October 2017 -- Silver Chips Print

Montgomery Blair High School SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

A public forum for student expression since 1937

silverchips

October 12, 2017 VOL 80 NO 1

A nightmare for dreamers

Blair football coach charged with sexual abuse

By Gilda Geist and Leila Jackson

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

RALLY CRY Activists lead people in a protest against President Trump’s repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. They chant, “We are the immigrants. The mighty, mighty immigrants. Fighting for justice,” as they stand near the Capitol Building.

An uncertain future

By Will Donaldson

Several hundred people gather near the Capitol Building. They stick to the shade, the sweltering afternoon sunlight dappling their multilingual signs. The crowd engulfs a speaker as they cheer and call out: “Si se puede!”

Behind the makeshift podium, Julia, a Maryland resident and DACA recipient, reaches her crescendo. “This is not the time to hide. This is not the time to be scared. This is not the time to run. This is the time to fight,” she says.

The small crowd, which has assembled to advocate for the passage of a new DREAM Act, begins a call-and-response chant in Spanish: “What do we want?” “Justice!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” Julia is among the 790,000 young, undocumented immigrants who have been awarded a reprieve from deportation since the implementation of President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. Obama’s executive order allowed felony-free immigrants who were under 16 years of age when they came to the U.S. to stay for two years, pursue an education and find work.

On September 5, the Trump administration halted the acceptance of new applications.

Current DACA beneficiaries had until October 5 to renew their permits if set to expire before March 5, 2018.

Stolen Childhoods

Blair’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program is predominantly made up of Spanish-speaking immigrants, but enrollment for all has been on a steady decline.

According to ESOL teacher Debra Adler, new immigration policy has had a noticeable impact at Blair. “There are far fewer people crossing

NEWS A2

¿El fin de DACA? ICE targets sanctuary cities Por Laura Méndez-Pinto

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 42 people from the Baltimore-Washington area last week in an operation titled “Safe City”, according to an ICE news release.

The four-day, nationwide operation by the Trump administration, targeted people accused of violating U.S. immigration laws in sanctuary cities.

According to the Washington Post, sanctuary cities in the United States generally refer to cities that do not alert federal authorities about the presence of illegal immigrants.

Policies vary, but in many sanctuary cities, when an illegal immigrant is accused of a crime, local officials either do not ask about the suspect’s immigration status nor share that information with the federal government, according to the Washington Post.

ICE argues that sanctuary cities hinder their efforts to control illegal immigration.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration,” said Acting ICE Director Tom Homan in a statement.

“As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”

The individuals were detained on civil immigration charges, not criminal charges.

Civil immigration violations occur when a person has an unauthorized presence in the United States, for example overstaying

see ICE page A6

see DREAM page D1

JEDEDIAH GRADY

Guns downtown

Una guía para estudiantes latinos de como solicitar a las universidades.

A look at the gun industry in Silver Spring

OP/ED B1

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

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LA ESQUINA LATINA C1

Silver Chips urges anyone who may have additional information about the incident to call the Special Victims Investigation Unit of of the Montgomery County Police Department at 240-773-5400.

Q&A with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

By Hermela Mengesha

On Sept. 26, the One Maryland One Book festival hosted Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at Gaithersburg High School. The event featured a discussion of her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, and a book signing. Following the event, Silver Chips had the opportunity to sit down with Adichie to discuss diversity in literature, being black in America, natural hair, and more.

Q: Why is it so important that the books that students are studying are diverse?

A: It’s important to see yourself reflected in literature. [But] I don’t think you should read

see ADICHIE page E1

ver SUEÑO página D2

insidechips

Estudios

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“Quiero que los estudiantes latinos se sientan seguros aquí,” expresó la directora de Blair, Renay Johnson ante la terminación del programa Acción diferida para los llegados en la infancia o mejor conocido por sus siglas en inglés, DACA. El programa fue desarrollado y establecido bajo el gobierno del presidente Obama con el objetivo de ayudar a jóvenes indocumentados traidos al país como menores de edad, para que éstos pudieran estudiar en la universidad y trabajar legalmente. Johnson ha hecho una excelente labor ayudando a la comunidad latina y fue honrada por el periódico, El Tiempo con la distinción de ser una de las 100 personas más influyentes para las vidas de los latinos en el DMV. Como directora, Johnson quiere lo mejor para sus estudiantes independientemente de su estatus legal. Con la terminación de DACA muchos estudiantes de Blair serían afectados. La escuela podría perder entre 300 a 400 estudiantes indocumentados.

Con una población diversa, perder tantos estudiantes crearía un cambio enorme para el ambiente estudiantil de Blair. Johnson comentó que eso, “No nos haría más fuertes, pero sino más débiles. Aquí en Blair nuestra diversidad es nuestro poder. Es tan bonito poder hablar y conocer a estudiantes de distintos países.”

El presidente Trump usó su poder ejecutivo al anunciar la terminación de DACA y le dejó la difícil tarea de buscar una solución al congreso. Esto ha puesto a los millones de soñadores, recipientes de DACA, en una posición complicada. La mayoría de los políticos demócratas defienden las reformas migratorias pero también hay muchos políticos republicanos que defienden a DACA aunque en el pasado muchos no han apoyado tal le-

By Miranda Rose Daly

Blair assistant football coach and long-term substitute Cory Boatman was arrested on October 6 on charges of an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old Blair student. An email from Principal Renay Johnson was sent out to parents the same day informing them of the arrest and alleged sexual abuse. Investigations of the abuse began on September 22, according to a Montgomery County police report.

Boatman has been on administrative leave since September 25, according to the Washington Post. He has been a substitute in MCPS since 2014 and has worked at Northwood in the past.

The email to parents offered counselling to all students. Johnson emphasized that MCPS did not approve of Boatman’s actions.

NFL Boycott

Battle of the Sexes

Teachers abandon the NFL in support of Kaepernick

A conversation with the directors of Battle of the Sexes COURTESY OF VALERIE FARIS AND JONATHAN DAYTON

FEATURES D1

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ENTERTAINMENT E1

ELIA GRIFFIN

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CHIPS CLIPS E3

SPORTS F1

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: Jasmine Mendez-Paredes Laura Mendez-Pinto Lourdes Reyes Yesenia Sorb Executive Business Directors: Karen Depenyou and Ariel Zhang Business Staff: Siena Butters Julia Henderson Kanani Jiang Honor Kalala Simran Krishna-Rogers Brenna Levitan-Garr Matt Morris Olena Zelinsky Managing Photo Editor: Chaminda Hangilipola and Sami Mallon Photographers: Avery Brooks Jedediah Grady Elia Griffin Amarins Laanstra-Corn Hannah Schwartz Maggie Lin Managing Media Coordinator: Ben Miller Managing Art Editors: Carly Tagen-Dye and Marissa He Artists: Jenny Cueva-Diaz Niamh Duecy 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 silver.chips. ombudsman@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

silverchips

October 12, 2017

Blair teacher running for state delegate seat Samir Paul announces campaign for Maryland’s 16th district

By Elise Cauton On October 3, Blair teacher Samir Paul announced his campaign to become the state delegate for Maryland’s 16th district, which encompasses Bethesda and Potomac. Paul cited his students as the influence that pushed him to become active in politics. “I wasn’t really political until I became a teacher,” he said. “That’s when I really started to understand how pernicious and virulent education and economic inequity worked, and how constrained opportunity was.” Paul’s devotion to his students’ futures is the driving force behind his campaign. “Every single young person, no matter how much money is in their parents’ bank account, no matter what zip code they grew up in, no matter what language they speak, no matter their country of origin, no matter their religion, no matter who they love, they should have a shot at a good life,” Paul said.

Coming from a family of immigrants, Paul said that he has always been aware of the vast opportunities that were provided through state services, such as public schools. “In one generation, [my family] went from penniless immigrants working their way through grad school, moving to Montgomery County, starting a

COURTESTY OF KEVIN BAER

CAMPAIGNING FOR A CAUSE Computer science teacher Samir Paul works through problem with seniors Mikaela Moore and Haron Adbaru. business, and [then] sending their sons to Harvard and Yale,” he said.

“That kind of American story is beautiful and it’s powerful, but it’s getting harder and harder to achieve.”

Paul’s desire to preserve and cultivate similar opportunities to everyone living in Maryland is his main platform. He believes that the state, specifically Montgomery County, needs to maintain public institutions such as transportation and education. “The most powerful tools that we have for giving everybody access to that type of opportunity are great public in-

stitutions that we inherit from the past generations, public schools, [which are an] incredible engine of economic opportunity,” Paul said. “If we don’t preserve [public institutions], and reform them and improve them for the next generation, they’ll wither and … opportunity for any young person will wither alongside them.”

At the same time, Paul believes that Montgomery County and Maryland has the potential to flourish and that attract new workers. “Montgomery County and Maryland have a lot going for it,” Paul said. “We have an educated

work force. We have to make a lot of decisions that will make this place attractive to talented people deciding on a place to live.” To appeal to new businesses, Paul concludes that the state needs to focus on stimulating economic growth through relaxing certain regulations. “Right now the state of Maryland runs an operation that administers licenses for a lot of different occupations … I think it would be worthwhile to look at all of those occupational licensing requirements, and make sure that all of them do serve the public good,” Paul elaborated. “And if they do, that’s great, let’s hold onto them.

And if they don’t, then let’s start to relax them so we reduce the barriers for young business owners to get into the game.”

Paul has already gained support from parts of the Blair community, as students have already decided to assist him for his campaign. Senior Haron Adbaru decided to help Paul with tech outreach because he believes that Paul can make a difference with his platforms. “He’s definitely a very knowledgeable man, and he’s very cut out for politics,” Adbaru said.

“He has the potential to do a lot in our area.”

Editor’s note: Silver Chips staffers Noah Chopra-Khan and Anson Berns are assisting Paul on his campaign.

Water damage fixed, Blair portables open for class

By Anson Berns

Four portable classrooms were transported to the area next to Blazer Stadium over the summer as part of a larger Montgomery County effort to combat overcrowding. On Saturday, September 2, water damage was discovered in the portables after a day of heavy rain. The issue with the portables was fixed by the following Tuesday, so only a single day of class was disrupted.

