 Early Dismissal

Student and Teacher Awards & Honors Seniors Sarah Gao, Andrew Komo, David Wu, and Alice Zhang were named Regeneron Science Talent Search Finalists and won $25,000 each.

Seniors Kevin Jiang, Uro Lyi, Anish Senapati, Arman Siddique, Shriyash Upadhyay, Katherine Wu, and Ariel Zhang were named Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholars and won $2,000 each.

Freshman Brady Mason was named the New York Ski Education Foundation’s January athlete of the month.

Juniors Abou Sow, Nate Kinyanjui, Sam Rose Davidoff, and Luca Cannuscio ran for a school record in the 4x800m relay at Georgetown Prep.

Senior Ryan Holland won his 100th career varsity wrestling match.

Senior Morgan Casey earned a new school indoor record for the 800m run.

Sophomore Shifra Dayak’s editorial, “Dear Rep. Jose Serrano — Dismantle the DeVos plan,” was published in the Riverdale Press newspaper in New York.

A6 News

silverchips

January 31, 2018

Incorrect tobacco surcharges to be reimbursed

Approximately 3,000 MCPS teachers were affected by healthcare fee from HEALTHCARE page A1 MCPS imposes the surcharge to the total health insurance costs of employees if they or their covered spouse use tobacco, according to MCPS publication The Employee News. Employees must be tobacco-free for at least a year prior to Jan. 1 to qualify as a “non-smoker.” Even if an employee is not changing their healthcare plan, they must reattest their tobacco usage or non-usage during the Open Enrollment period each fall. If an employee does not re-attest their non-usage, they will automatically be charged the 25 percent surcharge as a smoker.

In the email, Zuckerman said that the MCPS Employee and Retiree Services Center made an effort to reach out to employees about the attestation period by sending out 25 separate notifications. “This outreach effort included sending targeting emails to employees who did not attest during open enrollment,” he said. Zuckerman said that this led to 18,000 people attesting to being tobacco free, an increase from 2015 and 2016.

AP Language and Composition teacher Keith Anderson noted that this extra fee helps to offset budget troubles in the county.

“One of the ways MCPS responds to being underfunded, which mostly happens at the state level, is that they have to save money by making us pay slightly more for insurance and … jump through hoops for things like smoking attestation,” he said.

The Open Enrollment period originally closed on Dec. 1, with 8,000 employees at risk for the surcharge. In response, the Employee and Retiree Services Center sent an email to those employees, offering an opportunity to re-attest by Dec. 22. One thousand additional employees responded to that message by marking their non-usage in an extended system. Those who did not re-indicate in 2017 were charged as tobacco

MCPS

MINDY BURTON

users for failing to update their information by the start of 2018.

According to a letter sent to staff on Jan. 19 from Zuckerman, the purpose of the increased surcharge is “to encourage smokers to quit and reduce tobacco use, and has the goal of improving the health of our workforce and reducing overall health costs for MCPS and our employees over the long term.”

Anderson has used MCPS healthcare for 13 years. He stated that the sign up process is not the problem, but instead blames the situation on insurance companies and MCPS. “The idea that someone needs to ‘opt in’ to something is an old trick that insurance companies and other large entities, like MCPS, use to lower their costs,” Anderson said. “They are counting on the fact that people … will fail to do things like get a yearly physical, fill out a form, or even go to a website and click a button.”

Several teachers lodged complaints about being wrongly charged as smokers and will be reimbursed, according to Zuckerman’s letter. He also noted that the system had been heavily tested and did not show signs of malfunction. “Although we have not detected any technical issues in the last three years of administering this system, we certainly are looking into these concerns,” the letter said. “This particular system for tobacco attestation went through extensive stress and load testing prior to the implementation of the system … However, it is something we will continue to look at, as we definitely do not want a technical error to ever impact anyone.”

Employees will receive specific instructions from the Employee and Retiree Services Center to be refunded for their surcharge.

Opinion B1

silverchips

January 31, 2018

Should Montgomery County bring back final exams?

YES:

NO:

Exams prepare students for college When asked to choose between sitting in a classroom for two hours and taking a test or not having to take a final exam, most students would likely choose the latter. However, when MCPS took away final exams in 2015 and replaced them with Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs), MCPS did more harm than good.

Despite the fact that 90 percent of high school teachers opposed the measure, according to the Washington Post, the Board of Education (BOE) still voted to scrap end-ofsemester testing.

MCPS should re-implement final exams, as CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA they provide a far less stressHannah Lee ful and more reasonable exam schedule than RQAs while better preparing students for college.

High school and college grading systems are different in that many factors contribute to a student’s grade in high school such as homework, quizzes, projects, and tests. In college, a student’s grade instead will typically “ride on two papers and a final exam — or three big exams or class participation and a group project,” according to USA Today College.

Without the opportunity to take fairly high stakes exams in high school, MCPS students are unprepared when they are suddenly thrust into the world of college exams. MCPS students are also put at a disadvantage from students of other areas around the county where final exams are still the norm.

At the University of Maryland, all undergraduate courses require a final exam, according to the Office of Registrar’s website. The University of Maryland’s final exams are two hours long, a similar length to exams prior to MCPS’s policy change, but developing the stamina to take such long and rigorous tests is something that comes with practice.

Leanna Binick, a counselor, explained that high school is a period of time for students to prepare for the college lifestyle.

“By continuing to increase in the rigorous course load, a student is able to adapt to a more intensive work ethic that they can adapt in order to prepare for the type of intensity that a college might offer,” she said. “Within the college setting that [standardized tests] is also required, especially within a certain time constraint.” If largescale and high-stakes tests have a positive effect on students, according to a 100 year analysis by testing scholar Richard P. Phelps, how does eliminating final exams further this purpose?

Richard Chen, former Blair student

Exams waste time and energy

and freshman at UC Berkeley, emphasized the necessity of final exams in high school to help prepare students for college testing.

“You need to be comfortable with taking long tests and it’s best to be introduced to that in high school,” he said.

Adding to the lack of preparation students receive in the new system, the removal of final exams caused a major change in the MCPS grading system. Instead of determining a semester grade from two quarter grades and a separate final exam grade, a semester grade is now determined by only two quarter grades. The previous grading scheme dictated that each quarter grade was worth 37.5 percent of the semester grade while the exam grade was worth 25 percent.

However, the new grading system leads to an unbalance of the weight of each quarter, since the final exam grade is not considered separately and is instead integrated as a part of the second quarter of the semester, ultimately leading to grade inflation. It also encourages students to only put effort into securing a good first quarter grade. The BOE cited that their main reason to remove final exams was to alleviate testing at the end of each semester, but the outcome was the exact opposite. Students are still given 45 to 90 minute exams in core classes, but at the end of each quarter instead of each semester, which ends up increases testing.

Comparing the schedules from the two grading system, the week long half day schedule used before, which released students at 12:50 p.m. and did not require students to come to school if he or she did not have an exam not only decreased stress for students and teachers, but also gave teachers a significant time block to grade exams and assignments for final semester grades. Although those in favor of removing final exams may argue that the decision increased instructional time and causes less stress, it is not only a minor change to students’ schedules at the end of each semester, but also pushes a time restraint on teachers when grading tests at the end of each semester.

Removing final exams is a counterintuitive solution to reducing the work load for teachers and students. In order to fulfill high school’s responsibility of preparing students for college, MCPS should bring back final exams to benefit the whole school community.

This year, students will once again skip the two weeks of lost class time, high stress, and final exams which attempt to assess them on an entire semester’s worth of learning in two hours.

In 2015, the MCPS Board of Education voted to abolish semester exams in favor of the K–12 Assessment Plan, a series of quarterly exams that could take any number of forms, from a standardized test to a class project.

According to a memorandum by Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers, the K–12 Assessment Plan aims to increase instructional time while continuing to collect data CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA that the county needs to ensure Marlena Tyldesley student success.

In theory, this sounds fantastic. In practice, it did not quite work out. Despite the difficulties in finding a sufficient replacement, MCPS made the right choice in abolishing these exams because they caused an inefficient use of class time and took a toll on students.

Final exams take away from the time a student has to actually learn the class material. In an MCPS press release, Board Director Patricia O’Neill said that concern about lost classroom instruction time due to exams influenced the Board’s decision, as the replacement plan “will increase instructional time while ensuring we continue to have the data and SEOYOUNG JOO information we need to provide supports and services to our students and to monitor how our district is performing.”

Without finals, students and teachers regain upwards of a full week of classroom instruction time that was previously lost to testing. Already, teaching is often rushed to make room for standardized tests. This year, MCPS is administering over a dozen distinct standardized tests, such as the PARCC, PSAT, and the new Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA).

While not every student takes every test, school schedules often have to be reconfig-

ured to allow these tests to be administered.

O’Neill wrote on MCPS’s website that statemandated testing, such as PARCC or MISA, “impacts our schools for several weeks— schedules are rearranged, resources are stretched thin, and the whole process puts stress on our staff and our students.”

To make matters worse, Governor Larry Hogan’s mandated shortened schedule will further reduce the available classroom instruction time. Taking time out of our limited teaching window to prepare for and administer these tests is counterproductive to increasing student success in school.

Aside from taking up precious instructional time, overtesting can have negative effects on students’ health. In a U.S. News and World Report article, Dr. Elaine Cox explained that students will often sacrifice their physical and mental health in order to complete a test. “Encouraged not to miss testing days, children may come to school ill and not at their full ability for successful performance,” she said. “Sleeplessness, loss of self-esteem secondary to poor performance and lifelong mental blocks can be seen in individual children.”

Abolishing two-hour final exams will reduce administrators’ and students’ stress from testing and is an excellent way to improve school success.

Though they began with the noble goal of decreasing testing, the Board’s replacement for exams, RQAs, continued to waste class time and increased testing from every semester to every quarter.

These RQAs could take a variety of forms, from a standard test to a group project. Students found that the RQAs, though they sounded promising, often took the form of tests unrelated to course material. “They do not match the content we are learning in class,” sophomore Louis Rosenberg said. “A lot of them, they were trying to have us learn new things which did not relate to the unit ... none of the teachers liked them, it just hurt everybody as a whole.”

While RQAs were, overall, a failed experiment in our schools, some aspects such as the county’s move toward projectbased assessments were positive changes.

The Buck Institute of Education explains on their website that when using project-based learning, “students understand content more deeply, remember what they learn and retain it longer than is often the case with traditional instruction.”

MCPS should be encouraging hands-on, skill-based learning whenever possible, even better if they can apply that philosophy to testing. The county should be more interested in how students apply what they learn than in how well they bubble in a Scantron.

Final exams run the risk of appearing like the appealing option simply because finding a new version of testing is difficult.

That does not make finals the right decision. Abolishing finals was a good move on the county’s part, now the Board just needs to find an adequate replacement.

voicebox Joseph Dey Junior

Cecelia Bauer Sophomore

Laviru Adikari Sophomore

Edward Lee Senior

Max Casey-Bolanos Sophomore

“Yes, if we don’t have them now, we’re never going to learn how to study for final exams.”

“No, because there’s too much stress and you have to take so much time off to study for them. It’s a waste of time.”

“Yes, they’re a good way to cap off everything you’ve learned... and most classes already have final exams.”

“No, because it wastes class times and there’s not enough time for instructional material.”

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

“No, because when we had final exams it was harder to get an A in the class.”

B2 Opinion

silverchips

With Liberty and Title IX for all

January 31, 2018

How to improve sexual assault policy enforcement on college campuses

By Adenike Falade An opinion On some level, the Spelman and Morehouse College students and the individuals blaming women for their own assaults are not so different. In their attempts to seek justice, both groups end up undermining the criminal justice system’s commitment to due process and fairness, whether it is for the accused or the victim. Colleges have a responsibility to provide equal education to all students and updated sexual misconduct policies would ensure this equality.

Schools, public and private, that receive federal funding are required to follow the guidelines established by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. These guidelines aim to prohibit discrimination based on sex by requiring schools to report and investigate known sexual assault cases when they interfere with the victim’s access to an education.

Following the act’s passage, former Vice President Joe Biden issued a Dear Colleague Letter to colleges; it delivered strict guidelines on how colleges should address sexual assault. In September 2017, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rescinded the guidelines that required a “preponderance of evidence” standard of proof and a 60-day time limit for investigations. Her policies should improve treatment that the accused face, but there is still more that can be done to better enforce and adapt Title IX to help victims and the accused alike.

It is common for American universities to struggle to provide their students with the assistance they need when involved in a sexual assault investigation. In 2013, a male Amherst College student was accused and later expelled for forcing a girl to have oral sex with him. He was given a list of advisors to choose from, none of which had legal training aside from the required Title IX training given to all teachers.

Amherst failed to provide the accused

THE WASHINGTON POST

student with a fair chance to prove his innocence by giving him a free and competent legal advisor. The federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) also requires all school investigators to look for their own evidence and question witnesses independently of the parties involved. The OCR’s guidelines need to allow both parties involved to present supporting evidence and witnesses to minimize bias in the university panel’s decision.

Morehouse College and Spelman College, two prestigious HBCUs, have also had difficulties with acknowledging victims’ claims and respecting the accused. In early November, students posted papers around campus and tweets naming alleged rapists and sexual abusers. They blamed their

BEN MILLER

schools’ administration for ignoring known sexual assault cases to promote a positive, brother-sister, image between the two schools.

Some of the students named proclaimed their innocence, but the damage had been done. Many Spelman victims accused the schools of disregarding their claims for their own agendas. The university administration and students both mishandled the situation.

After the posters were taken down, students’ reputations had already been marred without the chance for due process and a fair trial. The universities failed to give other victims the acknowledgment and justice that they deserved by rebuffing their claims.

The system would be more just if the Department of Education required, rather

than suggested, the “clear and convincing evidence” standard of evidence which requires a high probability that sexual misconduct occurred to punish students.

The Dear Colleague Letter only allowed for the “preponderance of evidence,” lower standard of evidence.

A lesser standard of evidence is unfair to people accused when they face such serious consequences. Schools should employ the same “innocent until proven guilty” held throughout the United States. The decisions sexual assault panels make by can have serious ramifications, so a higher standard of evidence should be used to dole out such extreme punishments as expulsion.

The OCR explicitly expects universities to treat students equally throughout an investigation, so victims and the accused should have the opportunity to choose any advisor or to present evidence and witnesses. The schools are not doing their job if they choose to ignore the truths and facts given to them. Universities must investigate and listen to all the sexual misconduct cases presented to them because that is the only way for the victim to be heard and for justice to be served.

It is imperative that schools do their best to minimize the need for such severe consequences by providing students with the resources they need to feel safe. Cynthia Garrett, an attorney advocate for the people accused of sexual assault, believes colleges should specifically teach their students about sexual assault to better prepare them.

“Make them take a class… They’re there to learn and often young people who are just starting college don’t have that knowledge base to understand how people interact.”

Oxford University has already implemented compulsory consent classes for their freshmen class and American universities must take this same initiative to properly educate their students, both socially and academically.

silverchips

January 31, 2018

Opinion B3

Allow the thought crime

Facebook and other social media should not remove users for subjective reasons

By Telon Yan An opinion Big Brother Facebook has been relatively benign, but he can be picky with what is allowed on his platform.

From Nick Ut’s famous photo of a napalm attack in Vietnam to accounts belonging to many Rohingya individuals, Facebook has removed numerous accounts, posts, photos, and comments based on their Community Standards policies, with no sign of stopping. Their widespread content removal policy unfairly silences users, contradicts the company’s mission, and creates a massive echo chamber effect.

Over two billion total users spend an average of 50 minutes a day on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram (which Facebook owns) as of 2016, according to the New York Times. In the 2016 election, Facebook helped register over two millions users to vote, according to The Atlantic. Facebook’s reach and influence over people cannot be under-

their abilities to reach out for help and tell their side of the story.

Even some people here in the US feel unfairly restricted on Facebook and other social media sites. Many conservatives have spoken out about possibly ideologicallyspurred censorship on Facebook. Andrew Torba, the CEO of Gab, an emerging social media platform with little censorship that is praised by right-wing news sources, was motivated to create the platform because he felt that there was too much censorship of conservative voices on traditional social media platforms. “It’s not unusual to see the censorship rise and the suppression of different ideas, specifically conservative ideas, when you have that sort of concentration of [liberals] leading and controlling these platforms that we use every day,” he said in an interview with a YouTube commentator.

Driving extreme conservatives to alternate social media platforms poses a danger of creating echo chambers. It is true that legally, Facebook may remove whatever they

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

MINDY BURTON

Democracy dies without fact checking

Why the press needs to be vigilant in reporting the news

By Mindy Burton An opinion

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

BEGONE, THOUGHTS A Facebook user views options for why they reported a post. stated with all the content that its users see.

When that content is subjectively censored, dangers arise.

Facebook’s terms of removal are ambiguous and the task is often completed by bots.

Facebook’s Community Standards policies states that they “may remove certain kinds of sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it,” including all forms of hateful speech, accounts belonging to terrorist organizations and hate groups, and much more.

It is impossible to objectively decide what constitutes an offensive post or page.

Even something that seems as simple as determining a group’s status as a terrorist organization is not always black and white. Some people and organizations will always be unfairly removed. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a Rohingya insurgent group, has been declared a terrorist organization by the Myanmar government, according to The Guardian, and subsequently had their Facebook page removed.

However, many Rohingya individuals who are being persecuted by the government disagree with this classification and the actions taken by Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook has been accused of unnecessarily removing accounts of Rohingya individuals, according to a report from The Daily Beast, who often have no better way to raise awareness about the human rights crisis. For an already isolated and persecuted people group, Facebook’s algorithmic biases severely hinder

like because they are a private company, but politically motivated censorship is the most insidious kind.

As conservatives and liberals separate themselves on social media sites like Gab, more extreme ideas become normalized and comfortable within those groups, people hear less complete versions of stories and events, and the other side’s opinions seem less and less reasonable. Mark Trahant, a professor of journalism at the University of North Dakota and independent journalist, believes that free speech, minimal censorship, and talking with those who one disagrees with is necessary to minimize the echo chamber effect and promote a healthier political climate.

“I think there needs to be a culture of dissent where we listen to people we disagree with … I think the danger is driving it underground. I think the best counter to free-speech is more free speech [because] you can call people out, say this is wrong,” Trahant said.

Although free speech often comes with conflict and anger, it is ultimately the only effective way of keeping people with different beliefs, ideologies, and biases together and the best way to avoid creating echo chambers. The individual choice to see things from another perspective and interact with those one disagrees with is the solution to ideological divergence that no company can take away.

soapbox

To what extent (if at all) should private companies interfere in matters of censorship?

“A company should not apply its own ideological beliefs to censor contents that it dislikes.”

— George Klees, senior “Private companies are at liberty to have their own codes of ethics and terms of use. They can pick and choose information however they want.”

— Avik Barua, junior

On December 15, The Washington Post published an article describing seven words that were “banned” for use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in budget documents.

This statement sparked controversy across America regarding the role of the federal government in regulating agencies, the scientific importance of these words, and the constitutionality of this declaration.

Opinion pieces in a wide variety of newspapers popped up. Physicians posted protest photographs with tape over their mouths and the hashtag “#ScienceNotSilence.”

The Washington Post reported that policy analysts at the CDC were given the list of forbidden words on December 14, just one day before their article was published.

By only allowing themselves one day to break the story, The Post delivered a story full of inaccuracies that would cause liberalleaning media, particularly MSNBC, to attack President Donald Trump without a solid background.

On January 11, CNN reported that they had obtained the official document and spoken with two senior officials whose testimonies tell a different story. The memo stated that the words were merely suggested to not be used in order to increase chances of receiving money from budget policymakers.

This entire scenario exemplifies that the responsibility of the press is to providing readers with the full truth that has been thoroughly investigated and fact checked.