John Giles, who teaches Honors Precalculus and AP Calculus BC in the portables, said that he was able to work from the portables in the professional days leading up to school, but that he spotted signs of water damage from rain on the Saturday before school started for students. “When I came in, it was raining that day and water was seeping in through the window.

Not a ton, but some… There was some issue with the back window in every portable, ” Giles said.

Because the event occurred on a weekend, it was not repaired un-

til after classes on Monday, which were diverted into the library.

This incident was not Blair’s first brush with water damage in portables. During the 2004-2005 school year water damage from rainwater accumulation caused a large hole to rot in the floor of one of the classrooms. That issue took longer to fix, causing classes to be taught from the portable while a large piece of plywood covered the hole.

According to Giles, the walk from the main building to the portables makes otherwise routine classroom activities difficult. Getting water, going to the bathroom, and other usually trivial activities mean a lot of missed class for students in portables. “Anything that I need to do inside is a 10 minute task, no matter what. Even if I just need to go drop off a paper at the main office, I’m just gone for 10 minutes, it’s so far away,” Giles said.

Sophomore Elias Chen, one of Giles’ Precalculus students, also noted that something as simple as

going to the bathroom presents a challenge from the portables. “It’s definitely hard because if you want to go to the bathroom, well sucks for you kid, you gotta go before or after,” Chen said.

Along with Giles, John Goldman, Michael Zick, and Tung Pham teach in the four portables, with each having a unit to themselves. None of the teachers have freshmen in their classes, so no students have to make the commute to the portables in their first year of high school.

The travel time to the portables also interferes with students getting from one class to the next in the six minute allotment. Giles described seeing a large number of his students be routinely tardy to class because of difficulty making it out to the portable classrooms in time. “If a kid has class in there and they’re gonna get here in six minutes, they almost have to be in a sprinter’s stance at the door to get here,” Giles said. “It’s almost like you can’t start class when the bell rings because only 75 percent

of your class is here.”

The portables also cause issues with tardiness when kids have to re-enter the building. Chen, who has eighth period in the portables, but then has to return to the building for ninth period, struggles to get back into the building in time, especially with a majority of students trying to leave for the end of the day. “I go straight from Giles to Chemistry, which is on the third floor on the opposite side of the school. I’m always late. The bell always rings … even before I get to the level, it’s so far away,” he said.

One advantage of the portable classrooms, according to Pham, is that each one has a separate thermostat that the teacher can change. “Temperature is pretty good,” Pham said. “We have individual climate control, whereas in the classroom we don’t.”

In general, Pham said his Precalculus and Calculus with Applications classes run smoothly from the portables and says they compare favorably with the main building.

BEN MILLER

News A3

silverchips

October 12, 2017

SAMI MALLON

SENATOR IN THE BUILDING United States Senator Ben Cardin addresses students and staff in the Media Center about various relevant issues on September 15.

Ben Cardin visits Blair to discuss recent issues Senator talked immigration reform, American values, and civic engagement

By Noah Chopra-Khan U.S. Senator Ben Cardin visited Blair on September 15 to deliver fiery remarks on issues he is currently working on in Congress. He spoke on the importance of immigration reform, resisting discrimination and hate speech, maintaining a strong healthcare system, and student involvement in politics. He also made time to respond to students’ questions and to converse with a group of future firstgeneration college students.

Cardin opened his visit by denouncing President Donald Trump’s decision to set a deadline for the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The DACA program, set in place through an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012, allows immigrants who enter the United States before their sixteenth birthday to apply for temporary protection from deportation and a permit to work legally. To claim DACA status, a person must sport a nearly spotless criminal record and prove that they were under the age of 31 on June 5, 2012. Trump has stated that he will end the program on March

6, 2018.

The senator emphasized that DACA recipients now live in constant fear of their lives being upturned. “I’ve met with DREAMers [citizens that would be protected under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act] here in Montgomery County whose families are really concerned as to whether they are going to be pulled apart,” he said.

“They don’t know one day whether someone is going to pick them up and literally put them in removal, and they may never see their families again.” Most DACA recipients are in their twenties, according to a 2017 study conducted by the Center for American Progress, and Cardin stressed their integral role in our community and local economy. “I got a call from one of the largest employers in Maryland who was very concerned about the future of his workforce. It affects our economy,” he said.

In Congress, Cardin is working on a bipartisan effort to pass the DREAM Act, which would if passed would give DREAMers protection and a path to citizenship. In order to successfully pass the legislation, Cardin claimed that

the bill will likely include funds for increased border security technology, which both Democrats and Republicans support.

While Cardin is optimistic about the eventual passage of the DREAM Act, he asked students to understand that what Trump has done is unforgivable. “He’s jeopardized what this country stands for. America’s strength is in its ideals … Why you want to be here is what we stand for: a country that embraces diversity, understands its strength, stands for the rule of law and for human rights for all of its citizens, against corruption,” he said. “What President Trump did in announcing what could be the potential end of the DACA program ... is against the values for what America stands for.”

After 15 minutes of discussing issues, Cardin and Maryland State Delegate Sheila Hixson, who also spoke, responded to student’s questions. When asked about the best way for students to get involved in politics, Cardin suggested that Blazers pick an issue they care about and work on it. “My advice to you is follow your passion.

What is the issue that you want to get involved with? Is it the envi-

ronment? Education? Health care?

Whatever that passion is, don’t let the fight for today’s news—even if it is important news—get in the way of your focus to make a difference.”

Cardin noted that although individuals cannot control social media or cable news, they can take action on the issues they are passionate about. “You can do things as an individual. If it’s immigration, your letters are going to make a difference, your protest will make a difference, everything you can do, but it’s also important to join like-minded people,” he said.

“Joining in a group makes a difference. There are local groups, state groups, and national groups working on environment, immigration, health care, gender equality, civil rights—you name it, they’re working.” Cardin alluded to the survival of the Affordable Care Act as proof that individual and group efforts do make a difference.

Hixson also answered questions and spoke to students. She continually praised MCPS and Blair for the exceptionally wellperforming students and teachers, but lamented the lack of contact she gets from students. “I don’t

hear from you. You don’t ask me for anything ... you don’t ask me questions” she said.

Hixson also extended an invitation to Blazers to visit Annapolis and to observe the functions of the Maryland state government.

“Come see what we do. We do debate all the bills on the floor. You’ll see us individually in committees, and come to our offices for personal information. Anything you need, please contact my office in Annapolis,” she said.

This story is accompanied by a vid-

eo of Ben Cardin’s full speech at Blair.

To see the video, scan the code above

with a QR reader app use the following URL: tinyurl.com/cardinvisit Film credits to Rachel Sherakis.

Montgomery County faces cyber attack

Staff and MCPS workers affected by hacking attack at the school

By Camden Roberts On September 25, all schools across the county experienced issues with their internet connection as a result of a cyber attack on the county’s network. The internet was either inaccessible, or would not maintain a consistent connection. No information about the source of these problems was provided to students or parents, except for two tweets from MCPS on September 26 and 27, one of which read, “IMPORTANT: We

are experiencing connectivity issues that are impacting access to online services. We are working to resolve the issue.”

The county has identified the person behind the attack. Law enforcement has been contacted, though the county would not describe the extent of their involvement. “We involved them, and once we involve them, it’s kind of their … investigation,” Peter Cevenini, the MCPS Chief Technology Officer said. The investigation and subsequent legal action are now

out of the county’s hands.

The attack was designed specifically to slow the county’s system, but not to permanently cripple or damage the ability to connect to the internet. Cevenini is confident that this attack was not capable of, or with intent to, breach the personal records of MCPS staff or students. “Our equipment can tell us if an intrusion was made [into personal records], and there was no such intrusion.” he wrote. The attacker, or attackers, targeted MCPS specifically. Cevenini would not

expand on this, but confirms that MCPS was not a random target.

The county said that the attack was not intended to be anything more than a nuisance. “There was not malicious motivation behind the attack,” Cevenini said. “It was not designed to cause permanent damage or anything like that.”

With the amount of technology used in the classroom, the attack disrupted a significant amount of instruction. Lisa Fox, an English teacher, was administering the MAP-R test on the days that the

internet was down. “The system wasn’t loading … and we couldn’t take it,” Fox said. She was able to rearrange her lesson plans to account for the loss in instruction time, but thinks that other teachers may not have been so lucky if they relied more on the internet as a tool. “So much of what we do as teachers today is through technology and the Chromebooks,” Fox said. “I would say it messed up a lot of teachers’ assignments, especially if they were supposed to be doing things online.”

A4 News

Newsbriefs

$9 billion project proposed to add lanes to Beltway

Gov. Larry Hogan recently proposed a $9 billion project to add traffic lanes to three high-traffic roads—I-495, I-270 and MD-295— to ease traffic congestion as part of the Traffic Relief Plan. He also plans to add new express-speed toll lanes to the roads.

The additional express lanes on I-495 will run from the American Legion Bridge to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. The lanes on I-270 will last from the intersection with the Capital Beltway to Frederick.

Private businesses, consultants, and architects are being evaluated to join a Public-Private Partnership—a legal contract that pairs a public agency with a private sector—that will design, build, fund, and execute Hogan’s plan. This means that taxpayers will not have to fund the project.

This will be Hogan’s largest project in his two-and-a-half year term and is aimed to restore quality of life for Maryland commuters, aiming to reduce congestion and time spent on these roads.

Construction begins at Seneca Valley High School

Construction crews have officially begun work to tear down and replace Seneca Valley in Germantown in a project to expand the school.

The new building will be over 440,000 square feet, making it the largest high school in the state by physical size. It is expected to hold 2,400 students and is set to open in the fall of 2020.

The purpose of the expansion is to accommodate the growing population of the western region of Montgomery County. “It will help the Germantown-Clarksburg area because of the tremendous growth that exists,” MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith said in a groundbreaking ceremony for the community on September 18.