Anything less leaves room for mistakes that may diminish the public’s trust in journalism and may misrepresent the topics that they write about.

The media holds an immense amount of power; they control what people see as news and what they view as the truth.

According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center, 20 percent of Americans often use print newspapers as their source of news and 38 percent find their news online, such as in digital copies of newspapers or social media.

A major misstep in publishing something that is incorrect could cause readers to question if other articles contain false information and diminishes trust in the newspaper’s future legitimacy.

A poll by the Media Insight Project, cited by The Chicago Tribune, revealed that “nearly 90 percent of Americans say it’s extremely or very important that the media get their facts correct … about 4 in 10 say they can remember a specific incident that eroded their confidence in the media,

most often one that dealt with accuracy or a perception that it was one-sided.”

With so many people already doubting the press for ulterior motives, it is even more important that journalists are vigilant in reporting the impartial truth.

It is often a struggle for news outlets to juggle breaking the news quickly with complete accuracy.

According to University of Maryland Professor of Journalism Carl Sessions Stepp, accuracy should almost always be prioritized.

“I think accuracy comes first and journalists should do their very best to confirm information before they publish or broadcast it,” Stepp said. “Occasionally, there may be public interest in broadcasting something quickly, but in those cases, journalists should let people know the limitations of their sourcing and information.”

While the Post made the decision to publish the news of forbidden words quickly, they failed to emphasize that the story may still have been in flux and that there may not have been enough time to gather a wide variety of sources.

This led to unnecessary uproar across the country stemming from a now-debunked news story. The role of the press is to report the truth. In times when such information is pertinent to the American people—like the threat of government censorship—it is crucial that journalists publish reliable news to alert readers. The blame in this circumstance goes both ways: to the reporters and to the readers.

The Washington Post should have more clearly clarified that the sources needed to be corroborated, that the official document needed to be reviewed, and that the story was still developing to ensure that readers understood the news could change.

Just as it is the role of journalists to present the news, it is the role of the reader to seek their information from a variety of sources and assess its credibility.

According to Stepp, readers need to recognize that one single journalist may not have all the answers.

“I think the public needs to understand that these are works in progress, and that for the most part, journalists are doing their very best to get it right, but we should never be surprised that there’s more to the story than we first heard,” he said.

This situation should serve as a wake-up call to both readers and journalists that it is important for all parties to be invested in seeking out the whole truth.

The Washington Post was contacted for comment and did not respond.

B4 Opinion

silverchips

January 31, 2018

Developing an educated youth

Why cultural history classes should be integral to our education

By Elias Monastersky An opinion Over one million people live in Montgomery County as of 2016. Of the entire population, around 44 percent is white, while 19 percent is Hispanic and 18 percent are black. Montgomery County and Blair in particular are such diverse microcosms of our globalized society that multicultural literacy becomes all the more important.

There are many ways to learn about different people and the traditions and history that molded who they are, be it through taking a class about African American history or engaging in unique cultures by traveling to different countries. There is so much more to learn, and high school should not only be the place that it is taught, but also the place that fosters an understanding of every aspect of these different cultures.

MCPS simply does not place a large enough emphasis on learning about these other cultures through required classes.

Blair has a wide array of culture-focused classes, though students often do not take advantage of these courses. According to Blair counselor Alphonso Burwell, African American studies only has a current enrollment of 60 students, while Latin American studies has 20 students enrolled. With a school size of around 3,100 students, these numbers are pitifully low. Even though these classes are available, students often do not take advantage of them, leading to low class enrollment numbers and a missed opportunity. The lack of focus on less-represented cultures such as Native or Latin American makes for an unvaried and much less open worldview.Some other MCPS schools offer these courses as well, with 16 additional schools offering African American studies and nine offering Latin American studies, according the 2018-2019 MCPS course bulletin. However, 11 MCPS high schools do not offer either of these courses, giving little to no options for the

SALLY ZHOU

students that would want to learn about those cultures.

There is little incentive to pursue these history electives largely because students are only required to take three years of history to graduate. Students typically take US History, U.S. Government, and World History. Two of the three are focused strictly on America, and even World History mostly focuses on a Eurocentric global view, with little time spent on Latin American and African history.

World History covers the entirety of human involvement on earth, with more emphasis and time placed on the more recent time periods and less on the older ones.

Much of the AP World History curriculum, which is taught internationally, focuses on the major countries and empires that held the most power at their respective time periods, such as the Romans early in the course, the British, Spanish, and Chinese empires later on, and the United States near the end.

While there is some time spent studying some of the major events occuring in Africa and Latin America—specifically the impact of their revolutions—there is less of an emphasis on the diverse individual cultures and histories of the countries that make up Africa and Latin America. This makes for a class that is altogether too focused on Europe, Asia, and the United States.

A mandatory fourth year of social studies would push students to take one of the many unique classes available at Blair, and could be an important first step in creating a more culturally literate generation. Adding this graduation requirement would also create a need for similar courses at other MCPS schools that do not already have them.

Learning about things that are not common knowledge is part of the purpose of school.

Learning about other cultures is extremely important and needs to be done as it makes for a more fulfilling and intellectually stimulating educational experience.

January 31, 2018 My Blair: Personal Column

Opinion B5

silverchips

The reality of societal pressure CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

By Leul Abate In first person

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

By Jonathan Jeffrey Guest writer “I would rather have a dead son than a gay son,” were the words uttered by Wendell Melton, the man convicted of murdering his son over his sexual orientation. A father snatching life from his own creation due to his son’s attraction to the same sex is what we as a society are still facing.

There is an unbelievable amount of societal pressure upon the youth as a whole. Seemingly every generation sets a standard of perfection upon the generation that follows.

Though every century has had its unique issues, the thought that men must act a certain way in order to be real men has burdened the United States and many other nations for hundreds of years.

Men see themselves as the most powerful, the true leaders.

This thought came from the fact that male hormones, on average, cause the body to be physically stronger than that of women. This translates onto now, as males with more developed, stronger bodies are seen as more manly than that of a slimmer build.

This is a very shallow way of thinking and has caused an incredible amount body consciousness to infiltrate the minds of little boys. These boys grow up to be brainwashed into thinking their self worth is held within their muscles. They grow up to teach their kids that, and those children will teach their children, who’ll teach their children, the cycle seems to be never ending.

Alongside this bodily superiority complex comes sexism. The most ubiquitous form of this is misogyny, discrimination against women. Misogyny brings women

down as a whole. Men have taken a position of power within the nation. There has never been a female president and women only account for four percent of CEO positions in America’s 500 largest companies. With the large amount of power men as a whole have, many aspects of society are oppressive to young women.

At every street corner, a billboard or a poster of a model with a body deemed “perfect” can be seen. Young girls will go home that same day and wonder why their bodies aren’t that tones, why their skin isn’t as flawless, why their teeth aren’t that straight.

With this, comes self hatred, with self hatred comes the putting down of those in the same situation. There is no progression in such a system, in fact, it is exactly what those who wish to stay in oppressive power want.

Dividing and conquering is exactly how the same demographic has stayed in power for over 400 years. The youth are afraid to break the chain that is thrown upon them when they’re being raised, they are not given a voice because society steals it from them when they’re seen as different.

Society must alter its view on new ideas and not attempt to halt the progression of the world as a whole.

There should be no death penalty for love, no ridicule for tears, no manipulation of beautiful bodies, and most of all, no room for hatred.

Want to submit a personal column? Email it to silver.chips.print@gmail.com!

The Editorial Board will read through all submissions and determine a selection.

What do you think?

Feel free to access our feedback survey to tell us what you think about Silver Chips!

Scan the code to the right with a QR reader app, or use the URL http://www.chipssurvey.com/

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B6 Editorials

silverchips

January 31, 2018

Check yourself before you tech yourself

Being chosen for Amazon’s headquarters would come at a cost Tucson sent them a 21-foot Saguaro cactus. Kansas City Mayor Sly James bought and wrote fivestar reviews for 1,000 Amazon products. Stonecrest offered to rename itself Amazon, Georgia.

Since September, hundreds of cities have thrown themselves at the tech giant, desperate to be selected as the location of Amazon’s second headquarters (HQ2).

Of the proposals submitted for HQ2 and its 50,000 promised new jobs, three of the 20 finalists are located in the D.C. metropolitan area: Montgomery County, Washington D.C., and Northern Virginia.

The odds that Maryland or another D.C. metropolitan area is chosen are high. The region has a diverse population, a highly educated workforce, and the Metro system connects the entire DMV, all qualities Amazon announced that it was looking for. Not to mention that Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, owns the Washington Post and recently purchased a $23 million home in D.C. It is widely speculated that White Flint or another North Bethesda location would be the site of the Montgomery County headquarters.

Both Maryland and Montgomery County have made competitive promises to lure Amazon to the area. With $3 billion in tax incentives and $2 billion in transportation improvements introduced as part of the PRIME (Promoting ext-Raordinary Innovation in Maryland’s Economy) Act, Governor Larry Hogan wants

to ensure Maryland would be a prime candidate for Fortune 100 companies looking to relocate.

Yet, lawmakers have focused so much attention on attracting Amazon to Montgomery County that they have neglected to consider the negative ramifications of being selected as the site of HQ2.

The cost of Amazon moving to the area will disproportionately fall on low-income citizens, particularly the third of county residents who rent their homes.

For proof, look no further than Seattle. It is one of the most expensive cities to live in, a direct result of the fact that it is home to Amazon’s current headquarters, according to the Seattle Times.

Rent prices in the city have skyrocketed since Amazon first announced its move to Seattle in late 2007, increasing 65 percent since 2009. These price increases have been even more drastic in the areas surrounding Seattle; in nearby King County and Pierce County, rent shot up 10 percent in the last year alone.

Unsurprisingly, Seattle now spends more than $60 million annually to address homelessness, up from $39 million four years ago. Home prices will also be driven up if Amazon were to relocate to Montgomery County, which will make it exceedingly difficult for lower-income renters to transition to becoming homeowners.

Since Maryland and Montgomery County have no formal forms of rent control—the county only releases an annual recommended

rent price increase limit—lawmakers must make a serious commitment to protect housing prices from extreme inflation before they let Amazon move in.

There is no doubt that HQ2 could transform Montgomery County into a wealthy tech hub and contribute significantly to the region’s economy. The county and state must first put measures in place to protect low-income residents, affordable housing, and taxpayers.

Residents deserve a nuanced discussion on what the region stands to gain and lose if Ama-

zon moves in. Otherwise, the only free shipping Amazon will be offering will be to ship residents to a cheaper county to live in.

Comments?

Questions?

Email silver.chips. print@gmail.com!

Amazon may not be the best thing for Montgomery County, but we found an alternate location for their new HQ2: Blair’s room 165.

To check out our pitch video, scan this QR code or visit tinyurl.com/blairamazon.

Editorial Cartoon

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

Journalism in the time of #MeToo

By Laura Espinoza Aziz Ansari and Harvey Weinstein are not the same person. At one end of the spectrum lies a man who made a woman uncomfortable with his advances and did not respect her cues. At the other lies a man who allegedly abused over 90 women who felt pressured by his powerful position in Hollywood. While Ansari’s actions may have been hypocritical considering his support for the Times Up movement, he was not a serial abuser of young actresses who depended on him for their career aspirations.

Now, more than ever, people are being taken seriously when they bring up allegations of sexual misconduct. As a society, we took a huge step forward this past year in acknowledging and validating their stories. Journalists are in the incredibly position to give a voice to victims and be change makers in circles where this behavior was previously hidden, like the political elite or business moguls.

This is where we can get into a bind.

Many, most famously Woody Allen, are calling this new era a “witch hunt atmosphere,” because anyone accused of sexual harassment is immediately placed under a microscope and scrutinized carefully. And what do we find?

Most of the time, another victim will come forward, a history of harassment will reveal itself, or an apology statement will be made. Like clockwork, more and more powerful figures are being toppled by the past that has come back to haunt them; this is a good thing.

Before we get too excited about these results, we still have to think

Ombudsman Laura Espinoza about the repercussions of such a system. Due process for the accused is still important, even if we are finding that most accused people are guilty. Even if someone is innocent, this accusation is a stain upon their name forever.

Anything said about them online stays online and cannot be erased, even if the article, picture, or post is deleted.

Babe.net, the website that published the anonymous story of a woman’s misfortunate date with Ansari, ambushed Ansari by failing to give ample notice of

its impending publication. The article was inflammatory and graphic, describing sexual actions with too much detail. It was not rigorous in investigating Ansari, instead focusing on highlighting and sensationalizing one incident from an unnamed source. His behavior was misogynistic and inappropriate, but to insist he is on the same level as men who abused their power and influence for years to exploit women in the film industry is gross misrepresentation.

This is not to say that the ac-

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

cused should be given any leeway.

Journalists are the watchdog of the public sphere, even among their own. NBC anchor Matt Lauer, New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush, and National Public Radio news chief Michael Oreskes, among others, all faced repercussions after accusations of sexual misconduct. Journalists must still do their due diligence in writing about victims and perpetrators of sexual assault.

What we read and hear begins to subconsciously change our perceptions of the facts. Words like

“relationship” or “met up with” to indicate an agreement between a victim and someone accused of misconduct serve only to diminish the severity of the incident and make something criminal seem consensual. Language indicating blame or bias against either person serves to shut down the voices both people involved.

It may seem like the worst is behind us, but as stories come forward of local community members with years of harassment to their name, we need to create acceptance and safe spaces among our own. The only thing worse than a brave and courageous person who comes forward but is disregarded is the person who felt too scared and alone to say anything at all because of a hostile environment. In those situations, we do not just harm the victim, but we create future victims without even knowing it.

Fairness is tough. In these last months, social tolerance for sexual harassment was obliterated, but we also opened Pandora’s Box. We have to protect victims who are brave enough to come forward, but we have to ensure that the accused can tell their story. When we find abusers guilty after having considered all the evidence, the impact of the convictions becomes that much more powerful.

It becomes a warning to anyone considering sexual misconduct.

Their time is officially up.

Comments?

Questions?

Email ombudsman.silverchips@ gmail.com!

español C1

silverchips

31 de enero, 2018

La Esquina Latina

Silver Chips el 31 de enero 2018

La administración Trump termina con el TPS de salvadoreños Esto deja despavoridos a miles de beneficiarios en los Estados Unidos de TPS página A1 de inmigrantes, le mandaron una carta a la Secretaria Nielsen. En esta carta ellos enfatizaron las contribuciones de estos salvadoreños en las diferentes localidades de los Estados Unidos. En un monto total, según Cities for Action, los salvadoreños “TPSianos” aportan $3 miles de millones anualmente y un 88 por ciento son parte de la fuerza laboral. Al igual, un 34 por ciento de los beneficiarios tienen préstamos hipotecarios, significando que muchos son propietarios de casas. Los salvadoreños cubiertos bajo el TPS han creado sus nuevas vidas en los Estados Unidos y según estas estadísticas son dignos contribuidores en la economía del país.

Los políticos de Cities for Action también recalcaron que El Salvador todavía no es un país seguro y la terminación del TPS pondría la vida de estos salvadoreños en riesgo.

Según el grupo de derechos humanos del Departamento de Estado, una de cada cinco familias en El Salvador ha reportado haber sido víctimas de crímenes violentos.

Por otro lado, el canciller de El Salvador personalmente hizo múltiples viajes a Washington, D.C. el año pasado para reunirse con altos funcionarios de la Casa Blanca y del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional. En sus reuniones puso en claro las necesidades de los salvadoreños y el impacto que tendría terminar con el TPS. En la actualidad, todo apunta a que los ruegos de los funcionarios en el interior y

exterior no fueron suficientes para convencer a la secretaria de seguridad nacional. En un comunicado, la Secretaria Nielsen dijo

varez-Quintanilla, una estudiante del grado doce, dijo que, “los poseedores salvadoreños del TPS son personas que contribuyen

CORTESÍA DE MILLI LEGRAIN

Casa

Blanca

Protestantes

se

unen

que desde el 200l El Salvador ha recibido ayuda a nivel internacional para esfuerzos de recuperación y que muchos proyectos de reconstrucción ya han sido completados.

También aclaró que el periodo de 18 meses le dará la oportunidad al congreso para que cree una solución para posiblemente dar un estatus permanente a los beneficiarios.

El final de este programa se sentirá fuertemente en nuestra comunidad. Valeria Ál-

contra

la

terminación

del

TPS.

a la vida social y económica de las ciudades, estados y la nación en general.” A Álvarez-Quintanilla esto le afecta en lo personal porque su abuela es una de las beneficiarias del TPS. El hecho de pensar que su abuela tuviera que auto-deportarse la atormenta.

Ella agrega, “Mi abuela nos ha ayudado mucho, a mi familia y a mí, desde que llegamos a este país. Ella es un pilar muy fuerte para muchos familiares allá en El Salvador y

para nosotros acá.” Álvarez-Quintanilla no es la única que teme por el futuro de estos salvadoreños. El famoso chef español, José Andrés, escribió un artículo de opinión para el periódico The Washington Post donde expresó su inmensa preocupación por sus empleados que se enfrentan a un futuro incierto. Andrés dijo, “los inmigrantes, incluyendo los salvadoreños… constituyen más de la mitad del personal de mis restaurantes y simplemente no podríamos manejar nuestros negocios sin ellos.” Si sus trabajadores tuvieran que salir del país en septiembre del próximo año esto dejaría los restaurantes del chef español a la intemperie. Andrés añade, “con una tasa de desempleo nacional de cuatro por ciento, no hay suficientes trabajadores nacidos en los Estados Unidos para ocupar sus lugares o cubrir las necesidades de empleo de una economía en crecimiento.”

El Canciller de El Salvador, Hugo Martínez, ha ratificado su posición actual mediante videos en a la página oficial de la Secretaría de Comunicaciones de la Presidencia. Martínez recalcó, “reafirmamos nuestro compromiso de seguir trabajando sin descanso para encontrar una solución permanente a nuestros compatriotas.” Al igual enfatizó que sus connacionales deben renovar su TPS para que sigan teniendo estabilidad en el país y se beneficien si llegan a pasar un estatus permanente. Es cuestión de tiempo para saber el destino final de los 200,000 salvadoreños, hasta ahora la batalla para una legislación justa sigue de pie.

Las fuerzas armadas es una alternativa después de graduarse Kevin Miranda, ex-alumno 2017, comparte su experiencia en la Marina

Por Laura Méndez-Pinto y Michael Hernández Kevin Miranda se sienta en su escritorio hojeando otro panfleto de una universidad.

Suspira fuertemente y lo cierra. Mientras se prepara para ir a la escuela y se pone su uniforme del equipo de animadores, una ola negativa de incertidumbre pasa sobre él. Se sienta en una aula fría por la milésima vez y escucha que un compañero de clase fue aceptado a una universidad prestigiosa. Él se siente desalentado, no sabe cómo va a ser su futuro después de la escuela secundaria y no tiene los fondos para gastar dinero en solicitudes. Si es aceptado, su familia tampoco puede pagar la matrícula universitaria.

Derrotado y perdido, Miranda no tiene otra opción que empezar a buscar alternativas.

El proceso de solicitar a la universidad es emocionante, les da a los jóvenes su primera sensación de libertad y es una decisión que impacta fuertemente sus futuros.

Desafortunadamente, el proceso no siempre es fácil para todos. Para muchas familias que viven en situaciones menos favorables financieramente, un problema muy común es cuando el estudiante ambicioso no puede perseguir sus sueños. Muchos estudiantes leen decenas de folletos universitarios, escuchan a sus compañeros hablar sobre donde están solicitando y sienten una sensación de hundimiento en el estómago. ¿Qué se supone que tienen que hacer los estudiantes en desventaja si no tienen enormes cuentas de ahorro?