The project is expected to cost $130 million and will include 110 classrooms and new technology, such as wireless access, Chromebooks, and interactive whiteboards. The site design provides room for 30 buses, 439 parking spaces, and a student drop-off lane for 30 cars.

silverchips

October 12, 2017

State House bans scholarship displacement in colleges Maryland beccomes the first state to make financial aid rule changes

By Hannah Lee

Gov. Larry Hogan signed a bill on April 18 prohibiting Maryland public colleges and universities from using scholarship displacement. The law went into effect on July 1, making Maryland the first state to change scholarship displacement rules.

Public universities such as the University of Maryland, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Morgan State University are affected by the new law.

Scholarship displacement is a widely used practice by universities that takes the amount a student earns from private scholarships into account for a student’s financial need. As a result, the amount of need-based financial aid a student receives from a university can be reduced.

The ban does not completely take away the effect of scholarship displacement. Public schools may still reduce the amount given in aid packages with consent from a scholarship provider, or if the amount exceeds the actual tuition fees.

Jan Wagner, president of Central Scholarship, a nonprofit scholarship and interest-free awarding organization based in Owings Mills, explained why the enforcement of scholarship displacement cannot be completely removed.

“Universities must reduce the student’s award if the total amount of aid exceeds ‘unmet financial need.’ This reduction is necessary to comply with the federal law,” Wagner wrote.

Even though private universities are permitted to keep scholarship displacement completely in effect, colleges such as Johns Hopkins University strictly go against the practice. The school’s Grants

AVERY LIOU

and Scholarship website said, “Johns Hopkins University grants/ scholarships will not be reduced for students receiving outside scholarships unless total aid resources exceed the student’s need or cost of attendance.”

Exceptions include employment tuition benefits and government grant as an outisde scholarship.

In 2011, the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) conducted a nationwide survey measuring fiscal policies of private and public universities. The findings showed the widespread presence of scholarship displacement in all types of schools.

According to the survey, “when an outside scholarship results in an over-award [of money], fourfifths of colleges reduce self-help, half reduce institutional gift aid, half contact the scholarship donor

and/or the student to discuss options, and almost a third use professional judgement to increase the cost of attendance.”

Students have expressed discontent over the ethics behind scholarship displacement. Junior Jordan Wallace emphasized that people who need aid typically need as much as possible. “If you qualify financially, your family obviously needs it … you want every dollar you can get,” she said.

Wallace also said that scholarship displacement is only beneficial for universities, while students are penalized for the money awarded from their own time and effort.

Before the ban of scholarship displacement was brought to light, many students and their parents were not aware of the policy in the first place. “My mom works at [University of Maryland], and I’m

not sure she’s even informed about this,” Wallace said.

Central Scholarship has expressed dissatisfaction with scholarship displacement because it goes against the organization’s ideals. According to the organization’s scholarship displacement website, “This practice is unfair to students who devote their time finding private scholarships, only to find out at the end of the process they are no closer to being able to afford college … Award displacement jeopardizes the existence of the entire private scholarship industry—$1 billion per year nationally.”

According to Central Scholarship, Maryland awards a total of $51 million to students every year.

Central Scholarship gives out an additional $1 million to low-income students.

While the ban on scholarship displacement was a significant step for Maryland education systems and university students, statewide nonprofits are furthering their efforts to expand the law to all universities.

According to Wagner, “Legislation to ban the practice by private colleges in Maryland is under consideration by Central Scholarship’s Board of Directors.” The next step requires a congressperson to introduce the legislation to the House of Representatives or the Senate.

With Maryland being the first state to ban scholarship displacement, other states are attempting to make the same reforms.

“We have been contacted by other national scholarship providers for help in introducing legislation,” Wagner said. Central Scholarship is not allowed to disclose any information regarding specific states.

Construction begins on long-planned Purple Line

New public transportation service to connect Maryland suburbs

myMCPS replaces Edline At the beginning of the 20172018 school year, MCPS discarded Edline and launched myMCPS: a new portal for teachers to share grades, assignments, announcements, and attendance with students and parents. The MCPS website describes it as a “21st century digital learning environment designed to meet the needs of staff, students and parents of MCPS.” Blair students and teachers describe it as annoying, frustrating, and overly complicated.

Sophomore Lena Ruther felt that Edline was far easier to use.

“I think [myMCPS] is stupid because Edline was better because I think it was simpler,” she said. “I think that myMCPS is trying to do all these extra things that are kind of unnecessary because we already have Google Classroom.”

Social studies teacher Kevin Moose has similar sentiments. “even our younger teachers are saying things like it’s not user friendly,” he said. “Now the school year is in session, we’re all going full speed ahead, and it’s hard to take time [to learn it], and you can’t do it in one little 30 minute training session.”

ERIN NAMOVICZ

By Telon Yan

On August 28, construction began on the Purple Line, a light rail line that has been in the works for decades and survived numerous legal challenges. The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) estimates that the Purple Line will be fully operating and open to the public in 2022.

The MTA website asserts that the Purple Line, with 21 stops, will revitalize and develop communities and will help people get between numerous suburbs including Bethesda, Silver Spring, and College Park. Originally proposed in 1989 by then-Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer, the Purple Line was planned to be a three-mile light rail line along Georgetown Branch. It will now span from Bethesda to New Carrollton. Construction for the line was approved on July 25, 2017.

Chris Doherty, a spokesperson for Purple Line Transit Partners—the coalition of companies Newsbriefs compiled by Mindy Burton contracted with the Line—lives near Silver Spring International and Noah Chopra-Khan Middle School will have a stop

built very close to his house, making the project personal to him. He wants to make sure it is completed smoothly and in a timely manner.

“People have been waiting for the Purple Line for 30 years now,” he said. “We just want to deliver it the best we can.”

Senior Solyana Gobena, a resident of Wayne Avenue near the path of the Purple Line, said that it would be useful for people like herself who could use the extra public transportation, especially in areas like Langley Park that have few bus routes.

Many issues have stalled the project, including losing funding in 1990 due to “cost overruns and an economic downturn,” according to the Action Committee for Transit website. Residents have also raised safety concerns about the line’s construction. Carla Julian, a Purple Line contractor, attended a Purple Line safety outreach event along the construction area beside Silver Spring International Middle School on October 2. “Safety is our number one goal so we are trying to structure [the

configuration of the construction design] in a way that we are keeping folks away from construction,” she said.

William Smith, a Maryland State Senator, also attended this event and believes that the community enthusiasm will be greatly beneficial. “Obviously we have to be sensitive to the concerns of students and businesses and the local community around, and so that is why we are here doing the ‘walk around,’” he said. “A lot of the security measures have been taken for student safety but I’m glad to see that the community is out here to make sure that if there are any additional measures we can take to do that during the construction.”

Some homeowners have concerns about losing property value due to noisiness and proximity to the Purple Line, while homes slightly farther away may increase in value because of the additional public transportation. Junior Ian Rackow, a Bethesda resident, is opposed to the Purple Line, but said that he understands why the Purple Line may be beneficial.

Rackow lives near the Capital Crescent Trail, which connects with the Georgetown Branch Trail.

Rackow enjoys the trail because it is one of the very few remaining natural areas near him, but the line will be built through the trail.

Senior Sushanth Gupta does not support the Purple Line either, but for different reasons. “The people who are opposed because they’re like, ‘Oh it’s going to lower our property values because we’re on the trail,’ and, ‘Oh we don’t want immigrants coming to Bethesda on the Purple Line.’ I don’t really think those are valid criticisms,” he said. Rather, he said that it will be inconvenient that the Georgetown Trail will be closed throughout the building of the line. “I use it pretty often to bike to Bethesda, and to get from Silver Spring to Bethesda, it’s probably the fastest way to do that.”

Doherty recognized the issue of the Georgetown Trail and that homeowners may not like the construction, but believes that the line will be very beneficial in the long term.

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October 12, 2017

News A5

The Car Free Challenge’s fourth month

Takoma Park’s new initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

By Marlena Tyldesley Takoma Park is four months into their five-month Car Free Challenge, a new effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city. The challenge is open to anyone who lives or works in Takoma Park. Participants can win prizes for logging the hours that they have spent walking, biking, carpooling or using public transportation instead of driving. Each month, those leading the competition will win gift cards to local businesses, bikeshare gift certificates and bike accessories. At the end of the challenge, the grand prize for the person with the most hours is a new bike, and the winning team receives a catered lunch.

Gina Mathias, Takoma Park’s Sustainability Manager, says that the city has been planning this challenge since 2014. “In 2014, the city put together a Sustainable Energy Action Plan [SEAP],” she said. “The SEAP outlines 17 key strategies to help Takoma Park reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Implementing the plan, Takoma Park has emphasized residential energy efficiency, municipal en-

ergy efficiency, and now transportation through the Car Free Challenge. Jason Damweber, Takoma Park’s Deputy City Manager, said that making people aware of their power to help the environment is the most important thing he can do. “If one person is egging on their neighbor, it can have a domino effect and get people involved,” Damweber said.

The challenge has four main goals. The first is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Takoma Park. Second, Takoma Park hopes to promote sustainability in the city. Third, the city hopes to reduce the number of cars on the road. Having fewer cars on the streets may decrease the number of accidents and make streets safer, as well as making Takoma Park commuter-friendly. Finally, as Takoma Park becomes more pedestrian-friendly, Damweber and Mathias hope that the challenge will promote wellness in the city.

With commuters looking for alternatives to cars, many are biking or walking instead. “Everyone enjoys a little healthy competition,” Damweber said. “This is literally healthy, both for the individual

MARISSA HE

and the environment.”

Takoma Park has a number of other plans to further their fight for the environment. One example is the pilot project that Takoma Park is launching in partnership with a South Korean company called Uno, which has developed and installed solar street lights and crosswalk lights around the Takoma Park Community Center. Accord-

ing to Kate Stewart, the Mayor of Takoma Park, the lights are being tested for their ability to cope with snow. These lights are the first of their kind in the United States and are expected to be able to run for over five years.

Damweber said that the day-today decisions each person makes can have a huge impact on environmental health. Stewart strives

to inspire everyone to contribute to the initiative for environmental health, and said that the idea for the city’s next initiative can come from anyone.

One project, she said, where Takoma Park banned polystyrene, started with a third grade youth activist club. The students convinced the schools to stop using polystyrene trays, and the issue worked its way all the way up to the city council.

Stewart says that citizens of Takoma Park value these environmental protective initiatives because they do not see progress on this issue at the federal level.

“People at the local level, now more than ever, have to really step up,” she said “Justice Brandeis once said that cities are the laboratories of democracy.”

Stewart hopes to continue to work with the city to support environmental efforts at a local level. Takoma Park is nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in sustainability efforts and hopes to inspire people in the area and across the country to join its movement for environmental health.

Up and Coming October 13 Homecoming Game vs. Springbrook 6:30 P.M.

October 14 Homecoming Dance 8:00 P.M.

October 19 Fundraiser Night, El Golfo 4:00-8:00 P.M.

October 31 Halloween

November 9 Half day, end of 1st Quarter

November 10 Start of 2nd quarter

Student & Teacher Awards & Honors Freshman Max Edminster qualified for States in MCPS Golf.

Class of 2017 graduate John Merlo-Coyne won first place and $10,000 in the Junior Achievement Essay Competition. Additionally, senior Josephine Brane-Wright won second place and $10,000.

Junior Steven Qu and senior Michael Yin were awarded excellent and superior ratings, respectively, for their compositions submitted to the 2017 Young Composers Project.

Junior Ryan Vyskocil was awarded Male Dancer of the Year with the Tremaine Performance Company and was signed by the McDonald/ Selznick Associates dance agency.

Computer Science teacher Samir Paul was recognized as one of the National Education Association’s 30 Under 30: A New Generation of Educators Already Making a Difference.

BNC Director and CAP Media teacher George Mayo was honored as a 2017 Ithaca College, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Award recipient for being committed to igniting a passion for media in his students.

37 Blazers were recognized as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.

Juniors Ian Rackow, William Wang and Daniel Zhu qualified to go to the final step of NYU’s Cybersecurity Awareness Week for their HSF submission. Additionally, Freshmen Kevin Higgs, Timothy Qian and Chris Tong qualified for the finals and will join the juniors in New York.

Ms. Johnson was recognized as one of the 100 most influential people for the Nation’s Capital Metro Area Latinos.

A6 News

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October 12, 2017

ICE cracks down on Maryland’s sanctuary cities

Metro-area

undocumented

immigrants

targeted

from ICE page A1 a visa. Twenty-eight immigrants were arrested in Maryland, according to the ICE news release; 11 in Montgomery County, 11 in Prince George’s County, five in Baltimore City, and one in Baltimore County, according to the Bethesda Beat.

Fourteen immigrants were arrested in Washington D.C. According to the Bethesda Beat, of the 28 immigrants arrested in Maryland, six were considered fugitives; seven were re-entry cases, and 15 did not have legal status or were accused of violating their status in the U.S. Eleven of the 28 people arrested had previous criminal convictions, ICE said.

Spokeswoman Fernanda Du-

ELIAS MONASTERSKY

in

a

series

rand from CASA de Maryland, a Latino and immigrant advocacy group, criticized the actions ICE took during the operation. CASA de Maryland claims that changes proposed by the administration were racially motivated against Mexican and Central Americans.

“It’s just one more demonstration of the Trump administration’s racist tactics,” she said.

“Trying to uplift the narrative that immigrants are criminals is really against what Baltimore is all about,” Durand said. “There are hard working immigrants in Baltimore. They are neighbors, children, and parents at our schools, and they don’t need to be targeted this way.”

All of the arrests were made

of

raids

in the community, and not in jails said Carissa Cutrell, an ICE spokeswoman to the Bethesda Beat.

Among those arrested in Maryland, the agency said, was an El Salvadorian in the United States on a fraudulent passport, and who also had previous attempted murder charge.

CASA de Maryland is pushing back against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Even prior to Operation Safe City, CASA de Maryland filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration he rescinded the executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

“We think that how they went about it is unconstitutional,” Durand said.

MoCo council pushes for increased minimum wage

By Lucy Gavin The Montgomery County Council held a hearing on September 26 to discuss the proposed law that would raise the county’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. Thirty-nine people spoke at the hearing about their thoughts on the proposed bill.

The current version of the bill was proposed by Councilmember Marc Elrich in July. The bill specifies that employers who have 26 or more employees must pay their workers $15 per hour by 2020. Employers with 25 or fewer employees must meet these requirements by 2022.

The bill was cosponsored by

LUCY GAVIN

Councilmembers George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro, Tom Hucker, and Hans Riemer.

The original bill, which was voted on in January, was vetoed by County Executive Ike Leggett.

The sponsors would need one more vote from the councilmembers who originally opposed the bill to override Leggett’s veto.

Councilmembers who voted against the bill include Roger Berliner, Nancy Floreen, Sidney Katz, and Craig Rice.

During the hearing, Elrich found that most attendees were in favor of raising wages. “The overwhelming support at the hearing was to increase the minimum wage,

which doesn’t surprise me because most people I know understand that you can’t live in Montgomery County on $11.15 an hour,” he said.

“An honest day’s work deserves an honest day’s pay. If you go to work every day you should be able to meet your basic needs,” he said.

Katz opposed the bill because he thought it lacked too much data for it to be passed.

“I voted against this bill because I feel it is always [on incumbents] on the Council to act with the benefit of as much information as possible,” he said. “I asked my colleagues to pursue a robust economic impact study before enacting any legislation.”

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October 12, 2017

Should Confederate statues be removed?

YES:

NO:

Confederate statues are immoral and honor an abhorrent practice.

There are roughly 700 monuments honoring confederate soldiers in the United States today. Nowhere on these statues is it reflected that the Confederacy committed treason by seceding from the Union and attempting to uphold an institution modern society abhors: slavery.

Yet, ConfederCHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA ate generals were stripped of their Miranda Rose Daly land and their titles on these grounds.

Why, in 2017, 200 years after the Civil War ended, is America still clinging to symbols of white supremacy and glorifying racist Confederate traitors?

Statues honoring Confederate soldiers should be removed because they are monuments to a repugnant doctrine that promotes the enslavement of human beings. The conspicuous placement of these prominent statues in public spaces serves as a daily reminder to people of color that our country celebrates the enslavement of their ancestors.

Supporters claim that these statues honor Southern tradition and heritage, but the proliferation of these monuments began at the turn of the twentieth century—almost two generations after the end of the Civil War. Throughout the 1900s, with the rise of the Civil Rights movement, the Klu Klux Klan raged, race riots erupted across the country, and the number of Confederate monuments spiked in many states.

These statues, built and funded by local governments and Confederate sympathizers, were put on public land such as courthouses and parks— a clear sign that they were meant to project and reinforce Confederate vales of racial prejudice and white supremacy.

The Jim Crow era thrived on methods to uphold racist ideals, and Confederate monuments were just another tool. Confederate symbols in the towering statues serve to intimidate people who walk in their shadows.

These statues have no place in our modern society where the government should be working towards equity for all people.

The monuments represent soldiers who were fighting not only to uphold slavery, but also to form a separate Confederate nation, a movement centered around un-American and unconstitutional ideals, which should not be revered. Christopher Bonner, Assistant Professor of African American History at the University of Maryland described the Confederacy as “the largest and most wellstructured act of treason in American history.”

Earlier this August, Neo Nazis and Klu Klux Klan members marched through Charlottesville, Virginia chanting “You will

Opinion B1

Confederate statues promote necessary discussions about race.

not replace us” vehemently opposing the removal of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue. Their angry protest was focused not only on the removal of the statue, but the greater loss of white superiority. The armed protesters became violent against counter-protesters, killing one woman and injuring many.

As Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan argued when he removed the statue of former Maryland Chief Justice Roger Taney, the racism and violence that these Confederate statues inspire are more important than their historical significance.

“When it reaches the point where some of these symbols, whether they have historical significance or not, when they become a focal point for racism and violence, then it’s time to do something about it,” Hogan said.

Taney was the architect of the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which set the precedent that a slave residing in a free state could not become an American citizen.

While the statues are a part of American tradition, it is a tradition whose values are inherently immoral. Keeping the monuments displayed in public spaces celebrates and honors that reprehensible tradition.

As New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu explained when he ordered four Confederate statues removed from his city, people should be able to understand and remember history—but that is quite different from admiring it.

To encourage discussions of history without celebrating or removing it, monuments can be moved to museums where they can be better explained in historical and cultural context.

At a time when our country’s racial tensions have erupted into violence and many Americans still struggle with the notion that black lives matter, it is time to tear down the symbols that carry weight and have caused divisions. Black Americans should not have to question whether they are valued in American society.

The U.S. government has not done enough to mitigate the lasting impacts of slavery but can take a step toward justice by removing all Confederate statues.

It is time for the bronze general on his horse to take his place in the history books.

The Trail of Tears. Japanese internment camps. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Slavery.

The atrocities committed by the American government are not easy to accept.

Recognizing that our country was built on the backs of slaves evokes shame and a sense of disgust, but seeing Confederate statues helps bring CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA necessary recognition. Choosing to Mindy Burton take down Confederate monuments obscures important history, hinders appropriate reflection, questions who should be honored, and diminishes necessary discussions of race.

Statues of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee are often considered offensive because they depict people who were pro-slavery, a trait many feel is not worthy of memorialization.

That begs the question of what deems someone “pro-slavery.” We remember George Washington and Thomas Jefferson positively as the founders of our country — even though they were slave owners. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 of the 21 founding fathers owned slaves and George Washington had 317 slaves to his name at his death.

Like Washington and Jefferson, Lee contributed to the country by serving as a captain in the Mexican-American War of 1846.

The History Channel states that Lee was classified as “the very best soldier in the field” according to General Winfield Scott, the commanding general of the U.S. Army at the time, and Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy from 1852 to 1855.