De acuerdo a Sarah Álvarez, una periodista, en el 2015 habían cerca de 1 millón de jóvenes que dejaron de buscar trabajo y tampoco estaban en la universidad. La mejor cosa que los estudiantes pueden hacer para no estar en ese bucle es buscar alternativas.

El ex-alumno de Blair, Kevin Miranda, es un

ejemplo de que hay posibilidades aparte de ir a una universidad tradicional de cuatro años inmediatamente después de graduarse de Blair. Él encontró su solución al unirse a la Infantería de la Marina. Miranda comentó, “Me interesé cuando mi amigo Paul

el día de las carreras durante ambos almuerzos. Miranda comentó, “Encontré a mi reclutador durante una feria de universidades. Le pedí más información y él estuvo feliz de proporcionarme respuestas a mis preguntas.” Sin embargo, si no logras reunirte con ellos en Blair, es fácil encontrar un reclutador cerca de donde uno vive mediante el sitio web oficial de las fuerzas armadas. Solo hay que ingresar un código postal y el sitio web informa dónde encontrar un reclutador o una oficina.

Comunidad militar

CORTESÍA DE KEVIN MIRANDA

Kevin Miranda Posando con su traje.

Craig introdujo el concepto de los militares a mi vida... Esto se convirtió en una opción cuando descubrí que no podía pagar el precio para ir a una buena universidad.” Miranda no está solo en esta decisión. Álvarez también escribió, “hay alrededor de 100,000 jóvenes de 18 y 19 años que se unen al ejército inmediatamente después de la escuela secundaria.”

Cómo empezar

El primer paso es encontrar un reclutador en el área. Los reclutadores tienen toda la información necesaria y pueden responder cualquier pregunta inminente sobre la posibilidad de unirse a un grupo de combate. Los reclutadores se pueden encontrar en Blair durante las ferias universitarias y en

La inspiración para unirse al ejército se puede encontrar en cualquier lugar. Puede ser el deseo de sentirse como que uno está contribuyendo a su país o siguiendo los pasos de otra persona que uno admira. Para Miranda, que era parte del equipo de animadores agrega que, “Otro muchacho que era parte del equipo anterior se convirtió en un infante de la marina en mi primer año y ahora sentía como que era mi turno.” Miranda también comentó que la comunidad militar es un lugar seguro que acepta y da la bienvenida a personas de todos antecedentes.

Malentendidos

Muchas veces la connotación asociada con el ejército es negativa y gira en torno a la violencia. Miranda dijo que la mayoría de las personas no saben que, “en el ejército hay diferentes trabajos que no tienen que ver con el combate, puedes ser un fotógrafo, un administrador, un mecánico, un ingeniero y mucho más. Además, la gente no sabe que el ejército paga por tu educación y eso puede ser una gran ayuda.” Cuando eres aceptado, de acuerdo con Mike Rivas, un reclutador

que trabaja con Blair, los infantes de marina obtienen créditos universitarios mediante los entrenamientos que requiere la Infantería de la Marina. Ya cuando están en sus unidades en la base militar hay un centro de educación que ayuda a los miembros de las fuerzas armadas con diferentes opciones educativas que están a la disposición de todos de forma gratuita. Esto los prepara para subir de rango y tener un futuro en una carrera deseada.

Beneficios

Mike Rivas también mencionó que hay muchos beneficios al unirse a la Infantería de la Marina, tales como; un trabajo garantizado por los próximos cuatro años, aumentos salariales anuales, obtienen la certificación del departamento de defensa sin importar el trabajo que tenga, así como 4 años gratis de matrícula universitaria mientras sirve y 3 años después. Otra ventaja es la cobertura médica y dental. Rivas agrega y dice: “Entonces al final de cuatro años tú tienes experiencia laboral, certificaciones laborales, experiencias de vida, habilidades de liderazgo, disciplina, dinero en su cuenta bancaria y un título universitario.”

Cuando se le preguntó si recomendaría esta alternativa a los estudiantes de secundaria hoy en día, especialmente en un período de tiempo potencialmente violento, Kevin Miranda, ahora conocido como PFC Miranda, respondió sin ninguna duda.

Finalizó su entrevista diciendo, “El ejército puede ser un camino increíble para aquellos que no saben qué hacer después de la escuela secundaria. Decidí ir a la Infantería de la Marina porque quería asumir el desafío que no todos toman y formar parte de algo más grande que yo.”

C2 español

silverchips

31 de enero, 2018

La discriminación se apodera de la industria musical latina El colorismo se propaga en la comunidad latina y es tiempo de tomar acción

Por Amanda Hernández Una opinión Aunque los latinos son conocidos por ser orgullosos de sus culturas y cuánto la celebran, todavía hay temas difíciles que como una comunidad hay que confrontar. El tema del colorismo y la discriminación en la comunidad latina son temas tabúes por lo incómodo que es reconocer los prejuicios.

Desafortunadamente, el colorismo es algo que se presenta en las vidas de muchos latinos. El colorismo se define como una forma de prejuicio en la que las personas son tratadas de manera diferente por los significados sociales asociados al color de su piel dentro del mismo grupo étnico. En su mayor parte, el colorismo se manifiesta con la preferencia de una piel más clara.

Blair es una escuela diversa que le abre las puertas a estudiantes latinos de diferentes países y razas. Así que, es igualmente importante reconocer el colorismo y la discriminación dentro de nuestra comunidad.

Los latinos no solo enfrentan discriminación por parte de otras culturas dominantes. A veces, el racismo y el colorismo también se perpetúan en nuestras comunidades. De acuerdo al noticiero CNN, “Se estima que hay 54 millones de hispanos en los Estados Unidos y componen más del 17 por ciento de la población.” En el Censo de 2010, aproximadamente 53 por ciento (26.7 millones) de personas se auto identificaron como racialmente blancos y 36.7 por ciento (27.3 millones) listaron sus razas como alguna otra raza.” Con estas estadísticas, está claro que la comunidad latina es compuesta por una multitud de razas.

El concepto de colorismo ha tomado un lugar central en la industria de la música latina. La estrella de Love & Hip Hop: Miami, Amara La Negra, fue puesta en el centro de atención cuando su productor musical,

Young Hollywood, le dijo varios comentarios racistas y ofensivos. La confrontación ocurrió durante el primer episodio del programa, en el que La Negra se reunió con Young Hollywood para discutir su futuro en el mercado latino. También es importante notar que Young Hollywood es de tez blanca y Amara La Negra es de tez morena.

Young Hollywood hizo comentarios sobre la apariencia de La Negra, diciéndole que si quiere tener éxito como cantante que tiene que cambiar completamente. El también hizo comentarios negativos sobre su cabello afro, diciéndole que tenía que ser “más Beyoncé y menos Macy Gray.” El productor insistió en que la cantante, Beyoncé, quien a menudo endereza su cabello, es alguien a quien Amara debería emular en lugar de Macy Gray, una cantante que tiene un afro. Luego de sus comentarios, La Negra se ofendió y le dijo que ella nunca cambiará su estilo.

Después del enfrentamiento, Young Hollywood continuó haciendo comentarios sobre la reacción de La Negra. El productor la llamó psicótica y antes de que el pudiese decir una palabra más, La Negra abandonó el estudio, disgustada con lo que acababa de escuchar. Desde la transmisión del episodio, Young Hollywood ha recibido amenazas de muerte en forma recíproca debido a sus comentarios. De acuerdo a TMZ, “[Young Hollywood] dice que fue crucificado injustamente y los estándares de la industria son realmente los culpables.” A pesar de los intentos de Young Hollywood por hacer la paz, muchos todavía lo consideran culpable.

Durante una entrevista reciente con Latina Magazine, La Negra expresó sus preocupaciones con la falta de inclusividad racial en la industria, “[Muchos] quieren decir que el racismo ha terminado y que no existe; sí existe, especialmente en el mercado latino.”

La Negra también explicó que hay una

necesidad de conseguir más representación de afrolatinas en la industria musical latina, “Cuando alguien habla sobre u n a latina, hablan sobre alguien c o m o Sofía Vergara, Jennifer López o Shakira.

Pero nunca [hablan] de alguien que se parece a mí y yo soy cien por ciento latina,” dijo La Negra. Reflexionando sobre sus años en la industria musical, La Negra dijo, “Siendo una afrolatina en el mercado latino es difícil porque tienes que trabajar dos veces más para demostrarles que tienes talento.”

Leslie Sánchez, una estudiante en el grado doce, compartió su opinión sobre la falta de inclusión en la industria musical y la comunidad latina, “Cuando estuve creciendo, nunca vi diversidad en la industria musical. Se siente mal que ciertas razas no vean el valor que [los latinos] pueden agregar al negocio del entretenimiento,” dijo Sánchez.

A pesar de las dificultades, La Negra ha tenido éxito en la industria latina, especialmente en la República Dominicana.

Con éxitos musicales como “Sé Que Soy”, ella ha recibido reconocimientos por su

trabajo como una cantante afrolatina.

De acuerdo a la revista musical Billboard, La Negra fue galardonada como una artista en ascenso y ha conseguido un contrato de grabación de varios álbumes con Fast Life Entertainment Worldwide y BMG. Au n q u e el tema del colorismo no afecta a todos los latinos, hay una posibiMARISSA HE lidad de que uno conoce a alguien que ha sido afectado tremendamente. En nuestra escuela diversa, hay personas de todas las razas y tonos de piel. Es crucial mantenerse informados sobre conflictos de esta índole que afectan a nuestra comunidad latina.

Tanto La Negra como Sánchez quieren difundir la conciencia sobre el colorismo en toda la comunidad latina. La Negra espera usar su música como medio para hacerlo, mientras que Sánchez quiere construir una comunidad para afrolatinos donde no tengan miedo de ser juzgados debido a el color de su piel. Sánchez aspira crear un sitio web en que afrolatinos puedan compartir sus experiencias y conectarse con otras personas con experiencias similares.

Es importante que más personas dentro de la comunidad latina se pongan de pie y trabajen para luchar por la igualdad en todos aspectos de la vida.

Los latinos enfrentan barreras para ser jugadores profesionales

A pesar de las dificultades estos se hacen ver en la MLS en los EE.UU. Por Yesenia Sorto El fútbol es uno de los deportes más populares en el mundo ya que se juega en muchos países. En los Estados Unidos y Canadá se encuentra la Major League Soccer (MLS). Esta liga está compuesta por 23 equipos, los cuales cuentan con una plantilla de jugadores de diferentes países. La diversidad de estos equipos demuestra la unión entre los jugadores sin importar las nacionalidades de los integrantes. Los latinos han conquistado mucho en Europa con su calidad de juego en el fútbol, al igual lo están haciendo en los Estados Unidos, especialmente en dicha liga.

Unos de los deportes favoritos de los latinos es el fútbol. El periódico The Wa shington Post reporta que, aunque son fanáticos apasionados, desafortunadamente no todos tienen la oportunidad de poder jugar el deporte profesionalmente. Muchos latinos nacidos en los Estados Unidos no pueden pagar los costos de entrenar para lograr ser parte de un prestigioso club. Dependiendo del nivel de futbol, el costo por año para participar en estas ligas infantiles es de $2,500 a $5,000, de acuerdo al noticiero USA Today. Esto no incluye el costo de viaje, lo cual es necesario para jugar en torneos importantes. Esto puede ser unos $500 a $6,000 adicionales.

Es por eso que hay más latinos en la Major League Baseball (MLB) que en la MLS. También que en ciudades como Miami a los aficionados les agrada más ver el fútbol americano o el béisbol que el fútbol, aunque esto podría cambiar si se le permite al exjugador del LA Galaxy David Beckham tener su propio equipo en dicha ciudad. Según la página web de New York Times si se da la aprobación a Beckham este equipo sería el número 24 en la MLS. En la MLB se encuentran 212 ju-

gadores latinos, sin incluir los que poseen la doble nacionalidad. Al contrario, en la MLS se encuentran 153 jugadores latinos, según las estadísticas de la página web de Infobae.

Hay fundaciones que están ayudando a los latinos para que jueguen fútbol profesional-

mente, como la fundación Soccer in the Streets. Ellos ayudan a preparar a los latinos tanto en el campo de juego como fuera de él. De acuerdo al noticiero El País, la Academia Urban Soccer Leadership en San Antonio, Texas cuenta con un programa diseñado en ayudar y mandar a estudiantes de bajos recursos a la universidad, la cual se centra en la integración de las comunidades de inmigrantes latinos. Estos esfuerzos son hechos para tratar de integrar a la comunidad latina al fútbol profesional para que el deporte sea aún más diverso y que refleje la población estadounidense.

Los equipos participantes en la MLS y los jugadores que los forman han demostrado

el éxito de tener un equipo con diversidad de cultura. Los latinos más exitosos en dicha liga son: el paraguayo Miguel Alirón del Atlanta United FC, quien anotó nueve goles, 14 asistencias y fue nombrado Novato del Año de la MLS en el 2017. El venezolano Josef Martínez; anotó 19 goles y ocupa el tercer lugar en la historia de la liga de los jugadores con al menos cinco goles anotados en una temporada, de acuerdo a la página web del Atlanta United FC. El equipo de LA Galaxy contiene dos de los jugadores más sobresalientes, los hermanos dos Santos. Kevin Romero, un estudiante de Blair del grado once dijo que, “Los hermanos dos Santos, su calidad de fútbol es increíble ambos han estados en grandes clubs en Europa como lo es el Barcelona.” Giovani dos Santos, el mexicano, tiene 14 goles y 12 asistencias mientras su hermano, Jonathan dos Santos, anotó un gol y una asistencia para el LA Galaxy. Romero CARLY TAGEN-DYE también mencionó que el estadounidense y argentino, “Sebastián Lletget es uno de mis jugadores favoritos, me hubiera gustado verlo más [en el terreno de juego], lastimosamente por su lesión él no pudo jugar más para el LA Galaxy; pero me emociona cuando lo veo jugar, él es un jugador muy bueno.”

El campeón de la Copa de la MLS, Toronto FC, también tiene jugadores latinos, quienes ayudaron a conseguir el trofeo. El canadiense y colombiano Jonathan Osorio tiene cuatro asistencias y dos goles anota-

dos. Cristian Molina, estudiante de Blair, del grado once, dijo “Pensé que quien iba a ganar el campeonato sería el D.C. United, ya que es uno de mis equipos favoritos, o el LA Galaxy. El Toronto FC merece ese triunfo, jugaron bien durante la temporada.” A Molina le agrada que se incluya a latinos en la MLS y que muestren sus habilidades futbolísticas como lo están haciendo en Europa y ahora aquí en Estados Unidos.

Estos latinos han demostrado lo buenos que son en el deporte desde porteros, defensas, centrocampistas o delanteros y lo bien que se han adaptado a su equipo y a sus compañeros. La diversidad que se observa en la MLS y el apoyo que recibe de partes de los latinos es muy prominente ya que ha incrementado la audiencia de dicha. En esta nueva temporada habrá mucho más latinos. Las páginas oficiales de los equipos participantes en la MLS muestran a nuevos jugadores latinos. Como lo es el mexicano Carlos Vela quien jugará en el equipo de Los Ángeles Football Club (LAFC) siendo este el primero en unirse a dicho equipo que por primera vez jugará en la MLS, junto a sus compañeros latinos como el portero hondureño Luis López, el argentino Rodrigo Pacheco y el costarricense Marco Ureña, ambos delanteros. El potencial de los jugadores latinos queda demostrado en cada uno de sus goles, asistencias o atajadas que hicieron ganar a su equipo. Cada uno de ellos da todo por su equipo porque no importa si ellos no sean nativos de Estados Unidos, lo importante es dar todo por su equipo y mostrar respeto a sus compañeros. Los 11 jugadores muestran la unión que tienen entre ellos y que cada jugador es valioso, sin importar las nacionalidades. Esto es algo que une a cualquier jugador ya sea latino o americano. Todos pueden estar orgullosos de portar los colores de su equipo, poder ganar y levantar esa copa que tanto anhelan.

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31 de enero, 2018

¿Fue bueno cambiar a MyMCPS/Canvas?

NO:

SÍ:

La otra cara de la moneda de MyMCPS

La nueva forma de enseñar es en línea Olvídese de los códigos de clase, del mismo diseño aburrido y de tener que iniciar una sesión en un sitio web separado para verificar sus calificaciones.

Edline y Google Classroom ya no son lo que profesores usan. Con tantos avances tecnológicos, el concepto de una clase virtual se ha convertido en una realidad.

Las aulas comJEDEDIAH GRADY putarizadas y Laura Méndez-Pinto las asignaciones de tareas en las computadoras no son una novedad, pero su formato sí lo es. Aunque Google Classroom y Edline son los sitios que los profesores han estado usando durante los últimos años, Canvas es la nueva plataforma interactiva para que los maestros se comuniquen con sus alumnos. ¿Qué hace que Canvas sea especial y hasta mejor que Google Classroom y Edline? De acuerdo a su sitio web oficial, Canvas es una excelente plataforma para que los profesores y estudiantes interactúen. Uno puede verificar sus calificaciones en el mismo sitio porque el portal de MyMCPS está vinculado con Canvas. Los estudiantes ya no tienen que abrir un enlace separado y ser forzados a iniciar una sesión en Edline. Los padres también pueden iniciar una sesión aparte y verificar las calificaciones de sus hijos con su cuenta personal. Adicionalmente, el portal de MyMCPS también tiene una nueva característica que Edline no tiene, el historial de calificaciones. Todas las calificaciones desde el sexto grado están publicados en el portal.

La pregunta de como se puede verificar las calificaciones no es la única preocupación que las personas tienen.

La otra cuestión es que Google Classroom y Edline tenían una aplicación móvil. Esta es una de las muchas inquietudes que los estudiantes tienen sobre este nuevo cambio.

Con innovación viene la crítica. Muchos estudiantes no saben si Canvas es mejor que Google Classroom. En realidad, el cambio a Canvas ha sido un paso en la dirección correcta, un paso hacia un mejor futuro educativo. De acuerdo con su sitio web oficial, Canvas tiene una aplicación móvil y es 100 porciento compatible con dispositivos inteligentes. La aplicación tiene 4.5 estrellas en la tienda de aplicaciones de Apple. Esto demuestra que Canvas es reconocida como una buena aplicación y beneficia a los que lo usan. Una aplicación móvil que funciona bien, que es rápida y precisa es lo que los estudiantes necesitan para sacar más provecho de sus cursos. Canvas provee ayuda tanto para los estudiantes como los maestros. De acuerdo a un artículo escrito por William

Fenton, “Canvas ha incluido la capacidad de copiar un curso de un semestre a otro, una nueva característica, lanzada el verano pasado... permite a los administradores crear contenido estandarizado o plantillas de cursos que pueden enviar a otros cursos.” Esto puede hacer que la instrucción sea más fácil para los maestros, y asegurará que todo el tiempo de clase se dedique deliberadamente para que los estudiantes puedan aprender lo más que puedan.

Otras funciones interesantes incluyen la oportunidad para que el profesor de pruebas a sus alumnos a través de Canvas. Esto es más práctico y ayuda a maestros a ahorrar tiempo porque Canvas da las calificaciones instantáneamente. El hecho de poder tener exámenes y pruebas computarizadas hace que los estudiantes estén más cómodos con las computadoras y los familiariza con el proceso. Esto los ayudará más tarde cuando tomen exámenes estandarizados y computarizados como el examen PARCC y el ACCUPLACER. Los beneficios no paran ahí, sin embargo, un nuevo calendario de clases permite que los maestros publiquen

En este año escolar 2017-2018, el condado de Montgomery ha innovado la manera de ver las calificaciones y asignaciones escolares. Para llevar a cabo este fin han implementado MyMCPS en colaboración con Canvas.