It is hypocritical SALLY ZHAO to overlook Lee’s American military success because of his role in the Confederacy but focus solely on Washington and Jefferson’s positive attributes. Why are Confederate statues being torn down when memorials of our found-

ing fathers represent some of the same proslavery beliefs?

Although offensive and representative of a racist time in our country, the Confederate memorials provide important historical and societal lessons. Removing the statues from the public and putting them in museums does not change the fact that slavery occurred and takes away an ever-present visual reminder and conversation starter.

Christopher Gwinn, Chief of Interpretation and Education at Gettysburg National Military Park, believes that controversial moments in history serve as a lesson for the future of our society and spark muchneeded discussions on slavery, race, and the role of government. “We would be doing ourselves a disservice if we swept under the rug those moments in our history which are complex, controversial, or difficult,” he says.

“On the contrary, it is those moments that should be the most instructive in plotting our future.”

According to University of Alabama law professor Alfred Brophy, the statues serve as historical relics that invite necessary discussion. If the memorials continue to stand, they will serve as a reminder of our racist history and start imperative conversations about inequality in our country when people take time to wonder what they represent.

Brophy argues that keeping Confederate statues in the public eye helps Americans to remember the long-lasting effects of the Civil War. “I think that the primary case for keeping monuments is to make sure that we hold the government accountable for their promotion of the ideas of Confederacy, slavery, and Jim Crow segregation,” he says.

The monuments prevent us from forgetting our history, thus constantly reminding the government of its historical oppression Even though events like Charlottesville have been associated with Confederate statues, the memorials themselves do not incite violence — people do.

It is a person’s choice to act violently on racist ideas, and the statues should not be blamed for the actions of individuals. Therefore, the statues should still be protected as historical lessons, even if some people consider them socially inappropriate. People find the statues offensive, but that should not be a reason to take them down. What about the people who view religious monuments on public land as repulsive? There will always be something offensive, and choosing to take these statues away from the public eye demonstrates unequal treatment by the government to appease certain groups.

Confederate memorials should be treated the same way as religious temples, which are not funded by the government. The private entities that originally erected the statues should be required to pay for of the statues’ cleanings and the government should absolve itself from any monetary obligation.

Confederate statues may be controversial, but controversy causes discussion. That discussion is key to finally equalizing the aspects of our society that are still affected by white supremacy.

voicebox Delia Moran Freshman

Trinity Martin Senior

Maia Greene Chang Junior

Richard Costa Junior

Antoinette Ntomb Senior

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

“Yes, they represent something that is bad and racist, in my opinion.”

“No, they are a part of our history and should be used to help form a better future.”

“Yes, they misrepresent the U.S. society and that shouldn’t be memorialized.”

“No, it’s something that we should always remember and learn from.”

“Yes, this is supposed to be a country full of diversity.

It’s a slap in the face.”

B2 Opinion

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The return of ‘separate but equal’

October 12, 2017

Montgomery County needs to make an effort to integrate its schools

By Isabella Tilley An opinon Sixty years ago, National Guard members escorted the Little Rock Nine into Central High School while a mob of white people protested the desegregation of the school.

The experience of the nine black students who integrated Central High School is thought of as a distant, historical event, but the reality of school segregation has not gone away. A report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that in 2013, black students were more racially isolated than they were 40 years before, in 1963.

Montgomery County is no exception.

The prestige of a few majority white schools hides the poor performance of schools elsewhere in MCPS, and the county’s progressive reputation masks the reality of de facto segregation.

MCPS advertises its diversity. During the 2016-17 school year, the county reported that, of its high school students, 30.9 percent were white, 21.4 percent were black, 14.5 percent were Asian, and 28.7 percent were Latino. This demographic breakdown is not replicated in any of MCPS’s 25 high schools; instead, white, black, and Latino students were overrepresented by nearly or more than 200 percent at some schools, with black and Latino students mostly concentrated on the Eastern side of the county.

Poverty is concentrated at certain schools as well, typically at the schools with higher concentrations of black and Latino students.

During the 2016-17 school year, 26.7 percent of MCPS high schoolers were on Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS), a common indicator of poverty. At Churchill and Whitman, two predominantly white schools, however, students on FARMs made up less than five percent of the student body. Meanwhile, over half of Kennedy and Watkins Mill students (who are mostly black or Latino) qualified for FARMs. Schools like Kennedy and Watkins Mill perform much worse: in the 2016-

Percent of students on FARMS at each high school in the 201617 school year

AMY KRIMM

17 school year, less than 30 percent of each school’s student body were eligible to enter the University of Maryland system, while nearly 80 percent of students at Churchill and Whitman met those same requirements.

Surprisingly, MCPS schools with higher concentrations of poverty actually receive more funding per student. During the 201516 school year, Northwood received by far the most funding, with about $13,000 per pupil. In the same year, 49.8 percent of students qualified for FARMs and only 27.8 percent qualified for the University of Maryland system.

Though Montgomery County may ignore it, the reality is that resources and quality of schools play a less significant role than

the social and economic backgrounds of students. “You can’t gain the extent of improvements by those kinds of school reform policies that you can get … if you could bring children to school in good health or conditions of economic security,” Richard Rothstein, a researcher at the Economic Policy Institute, explains. Poverty is often associated with worse health and economic instability, although those are just a few examples of disadvantages low-income students may face.

According to Rothstein, students who face conditions of economic instability or poor health may have higher rates of absenteeism, act out more in class, and will generally struggle more than their affluent peers.

Concentrating disadvantaged students exacerbates these problems. “If you have a whole classroom full of [disadvantaged] children like this, it becomes virtually impossible for teachers to maintain grade level instruction,” he explains.

Allowing low-income students to learn in middle-class environments can fix this problem. A 2010 study by the Century Foundation found that, in Montgomery County, low-income students performed better when they were at schools with low concentrations of poverty than peers who went to schools with higher concentrations of poverty. “If you have one [disadvantaged] child … teachers can try to manage that child and help [them],” Rothstein says.

The issue of school segregation does not have a straightforward solution, nor should the solution be left to the school system alone. The county has made a half-hearted attempt to integrate schools through magnet programs and the consortia choice systems, but the issue of school segregation must ultimately be fixed through residential integration. “Unless we implement housing policies that desegregate neighborhoods, we’re not going to succeed in desegregating schools,” Rothstein says.

Montgomery County has already taken a step forward by requiring developers to set aside units for low-income families, but the current reality of de facto segregation in the county’s schools indicates this is not enough. Montgomery County must expand this program, and encourage the development of neighborhoods with a range of home sizes and prices. The school district, meanwhile, can redraw school boundaries to include students from a diverse swath of neighborhoods.

Segregation is not a relic of the past--it is a problem of the present. Until Montgomery County prioritizes the education and wellbeing of students of color, segregation will be a problem of the future.

October 12, 2017

Opinion B3

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Build museums, not walls

America must recognize the contributions of American Latinos

By Adenike Falade An opinion Back in the 80s and 90s, Selena Quintanilla rocked the American music stations with her fresh Tejano style and smooth powerhouse voice. Winning a Grammy at the age of 22 and charting in the Billboard Top 100, she was a megastar to all Americans, especially Latinos. Her unfortunate death was the inspiration for People en Español, the most popular Spanishlanguage magazine in the U.S. Despite her fame and accomplishments, The Smithsonian did not make any exhibits about Selena until September 2017. Whether they are a migrant worker in the South or a former international superstar, Latinos should receive the recognition they deserve for their contributions to America. The U.S. government has a responsibility to properly acknowledge LatinoAmerican history with the creation of a national museum.

The Civil Rights movement was not only fought by blacks but by Latinos as well. Segregation and discrimination were issues both minorities sought to eradicate. The first federal court case regarding segregation in schools, Mendez v.

Westminster, centered on Mexican students in California in 1947.

Seven years later, Brown v.

Board set a national precedent for what Mexican-Americans had already fought for and won.

This landmark case was strongly influenced by Latino parents, but Justice Thurgood Marshall is most commonly associated with desegregating schools. Civil Rights exhibits in Smithsonian institutions are not complete when they ignore

SEOYOUNG JOO

the Latino aspects for uniformity.

According to a Pew research study, between 250,000 and 500,000 Hispanics served the U.S. during World War II. They did not serve in segregated units but alongside all the white men who now have statues, medals, and museums dedicated to them. At the time, Latinos would sometimes change their names to American ones to avoid discrimination from their white comrades, as tensions between Latinos and white Americans were high after the 1943 Zoot Suit riots against Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles.

In 2014, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to four Latino Americans previously overlooked because of their ethnicities. The construction of a Latino museum would further his efforts to recognize them.

As the largest minority ethnicity in the country, the achievements of Latino-Americans should more than measure up to those of smaller ethnic groups and be displayed accordingly. Blacks and Native Americans make up 13.3 percent and 1.3 percent of the population respectively compared to 17.8 percent for the Latino population. African-American and American Indian Smithsonian museums were opened in 2016 and 2004 respectively. It is past time for a Latino Museum to be in the works.

Leslie Morales, President of Blair’s chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, sees a national museum as a means to bring more understanding of the Latino community of their culture to other Americans.

Non-Latinos understanding the

culture will hopefully lead to an appreciative relationship where they advocate for Latino representation and issues.

“When people come to the museum, they will come and learn about what is going on within our community and it will bring much more understanding to other people about our culture.”

Morales says. “It could impact someone to join us…helping out in the community.”

Such an institution has already been mapped out. The National Committee of the American Latino Commission was formed in 2011 to determine the feasibility of building a museum. The expected cost is around $600 million with half of it being paid for through private donations; the donations should cover costs for the first few years.

Confronting a touchy subject

The committee maintains that an American Latino Museum is not only necessary, but also a real possibility. The group proposed a five-year plan to raise the funds based on the fundraising campaign for the $540 million National Museum of African American History and Culture and provided several potential locations on the National Mall.

Additionally, a bill to establish a National Museum of the American Latino, S. 1364, was introduced this past June with bipartisan support.

Three Republican and two Democratic senators were able to come together in this intense political climate and realize the great importance of creating an American Latino Museum to cosponsor this bill. The bill currently sits idle in the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.

Until the museum is built a hole will remain not only in the landscape of the Mall, but in the education and appreciation of American Latino culture and contributions. The creation of this museum can help counter the baseless anti-Latino sentiment incited by Donald Trump.

The fight does not have to stop with an inactive bill on the Hill. Everyone should reach out to senators across the country to help push the bill through; letters, phone calls, and even tweets can make a difference.

Latinos are our neighbors, our leaders, our friends, and our fellow Americans; they have a right to a place on the National Mall.

Homophobia, misunderstanding masculinity deprive men of healthy friendships

By William Donaldson An opinion Do you ever see women walking down the street, giggling, arm in arm or hand in hand? The answer is surely, “Yes, quite often.”

Do you ever see the same thing from straight men? Not so much.

Touch in male friendships in the United States is taboo, and the lack of touch in these friendships is unique to only a couple Western cultures. Male friendships in many Middle Eastern, African, and European cultures incorporate touch in greetings or as a healthy way of communicating emotion. In the United States, males should do the same in their own friendships.

According to Dr. Richard Godbeer, Director of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Humanities Research Center, American male friendships in the past were every bit as intimate as contemporary female friendships.

Close male friends in the Colonial and post-Civil War eras walked with arms around each other’s shoulders or while holding hands, exchanged fondly written letters, and would not think twice about sharing a bed.

In his book, The Overflowing of Friendship, Godbeer writes that as men in the 17th and 18th centuries “developed loving friendships with one another, they did so with the active approval and encouragement of their biological families and of society as a whole.”

The general acceptance and approval of touching allowed men to remain comfortable in their friendships. Today, many American men no longer embrace touching as a natural part of their friendships.

Contemporary male friendships in the United States have not only moved away from their past regarding touch — they starkly contrast with how male friends physically interact in foreign cultures.

soapbox How often do you see male platonic hugging? How comfortable are you with it?

“I don’t see a problem with anyone hugging anyone in general.

It’s ignorant to say that guys can’t hug other guys.”

— Thienbao Ngo, sophomore “A lot of men have skewed masculinity to where even a simple platonic hug would be crossing some sort of boundary, and it’s ridiculous.”

— Marcello Beatley, senior

In a 1965 study, Dr. Sidney Jourard, a psychologist and professor at the University of Florida, observed that over the course of a conversation, Frenchmen would touch an average of 110 times each hour and Puerto Rican friends would touch an average of 180 times.

Jourard’s examinations of American friendships found that they touched only twice, on average, during an entire conversation. Lack of touch is a unique characteristic of friendships in a select few cultures, Jourard concluded, and does not line up with the global trends of touching in friendship.

Scientific research in the fields of psychology and neurology continues to reveal that touch cultivates more profound, compassionate, trustworthy, and beneficial friendships through biological processes. Dr. Edmund Rolls, a professor at the University of Warwick, discovered that touch activates the orbitofrontal cortex of your brain, which is partially responsible for feeling reward and identifying pleasant touch. A separate study by Dr. Tiffany Field, Director of the Touch Research Institute and professor at the University of Miami, found that friendly touch encourages the brain to release the hormone oxytocin, also referred to as the “love” hormone.

Some may be resistant to incorporate touch into their male friendships out of respect for personal boundaries. This concern is perfectly valid; boundaries are essential in any relationship, regardless of gender.

When contemplating what forms of touch are okay in friendships and what are not, however, keep in mind that touch is not inherently sexual. Dr. Godbeer explains that the invention of sexual orientation in the 19th century “made it increasingly difficult for a man to articulate love for a male

friend without being suspected of also having sexual feelings for him.” The stigma that came with male sexual interactions, concludes Godbeer, made the expression of love and affection between straight male friends risky.

facial expressions and is proven to be beneficial to mental and emotional health.

Biological and sociological research do little to support the idea that touch should not be an integral part of friendships,

ELIA GRIF-

PLATONIC TOUCH From left to right, juniors Ryan De Alwis, Nate Kelliher, and James McGhee enjoy some bonding time during lunch.

Furthermore, the assumption that touching between men is sexual or reserved for same-sex romantic relationships is not only a grave misunderstanding of masculinity but also blatantly homophobic. Touch is a universal language. It can be used to convey a wider range of emotion than

whether male or female. By discouraging the stigma that comes with touch and recognizing its benefits to mental, emotional, and social health, mainstream American culture can overcome the taboo it places on male platonic touch. Touch is friendly. Touch is personal. Touch is human.

B4 Opinion

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October 12, 2017

The do’s and don’ts of disaster relief

What you should and should not send to areas in need

By Camden Roberts The impact of natural disasters in North America has been devastating in the last month. Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston and left parts of it completely destroyed, while Hurricanes Irma and Maria both tore through the Caribbean, damaging many of its islands. Irma then went north through Florida, leaving about two thirds of the state without power. Maria swept through the middle of Puerto Rico, leaving the entire country without power and mostly without phone service.

These hurricanes have destroyed millions of people’s homes, places of work, and livelihoods. Many have answered the call for aid and donated resources to victims of these natural disasters; however, some of these well-intentioned actions actually have harmful consequences.

After disasters, people tend to donate tangible items including food, clothing,

and other assorted supplies. However, sorting this takes time. Clothes are not one-sizefits-all, and some people cannot eat certain foods for health reasons.

Experts in relief efforts recommend against anything that is not a monetary donation. “This is not the time to be donating products or even services,” Bob Ottenhoff, president of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, told NPR. “There’s no place to store anything, there’s no place to distribute anything.” In the aftermath of past catastrophes, the well-meaning donations have made it more difficult to transport crucial supplies into the affected area. During the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras in 1998, there were occasions when planes full of necessary supplies could not land.

After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, disaster workers reported piles of donations rotting unused on the side of the road.

Physical donations are well-intentioned, but in the direct aftermath of a disaster, they

get in the way.

Money, on the other hand, is the most effective way to provide aid through an organization. Donated money has the advantage of flexibility, meaning it can be used for anything that is needed. People who work in relief organizations understand what the impacted community’s needs will be and how best to meet them.

With their experience, they will be able to spend donated money more effectively than a well-meaning individual.

“Donate funds, because we can use those to purchase exactly the type of disaster relief supplies that are going to be most helpful,” Derrick Chubbs, president of the Central Texas Food Bank, told NPR. Money does not have the processing time or the possible restrictions that donated objects have, like clothing sizes or food allergies. Donating money is the quickest, most helpful way to send aid to people who need it.

ARITRA ROY

The most important thing to keep in mind when donating money is to make sure you are donating to a legitimate organization. Some people take advantage of disasters to trick people into donating money to something that sounds like an effective organization, but may not even exist. Even if a charity appears to be legitimate, a few minutes of research into their background is always good.

The American Red Cross (ARC), a charity that has been promoted by high profile people such as former president Barack Obama and singer Lady Gaga, is an example of a charity to be cautious of. They have been repeatedly criticized for putting more effort into the appearance of helping, than actually helping. On top of this, the relief they do provide is specifically designed to be immediate. They lack the infrastructure and knowledge to provide long term support for vulnerable people. In 2010, the earthquake in Haiti prompted the ARC to raise around $488 million.

According to Slate magazine, in 2012 the organization had only spent about a third of the money. They have never been very clear about where the money was going, and it is best to donate to an organization that makes that information easily available.

It is better to donate money than clothing, and it is better to send your money to a charity that is legitimate and understands how best to help the people who have been affected. If you’re looking to donate, please visit the links below.

The mayor of Houston has set up a relief fund for people affected by Harvey, which can be found at ghcf.org/hurricane-relief.

The first lady of Puerto Rico has set up an initiative where funds can be donated directly to the island, which can be found at unidosporpuertorico.com/en.

Charitynavigator.org is a website that can be used to check the reliability of other charities, based on the charity’s transparency and how they have spent donations.

Opinion B5

silverchips

October 12, 2017

My Blair: Personal Column The Problems with Class Scheduling

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

By Justin Hudis Guest writer Meet Alice. She’s pretty much the definition of a couch potato, watching TV from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. After keeping this up for so long, Alice always plans out her day of TVwatching by looking at her TV guide to see at what times all the shows are being aired, and then plans to watch as many of her favorite ones as possible, being careful to avoid overlapping time slots.

Now meet Bob. He has the exact same behaviors as Alice. The only difference is that he has a far worse TV provider. Instead of being given the full TV guide like Alice has, Bob’s provider only allows him to see a list of all of the shows in existence, pick his favorites, and mail them in. The next day, he receives a letter back telling him which shows he’s allowed to watch at what times that day, based on what he likes and what shows conflict with others. This list is determined by a computer algorithm and therefore usually doesn’t give Bob the most optimal schedule, compared to what he

would have chosen had he been allowed to see the full TV guide.

Clearly, no one would ever consider getting Bob’s provider, but at school, that’s what we’re stuck with. Luckily, I have a solution. It’s not incredibly simple, but when it comes to the academic careers of the future contributors to our society, we need a solution that actually works, regardless of its simplicity.

I’ll break my solution into three steps, each of which are to be completed entirely online with weekly deadlines starting about a month before the end of each school year.

First, students submit course requests, as we have been. The difference here is that this submission will be considered an “interest form,” rather than a schedule application.

Second, based on student interest, the same algorithm we’ve been using determines which classes should be held at what periods and creates a schedule for each student. The difference here is that this produced schedule will be considered a “recommended schedule” rather than that student’s actual schedule. The online application can now show a list of all classes and when they are held (the metaphorical “TV guide”) and the student changes their schedule to fit their needs.

Since the application is online rather than on paper, it can prevent a student from selecting a class they don’t have a prerequisite for, prevent a senior from submitting a schedule without a class required for graduation, etc., so that these don’t become issues that need to be solved once the year has already started. The good thing about

this process is that the student does all of the work figuring out how to get their schedule to work, rather than wasting counselors’ time and treating them like secretaries. It’s a win-win for students and staff.