Tanto los maestros como los estudiantes han tenido experiencias positivas al igual que negativas con HANNAH SCHWARTZ esta nueva heLourdes Reyes Valenzuela rramienta. MyMCPS fue creada para que los estudiantes siempre tengan el material escolar a su alcance, pero no todos ellos tienen acceso al internet o a una computadora fuera de la escuela. Aunque hay disponibilidad a internet dentro de todas las escuelas del condado de Montgomery, en Blair existen estudiantes que

las fechas límites de las tareas de antemano y además el sitio web envía recordatorios a los alumnos de forma automática. No es necesario tener agendas o aplicaciones para recordar las tareas adicionales. Todo lo que uno necesita se encuentra en el mismo lugar.

El uso de Canvas no termina en la escuela secundaria. De acuerdo al sitio de web oficial de Canvas, el sitio web interactivo es utilizado en más de tres mil universidades, distritos escolares e institutos en todo el mundo. Es probable que, si uno asiste a la universidad, allí se use Canvas. Es bueno familiarizarse y adaptarse al sistema temprano.

Los estudiantes de hoy van a construir el futuro. Son los revolucionarios y profesionales de mañana. Entonces, ¿Por qué no deberían tener la mejor plataforma y educación posible? La respuesta es que sí lo deberían de tener y la mejor manera de hacerlo es a través de Canvas.

se les dificulta ver sus calificaciones o que se quedan atrasados en sus clases por no tener acceso a esta página web en casa.

Eunice Larios, una estudiante en el noveno grado, explicó como el uso de MyMCPS le afecta en sus clases, “Para ver mis calificaciones tengo problemas por los pasos que hay que seguir. Como el internet de mi casa es lento, me retraso en algunas clases.” Esta problemática no es solamente de Larios sino de otros alumnos en Blair que también han tenido inconvenientes. La falta de conexión a internet y computadoras es una problemática que se presenta en la vida de muchos estudiantes latinos en Blair. Es necesario que MyMCPS implemente una opción para que los estudiantes puedan trabajar sin internet.

MyMCPS no ha sido la única página con este problema. El año pasado la función de MyMCPS estaba en manos de Edline y Google Classroom, dos páginas web que han sido revisadas y tenían años siendo usadas

por el plantel escolar. Para darle paso a una nueva invención, el condado de Montgomery se vio al punto de desistir de utilizar Edline y así tener una página web que sea más propia para sus estudiantes. Al eliminar Edline algunos estudiantes se quejaron porque ya estaban acostumbrados a dicho programa.

Una estudiante del noveno grado, Yesenia Cruz, mencionó como se sentía por la falta de Edline, “Para ver mis notas con MyMCPS tengo dificultad porque algunos de mis maestros no se llevan con la tecnología...prefiero usar Edline como lo hacíamos antes.” Edline era de ayuda para los estudiantes porque solo tardaba 12 horas para actualizar las calificaciones, por lo que algunos estudiantes la prefieren en vez de MyMCPS. El estar al tanto de las calificaciones es de suma importancia para los estudiantes, porque así pueden saber cómo les está yendo en las clases.

Todavía hay maestros como la señora González, maestra de español en Blair, que siguen utilizando Google Classroom para las asignaciones de sus estudiantes. Con el uso de Google Classroom se puede guardar el material que se ha hecho hasta el momento.

Así hay menos probabilidad de tener que hacer la asignación otra vez, pero con MyMCPS la asignación se debe de entregar antes de cerrar la sesión porque si no lo que se tenía hasta ese punto, se borrará.

No todos los maestros de Blair utilizan MyMCPS porque han visto como algunos de sus compañeros han tenido dificultades con la página web. “No utilizo MyMCPS porque he oído que ha habido muchos problemas con la distribución de las notas a Grade book,” mencionó González. Cuando las calificaciones no son publicadas a tiempo u ocurren percances con la plataforma, tienden a haber muchas confusiones y conflictos entre estudiantes y maestros.

Los maestros recibieron una sesión de entrenamiento basada en su nivel de destreza para utilizar MyMCPS, pero esta fue muy apresurada para la ARITRA ROY gran cantidad de contenido que hay que aprender a dominar. González cree que MyMCPS será un éxito una vez la implementación continúe con más entrenamiento específico relativo al contenido de la plataforma.

Hasta ahora MyMCPS no ha cumplido con su meta principal de ayudar a los maestros y los estudiantes. Le hace falta más desarrollo para poder considerarlo un producto eficiente que tome en cuenta el trabajo que los maestros y estudiantes tienen que hacer para que funcione como lo esperado. Antes de publicar y promover una página web como MyMCPS hubiese sido mejor que MCPS estuviera más atento al hecho que hay estudiantes que no tienen acceso a computadoras ni al internet desde sus casas. En realidad, MyMCPS llegará a ser de mucha ayuda para los estudiantes siempre y cuando el condado de Montgomery y Canvas se unan para buscar soluciones a los problemas del presente. En vez de mejorar el sistema de calificaciones, MyMCPS ha creado más problemas.

La voz latina Vicente Cortez décimo grado

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

“No, mis maestros no usan Canvas. Ellos siguen usando Google Classroom.”

Juan Estrada décimo grado

ELIA GRIFFIN

“No, en mi opinión es muy

difícil de usar. Tiene muchas cosas diferentes de lo que se usaba anteriormente.”

Isaac De la O Claro noveno grado

ELIA GRIFFIN

“Sí, me gusta MyMCPS porque tiene más innovación y es fácil trabajar ahí.”

Erika Navarrete doceavo grado

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

“No, porque Canvas es raro.

Después de la fecha limite no se puede ver el trabajo.”

Salvador Álvarez onceavo grado

ELIA GRIFFIN

“Sí, es muy buena porque es mejor para ver nuestras clases y calificaciones.”

January 31, 2018

GENERATION

silverc

ANXIOUS

Since 2012, anxiety has been on the rise for American teenagers.

Experts attribute the increase to intensified parental pressure and social media usage.

EVERYDAY, across the country, millions of high schoolers are

dealing with the consequences.

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M

aya Hammond, a senior, stands outside the English office, trying to force herself to open the door and walk inside. She has been waiting here for an hour, unable to muster the courage to walk in and turn in a late assignment. Her teacher even passed by her a half hour ago and asked if she was here to see him, but she was too nervous to say yes. She has been standing here throughout the entirety of her lunch block, and now, sixth period is going on without her.

When a friend comes by to ask her if she is alright, she bursts into tears and is not able to explain why she is so upset. She finally walks in to see her teacher, still in tears, and asks for the extension.

Her teacher grants her one immediately, looking confused and mildly alarmed. Even after getting the extension, Hammond cannot stop crying. Her friend tells her to go to the nurse, and when Hammond does, the nurse explains that she may have experienced a panic attack, a suspicion which is later confirmed. It is the first time Hammond considers she might have an anxiety disorder.

A new epidemic Hammond is one of the 6.3 million American teenagers who deal with an anxiety disorder, based on data from the National Institute of Mental Health. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), more than a quarter of today’s teens are predicted to receive a diagnosis of anxiety over the course of their lives. The APA reported in 2014 that 30 percent of teens noted feeling “overwhelmed” and 31 percent reported feeling “depressed or sad” because of various stressors in their lives. The same APA study found that teens’ self reported stress levels exceeded that of adults.

Lindsey Markwood, a psychotherapist based in Fairfax County, says teenage anxiety has increased due to a variety of reasons, ranging from parental pressure to social media. Markwood credits the economy crash of 2008 and the rising costs of college as causes of parent stress over their children’s success. “[Parents] have put a lot more pressure on their kids,” she says.

In addition to the stress of pleasing parents, Markwood says that the increasing popularity of technology and social media has made teenagers more sleep-deprived, which can cause anxiety. “It is hard for anyone, but particularly the developing brain of a teenager, to rest and get the rest that it needs when they are constantly tuned in to social media and other kinds of devices,” she says.

Hammond has always believed that she was just a nervous person. “People would always say ‘You’re overthinking it, why are you always worrying about things?’ And so I thought I just worried a lot,” she says. However, Hammond never considered that the anxiety she felt was abnormal until the day of her panic attack. “It wasn’t until something super big happened where I [realized] this feeling, this isn’t something people have every day … I was like, ‘there is something wrong.’”

The symptoms Anxiety can manifest itself in a variety of ways, often impairing day-to-day functions. For Hammond, anxiety often involves physical symptoms like hand tremors that interfere with her schoolwork and daily life. “When I’m feeling really anxious my hands shake even more and so I can’t write, I can’t bubble in Scantrons and things like that,” she says.

She received a testing accommodation for the tremor but finds that reminding teachers about it draws unwanted attention from classmates. As a whole, Hammond finds that her anxiety can feel like it is spiraling out of control. “Sometimes I feel like anxiety for me can be summed up as a ball rolling down the hill like a snowball accumulating and every now and then it has to break apart and start over,” Hammond says. And sometimes, anxiety doesn’t come on its own.

In some cases, anxiety disorders accompany depression or suicidality. Josh Nepon of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, conducted a study which found a clear link between anxiety disorders and suicidal thoughts or actions. “Among individuals reporting a lifetime history of suicide attempt, over 70% had an anxiety disorder,” the study says.

Psychologist Benson Forman explains that it is normal for the two disorders to affect the same person because both anxiety and depression are reactions to stress. “When we’re talking about pathological anxiety or pathological depression, we’re talking about the inability … to deal with the levels of stress that are coming upon us,” he says.

“Those are the two basic responses that I think we have.”

Johnny, a sophomore, was diagnosed with both depression and anxiety in sixth grade, which, this year, pushed him to attempt suicide. After a few more depressive episodes, he decided to check into a mental hospital, where he stayed for a week.

Story By Art By Design By

Under pressure The anxiety epidemic has been caused by a wide variety of stressors in teens’ fast-paced lives. Freshman Judy Goldstein feels that her own anxiety is in part caused by the increasingly prominent role of social media. “On Instagram and other social media, you see people put the best aspects of their life up for people to see even if they aren’t necessarily seeing the real them,” she says. She thinks that this can sometimes lead to unhealthy comparison among peers.

Johnny finds that technology has only intensified his school-related stress. “I think that school-based anxiety has increased because people waste a lot of time on their phones and video games and stuff,” he says. He speaks from his own personal struggles with procrastination, often rushing to do six hours of homework on Sunday nights. The procrastination, he says, stems from his stress about school. “I’m so worried about studying that I don’t study,” he explains. This habit often only worsens his anxiety, because he feels pressure to maintain good grades.

Similarly, Hammond feels pressure to fulfill the high academic expectations she has set for herself. “I’m kind of a perfectionist, too, so when I work on something, I want to work really hard,” she says.

Her friends, too, increase Hammond’s pressure on herself to succeed. “I do have really high standards for myself, but also I’m friends with a lot of people that are really ambitious and very academically driven,” she says. “Sometimes when you see all your friends prospering and doing all these great things I think it does put a lot more pressure [on you].”

Treating anxiety In sixth grade, when Johnny’s parents decided he needed professional treatment, he was strongly opposed. “I was very against it.

When we went to the doctor’s office the first time, I wouldn’t get out of the car,” he says. “I was just opposed to the treatment because it meant saying that I was sick.” Today, though, Johnny has found an appreciation for his therapy. “Now... I love it. It’s a whole different mindset,” he says.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association, only 36.9 percent of those with anxiety receive any treatment at all. Those fortunate enough to gain access to treatment find it in medication or a variety of therapies.

Over the summer, Hammond was prescribed medication for her anxiety, which she had no interest in taking. “ I was like ‘I hate this!’ … so then I was like ‘Yeah no, I’m not gonna do that,” she says. Her doctor told her she might feel some differences, specifically that the medication might make her feel impulsive. “It’s kind of a scary idea for me to take medication that changes [my] personality.”

She has, however, committed to therapy to help her manage her anxiety, though not without hesitation. “It takes me a long time to find someone who I’d be comfortable literally telling everything to,” she says. Regardless, she knows the importance of being able to tell her doctor everything. “It’s a two-way street,” she says. “They can help me, but they only can help me if they know everything.”

Once people suffering from anxiety do find a doctor they feel comfortable with, therapy can be a huge asset in coping with anxiety disorders. Both Johnny and Goldstein feel that the therapy they attend has been a help in their struggling with their health problems.

In addition to talk-therapy—a one-on-one session with a therapist—Johnny attends a weekly group therapy session. In group therapy, he and other teenagers suffering from anxiety disorders and other mental health issues learn to work on skills they can use to navigate daily life more easily. The group meets weekly to discuss and understand strategies like stress tolerance and interpersonal communication. Though therapy has by no means cured his anxiety, it has helped him learn to cope with it. “I would say, 75 percent of the times I have episodes … I can handle it with what I’ve learned so far now,” he says.

While the symptoms of anxiety can be quite drastic, some students hide it well. Despite the panic attacks and hand tremors, Hammond gives the impression of being extraordinarily put together. “I feel like [I have] an exterior of being like very put together, but I’m not!” she exclaims. “I feel like people think anxiety means ‘I’m crazy’ … I feel like if you see my name … then people are like, ‘wait, Maya?’”

Marlena Tyldesley and Anson Berns Sally Zhao Hermela Mengesha and Isabella Tilley

D3 Features

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January 31, 2018

La importancia de los servicios de salud mental Como sobrepasar los obstáculos emocionales en la vida Por Jasmine Méndez-Paredes

Where and how to find what you need CAMDEN ROBERTS

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

A compilation of mental health resources available to students

By Camden Roberts

Recent student suicides across Montgomery County have sparked a conversation about mental health, and how to best support students in an academic setting.

Unbeknownst to most, Blair and Montgomery County offer many ways for students to get the help they need, whether it is a stress relief activity at lunch , or speaking to someone in the counseling department.

Therapeutic Thursdays

School counselor Leanna Binick hosts “Therapeutic Thursdays” during lunches, as a part of an initiative she started last year to introduce students to the counseling department.

“It was sort of inspired by recognizing that students weren’t really aware of what we as counselors did … and that we’re here to help students in a variety of ways,” she says.

Therapeutic Thursdays happen about two times a month, and consist of a few tables outside of the SAC, with activities like Play-Doh or coloring pages to help students relax. The activities vary each time, with Binick’s group of student advisors who make suggestions for what to include.

“They’re coming up with ideas and talking to their peers about what they might want to see over the next several months,” she says.

Based on student reactions, Binick believes the activities have succeeded in their goal. “I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback, that students really look forward to it,” she says. “[They] enjoy it and see it as an opportunity to take their mind off their busy schedule.”

During second semester, Binick plans to add more activities to the initiative. “It tends to be a calmer part of the year for counselors, so I’m looking forward to integrating other things, maybe three times a month,” she says.

The school nurse

The school nurse’s office is commonly used for physical health reasons, but the nurse, Debbie Bitoni, is also trained to help students with their emotional and mental health. “When I became a school nurse, you had trainings and meetings on mental health,” Bitoni says. Alongside that, she says that the county will periodically go over resources for students with staff members.

She often refers students to the counselors if she feels they need more support than she can give, and admits that students tend to turn to the counselors first anyway. She says that when students feel overwhelmed, they will occasionally come to her. “Sometimes [students] just need to pull themselves together ... they just need a quiet place to go

and do whatever it is that makes them calm down,” Bitoni says.

The counseling department Blair has 13 counselors, each with a group of students assigned to them by last name. The counseling department has open counseling, meaning a student can walk in without an appointment if they need to see their counselor for any reason. Parents can also call the department to arrange an appointment for their child. If a student needs to see a counselor and theirs is not available, the counseling secretary will set up an appointment with the next available counselor.

The counseling department mostly works in what counselor Jane Godwin calls the “brief solution focused theory,” meaning counselors provide students with the help they feel they can offer. If what the student needs goes beyond that, they refer a student to alternative sources, such as the Montgomery County Crisis Center, that can provide what they need. “We try to assess the level of need, if it’s something where they come in and they’re a little upset about something, we can try to help and work them through it,” Godwin explains. “If we feel like the level of need is beyond our scope ... we’re gonna refer them out.” The counselors offer confidentiality as long as a student is not in danger of harming themselves or other people.

La mayoría de los latinos que vienen a los Estados Unidos pasan por momentos de depresión, ansiedad y estrés. Esto resulta por lo difícil que es acostumbrarse al nuevo estilo de vida. Muchos han sufrido experiencias traumáticas o extrañan su país y sus seres queridos. La Oficina de Minorías y Asuntos Nacionales de la Asociación Estadounidense de Psiquiatría reporta que solo uno de cada once latinos busca ayuda profesional durante crisis emocionales. Aunque a veces la comunidad latina cree que los servicios para la salud mental no son necesarios, estos benefician a los que los usan. ¿De qué se trata la salud mental? y ¿Qué ofrecen estos servicios? Para alcanzar una salud óptima se debe tener un balance en la salud física, social, y mental. Algunas personas no saben que tienen problemas con su bienestar emocional hasta que consultan con un terapeuta. Noemí Flores, una licenciada trabajadora social latina, dice, “Los servicios de salud mental o la terapia sirven para que alguien pueda expresar sus sentimientos.”

Según las estadísticas, entre los latinos el hecho de ir a un psicólogo o tomar alguna forma de terapia no es tan común como en otras etnias. A veces los inmigrantes latinos, especialmente los que tienen bajos recursos o son indocumentados, se encuentran con el obstáculo de no tener seguro médico.

Algunos creen que es vergonzoso ir a al psicólogo porque piensan que las personas que toman esos servicios son tildadas como “locos.” Flores explica, “Hay una perspectiva negativa en los latinos donde aparentemente solo se va a terapia si eres una persona loca.” Hablando sobre las causas de trastornos emocionales, Flores añade, “El venir a un nuevo país puede causar que alguien sufra una enfermedad de salud mental. En la población latina muchas personas enfrentan necesidades de salud mental como el trastorno de adaptación, la depresión, la ansiedad, el trastorno bipolar y el estrés.”

Algunos estudiantes en Blair se relacionan con estos problemas y tiene sus propias perspectivas acerca de los servicios de la salud mental. Salvador Álvarez, un estudiante en el décimo grado, expresa la tristeza que a veces él siente en los Estados Unidos. Álvarez dice, “Yo por veces me siento bastante nostálgico porque extraño bastante mi país, mi cultura y mi familia porque tengo aún bastante familia allá en El Salvador.”

Aunque Álvarez no ha tomado terapia, él reconoce que, “Todos esos servicios son

para ayudar a las demás personas y sentirnos mejor como individuos.” Elizabeth Méndez, otra estudiante del décimo grado, piensa lo contrario acerca de los servicios para el bienestar emocional.

Méndez opina que, “No creo que es necesario tomar terapia porque solo se trata de acostumbrarse y seguir adelante con sus metas.” Aldo Martínez-Nieto, un estudiante en el décimo grado también explica por qué muchos latinos no toman servicios de la salud mental. Martínez-Nieto comenta que, “En el país natal de uno, esos servicios no existen para nada y las familias creen que no son necesarios.”

Cuando un estudiante latino está en una crisis mental o emocional, hay diferentes opciones para buscar ayuda profesional.

Uno puede ir a los consejeros de la escuela o visitar un terapeuta privado (hay terapia en casa y hasta teleterapia, con una video llamada).

En el condado de Montgomery, hay el programa del Comportamiento de Adultos (Adult Behavioral Health Program), en el Mid-County Regional Services Center.

Ellos ayudan a que los adultos se adapten en las comunidades. Este servicio está ubicado en Wheaton y la mayoría de los trabajadores son bilingües. También hay el servicio de Adventist HealthCare, y a este lugar le fue otorgado un premio por expandir el acceso de servicios de la salud mental a los inmigrantes latinos. Uno puede encontrar Adventist HealthCare en Takoma Park, Rockville, Germantown y Gaithersburg.

En lugar de ir a un terapeuta, muchos estudiantes hacen actividades recreativas para sentirse mejor. Álvarez menciona que, “Cuando me siento triste ... me pongo a tocar música y ya cuando va pasando el tiempo ya se me olvida la cosas, ya me voy sintiendo mejor.” Para encontrar el bienestar mental, algunos también se congregan en una iglesia para tener una comunidad familiar alrededor de ellos y encontrar fuerza en su fe.

Si eres una persona que está pasando por una crisis emocional busca ayuda lo más pronto posible. Es necesario que la comunidad latina de Blair se informe acerca de los servicios de salud mental disponibles.

Algunos latinos creen que los servicios para la salud mental no son necesarios, pero estos servicios son cruciales para el bienestar mental. Es mejor expresar sus emociones que sufrir en silencio. Los consejeros de Blair están entrenados para ofrecer ayuda y saben de recursos donde se pueda encontrar servicios de salud mental.

YMCA

Both the nurse and the counselors refer people to the counselors at the local YMCA, who work with students either at their location or on the Blair campus. “If it’s easier for the students they come to school during the school day,” Godwin says. The YMCA’s website describes this service as “our master’s level counselors [helping to] build on existing strengths while teaching new ways to cope with challenges.” The number for accessing youth and family services at the Silver Spring YMCA is (301) 593-1160.

Other resources

Other resources recommended by MCPS include the mental health association hotline, which offers what is described as “supportive listening,” anonymously at (301) 738-2255. The same number also functions as the confidential youth text line.

The Montgomery County youth crisis hotline is (301) 738-9697. They can provide “additional information, referrals and supportive conversation.” The Montgomery County Crisis Center can be reached at (240) 777-4000, for “immediate response to mental health [crises]” They offer over-thephone and walk-in services.

INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE SALUD MENTAL

SOFÍA MUÑOZ

January 31, 2018

silverchips

Features D4

Mastering the education system

How teachers navigate graduate school and high school

By Arshiya Dutta

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

SERVING THE COMMUNITY Vernon Alexander, a building service worker, works hard for eight hours a day to help keep Blair in the best shape possible.

Building services: Don’t sweep them under the rug The workers who keep Blair running

By Miranda Rose Daly The day is over for students and teachers.

They stream through the halls, filing down the stairs and emerging into the daylight.

John Hughes, one of the newest additions to Blair’s building services staff, continues working with unfazed vigor. Although the majority of the building clears, Hughes still has five more hours at Blair.

As he strolls down Maryland Avenue, Hughes unhooks a large key chain from his belt buckle and makes his way from room to room, cleaning and mopping in order to prepare the school for tomorrow’s onslaught of students and teachers. As Hughes makes his way through the buildings 386,587 square feet, he is alert and attentive to the few staff and students still wandering the halls around him.

He notices a woman lugging a cart of Chromebooks down the hallway and asks if he can be of assistance. She nods and thanks him as he helps bring the computers to their final destination.

Although Hughes only moved from D.C. Public Schools and local hospitals to Blair about three months ago, he has already begun to settle into a routine. A routine he loves doing, because tidying up the building brings him joy.

“Cleaning is my passion,” he says. “I’ve been doing it for 35 years.”

His day starts at 1:00 p.m., when students are finishing lunch, cleaning up the aftermath of fifth and sixth period lunches.

He then patrols the second floor with meticulous effort, making sure each crevice and corner is tidy. “We have a section that we come and do, like an L-shape of classrooms and hallways, and stairways,” Hughes says.

Like Hughes, colleague Vernon Alexander logs multiple miles through Blair’s hallways and classrooms, cleaning up after busy students when most of them have gone home.

The only sounds to be heard in the empty hallways are the rolling wheels of his trash can and the thump of the trash he dumps into it.

Alexander has been working at Blair for six years. Both Hughes and Alexander have

second jobs before their shifts at Blair, and on the weekends. Hughes owns his own cleaning and handyman company, John Handyman Cleaning Service. He mainly does the work himself, but depending on the workload, he might hire additional help.

Alexander has his own remodeling business where he works during the morning, before his 3-11 p.m. shift at Blair.

Even after a long day of cleaning Blair’s hallways, Alexander finds time to spruce up his home in Prince George’s County. “I clean, I wash, I iron, I cook. I love to do it,” he says.

Alexander also makes sure his middleschool-aged son respects the cleaning staff at his school. “I always tell him at his school, they have people like me, so do your best.

If you are chewing gum, throw it out,” Alexander says. “If you walk in the hallways [and] see something, pick it up.” Alexander asks his son to be considerate to the janitors because he knows from his own experiences that students can be disrespectful.

At Blair he has seen some crazy things.

“Sometimes a student walks by and kicks the trash can in the hallway,” Alexander says. “Then I ask them, ‘why did you do that,’ and they say they’re bored.”

Besides some insensitive students, other elements like the winter season still present an inherent challenge. Snow sticks to shoes and tracks across the school’s countless floors. “When the floor is wet and it’s humid [from snow and rain] you have a hard time of pushing the dust mop,” Hughes says.

Despite challenges such as this, both Hughes and Alexander maintain positive attitudes.

“We know exactly what we signed up for. Whatever comes our way, that’s what we do. Snow comes, we know we got to remove [it]. Summertime, we know we got to do summer cleaning. School starts? We know we got to get the school ready for next day, make sure we make you guys happy, so you all can get a good education,” Alexander says.

“Without you, we don’t have a job ... It’s tough on our part, but, hey, what [can we] do?”

At 2:30 in the afternoon, the dismissal bell rings. Students pack their bags and leave their classrooms, many headed to their after school commitments and many headed home. For most students and teachers, the educational day ends as soon as the last bell rings. For intern Jordan Weissberg, however, her day in school is only halfway done.

Graduate school is a higher form of education that follows undergraduate studies through which students focus on a concentrated area of study in order to earn Specialist degrees, Master’s degrees, or Doctoral degrees. Like any other profession, teaching requires an extensive educational background to master any given subject and open the door to more job opportunities. While aspiring high school teachers in Maryland must obtain a bachelor’s degree and pass a state-approved teacher preparation program, a Master’s degree is not required to teach. Some, however, choose to take the longer route.

In obtaining Master’s degrees, many aspiring high school teachers choose to complete an undergraduate program for the subject they intend to teach, and then a Master’s degree in secondary education.

In many Master’s programs, like the one at University of Maryland (UMD), students are required to intern in classrooms to apply the skills they learn in real-life situations.

Weissberg, who has obtained her undergraduate degree in mathematics at UMD, is currently in her second year of getting her Master’s degree in secondary education.

She teaches two math classes at Blair, a double period Algebra 1 and Honors Algebra 2, while taking bi-weekly night classes.

One of Weissberg’s peers, Katelyn Nave, is also working towards her Master’s degree in secondary education at UMD. She too has bi-weekly night classes after her full days at Blair, and does not get back to her apartment until 9 p.m. on those days. “It’s just a lot of long days and not having much time to do anything else,” she says.

Between both her classes at UMD and her job at Blair, Weissberg gets a fair amount of work, which is hard to complete given her busy schedule. Weissberg’s main goal is to teach her math classes well, and at times it is stressful for her to deal with graduate

school in addition to that. “I struggle in finding time to go really in depth with my students here without sacrificing my grades in grad school classes,” she says.

Instead of letting her workload of her dual education discourage her, Weissberg embraces her time at Blair and uses it as a hand-on learning experience to improve as an educator. “I have grown more this year than in all four years of college because of the hands-on experience,” she says.

This hands-on experience allows Weissberg to identify her weaknesses and work to improve them. Weissberg is currently working to solve her difficulty in keeping control of the class. Weissberg says her voice is not the loudest, but instead of trying to yell over students, she has found that the best way to maintain control is by giving work to the students as soon as they enter the classroom. “By working on those techniques without having to raise my voice, I’m not changing who I am, but changing the way the classroom works,” she says.

Weissberg’s internship allows her to benefit from the relationships she builds between both her fellow interns and her students. To her, learning in a supportive environment like Blair where everyone assists each other makes her experience valuable and enjoyable. “Rather than striving to be better than each other, we are striving to make each other better teachers. We all are sharing resources and help each other get through stressful times,” she says.

Grad school classes also work as observing opportunities for interns, as many use their teachers as models. Nave critiques her teachers, helping her build her own teaching skills. “I would really analyze my professors and say, ‘That was a terrible method he just used to explain that. This professor needs to do a better job in communicating with the students,’” she says.

This switch in perspective also allows interns to empathize with their students.

Weissberg says she has become more understanding of when her students do not quite meet her expectations because she is also a student. “Being a student at UMD and also being a teacher is good way to remind myself that these kids are [not] doing what they are doing on purpose,” she says. “Sometimes they are late to class, sometimes they forget their homework. It’s important to see how hard the kids are working.”

TIFFANY MAO

D5 Features

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January 31, 2018

Saints, skounges, and sneakers

Silver Chips spends a day experiencing life at St. Albans School

By Cole Greenberg and Ben Miller As the lunch period at St. Albans School comes to a close, a wave of silence sweeps across the once-talkative crowd. Three hundred or so students turn away from their battered cod and rice pilaf toward the front of the cafeteria, where a line of fellow students waits to make announcements.

After each boy shares his message, about upcoming newspaper deadlines, the Gardening club photo, or supporting the wrestling match that afternoon, he is thanked with thunderous applause from everyone in the room. Not a single student is on his cell phone.

St. Albans, located next to the National Cathedral in the heart of Washington D.C., is an independent college preparatory school for boys in grades 4–12. The 109-yearold Episcopal institution enrolls 575 boys throughout both its lower school (grades 4-8) and upper school (grades 9-12).

One of the most reputable private schools in the country, St. Albans counts among its alumni many of America’s leading men, from Vice President Al Gore and astronaut Michael Collins to Simpsons producer Josh Weinstein and football Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Ogden.

At first glance, St. Albans is everything Blair is not. It’s tiny, private, religious, all male, overwhelmingly white, and, at over $44,000 a year, extremely expensive. But despite their fundamental differences, the two schools parallel each other in more ways than one.

Suit jacket, blue hamburger socks

Even at first glance, the physical differences between St. Albans and Blair are unmistakable. There are no massive Blair Boulevard-esque spaces inside the multi-leveled main building.

Instead of creating wide, open floors, the architects elected to expand up and down, building compact hallways that weave throughout the school. Since the institute first opened in 1909, St. Albans has undergone a number of modernizing renovations but still holds onto a decidedly old-fashioned cathedral aesthetic.

Similar to the architecture of the building, St. Albans’ dress code employs an odd mix of new and traditional. St. Albans maintains rigid restrictions on clothing choice, requiring all students to wear a jacket and tie during the day.

But according to freshman Richard Davies-von Voorhis, whose blazer and slacks were complemented by blue hamburger socks and sneakers, the dress restrictions still allow for considerable self-expression and creativity. “We’re not stuck in little boxes,” Davies-von Voorhis says. “It’s not cookie cutter.”

Adding to the formal climate of St. Albans are its strong religious connections. Twice a week—around the same time Blair students enter third or fourth period—all of St. Albans walks out to the school’s cramped, historic chapel for a brief period of prayer and reflection.

Students lead each other in worship through readings and a homily. While faith may not be mandatory, attendance is. The Christianity of the school is also reflected in the prayers that sandwich every lunch period and the required religion courses that all students take, including classes like “The Bible” and “Encountering God.” Although the campus, dress code, and spirituality give the school a certain ceremonial feel, the formality of St. Albans is actually contrasted by its relative lack of rigidity and structure.

No bells mark the beginnings and ends of periods and students simply move from one class to another when the time comes.

In the nebulous free periods of time between classes, students casually converse in the library and the sky lounge, a common room surrounded with windows affectionately known as “the Skounge”. And unlike Blair students, St. Albans boys seem more inclined to freely leave their things in classrooms or public areas when the need arises.

Though an all-boys school, seeing a girl on St. Albans’ campus is far from unusual.

Situated on the other side of the Cathedral grounds is National Cathedral School (NCS),

link all students. While Blair pupils can come across new faces every day, the boys at St. Albans not only know everyone else but seem to have individual relationships with them. No walk between classes is complete without high fives and fist bumps, not only within friend groups but between just about everyone.

The school makes a conscious effort to foster such a climate, including randomly assigning seats at lunch so each table becomes an undivided community of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. “I feel comfortable around every person. There isn’t anyone that I wouldn’t want to hang out with,” Duffy says, who is busy posing movie trivia to the mix of boys seated around him. Everyone offers up an answer.

“B.E.E.F”

MARISSA HE

an all-girls institution. Though separate schools, St. Albans and NCS are considerably intertwined, holding coed dances and allowing students to take classes at one school that are not offered at the other. However, the neighboring academies maintain decidedly different cultures. According to senior John Klingler, “St. Alban’s strength comes from everyone, to a certain degree, being friends.

NCS is more cliquey.”

A close-knit community

As discussed on their website, St. Albans takes great pride in creating a climate of “vigorous inquiry” in which students are pushed to do their best in all aspects of school life.

This philosophy is evident in every St. Albans classroom, as students universally participate in discussions and bring to class well-prepared and organized notes. No one sleeps in class—in part because the school gives out free coffee to all students all day.

Math teacher Richard Henry believes this environment helps to create a positive climate of rigorous education at the school. “It is cool to be smart. It is cool to strive to be academic. There’s not a single student who’s not giving their very best and soaking in ev-

erything,” he notes.

Powered by a 7:1 student to teacher ratio, St. Albans makes miniscule class sizes the hallmark of their academic program. Few classes have more than 10 students, with most in the high single digits. This setup offers a chance at highly personal, connected classes that leave no room to hide in the crowd.

“If you don’t do the reading, it’s going to be pretty clear because there are only 10 people in your class,” senior Jake Duffy says.

“You make that mistake once and then try to never make it again.”

However, not all St. Albans classes conform to the school’s small, intensive model.

The Choral classes (pronounced kohr-AL) offer the chance for students to grow musically in one of five singing ensembles.

Unlike the greater focus of more typical St. Albans classes, Choral is filled with what director Chuck Bowers described as “a constant din of chatter” as boys mix practicing their sectionals with less pertinent conversation.

The friendly banter of Choral is indicative of one of St. Albans’ most pronounced features: the obvious bonds of friendship which

When they are not studying in classrooms or lounging in the Skounge, St. Albans students are busy playing sports. All students must play three seasons each year, with the exception of seniors who can elect to play just two.

“The expectation is that you’re here to excel academically as well as on the sports fields,” Henry, who coaches junior varsity basketball, remarks. Hours of daily practice precede all other extracurricular activities, meaning regular school days can easily stretch well into dinner time.

Despite the time commitment, Duffy, a lightweight rowing commit to Columbia University, sees the school’s emphasis on sports as more of a strength than an obstacle. “It’s not really seen as a burden, it’s just seen as a part of the curriculum,” he says.

“We strive for that sound mind, sound body type.”

Differences notwithstanding, both Blair and St. Albans truly embrace their school spirit. Much like Blair’s Blazer Ragers, St. Albans’ B.E.E.F. club (Big Eaters Enjoying Festivities) fills the stands at football and basketball games to support their fellow student-athletes. But B.E.E.F. does not only turn out for traditional sporting events. At a chess match last year, students showed up by the dozens in St. Albans’ library to silently cheer for the Bulldogs.

All in all, what St. Albans loses in numbers it makes up for in school spirit. They come out in hordes for sports games, wear their school colors with pride, and occasionally spend more time at school than at home in a given 24-hour period.

Although they may have fewer kids and more Bibles than Blair, both student bodies share one unmistakable trait: they love their school.

BEN MILLER

BIG WINDOWS, SMALL CLASSES The 575 students of St. Albans School attend classes in older Gothic buildings, like the Lane Johnston Building above, as well as newer, renovated halls throughout the campus.

January 31, 2018

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ADs D6

E1 Entertainment

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Overlooked, but not obsolete

January 31, 2018

Exploring some of D.C.’s most underrated museums

By Elise Cauton Washington D.C. is one of the educational and cultural hubs in the United States.

It is home to our government, some of the most recognizable national monuments, and countless museums; best yet, it is only a couple of miles away. While it might be natural to first think of the Natural History Museum or the National Gallery of Art, D.C. offers an even wider array of institutions that are often overlooked. For those looking for an outing close to home, here are some underrated museums that are worth a visit.

Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art The Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art,

with its brightly lit rooms and modern interior, was the first art museum on the Smithsonian campus. The museum was created when Charles Lang Freer donated his personal collection of Asian, American and Middle Eastern art to the Smithsonian. The Freer is known for its displays ranging from ancient Iranian metalwork to Cambodian ceramics, and houses a diverse spectrum of Middle Eastern and Asian art.

For certain exhibitions, the museum has rooms with the artifacts arranged as they would be found during that time period. There is a replica of a Tibetan Buddhist shrine room, for one example, that has pieces arranged as they would be in reality; golden Buddha sculptures lay atop ornate

are touch screens that provide further information and videos about the artifacts in that section.

One part of this exhibit allows you to play a Chinese and western style bell, showing projections of the sound waves onto a screen to display the different pitches of each bell.

This highlights the technological innovation of the ancient Chinese in forging a bell that can produce two different pitches when struck in separate areas.

What makes the Freer great is their unique collection of Asian and Mediterranean art. Given that the museum was originally someone’s personal collection of art, all of the artifacts are meant to entertain those who see them, making the Freer undeniably worth a visit to those who have never seen its wonders before.

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMOWA), founded in 1987, features art exclusively by women artists from the late 16th century through today. The featured art is not limited to paintings, and also showcases prints, photos, and sculptures.

The founders, Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay, decided to open the museum after realizing that many art history books did not reference female artists. In the past, women could not receive formal training or find patrons to purchase their art. This marginalization led to the underrepresentation of art cre-

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

EXPLORING THE FREER The Freer Gallery of Art, which is located on the Smithsonian campus, showcases a variety of Asian and Mediterranean artifacts. boxes, scroll paintings hang from the walls, and a soundtrack of clerical chants plays in the background. What is most compelling is that all of the objects displayed are authentic artifacts from Tibet, China, Mongolia, and Nepal, originating from the 13th to 19th centuries. The Freer also utilizes interactive technology. Throughout the museum, there

ated by women in museums, which inspired the Holladays to establish the NMOWA to exhibit and preserve art that was overlooked.

Since the museum is relatively new, most of the art displayed is contemporary and approaching abstract. One of the museum’s exhibitions, for example, features the works of black artists in their lasting influence on

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

A SCULPTURE WITH SENSITIVITY “The Blue Bra Girls” by artist Ghada Amer is just one of the many contemporary pieces featured in the African Art Museum.

American abstraction. The exhibition represents the artists’ desire for exploration and creating new directions for black women in the arts. All of the art in the exhibit is abstract, each representing that artist’s unique perspective and emotions towards the everyday occurrences that inspire them.

For example, “Magnetic Fields” by Mildred Thompson, the painting which the exhibition was named after, was influenced by scientific theories and universal systems.

Another unique piece from the exhibit, “Acid Rain” by Chakaia Booker, is a threedimensional mural made out of old tires that consume an entire wall, that conveys the destruction and the creative possibilities of the human relationship with the environment. While the museum is small, its distinct aesthetic more than compensates for its size. When you walk in, the first floor is something like a 19th century ballroom, with marble columns and three large chandeliers.

Appropriately, this room houses many of the paintings from the 17th and 18th century.

The next two floors take on a more modern style, with a black, white, or navy color scheme that displays the evolution of the art from a traditional, classical form to a reactionary, abstract one. These two floors have an atmosphere of unrestrained emotion, and the colorful and candid art creates a stark contrast against the uniform color of the walls. The NMOWA is definitely worth the visit, not only for what it represents, but for its thought-provoking and distinctly unique pieces.

National Museum of African Art Originally called the Center for Cross Cultural Understanding, the National Museum of African Art (NMOAA) opened in 1964, displaying the cultures and history of Afri-

ca during the Civil Rights Movement. This museum was the smallest out of the three reviewed, but it was also the least crowded and the easiest to navigate.