Third, students who have scheduling conflicts due to full classes will be given a new recommended schedule produced algorithmically to accommodate the conflict while keeping in mind the student’s interests. The student can then change their schedule again, and this time the list of classes will also include a full/open status for each class.

Students will not be allowed to select classes labelled “full.” The students involved in this step submit their schedules and enter open classes on a first-come-firstserve basis, whereas in the previous step students are entered randomly to prevent students from making rushed scheduling choices in order to submit as early as possible.

Counselors will be still needed for some scheduling matters. If a student fails to complete certain steps on time, their classes will be automatically assigned and they’ll have to make manual changes on the online application, which require their counselor’s confirmation. Any schedule changes made during the school year would also need to be done through the application with a counselor’s digital or personal confirmation.

With that being said, this process guarantees that the line outside of the counselor’s office on the first day of school will be exponentially shorter, or more likely, nonexistent.

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

By Hermela Mengesha In first person

The Case For Serendipity (And A Positive Press)

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

By Sebastien Kraft Guest writer However flawed and unstable the world may be, a recent experience led me to believe it has a propensity for bringing great people together.

I was born in Paris and I am FrenchAmerican. This summer, when I decided to film a documentary in the city of my birth for the fall episode of Blair Network Communications’ (BNC) SilverLens series, I initially expected to reunite with the familiarity of my de facto hometown. In the end, that was only partially the case, for on this occasion, I discovered a new—albeit equally welcoming—corner of Paris.

Solitude is an enlightening condition.

To me, solitude signifies finding purpose in one’s alone time, as opposed to feeling lonely or isolated.

On one occasion, I found myself filming panoramic shots of a beautiful Parisian

mosque in the city’s fifth arrondissement—an administrative district similar to a borough—with just my camcorder, my tripod, and the clear, blue sky overhead to keep me company. As I stood before the mosque, filming the star and crescent symbol emblazoned on its façade, I indeed found great purpose.

My documentary’s goal was to provide a different angle on the global refugee crisis, examining the sharp contrast between Paris, the historic “City of Lights” that we all know, and some of its more unfortunate inhabitants who live outside the limelight.

My first source was a Yemeni refugee named Ahmed Algebr. In his native country, he was a journalist for the Saba News Agency, but since fleeing in 2015 due to a Saudi attack, he has been forced to abandon his former life due to the daily obligations included in the life of a refugee, such as waiting in line, rain or shine, for a new round of papers.

My second interviewee was a migrant from the African country of Mauritania named Djiby Marega. Marega has resided in France since 2008 and was forced to flee from his homeland due to a dictator’s abuse of power. France has denied him the status of refugee due to insufficient documentation—he was stripped of his native citizenship and he fled as a child with virtually no papers. He possesses no official title, and is currently applying for the title of statelessness.

Throughout their interviews, both Alge-

br and Marega displayed worn, affectionate smiles that spoke volumes of the hardship they have endured. While listening to them, I found it remarkable that these two men could be such kind, sincere, and peaceloving individuals in spite of the desperation in which they are immersed and the turmoil from which they fled.

Prior to my experience in Paris, I considered gritty, investigative, Woodward and Bernstein-like reporting to be the epitome of journalism. After Paris, however, I realized that not everything in the world needs to be controversial or political, or warrant investigation. I now believe it is the press’ duty to shed light on the world’s bright spots and remind humanity of its potential for the future.

Ultimately, as I learned upon meeting Algebr and Marega, though serendipity involves chance and takes time, and though journalism does not always breed idealism, if one seeks out the most captivating parts of the world, nature will ensure that he or she reaches the intended destination.

Want to submit a personal column? Email it to silverchipsprint@gmail.com!

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

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B6 Editorials

A vote by a Republican in Maryland or a Democrat in Wisconsin for a Congressional elections does not count. As a member of the minority political party in two heavily gerrymandered states, that vote carries less weight. Luckily, there is a case in the Supreme Court that could change this.

This week, the Court heard arguments in Gill v. Whitford, which will set the precedent for whether partisan gerrymandering—the redrawing of districts to benefit the political party in power—is constitutional.

Gerrymandering is when legislators “pack” large numbers of constituents who support the opposing party into a few districts, so they win few seats.

District-drawers may also split constituents throughout other districts such that they cannot gain a majority, in a process called “cracking.”

In 2011, Wisconsin Republicans had the opportunity to redistrict the state for the first time in 40 years. Unsurprisingly, they used a powerful computer algorithm that gave them a significant victory in the next years’ elections. Despite only winning 48.6 percent of the popular vote in Wisconsin, Republicans captured 60 of 99 state legislative seats.

One does not have to be a Supreme Court justice to form an educated opinion on partisan gerrymandering: just take a government class. Students are taught that Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution guarantees one vote per person.

Gerrymandering blatantly violates this principle—some individuals are only given a fraction of a vote.

If the Supreme Court rules

silverchips

October 12, 2017

Game of zones

Redrawing the rules on gerrymandering Wisconsin’s redistricting unconstitutional, states across the country will have to redraw their districts to properly represent the population. In Maryland, a state notorious for gerrymandering that benefits Democrats, Republicans would likely gain another seat in Congress.

Gerrymandering was previously contested in the Supreme Court. In a split decision in the case Vieth v. Jubelirer, the Supreme Court concluded that there was no appropriate judicial solution to determine if gerrymandering is illegal.

In the 13 years since the ruling, mathematical tests, such as the efficiency gap, were developed to determine if a state is gerrymandered.

The efficiency gap measures how many “wasted” votes—votes for the losing candidate in the district and excess votes cast for a candidate who wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the district—were cast, according to The New York Times.

Some mathematicians have developed tests that measure the compactness of a district, as gerrymandered districts tend to be oddly shaped, according to Scientific American.

These tests are not perfect.

The partisanship of a district will always be influenced by the fact that Democrats tend to cluster in densely populated urban areas, while Republicans tend to live in vast rural areas.

Additionally, rivers and other landforms may lead to strangely shaped districts. Regardless, when used in conjunction with one another, these tests can be used to identify fairly extreme cases of gerrymandering.

The real issue is that the basic

Editorial Cartoon

premise of redistricting is flawed.

The fact that partisan state legislatures get to draw Congressional districts is nonsensical —of course elected officials are going to be biased in favor of their own party!

States should hand the responsibility of drawing lines to non-partisan, independent commissions; states like California and Idaho already done this. Maryland, and the rest of the country, should follow in their footsteps and draw districts that provide a platform for the voices of the people, rather than those of the incumbent party.

In a democracy, constituents are supposed to pick their legislators; with gerrymandering, legislators pick their constituents.

Gill v. Whitford has the power to restore our democracy and ensure that our government is by the people and for the people.

Comments?

Questions?

Email silverchipsprint@gmail. com!

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

An open letter to freshmen and sophomores without a co-pay.

The 120,000 women who will potentially have to pay for birth control out-of-pocket matter.

Their reemerging health problems which birth control lessened and unintended pregnancies matter.

Where are the stories with these women’s statements and concerns? They do not seem to exist.

This is a mistake we do not want to make as individual writers or as a paper.

Everyone on staff, from the writers to the artists, wants to capture your spirit and personality.

We write stories on a wide range of topics that need your input.

School policies, national issues, and everything in between affects your remaining high school years and your life beyond Blair.

If you disagree with anything going on at Blair, even if the upperclassmen think differently, please let us know. Email me if you have concerns or just want to chat. My inbox is pretty empty.

By Laura Espinoza Dear Underclassmen, How are you? For some of you, it has been awhile since we last saw each other. For all you freshmen, this might be the first time you have heard of me. My name is Laura, and I am the Ombudsman for Silver Chips. I keep an eye out to make sure our stories are representing Blair and the wider community, and I write this column to bring issues in the media to your attention.

We are so proud to bring you our first cycle of the 2017-18 school year, but some voices are missing from the pages. Mainly, yours. We need your ideas for interesting stories that reflect the topics you care about, and we want to write about your opinions and comments in the paper.

The juniors and seniors wandering around the SAC and asking you questions might seem scary, but they are here to represent your ideas. Silver Chips suffers from a lack of underclassmen voices, stories that we will not know about unless they are told. We never want to ignore an integral part of our school in a publication meant to represent Blair as a whole. As Chimamanda Adichie (see page E1) often discusses, there lies a danger in a single story.

Legislation and executives orders that make the news these

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Ombudsman Laura Espinoza days talk about rolling back decisions made during the Obama era: reversing birth control coverage mandates, ending DACA, decertifying the Iran nuclear deal, and other drastic measures.

These policies heavily impact populations whose stories are left out of the conversation. Women,

undocumented immigrants, and even entire nations are impacted by the Trump administration’s decisions, which are made without the input of these people.

Mass media outlets focus too much on following the flurry of rules coming out of the White House and not enough on those

who are impacted. They care about the big, single story. It does not matter if “99.9 percent of women” will keep their access to birth control, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, after the narrowing of a mandate that required birth control to be covered by insurers

Sincerely, Laura

Comments?

Questions?

Email ombudsmansilverchips@ gmail.com!

español C1

silverchips

12 de octubre, 2017

La Esquina Latina

Silver Chips el 12 de octubre, 2017

Una guía exclusiva para latinos que desean ir a la universidad

Consejos, recursos y oportunidades para abrir puertas hacia un mejor futuro Por Jasmine Méndez-Paredes

vocabulario inglés. Además, en la biblioteca y en el Career Center (Centro de Carreras) hay muchos libros y fuentes de información que dan muchos consejos y exámenes preparatorios.

¿Has soñado en ir a la universidad y ser exitoso en la vida pero no sabes cómo comenzar la preparación? ¿Tienes la meta de estudiar después de graduarte de Blair pero no sabes a dónde ir a buscar ayuda?

Tal vez no estás familiarizado con el sistema estadounidense porque eres el primer miembro de tu familia que va a estudiar en la universidad. En este artículo encontrarás consejos y respuestas exclusivamente para los estudiantes latinos que desean prepararse para ir a la universidad.