The NMOAA boasts a variety of art from different time periods, cultures, and regions.

The layout of the museum is well thought out, with historical artifacts on the first floor and contemporary art on the second and third; the further you walk through the museum, the more modern it gets. The walls in the permanent exhibit are a deep maroon color, allowing the artifacts to stand out, as they are mostly made from ivory, wood, or gold. The descriptions of the pieces are very detailed, explaining what the piece represents and its importance to the ethnic group to which it belongs.

Currently, the special exhibitions are video and film works from African filmmakers with production styles ranging from documentaries to silent films. The films range from interviews discussing different generations’ view about apartheid in South Africa to an interpretive film about the cultural and historical tensions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The films are shown as the artwork and artifacts; each one has its own area in the exhibit, which you can freely walk to and watch it as you please. The screens are the only source of light in the exhibits, giving them an ambience of a movie theater. It is really refreshing how the museum acknowledges that film is an art form and chooses it to further educate museumgoers about the current issues in Africa.

The depth of content and engaging facets made this museum stand out with the amount of thorough information given with each piece, the mesmerizing collection of historical artifacts, and the film exhibit. The NMOAA will definitely entertain and educate everyone who visits.

soapbox What are some of your favorite museums in the DC area?

“When I was a kid, I loved the Air and Space Museum because of all of its interactive components ... As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more interested in history, so my new favorites are the American History Museum and the African American Museum.”

— Jonah Thompson, junior “I have no idea. Haven’t been to a museum in years.”

— Jennifer Hu, freshman

ELISE CAUTON

A NEW PERSPECTIVE “El er uses old tires to invoke the

Gato“ by artist Chakaia Bookregal posture and aura of a feline.

January 31, 2018

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MCPS, what the tech?!

Entertainment E2

Technology implementations have a comically poor track record

By Will Donaldson An opinon At the end of the 2017 school year and all throughout that summer, rumors floated among students that Edline would be replaced. We did not know with what. Our teachers were in the same boat—they did not know either. We waited until late August to find out that Edline’s replacement, MyMCPS Portal and Classroom, would be available for staff and student use. Soon.

During the first few weeks back from our vacation, the implementation of MyMCPS was more than commendable—it was extraordinary. It managed to unite students and teachers over their collective state of confusion. Teachers were still receiving training sessions one month into classes and had no idea whether to continue using Google Classroom, a combination of the two, or commit fully to MyMCPS. Even though teachers tried hard to keep students in the loop, we were still in a state of considerable exasperation. Our sadness and outrage over the loss of Edline was exaggerated by the fact that we couldn’t see our first quarter grades before report cards, one of the only duties we relied on Edline to perform.

The new system was touted as “a 21st century digital learning environment specifically designed to meet the needs of staff, students, and parents of MCPS,” according to the MCPS website. There are no major problems with it other than its initially befuddling operating interface and the grading confusion that it stirred up at the beginning of the year. However, we wish we had gotten more of a heads up.

The problems demonstrated by MyMCPS are part of a larger pattern within MCPS of applying new tech policies without adequate planning and feedback from those who are most affected by the decision: students and staff. It would have been easy to shrug this one off and put it behind us,

if only the memory of Chromebooks was not so recent. Carts and carts of them began to fill up our classrooms throughout the 2015 school year—only to collect dust.

Many teachers did not know how to implement them into classes, or just did not want to.

Now, three years later, Chromebooks are in full usage throughout Blair. Yet, while our WiFi has blocked social media, all YouTube videos, and, most recently, logging into personal email accounts, MCPS has still not figured out how to block students from using the Chromebooks for gaming and entertainment.

I am sure that my fellow students would be more inclined to use Chromebooks to work if their restrictions were not so frustrating—and if gaming were not so simple.

The problem with Chromebooks does not stop there. Each time we finally resist

the temptation of the myriad distractions and actually open up our assignments, the WiFi fails.

Fruitful, productive work becomes hard when separated into five minute segments, each separated by a minute’s wait for the WiFi to reconnect. I am sure that this is not how MCPS imagined Chromebooks would perform in the classroom.

Despite this pattern of implementation mishap, MCPS has big plans in store for Blair, among other schools. According to the MCPS Department of Technology Integration and Support website, Blair is due this upcoming summer to “undergo a technology refresh to update hardware/software resources.”

Exactly what this “refresh” means, however, is very much a mystery to us students, which raises the question: what is it going to be this time? FitBits for every PE class?

Virtual Reality goggles for social studies?

We have students in portables, yet the county is looking to give Blair a technological “refresh?” If MCPS can find a plan, however poor, for implementation of Chromebooks, I bet they could find a way to replace teachers with robots without letting any of us know.

In order to ease future technology implementation and allocate resources for the benefit of all, MCPS has to realize that technology does not automatically help students, enhance our education, or make us more enthusiastic learners—and it often does the opposite.

When MCPS realizes this, it can begin to focus more on the issues the county faces year after year: teacher salaries and benefits, student health and safety, and the glaring disparities that exist between the Wheatons and Whitmans of our county school system.

MARISSA HE

E3 Entertainment Blazers of Note

silverchips

Cartoons and comics are more than novel Graphic novels are a legitimate form of literature

By Anson Berns

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Catherine Liberta Junior Irish dancing is something of a family tradition for junior Catherine Liberta. “My mom and her two sisters danced when they were younger,” she says. “And my cousin started dancing, so my mom put [me]and my sister in dance when we were young.”

Her mom’s fateful decision all those years ago has been very rewarding for Liberta, leading to her success in many competitions around the world. Most recently, she placed seventh in the Southern Region Oireachtas championships in Orlando, Florida.

This regional win is extremely impressive given the amount of competition. “I competed against over 100 girls,” she says.

Her victory also gave her the opportunity to qualify for the Irish dancing world championship, which will take place in March.

Like many of the competitions she has danced in before, the world championships will give her the opportunity to discover a new culture outside of the United States. “The world championships this year are in Glasgow, Scotland,” she says.

January 31, 2018

The phrase “graphic novel,” for a great number of people, does not refer to a novel of any kind. Rather, the term has become synonymous with “comic book”: cute stories about adolescents with supernatural powers or something along those lines. The truth, however, is that graphic novels are works of substantive and serious fiction— accompanied by moving images—that span topics from the Holocaust and the Islamic Revolution in Iran to, yes, superheroes. The graphic novel’s unique visual capabilities make it a legitimate and at the same time underappreciated medium.

Art Spiegelman’s 1986 Holocaust memoir Maus was the pioneer of the graphic novel as a method of communicating serious stories. The only graphic novel ever to win a Pulitzer Prize, Maus details Spiegelman’s relationship with his father Vladek as well as Vladek’s experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II. The most salient and distinctive feature of Maus is the visual allegory of representing ethnicities and nationalities as animals, depicting Jews as mice and Germans as cats.

This depiction highlights the divisive and racist views of the era in a way that would be impossible in a text-only work. Since the first thing one notices about each character is what animal they are portrayed as, each character’s physical appearance is defined almost in totality by their ethnicity, and the reader cannot help but identify a character as a mouse/Jew before identifying them as an individual. By drawing his characters in this way, Spiegelman played off of antisemitic sentiments of the time that characterized all Jews as the same, but also truly portrays them as helpless victims. Maus pulls off this layered allegory—simultaneously obvious and nuanced—in a way that could not be done without images.

The graphic novel format is a perfect demonstration of the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In addition to their thematic and metaphorical usefulness, pictures used in the right way can convey emotion. One panel in Maus II depicts a massive pile of mouse corpses, surrounded by flies. Another panel shows the agony on the faces of mice being burned alive in pits at Auschwitz. There is a visceral, gut-wrenching quality unique to the hand-drawn imag-

From PERSEPOLIS: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD by Marjane Satrapi, translation copyright © 2003 by L’Association, Paris, France. Used by permission of Pantheon Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

es that truly captures the gravity and emotions of the situations.

After Maus, the serious graphic novel genre blossomed. Drawing inspiration from Maus is Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s autobiography about her time as a young girl during the Iranian Revolution. Satrapi’s novel makes use of dark, high-contrast images to give a solemnness to her subject matter, but the simplicity of her drawings also evokes the childlike innocence of the protagonist.

Serious and impactful graphic novels also need not be historical or autobiographical. Alan Moore’s “V for Vendetta,” which was later adapted into an acclaimed film, depicts a dystopian Britain controlled by an authoritarian government and originated the use of the Guy Fawkes mask as a visual symbol for anarchy.

Another of Moore’s graphic novels, Watchmen, is an intentional subversion of the superhero genre that depicts an aging, worn-down group of superheroes that have to face real moral dilemmas and the true, disgusting parts of humanity. The dark mood is apparent from the very first panels, which show a river of blood flowing into gutters as the novel’s distinctive bloody smiley face pin falls to the ground. The dark, grimy world of Watchmen is in obvious and direct visual contrast with the bright and colorful world in which superheroes traditionally reside. While the art style is similar to that of traditional superhero comics, Watchmen manages to let the off-putting darkness of its pessimistic take on life come through visually. One of Watchmen’s protagonists, the morally ambiguous Rorschach, is drawn with an unsettling inkblot mask that changes in every panel.

There is a very personal aspect to each and every one of these graphic novels. The reader sees the characters exactly as the author did, the words in the author’s own handwriting, and the mood of the story visually expressed in a way that the written word alone is incapable of doing.

Celebrating resilience

Exploring what attracts students to Sankofa from SANKOFA page A1

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Brady Mason Freshman Freshman Brady Mason has been on skis for about as long as he has been able to walk. He first began skiing at the age of two and started competing in the sport at the age of seven.

Earlier this school year, Mason left Blair for a month to participate in a ski program in New York. At the end of his time there, he was rewarded for his hard work. “They liked me so they gave me the athlete of the month award, for the person who did academics and skiing while they were there,” he says.

Leaving school for that amount of time may seem difficult, but Mason always has a plan. “I talk with my teachers before I leave and get some of my work before I go,” he explains. “And I catch up when I get back.

He has two primary rules he follows to stay on top of his schoolwork. “Communication with your teachers and just always working hard,” he says.

For Mason, skiing is a way to escape from reality. “When I’m skiing I don’t have to worry about anything else,” he says.

By Lucy Gavin

Winfrey.

Many poets and entertainers will also be featured. Junior Micah Contee shook the crowd last year with his rendition of James Brown’s “I Feel Good.” This February, he is excited to sing Chuck Berry’s 1958 classic “Johnny B. Goode.” However, he admits his favorite part is the dancing. “I love the dances we do,” Contee says, “even though I’m not in them, I like just seeing the dances.”

The lively dances in Sankofa range from traditional West African dance to modern hip-hop movements that are performed over live jazz, raw beats, and pop singles.

Sophomore Alanna Sibrian loves the dances because of the autonomy she is afforded by English teacher and director Michelle Elie to design them.

“She’s giving us freedom to choose the movement, the formations, the people we want in our dance, and how we want it to be portrayed through [the] colors we want for the costumes and everything,” Sibrian says. “I’ve never had an experience like that, and this is really cool for me because I don’t think this would ever happen anywhere else,” she says.

The cast, including first-year performer Sophomore Mathis Kreuzberg, also appreciates Sankofa as a learning experience. “The only time I ever remember learning about black history in school was probably in first grade when we were learning about slavery,” she says. Kreuzberg spends most of her time in the show with people who are performing poems, and she values hearing the narratives and perspectives of famous black authors and poets.

Senior Christian Moreira-Martinez also appreciates the show for its abundant display of culture. “For me, it’s a showcase of black excellence throughout American history,” he says. “A lot of it gets swept under the carpet, so it’s important to showcase it and show people what is actually black history” Martinez says.

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

SPITTING FIRE Sophomore De’Andre Johnson takes center stage to passionately rehearses the poem he will be performing in Sankofa.

The show will be a narrative of black culture and follows themes of resilience in the face of hardship, but Adamson believes it should also be a celebration. “When you think about the fact that African-Americans were first brought here as slaves, as nothing, as property, and looking at that journey from darkness to light … it is really a story of empowerment and survival and that is always something to celebrate,” she says Sankofa will be performed February 9th and 10th at 7 p.m. in Blair’s auditorium. Tickets will be $7 for students and $10 for adults.

Preview Sankofa with this trailer produced by Chaminda Hangilipola and Ben Miller! You can watch the video by scanning this QR code or visiting tinyurl.com/blairsankofa

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January 31, 2018

Entertainment E4

A telenovela with a twist The CW’s “Jane the Virgin” is revolutionizing American television

Not to be dramatic, but the CW’s “Jane the Virgin” is the best show of all time. Inspired by the Venezuelan telenovela “Juana la Virgen,” “Jane the Virgin” follows three generations of badass Villanueva women through love, loss, and everything else life throws their way. While such a show may sound commonplace, “Jane the Virgin” stands out for its portrayal

they are not limited to the narrow set of stereotypical jobs Latinos are typically shown as having on television,” the study says. “By watching multiple episodes of Jane the Virgin, the viewer continues to see positive portrayals and becomes more accustomed to, and informed about, the culture and Latinos as a whole.”

That said, “Jane the Virgin” is not a “Latino show,” but a show about Latinos. Unlike series

known as medical repatriation. As the text on the bottom of the screen indicates, “yes, this really happens look it up #immigrationreform.”

The show’s coverage of mental health—via Jane’s anxiety and Luisa (Jane’s baby daddy’s sister)’s alcoholism—is particularly important. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illness is particularly stigmatized in Latino communities, so the fact that both Jane and Luisa openly

of Latinos in a positive light, coverage of important issues, and quality of production.

Though nearly all of the major characters on “Jane the Virgin” are Latino, they do not fall into the stereotypical roles often embodied by Latinos on screen—hypersexualized women or Latin lovers, drug dealers, undocumented immigrants, and hired help like maids, gardeners, and janitors. Although stereotypes are not absent from “Jane the Virgin,” they are hidden amidst each character’s many layers. For instance, while Jane Villanueva—the protagonist—is religious and works as a waitress, she is also highly-educated, incredibly honest, and successful in her dream of becoming “a published freaking author!” (her words, not mine).

Moreover, a study published in Elon University’s Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications on the role of Latino stereotypes in “Jane the Virgin” found the series to be a prime example of positive Latino representation. “The show questions and challenges stereotypes by presenting characters who are well-educated, of a high socioeconomic status, and those who are not, informing Latinos that

like “Black-ish” or “Ugly Betty,” the characters’ background is not the focal point of Jane the Virgin”; rather, it is implied through language and customs. As the New York Times puts it, “the main characters’ ethnicity is both crucial and beside the point.” Characters on “Jane the Virgin” are more than just their Latino heritage, which enables viewers from all different cultures to connect with them and the show as a whole.

“Jane the Virgin” is also able to educate its audience without ever seeming like a History Channel documentary. For instance, when Jane’s mother Xiomara chooses to terminate her accidental pregnancy, her devoutlyreligious mother, Alba, respects her freedom to make that choice, despite the fact that she does not personally agree with the decision.

“Jane the Virgin” thus sends the message to viewers that one can be pro-choice without being proabortion and openly challenges the idea that abortion is too taboo for television. The issue of immigration is discussed in a similar fashion. When Alba is hospitalized for a brain injury, the hospital informs Xiomara that when she wakes up, Alba will be deported to Venezuela without her consent—also

discuss their struggles and receive professional help is groundbreaking. In its three and a half seasons, “Jane the Virgin” also manages to explore feminism, class differences, LGBTQ+ issues, sexuality, family, religion, and so much more.

There is no doubt that “Jane the Virgin” stays woke.

Content aside, “Jane the Virgin” is technically impressive— it effortlessly blends omniscient narration and dialogue, fantasy and reality, English and Spanish, and cliffhangers and happy endings. And the writers’ emphasis on smooth transitions prevents the roller coaster plot line from overwhelming the viewer; the final word or phrase in every scene connects to the first line in the next one.

Not to mention the acting is superb: Gina Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for her laudable performance as Jane after a mere nine episodes; Anthony Mendez’s narration is better than words can describe; Jaime Camil’s portrayal of Rogelio will have you laughing yourself to tears. In a time when the real world is full of nuclear threats and government shutdowns, there is no better way to relax than by watching an episode of “Jane the Virgin.”

By Olivia Gonzalez

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

It is Oscar season, and with that comes a somewhat arbitrary award ceremony that decides which of this past year’s movie selection will be remembered as great, and which will be forgotten. “Oscar bait” movies are easy to identify with their clear sense of style, shown in the 2012 winner, The Artist, and often pandering themes, expressed in the 2015 winner, Birdman. However, not all winners are “Oscar bait,” and this year has a varied and unique selection of movies to choose from.

These are not necessarily what I would nominate for the Best Picture category, but here are my predictions for the nominations that people should care about as well as those that have the best chance of winning and are deserving of the award in their own right.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

While the Golden Globes hold nowhere near as much weight as the Oscars, they act as a rehearsal of sorts, providing the public with a hint of who the big winners are going to be this year. Three Billboards swept at the Golden Globes, bringing home Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Actress - Drama, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay.

The movie follows a mother who paints three billboards calling out her town’s police chief after not catching her daughter’s killer.

The movie is well liked by both critics and audiences. It is brutal and beautiful at the same time, containing some of the year’s most interesting and complex characters. Three Billboards is most likely to win Best Picture and will hold off strong competition from Lady Bird and The Shape of Water.

Lady Bird

Lady Bird came out of nowhere this year. It was relatable in the way it discussed the confusion of growing up through fantastic writing and acting. This made for a

ELIAS MONASTERSKY

delightfully fresh and interesting coming-of-age tale. The film did well at the Golden Globes, winning Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Notably, Lady Bird did not have to compete against Three Billboards, Dunkirk, or Shape of Water for the title of best picture, as the Golden Globes have a separate category for drama.

It did, however, win over Get Out. While it is an overall solid film, it just doesn’t seem like it will win Best Picture, as the other contenders are just too strong. If anything, this would be ranked thirdmost-likely to win.

Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan has only ever had one film be nominated for Best Picture: the 2010 sci-fi film Inception. The Academy has proven time and again that pure action movies are not strong picks for best picture, as even Inception—which won four Oscars—did not win.

However, there has been a long history of war movies doing well in the best picture spot. Since the first Oscars in 1928 when Wings won Best Picture, there have been 16 war films that have won. Precedent is everything at the Oscars; the Academy likes to keep things roughly the same every year. Even though Dunkirk is a phenomenal war film, the Academy’s track record plus the heavy focus on action over the psychological or philosophical side of war makes this movie unlikely to win.

The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water tells a tale about a mute custodian at a top secret government lab who falls in love with one of the lab’s humanamphibian hybrids. It is by far the second-strongest candidate this year and provides the most competition to Three Billboards for Best Picture. Guillermo del Toro pulled out all the stops, making a stunning movie that rivals Pan’s Labyrinth as his best. The film was well-received and won Best Director and Best Original Score at the Golden Globes. Exploring the concepts of trust and love, del Toro creates a sort of romance-fantasydrama blend that works fantastically. It will not be surprising if it picks up a Best Picture in addition to the Best Directing award.

AVERY LIOU

E5 Entertainment

silverchips

What is the memeing of this?

January 31, 2018

A commentary on the cultural significance of memes

By Gilda Geist and Isabella Tilley An opinion The year is 2100. You’re standing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Bee Movie is being projected onto a screen, but every time they say “bee,” it gets faster. On the walls around you are the world’s greatest works of postmodern art: A stock photo of a white boy checking out another girl with his girlfriend watching; a woman crouching next to Shrek’s Hollywood star with the caption “Nothing but respect for MY president;” a young man dressed in pale pink with his hands folded, a smug look on his face, and a harsh sock tan peeping out of his boat shoes.

This could be the future of memes. What is now a cultural phenomenon shared largely by young Internet users could one day be a subject studied by anthropologists to better understand society in the 2010s. Memes could one day give anthropologists insight into what humans found funny and how they interacted with one another in the early digital age.

So when someone sees an image of a bike with the caption, “Bike is short for Bichael,” why do they laugh? One explanation is the Benign Violation Theory, a concept developed by Peter McGraw, professor at the University of Colorado and founder of Humor Research Lab (HuRL), and his colleague Caleb Warren, a University of Arizona professor.

The Benign Violation Theory says that a situation is funny when it is both a violation, meaning that it does not adhere to societal norms, and when it is benign, meaning that, in the eyes of the viewer, the violation of the norm is not harmful. The violation in “Bike is short for Bichael” is that the word “bike” is not actually short for Bichael, but it is benign because the false information does not hurt anyone.

A person’s taste in memes demonstrates their beliefs, values, and societal expectations. “Perceptions of humor differ … both

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

across cultures and across people within a culture,” Warren explains. What someone perceives to be a benign violation is shaped by their society and culture. In other words, long after our generation is gone, anthropologists will be able to gather information about our lives by studying what’s left of us:

really weird and sad jokes.

The nihilistic and pessimistic nature of memes shows our generation’s disillusionment with societal norms and institutions and our apocalyptic view of the world. Take the wise words of former Vine user Quenlin Blackwell: “All I want to tell you is school’s not important. Be whatever you want to be. If you want to be a dog, WOOF, you know?”

At first, one might chuckle and brush off the six-second clip as another “relatable teen” joke about hating school. But upon closer examination, the fact that so many young adults laugh at the video reveals something darker: millennials’ frustration with a society that has told them to go to college and become whoever they want to be, only so they can be left with mountains of student debt and unfulfilling careers (only 29% of millennials feel engaged at work, according to a Gallup poll). The viewer laughs, but deep down, truly would not mind being a dog, if only for one luxurious day.

To writer Megan Hoins, the absurdism of Internet humor shares qualities with Dadaism, an abstract art movement that originated during WWI in Eastern Europe.

In a Medium article, Hoins explains that both memes and Dadaism reflect young people’s disillusionment with institutions and societal norms.

Dadaists rejected the traditions and institutions of their time with absurdism that redefined the meaning of art. “The one thing you can say about Dadaism is they celebrated the arbitrary, the chance, the coincidental,” Steven Mansbach, a University of Maryland professor of twentieth-century art, says.

Whereas Dada art was absurd and rebellious, millennial meme culture is absurd with a twinge of sadness and nihilism.

Consider the Vine in which two people attempt to flip a water bottle. The first flips his plastic bottle onto a chair and succeeds.

The second does the same, only his bottle is made of glass and smashes everywhere.

The boy’s half-hearted dab and blank stare speak to the deeper sense of unfulfillment and emptiness that comes from scrambling to follow trends and meet the status quo.

Our generation’s appetite for these sorts of memes points to our need cope to with the realities of coming of age and the struggles of life. “Laughing at [tragedy] helps you perceive it as benign, and so [it] helps people adjust, cope, get over bad things happening,” Warren says.

The eccentricity of memes allows people to cope by helping them view the tragic

situation as benign.

Next time you share a meme, you can think about how you might be contributing to the legacy of one of the most impactful art movements of the past century. According to Mansbach, Dadaism’s radical and pre-

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

L.H.O.O.Q. This 1919 painting by Marcel Duchamp is an example of Dadaism and absurdism. The title “L.H.O.O.Q.,” when sounded out, is the French sentence “Elle a chaud queue,” which translates roughly to “She has a hot butt.” posterous influence can still be seen in art today. “Anything that is truly revolutionary, outrageous, innovative, and at the same time, one might even say discordant, seems … to a Dadaist, heritage,” he says.

Memes are a part of that Dadaist heritage.

Memes are what our generation is leaving behind. When you walk through the Metropolitan Museum of Art with your children and grandchildren, you can be proud to show them what defined your youth: salt bae, elf on a shelf, one thicc bih, Pen Pineapple Apple Pen, and countless six-second treasures once known as Vines.

January 31, 2018 Cardinal Win

by Hank Groberg Guest submission

Sudoku (easy)

Chips Clips E6

silverchips Across 1. *Laziness 6. Notice 10. Fido’s greeting 13. Painkiller drug category 15. *Strong desire 16. Cell’s protein recipe 17. Film technique used in many early Disney films 19. Movie based on a board game 20. Leftovers 21. Result when teams are even (2 wds.)

22. Body scan for broken bones 25. Salad ingredient (2 wds.)

28. Largest online Hogwarts community (abbr.)

29. Floor cleaner 30. Lots 31. Movie based on a board game 33. Ferret relatives 36. The starred clues, for example 40. President Trump believes _______ deal will fix the Middle East 41. May government test (2 wds.)

42. Arrival times (abbr.)

43. Conference with Tigers and Blue Devils

45. The most basic verb 46. *Overconsumption 48. Chilled 49. Matt Damon’s 2016 vacation destination 51. Explodes 53. Honest _____ 54. Ailment cured by Halls (2 wds.)

59. Hoppy beverage 60. _____ Domini 61. Funeral oration 62. Doc.’s handout 63. Fewer 64. “The front page of the Internet” Down 1. Drunkard 2. Indiana-based motor company (abbr.)

3. Common symptom of 13-Across (abbr.)

4. Irish surname 5. 2015 Bond villain Mr. _____ 6. Ferris’s girlfriend 7. Throbbed 8. Bear in Madrid 9. Gene that carries carpal tunnel syndrome 10. *Rage 11. 2016 Rihanna release 12. Prey 14. “Same.”

18. Magical terrier from “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

21. Take in and evaluate 22. South African click language 23. City on the Seine 24. With a pulse 26. Baby mare 27. On the same page (2 wds.)

29. Algonquin spirit 32. Diamonds, e.g.

33. Shrink, as the moon 34. Shade of purple 35. Small drum 37. “$@#&!”

38. Middle School, Avenue, etc.

39. Raced (by) 43. Singular fruit with a hard shell (2 wds.)

44. Code 46. Chilled 47. Milk’s favorite cookies 48. Success cry for a realtor?

49. Polite way to address your elders 50. Suffix with cap 52. Valid 54. Impractical Joker’s Volcano 55. Washington note 56. Social worker’s code for addictive substances (abbr.)

57. _____ Friday’s 58. Texting conversation ender (abbr.)

AMY KRIMM

COURTESY OF WEBSUDOKU

ODYSSEY, PART 3

ARITRA ROY

DENNY TSITSIWU

E7 Entertainment

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Archives

January 31, 2018

Edited by Ben Miller and Laura Espinoza

The 1980s are the subject of the fifth installment in our 80th anniversary retrospective series. During the eighties, Silver Chips evolved to meet the demands of a rapidly changing student body. White flight and minority population growth reshaped the demographics of Blair, as did the creation of the CAP and Magnet programs.

Appropriately, Silver Chips coverage increasingly focused on the diverse, eclectic community of people and ideas that the school was becoming. The paper also covered the rapid the decline of Blair’s Wayne Avenue campus, as leaks, overcrowding, and asbestos scandals became commonplace.

Just as Blair itself was changing in the 80s, so to was the world around it. In even deeper editions, Silver Chips dove into the trials and triumphs of the decade, from the crumbling of communism and the rise of computers to the tragic emergence of AIDS. BLAIR LIMITED TO 12 BLACK TEACHERS June 2, 1983 Blair’s head basketball coach, Jesse McCarther, has been unable to obtain the teaching position that frequently goes with being head coach because of an agreement made in June 1981 by MCPS and the Office of Civil Rights.

This agreement was made due to two issues which arose during the 1980-81 school year. One issue was MCPS’s application to OCR for the renewal of the ESSA, a grant which funds integration efforts. The other issue was a complaint filed with the OCR by some Montgomery County parents who claimed that minority student enrollment percentage was increasing in certain high minority schools because MCPS was approving transfers of white students.

ey to correct a racial balance problem that MCPS was contributing to.

Rather than forfeit the $20 million ESAA grant, MCPS chose to comply with OCR regulations. As part of the agreement MCPS stated that they would reduce the number of black teachers at Blair to no more than 12 by September 30, 1982.

In order to attain the stated goals, MCPS agreed to do several things. For example, when vacancies are created at Blair they must be filled by non-black teachers. Also, MCPS agreed to make it easy for black teachers to transfer from “critical schools” if they wish. And MCPS agreed not to assign additional black teachers to those schools until the aforementioned goals had been met.

PORNOGRAPHIC COMPUTER FILES EASILY OBTAINABLE March 17, 1989

Dan, a Blair senior, walks to his beat-up old IBM computer and smiles. “You want to know what computer pornography is all about?” he asks.

Dan’s hands fly over the keyboard and the letters “readmac2girls2.mac” appear.

The screen grows blank for a moment, and then small pinpoints of light appear on the screen and solidify into an image: two naked girls lying pliantly on a bed. Dan’s grin becomes positively vicious. “That’s what it’s all about,” he says.

Attaining pornographic files is an amazingly easy even though obtaining such files is illegal. A computer user calls up a computer bulletin board system (BBS) using a modem (a device that allows computers to exchange information over a phone line).

A legal BBS is a forum for exchange of “electronic mail” and public domain files.

However, some BBSes have developed certain areas known as “pirate areas” to which users can gain access by simply asking the owner of the board and proving they are not an undercover FCC agent.

Legally, a BBS is only allowed to distribute pornographic pictures (also called “perv macs”) to people over the age of 18. However, verification of age is difficult to monitor over a computer.

A stolen car was abandoned at Blair after a police chase. The thieves attempted to blend in with Blair students until being arrested with the help of two hall monitors.

March 16, 1983 feeling sorry for myself for a while. Then I picked myself up and got my life back together.” Now he works at HERO (Health Education Resource Organization) with David Brumbach, head of the AIDS hotline in Rockville.

Alex’s family knew the risks and were not surprised to learn that he was infected.

“It wasn’t a total shock to them. They were aware of my lifestyle and my choices, so they were prepared in a way,” says Alex.

Some of his friends, however, were not prepared. “Some of them won’t even speak to me, but the flip side of that is some are really supportive and caring.”

Alex prefers not to explain how he contracted the AIDS virus, but he says that he didn’t use a condom. “All I can say is if I had used a condom, I probably wouldn’t be dying.” He says the use of a condom may save one’s life.

“I just want to say that you’ve got all the time in the world. If you want to be active (sexually), be in an environment of love.

MAGNET TO BEGIN AT BLAIR March 20, 1985

“Winters at Blair” Jan. 16, 1985 The net result of these issues was an investigation and a response on from Shirley McCune, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Equal Education Programs stating that MCPS was ineligible for ESAA renewal.

According to McCune’s letter, MCPS was creating “racially identifiable schools” by “assigning full-time classroom teachers to schools in such a manner as to identify certain schools as intended for students of a particular race.”

OCR felt that Blair and other “critical schools” (any school which has or is projected to have minority membership of over forty percent) were hiring too many black teachers in proportion to the number of black students in the County. At the time there were 15 black teachers on a staff of 75.

In OCR’s eyes, MCPS was requesting mon-

Dan has been watching pornographic figures flit across his screen since he was nine years old. “The first one I ever saw my brother downloaded from a BBS. I liked it and since them I’ve downloaded every perv mac I could find.”

VICTIM BATTLES AIDS Oct. 7, 1987 Alex is twenty-two. He was diagnosed as having AIDS last February when he developed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (a common form of pneumonia found in AIDS patients). He was then admitted to a local hospital.

“After I was diagnosed, I went completely into a slump and didn’t go to work or anything,” Alex explains. “I moped around

Blair will soon receive between $300,000 and $400,000 for its magnet program in which 85 selected ninth graders will be enrolled next fall. These figures do not include teacher salaries, cost of textbooks, and the renovation costs of the eleven classrooms which are being built for the magnet program. These rooms will house math, science, and computer labs, each with computers.

The program will teach advanced level courses in science, math, and computers, while the freshmen will participate in regular classes for social studies, English, and their electives. The magnet school students will have an eight period day, spending four classes in the magnet school and four in regular Blair classes.

Most of the ninth graders will be taught Algebra 2/Trig and Elementary Functions, physics, chemistry, and a computer science course in one year. When they graduate, many will have completed college level math and science courses. Dr. Mike Haney said. “We’re here to provide those students with experiences they can’t get anywhere else.”

Ralph Bunday, a magnet physics teacher, calls the program “a dream of a lifetime.”

The magnet teachers will teach classes of 20 to 23 and class periods will be flexible to accommodate long science labs and experiments.

Dosunmu and his family came to America as diplomats three years ago to represent Nigeria.

Lagos, the state in which Donsunmu’s father reigns, is one of the nineteen states in Nigeria. Each state has a governor - and a king.

While the governor is a more dominant political figure, the kings are more symbolic.

“People respect the king more than the governor,” says Dosunmu.

Although Dosunmu is a prince, it is not likely that he will become a king. According to Dosunmu, to become king, one must be rich so that he can help people and develop the area.

“It would take a long time before I could become a king,” reflects Dosunmu. He explains that while in a country like England there is one royal family, in Nigeria this is not the case. “If the king dies, the title usually goes to another family,” he says.

Besides, the future would look bleak for Dosunmu should he decide to try to become a king. “If you’re a prince in Nigeria, you might be killed before you become a king,” he says.

Instead, Dosunmu has a different goal. “I plan to write a book about my own life,” he says. His brother, a journalist at the University of Maryland, has been a source of inspiration to him.

ROYALTY AT BLAIR Feb. 8, 1984 Once upon a time --three years to be exact-- in a country far, far away, there lived a prince. He made his home in a huge house with five brothers, four sisters, his mother, and his father, a king.

Prince Rafiu Dosunmu of Lagos, Nigeria is not just your average run-of-the-mill prince, however. He is a Blair senior.

RIGHT TO LIFE Dec. 21, 1988

Sports F1

silverchips

January 31, 2018

Should sports betting be legalized?

YES:

NO:

Sports bettors need legal protection On Super Bowl Sunday alone, more than $8 billion in bets are wagered illegally.

Over the course of a year, the sports betting industry will amass between $80 billion and $380 billion in total bets. Unlike lotteries, casinos, and the stock market—all legal forms of gambling—this thriving underground market is astonishingly unprotected by the government.

Illegal gambling is widespread and readily available online.

These online sportsCHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA books require no licensing or Anson Berns vetting from the government, as they are technically illegal, and their customers are afforded little legal protection, since they too are technically committing crimes.

Casey Clark, a Vice President of the American Gaming Association, described the problem by pointing out the police’s current inability to help anyone who bets on sports. “People are going to a bookie or they are betting online, which is illegal,” he said “There are a lot of people who have no protection from law enforcement or from a bookie or illegal gaming operation at all.”

With the majority of the industry underground, those who wish to gamble must do so at the mercy of the sportsbooks.

Worries about the impact that legalized gambling would have on the fairness of sports fail to take into account the current scope of the sports betting industry. Lines, the sports betting term for odds, on games are carefully created by sportsbooks with the intention of splitting betting between the two sides. If one sportsbook’s lines massively deviated from reality, it would be publicly obvious, as each book creates its own lines. Match fixing itself is essentially unrelated to legalization, since gambling and any impropriety it brings along with it will happen regardless of legality.

Since an immense amount of money is already wagered on sports, there is little reason to believe that the integrity of professional athletes and those who work with them would suddenly be compromised by legalization.

Instead, legalization could help reduce gambling’s effect on sports by increasing transparency through regulation. Clark suggested that legalizing sports betting would actually reduce its influence on sports. “Anything that looks like a red flag gets immediately brought up to the league and regulators and there is a way to monitor when those spikes happen,” he said. “In an illegal market there is no way to protect this.” The more involved the government is with the sports betting industry, the less likely there is to be widespread corruption or undue influence on the results of games.

It undermines the integrity of the sport

A secondary benefit to legalizing sports betting comes in the form of economics. Since the sports betting industry involves a great deal of money already, legalizing it would create significant economic production and tax revenue. Gaming taxes in Nevada, home to Las Vegas, the hub of legal gambling, already rake in more than $700 million per year. According to an analysis performed by Oxford Economics, a fully legalized sports betting industry in America would be a massive boon to the economy. Legalizing the industry would create over 85,000 jobs worth $11 billion in total labor income as well as $8.4 billion in cumulative tax revenue and a $22.4 billion contribution to the American Gross Domestic Product, a measure of the country’s economic strength. If sports betting were legalized, the billions of dollars changing hands under the table to circumvent current laws could be working to strengthen the economy and job market instead.

And the American people want the right to bet on sports. A poll conducted by the Washington Post and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell demonstrated that 55 percent of Americans approve of legalization of sports betting, while only 33 percent disapprove. Recently, New Jersey has even contested its right to permit sports betting

In 2007, Tim Donaghy, a former NBA referee, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for betraying the trust of the American people. He willfully undermined the integrity of the sport by making certain calls that manipulated scores as part of a gambling ring.

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern responded to Donaghy’s conviction by condemning sports gambling due to the “harm that sports gambling poses the fundamental bonds of loyalty and devotion between fans and CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA teams,” in a court declaration. LegalAdenike Falade ized sports betting directly violates the honest sportsmanship that makes watching games and matches enjoyable.

Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 with the support of the NBA and the NCAA to ban sports gambling in most states.

They argued that the act would preserve “in-

in the Supreme Court with the case Christie vs. NCAA. With more and more Americans participating in sports betting, it is no longer responsible to pretend that they are all criminals.

Legally, America clearly has no categorical opposition to gambling—casinos, horseracing, government-sponsored lotteries, and even the stock market are all forms of perfectly legal gambling. Even sports betting itself is legal in four states, including Nevada, which is home to a massive legal sports betting industry in Las Vegas. There is no reason to specifically exclude sports betting in the remaining 46 states from that same legal treatment.

tegrity of the game.” The bill was proposed by former New Jersey senator and NBA star Bill Bradley to eradicate match-fixing from professional and collegiate sports.

Legalizing sports gambling would only exacerbate the issue of match-fixing and predetermined outcomes in televised sports.

Since 1992, many college athletes have been involved in gambling scandals. In 1994, a running back at Northwestern University was accused of purposely fumbling the ball, so that he could make $400 from a wager he made.

In a 1999 University of Michigan study called “Gambling with the Integrity of College Sports,” 5 percent of players admitted

AVERY LIOU

to manipulating the game scores, betting on their own games, or leaking team information to outside gamblers. PASPA allows athletes and officials suspected of these forms of dishonesty to be charged and convicted.

In 2013, Europol suspected 425 individuals, including managers, players, officials, and criminals, of trying to rig hundreds of soccer matches across fifteen European countries.

If this sort of widespread activity exists in countries where sports gambling is legal, the United States government would be foolish to legally adopt sports betting as well.

Sportsmanship and fair game should mean more to Americans than the government’s want to tax and profit from illegal gambling revenues.

The United States also has a responsibility to protect its most vulnerable citizens from the dangers of sports gambling. A University of Buffalo study found that people living in disadvantaged communities are nearly twice as likely to develop problem gambling habits.

Problem gambling is an addiction characterized by a lack of control over time or money used gambling. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, around 76 percent of problem gamblers develop some form of depression. Opponents of PASPA argue that legalizing sports betting would boosts the failing casinos in places like Atlantic City and promote economic growth.

While plausible, the government should always prioritize its people over its greed.

While Americans usually have the right to do as they please, it is the government’s duty to protect citizens from harmful practices. Sports gambling falls in both of these categories; it destroys the trust and fairness that viewers and sports fans enjoy and can lead to gambling addiction in the American people.

“I don’t care if you’re betting on a cockroach race. Some people will get addicted to it,” said gambling counselor, Arnie Wexler, in an ESPN article. Sports betting should remain illegal because the government has no business legally promoting such a destructive practice.

People watch sports to witness dedicated athletes play passionately in order to win. They watch for the suspenseful conclusions and inspiring buzzer beaters that make each game unique. Those who undermine this distinctiveness for their own profit should not be allowed to gamble with the game.

The PASPA ban prevents states and individuals from promoting this sort of deplorable behavior for the good of the viewer; legalizing sports betting would only serve to promote this level of dishonesty and distrust in sports.

Sports are about overcoming challenges, defeating the odds, and demonstrating incredible athletic ability that inspires large audiences. The federal government, sports betting, and the corrupt practices that follow have no business interfering with the “integrity of the game.”

voicebox Emmett Adler Senior

Victor Omokehinde Senior

Oliver Goldman Freshman

Lizbeth Villatoro Sophomore

Joseph Byler Sophomore

“Yes, you’re putting in your own money for a chance to win, but if you lose it’s on you. I don’t think there’s a problem.”

“Yes because it’s a main source of entertainment and a source of capital.”

“No, it should be illegal because gambling destroys families and it’s messed up.”

“Yes, it’s a personal choice that doesn’t really affect anybody but the people partaking in it.

It’s a victimless crime.”

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

“No, it should be illegal, because it makes people lose a lot of money and that money goes directly to the casino.”

silverchips

F2 Sports

Great ways to stay active during winter

By Noah Chopra-Khan

In this outrageously cold weather, everyone’s instinct is to curl up on the couch with a warm drink and go into hibernation.

But even taking 15 minutes out of your day to exercise in your living room can have a lasting positive impact on your health. Regardless of your motivation, whether it is to get in shape for a spring sport, work towards a hot summer body, or just exercise for an endorphin rush, the winter is a perfect time to get to work!

High Intensity Training

Even though short workouts may not seem too beneficial, when done correctly, they are great for staying in shape. Before Robert McMahon was teaching students how to navigate the weight room, he was working in gyms and corporate fitness settings. “I did personal training, I was a fitness director at a gym … I taught classes from spinning, to boot camps, to yoga,” he says.

For individuals with time constraints or who do not want to go outside for a longer run or a trip to the gym, McMahon recommends doing High Intensity Training (HIT). “If you don’t have the access to the longer cardio, ‘it’s freezing outside I’m not going to go do a long run today,’ well do a short 20 minute interval workout and work as hard as you can,” he says. McMahon adds that HIT is, in many cases, equivalent to the health benefits of a longer workout at moderate intensity. “It’s equivalent for the calorie burn and it can be equivalent to the cardiovascular exercise, getting your VO2 up,” he says. A person’s VO2 max is the measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen that they can utilize during intense exercise, and is a primary indicator of their cardiovascular fitness.

The caveat

The caveat with HIT is that in order to get the full health benefits, you have to work as hard as you can during the intervals, and you have a relatively short amount of rest time. “What it allows you to do is work really hard for shorter periods of time,” McMahon says. “You’re burning more calories that way, you’re working, getting your heart rate up really high.” He adds that because the difficulty of the workout is based on how hard you want to work, it is a great option for most people. “It’s also good for people who are just getting back into working out because you can work out as intense as you can, and you don’t have to keep going, you can do your intervals at your pace,” he says.

January 31, 2018

Support for HIT

The benefits of high intensity training workouts are also backed by peer reviewed scientific research in scholarly articles. In one article published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness journal, exercise physiology experts Brett Klika and Chris Jordan demonstrate that short but intense periods of training followed by shorter rest periods can cause “subcutaneous fat loss,” speed up metabolism, and, as McMahon mentioned, increase an individual’s VO2 health.

Using the data that they collected, the two scientists picked twelve exercises that combine aerobics and isometric movements, and full body, lower body, core, and upper body workouts, which can be completed in seven minutes to get the benefits of a full hour workout. Their “Seven-Minute Workout” app is available on the app store for $2.99. McMahon has also designed two HIT bodyweight workouts which are also written out below.

Food and Water

As far as water goes: drink more of it, because it’s great for you. An easy way to do this is to drink a full glass of water before every meal or snack. Water helps your body flush out toxins, speed up your metabolism, and maintain healthy skin.

McMahon and many exercise and nutrition experts agree that while exercise is important, what you eat has far more impact on your wellbeing. There are plenty of diets to try out, such as atkins, vegan, paleo, and others, but McMahon strongly believes in the value of a well-balanced diet, especially for teenagers.

“My main thing is eat a balanced meal,” he says. “You want to have more fruits and vegetables, you want to have some meat, and you want to have complex carbohydrates.”

Now that you’ve read the article, take another four to seven minutes out of your day and knock out a high intensity workout!

Watch Mr. McMahon run through his winter workout in this video produced by Aidan Lambiotte. Check it out by scanning the QR code above or visiting tinyurl.com/chipsfitness.

MIRANDA ROSE DALY

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

Is it time to trash the turf ?

Synthetic grass fields pose health threats to young athletes

By Miranda Rose Daly Rubber turf, commonly used on athletic fields across Montgomery County high schools, could cause cancer. Chemicals in the synthetic turf contain known carcinogens—cancer causing chemicals. This raises the question whether the fields that Blazers and other county teams frequently use cause long-term health problems. Federal health experts are studying the safety of these rubber synthetic turf fields which are used across the country.

Blair’s new synthetic turf field—made from a type of coconut husk—was redone last year to accommodate growing concerns over negative health implications, but other schools and athletic complexes across the county have yet to switch over to the healthier alternative. “I don’t think anyone else uses the coconut husks,” Blair’s Athletic Director Rita Boule says.

The coconut husk and other organic material fibers do not cause known health problems. “It does have less health concerns than rubber pellets, according to [Montgomery Parks],” Boule says.

Blair, however, competes against a number of schools that have the potentially problematic turf, including Richard Montgomery, Gaithersburg, Walter Johnson, and Paint Branch.

The use of artificial grass is marketed as a more environmentally friendly and affordable option to standard grass, as it requires less water, no fertilizer, and no routine mowing. But as the use of turf fields for athletics increases, so do safety risks and concerns for long term health problems.

Turf consists of four main parts: the artificial grass blades, infill, backing, and drainage layers.

The infill layer is the one with the most health concerns because the crushed tires it contains are what hold the most dangerous and carcinogenic chemicals. Tires are made up of different types of rubber, carbon black, and other petroleum products. Benzene and butadiene are the main chemicals found in tires, and both are shown to have extremely carcinogenic properties. According to doctors at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, butadiene is specifically linked to leukemia and lymphoma.

This issue has garnered the attention of lawmakers across the country. In a letter addressed to the three government agencies in charge of The Federal Research Action Plan on Recycled Tire Crumb Used on Playing Fields and Playgrounds (FRAP), a group of five senators have demanded further investigation into possible health risks, including cancer from the crumb rubber. “Crumb rubber may contain certain toxic substances ranging from lead, arsenic, and cadmium, to mercury and halogenated fire retardants.

Additionally, there have been troubling reports linking individuals who regularly play on and come in direct contact with artificial turf fields, such as soccer goalies, to serious health consequences, such as cancer,” they wrote. “The findings of this research are essential to public health and safety as crumb rubber continues to be used and deployed in artificial turf fields and playgrounds across the country.”

Exposure to these dangerous chemicals found in the turf can occur through direct contact to skin, or ingestion. For instance, if athletes get a cut and touches the turf, they could be exposed. Players can also inhale the chemicals and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) which are emitted gases that include chemicals and might have negative health effects, according to the Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center.

Exposure is not limited to the field, as rubber pellets can get stuck on students clothing and shoes. Maddy Merrill, a junior and a captain on the girls’ varsity soccer team, finds the rubber pellets all over her house. “When I get home, I usually leave trails of turf around the house. It sticks to your shoes and clothes, and pretty much gets everywhere,” she says. “I often find it on my clothes, and on the lip of my water bottles, actually one time I even found some in a sandwich I was eating.”

Artificial turf also poses non-chemical dangers. The rubber blades absorb, retain, and emit heat easily. A study from the University of Las Vegas shows that on hot days, turf fields can reach up to 169 degrees, which is extremely unsafe to play on. This intense heat can increase risk of dehydration and stroke, and may even cause burns as the rubber crumbs make contact with skin.

Eric Moreno, a junior at Blair, and a player on the boys’ varsity soccer team recalls many hot summer days where the turf felt like it was burning. “Some players would pour cold water on their feet to cool off, but the water would simply heat up on their feet soon after because of the turf,” he says.

Turf is a popular grass substitute because it is affordable and eco-friendly. Taking care of the turf uses less water, fertilizer, pesticides and other lawn care than regular grass, and after one installation, the turf can last for many years. Also, turf is a much more reliable playing surface than regular grass, according to Boule. “There’s not a rock or a dip. It’s just a very level playing field,” she says.

Changes such as switching the crumb rubber infill to a more organic material allow for the continual use of turf fields instead of real grass, but with fewer health risks. These alternative measures could be a viable solution for other schools across the county, as well as the new planned fields for Wheaton and Einstein.

January 31, 2018

silverchips

Swim and dive team continues to lead division II Athletes prevail in tri-scrimmage against Springbrook and Walter Johnson

SAMI MALLON

GO BLAZERS! Swimmers gather at the end of the pool after warmups. Captains lead teammates in a cheer to pump them up before they swim.

By Elise Cauton GERMANTOWN INDOOR SWIM CENTER, Jan. 27 The swim team continued their successful 7-0 season Saturday, defeating both Springbrook and Walter Johnson in the girls’ and combined sections, while the boys’ team lost to Walter Johnson by one point. The team consistently swam well in their events, with the girls’ team sweeping the 200 free and 100 free. Both the boys’ and girls’ team won their final events, the 400 freestyle relay.

With Walter Johnson a division above and Springbrook a division below Blair, the scrimmage gave the team a chance to gauge themselves against other schools. Senior captain Haron Adbaru explained that the team expected to lose badly to Walter Johnson because of their different divisions. But, with

only a one point loss, the meet gave the team a confidence boost. “It kind of puts us in a good place because [Walter Johnson] boys is [near] the top … if not the top of division one,” he explained. “And seeing how our girls beat them by more than ten points, it’s also a pretty big win for us.”

Adbaru attributed their exceptional season to the overall quality of their swimmers.

Compared to some schools, who might only have a couple of fast members, Blair’s team possesses many of the county’s top swimmers.

Seniors Hannah Kannan and Sammie Grant have some of the best times in the county, with Kannan’s swimming the 100 back in 57.69 seconds and Grant swimming the 50 free in 24.82 seconds. In addition to the team’s consistency, the number of swimmers on club teams also adds to their success.

By Henry Wiebe “Wiebe’s World” is a monthly column where sports editor Henry Wiebe expresses on current events in the world of sports.

I am entirely convinced that the NFL referees are on the payroll of the New England Patriots. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the Patriots’ organization itself. Tom Brady is arguably the best quarterback of all time, Bill Belichick is arguably the best head coach of all time, and the team that they have surrounded themselves with allows the Pats to be a contender every season.

All of their front-office work completely commendable. But the continual in-game partiality that is shown by the refs toward the Patriots makes me sick to my stomach.The sheer amount of historical evidence of the bias that refs have toward the Patriots is utterly appalling. From the infamous tuck rule to the whistle blow against Myles Jack in their most recent AFC Championship victory against the Jaguars, calls have always gone the Patriots’ way. In fact, only one penalty was called against

“We’re limited to two practices a week by the county because of pool timing, but because we have club swimmers … we’re getting a lot of outside of school practice, which is really starting to show,” Adbaru said.

Junior captain Abigail Aitken believes that the atmosphere of the team allows the swimmers to feel comfortable and do the best they can. “We also have really good support, and I don’t think anyone feels that they’re pressured to swim really well,” Ait-

Sports F3

the Patriots in the entire AFC Championship game -- the first time this happened in a playoff game in seven years.

And the last time a team was only called for one penalty was in a 2011 playoff game, when the Patriots were only flagged once in a victory over the Ravens. Listen, I completely understand that this may sound like a crazy conspiracy theory. But when I saw Back Judge Tony Steratore literally joining the Patriots in laughing with glee and jumping for joy after they scored a touchdown in the AFC championship, any semblance of professionality that the refs once held disappeared, along with any possible defense of their supposed “impartiality.”

The NFL needs to take action because if this outrageous behavior continues to go unpunished, the integrity of the league as a whole will be compromised.

We might as well just hand the Patriots the Lombardi Trophy at the beginning of every season.

The Patriots could be down 30 against the most stacked team in the League, and the refs will still find a way for the Patriots to come out on top.

ken said. “There’s an environment where everyone wants to try their best, and do their part for the team.”

Adbaru expects that the team will do well in divisionals and regionals because of their improving times and their past success. “A lot of our younger boys have been dropping times [and] getting really good finishes,” he said. “Our girls [are] just winning every event that they’re swimming, and its doing really well for us.”

F4 Sports

silverchips

January 31, 2018

There’s snow place like winter sports

By Camden Roberts

Bocce

Girls’ basketball

Wrestling

Ice hockey

The girls’ basketball team currently has a record of nine wins and five losses. Senior captain Nora Olagbaju points to the versatility of the team as a reason for their success.

“I think the greatest strength of the team is that we all are very talented in very different ways,” Olagbaju says.

This year, the team has been adjusting to a new coach, Pete Stephan, their fourth in four years. The new coach has brought new plays and a new style to the team. Practices tend to be mostly designed around plays that are specific to the weaknesses of the team they will play next, but the team frequently focuses on conditioning. “[Conditioning is] something you can always get better with,” Olagbaju says.

The wrestling team is currently undefeated in dual meets, and has an overall record of 25-4. Senior captain Ryan Holland says the experience of the team is one of the main reasons for their success. “Last year, we got a lot of freshmen, sophomores to join, so we have more experience as a squad,” he says. “Our entire varsity line up ... [is] returning wrestlers.” Another factor is the sheer size of the team. “We have a little over forty people on the team, which is huge compared to most wrestling squads, so when we have people injured or people that aren’t feeling well, we can swap other people into the lineup,” he explains.

“This has been the best season Blair has had since I’ve been at the school,” Holland says. “We have high hopes for this postseason.”

Despite what junior alternate captain Andrew Muirhead describes as a “rough start”, the Blair hockey team currently has a 7-6 record. After losing many of their experienced players, the younger players have had to fill the gap left by last year’s seniors. Muirhead believes that their efforts have been successful. “I think a lot of younger players have stepped up ... that’s something we really appreciate from them,” he says.

The team’s speed is an aspect of their game that they try to work on, and one that they take advantage of when playing. “I think it’s our most effective way of winning games,” Muirhead says.

Altogether, the team is looking good for the rest of the season. “I think we eventually regained our confidence ... and learned what we need to do to win,” he says.

Key players: senior Ryan Holland, senior Pelumi Akinpelu, sophomore Mervin Mancia, freshman Brian McCaw

Key players: junior Andrew Muirhead, junior Mollie Dalbey, junior Carl Levan

Key players: senior Falla Mathieu, Kayla McKenzie, freshman Denny Tsitsiwu

AVERY BROOKS

AVERY BROOKS

Key players: senior Alayna McFadden, senior Nora Olagbaju, senior L’Shana Cobey, senior Saraswati Temple, junior Megan Burke

JEDEDIAH GRADY

HEAD IN THE GAME Senior Alayna McFadden dribbles down the court.

For each game the bocce team plays, they must adjust for the small variations in the different gym floors. It may seem trivial, but coach Melvin Terry says it’s an integral part of the game. “It’s almost like golf with the different terrains we’re trying to navigate, so we’re working on trying to get a feel for the different floors,” Terry explains. For a team that practices in the 240s hallway instead of on the floor they play on, this is an even bigger change.

Terry believes that the strength of the team lies in their unity, something echoed by senior Kayla McKenzie. “We work together as a team,” she says.

With playoffs coming up, the team is looking towards the future. “We’re looking to make our big push,” Terry says. “Once the tournament starts, we’re gonna try to win it.”

GRAPPLING Sophomore Imran Kanyunyi and freshman Eli Crow take turns hitting THEY SEE ME ROLLING A bocce player slide-bys during practice to prepare for their next match, Feb. 3 at Northwest. squats to roll the ball close to the pallino.

SAMI MALLON

AVERY BROOKS

INCOMING Senior Joshua Malone goes up for a shot against Springbrook.

MAKING A SPLASH Junior Bridget Laas swims the butterfly stroke during the girls’ 200 meters individual medley for a meet on January 20.

LINING UP Members of the track team run outside in the cold during practice.

Boys’ basketball

Swim

Indoor track

JEDEDIAH GRADY

The boys’ basketball team has a record of four wins and nine losses. Unlike previous seasons, they have more underclassmen than normal. The four freshmen have already seen improvement in the season. “They’ve been playing well... I think they’ll be good [for the future],” junior captain Ethan Ellis says. Despite the broad range of ages, Ellis believes the team is meshing well together.

Even with their record, Ellis believes that they have just had a slow start. “We have a little bit more time to figure it out,” Ellis says. “The plan is to be in a rhythm for when playoffs start.” He is confident in the team’s ability to recover from their early-season struggles. “Right now, I think we’re bouncing back,” he says. “We’re playing with more energy.”

Key players: senior Anthony Smith-Davis, junior James McGhee, junior William Tawamba, junior Ethan Ellis, freshman Roman Cannuscio

inside SPORTS

This year, the swim team’s focus on team bonding appears to be paying off, if their undefeated record is any proof. “This year we really have team spirit, we’re really supportive of each other,” says senior captain Daisy Yu. Like dive, the swimmers have also had a strong showing from their large number of underclassmen.

Because a lot of the swimmers are also on club teams, their practices lean towards drylands, a workout for swimmers completed outside of the pool. “A lot of our practices are just endurance work ... making sure we’re fit and ready for the meet.” Yu says.

Key swimmers: senior Hannah Kannan, senior Sammie Grant, junior Niles Egan, sophomore Max Casey-Bolanos, freshman Aiden Rooney

Dive Entering the season without a coach, the dive team still has an impressive record.

“We’ve had some great meets,” senior captain Olivia Amitay says. This year, the team is fairly young, with only three seniors diving.

Diving is a sport that is based on technique, so in practices divers work on improving even the minute details of their dives. Beyond that, one of the team’s main goals is to increase the variety of dives each individual has. “[We’re trying to] get kids more dives so they can work towards bigger meets,” Amitay says. “For the bigger meets, you need 11.”

Key divers: freshman Elise Kinyanjui, freshman Jacob Laas, junior Jacob Kracke-Boch

Next meet: Divisionals, February 3 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Swim Center

Sports betting: pros and cons

How to stay fit through the winter

see page F1

see page F2

SEOYOUNG JOO

SEOYOUNG JOO

Members of the indoor track team tend to have a specific event that they compete in, but this year’s group has had to adjust.“[Our greatest strength is] definitely people being flexible, people being willing to push themselves out of their comfort zone,” senior captain Morgan Casey says.

This flexibility has been demonstrated in other aspects of the team as well. At the beginning of the year, the team had to adapt to a new head coach after their previous coach resigned at the end of the last season. After a brief period of readjustment, the team has gotten back into a rhythm. “[The season] had a little bit of a rough beginning, with the whole coach switch, but that’s natural with any large change to a program, but otherwise it’s been going well,” Casey says. “It’s been a little bit of a bumpy road, but we’re definitely ridden it out.”

The team’s younger members have quickly proven themselves in meets. “The underclassmen have really surprised me in how much natural talent they have, and it’s been really awesome to see,” Casey says. “Having talent your freshman year... [makes] champions that we want to see coming from the school.”

Key runners: senior Morgan Casey, junior Sam Rose Davidoff, freshman Indigo Suchar, freshman Joel Simpson