Lo que las universidades buscan

Anímate e infórmate

Si quieres estudiar en la universidad, lo puedes lograr. No importa si eres indocumentado o si no tienes los recursos económicos para continuar tus estudios postsecundarios. Todos tenemos la posibilidad de estudiar en la universidad si buscamos opciones para pagar los gastos de esta costosa meta. A veces tenemos la tendencia de cerrar las puertas antes de tiempo porque creemos que es imposible llegar al nivel que soñamos estar. Sí, para ir a la universidad se requiere mucho esfuerzo pero no es una meta imposible de alcanzar. Hay que animarse, dejar de limitar nuestra capacidad como estudiantes y buscar información acerca de la clase de educación postsecundaria que más nos convenga basándonos en nuestros intereses.

En Blair hay muchos recursos y personas al alcance de los estudiantes para ayudar y asesorarlos para cumplir con sus metas.

Por ejemplo, pueden asesorarse y encontrar información con la ayuda de la Señora Young, coordinadora del programa Latino Achievement (Logro Latino). Ella está dispuesta a ayudar a los estudiantes latinos para que puedan obtener éxito en la escuela.

Young dijo que, “El estudiante a veces no se da cuenta de lo que necesita hacer, de que... uno tiene que tomar el SAT, que hay fechas importantes y también los cursos que son necesarios para solicitar para la universidad.” Nunca es demasiado temprano prepararse. No hay que tener miedo de preguntar a tus consejeros y profesores como obtener más información antes que sea demasiado tarde.

Programa ACES en Blair

El programa ACES (Alcanzando la Excelencia y el Éxito Colegial), ha servido como ayuda para muchos estudiantes con la preparación para ir a la universidad.

El señor Medrano, quien está a cargo del programa ACES, hace talleres para los estudiantes. Este les enseña cómo llenar las solicitudes para la universidad, ofrece información acerca de becas disponibles y les enseña formas efectivas de estudio. Hay programas en el verano donde los miembros también aprenden cómo escribir cartas profesionales para comunicarse con los profesores, cómo manejar su tiempo y prepararse para tomar el SAT. Este es un examen que a veces es requerido para solicitar admisión a una universidad.

Para solicitar al programa de ACES, no es requisito tener un GPA (promedio de calificaciones) alto, este programa está diseñado exclusivamente para que los miembros comiencen como alumnos del décimo grado.

Los estudiantes que desean solicitar pueden encontrar la solicitud en la página web de ACES: http://acesjmedrano.wixsite.com/acestemplate. La fecha límite para llenar la solicitud es el 22 de diciembre y se requiere escribir un ensayo de 250 palabras. Lo mejor es llenar la solicitud lo más pronto posible.

Este programa ha beneficiado a muchos es-

JEDEDIAH GRADY

ACES El Señor Medrano hizo una presentación para los miembros del programa ACES. tudiantes, incluyendo a los de ESOL y estudiantes indocumentados.

Ayuda económica y las becas

Seamos sinceros, siempre se necesita ayuda económica para ir a la universidad especialmente porque se ha aumentado el precio. Hay becas que ayudan y algunas cubren todos los gastos universitarios. De acuerdo con Medrano, hay muchas oportunidades de becas específicamente para los latinos.

Por ejemplo, él indicó que, “Hay una beca llamada Esperanza que es para muchachos que nacieron en otro país o para estudiantes nacidos en los EE.UU. y que sus padres son nativos de otro país… le pagan hasta $20,000 en cualquier universidad pública.” Medrano también tuvo dos estudiantes de Blair el año pasado que recibieron la beca del Montgomery County Hispanic Gala.

También hay sitios en el internet donde estudiantes pueden recibir becas sin hacer una escritura formal. Medrano indicó un sitio que se llama RaiseMe, en este sitio no es necesario hacer un ensayo para obtener una beca, uno solo tiene que llenar su información estudiantil como las calificaciones, horas comunitarias, y actividades o deportes. Por ejemplo, Medrano dijo que tiene un estudiante en el programa de ACES que le han ofrecido mucho dinero en becas y por esa razón él está en el Top 10 (entre los diez más altos) de RaiseMe. También hay un sitio web que se llama College Greenlight, que ofrece becas para los estudiantes que son los primeros en su familia con la oportunidad de asistir a la universidad. Uno simplemente necesita entrar la información requerida con respecto a las calificaciones y el sitio muestra la probabilidad de entrar a una universidad.

También indica cuanto uno tiene que esforzarse para solicitar para una beca y le enseña el nivel de competencia para las becas.

Aunque puede haber mucha competencia para las becas que ofrecen mucho dinero, siempre es recomendable solicitar para estas. Young dijo que, “Las becas no siempre van a pagar todo. Los estudiantes más exitosos que yo conozco han solicitado para becas grandes pero también han solicitado para becas que ofrecen entre quinientos a dos mil dólares y por lo menos se cubren gastos de libros un semestre dos.”

Organiza tu calendario

Después de haber encontrado información, es necesario organizarse con un calendario de fechas importantes y anotar todas las fechas límites. Uno puede apuntar

la fecha en que uno va a registrar y tomar el examen de SAT o ACT, el día que vas a visitar a profesores y consejeros para que ellos escriban cartas de recomendación para las universidades, las fechas límites para las solicitudes para becas, fechas para escribir y editar los ensayos y obviamente la fecha límite para entregar la solicitud a la universidad que te interesa. Tener un calendario ayuda a organizarse y aprender a balancear el tiempo. El usar el tiempo sabiamente ayuda a reducir el nivel de estrés porque no te va a atrasar haciendo las tareas y deberes.

Exámenes para entrar a la universidad

Hay ciertos exámenes estandarizados que son importantes de tomar y prepararse, como por ejemplo el SAT o el ACT. La mayoría de las universidades consideran el puntaje de estos exámenes. Aunque estos exámenes no siempre reflejan la excelencia académica de un estudiante, los resultados de estos exámenes añaden otro elemento a la solicitud.

Para poder tener un buen puntaje se necesita mucha preparación por lo cual hay muchos programas y fuentes de información que pueden ayudarte. El programa de ACES

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

ayuda para la preparación de estos exámenes pero también hay otros programas en Blair que pueden ser de beneficio. El George B. Thomas Learning Academy, el cual es una escuela de sábados, ayuda a prepararse para tomar estos exámenes estandarizados. También hay unas aplicaciones para teléfono que ayudan a practicar palabras complejas del

Medrano explicó que buenas calificaciones y bastantes horas comunitarias con un buen resultado en el examen de SAT es una combinación poderosa para conseguir becas. Las universidades buscan que un estudiante tenga buenas notas en la escuela y también ven si estas tomando cursos rigurosos como las clases de AP. De acuerdo con Young, “La universidad va querer ver que el estudiante se esforzó y si ven cursos básicos o si ven que el alumno no está realmente explorando a fondo un tema de estudio van a pensar este estudiante no es muy serio, le puede perjudicar en eso.”

Además de tener buenas notas, las universidades quieren ver su desempeño y contribución en la comunidad. Ellos analizan las horas de servicio comunitario. Para obtener las horas comunitarias los estudiantes pueden ser ayudantes en los campamentos de verano, participar en el programa de tutoría BLISS en Blair, ser asistente de algún administrador de la escuela, etc. Si exceden la cantidad de 260 horas, los estudiantes recibirán un mérito del condado y muchas universidades van a notar que el estudiante se dedica al servicio comunitario haciendo más de lo que es requerido. Las universidades también quieren ver que los estudiantes tengan otras actividades fuera de las horas de clase como por ejemplo, participar en un club de la escuela, tener algún talento o jugar un deporte para ver si uno va ser un miembro activo en la universidad.

Escoge la universidad perfecta

Para escoger una universidad hay muchos factores que se tienen que tener en cuenta.

Algunas universidades son especializadas en una carrera específica. Por ejemplo, hay universidades que están especializadas en la ciencia, tecnología, arte, en la medicina, etc.

Según lo que los estudiantes estén interesados así es bueno escoger. En el sitio web www.usnews.com/best-colleges uno puede encontrar información de las mejores universidades. También si es posible, uno puede visitar las universidades para ver cómo es estudiar en ese ambiente.

Otro factor que los estudiantes deben considerar es el lugar y la distancia a su casa actual de la universidad que quieran asistir. ¿Prefieren quedarse cerca de la casa y en el estado prefieren atender a una universidad lejana y fuera del estado? Para los estudiantes indocumentados es recomendable ir a una universidad del área porque de acuerdo con Medrano, “Esta área es... [un] santuario en comparación a otras partes del país.” En otras palabras, el área en que vivimos (Washington D.C. y Maryland), es lugar de refugio para los estudiantes indocumentados.

Es importante comenzar el proceso de elegir las universidades lo más pronto posible. Una vida exitosa comienza con una educación buena, y una educación buena requiere mucha dedicación. Nosotros los latinos tenemos la capacidad para seguir estudiando después de graduarnos de Blair y no importa si eres un indocumentado o un estudiante de ESOL. ¡Todos tenemos la posibilidad para llegar a la universidad!

C2 español

silverchips

12 de octubre de 2017

La temporada ciclónica más activa en los últimos tiempos

Un aviso de la madre tierra que afectó al pueblo latinoamericano Por Lourdes Reyes y equipo editorial El mundo ha podido ver como países del continente americano han sido afectados por diferentes desastres naturales en los últimos tres meses. La temporada comenzó con el huracán Harvey en Texas, después vino el huracán Irma en el Caribe y partes del sur de los Estados Unidos. Estos dos huracanes no fueron todo ya que durante esta temporada dos países latinoamericanos, México y Puerto Rico fueron gravemente afectados por desastres naturales con grandes magnitudes. México fue afectado por dos terremotos y Puerto Rico fue azotado por un huracán de categoría cinco que devastó en su totalidad a la isla.

La República Dominicana también fue azotada por el paso de los huracanes Irma y María. Afortunadamente, no todas las provincias de la isla fueron afectadas. Las provincias El Seibo y San Pedro de Macorís vieron fuertes inundaciones y las personas llegaron hasta el punto de subirse a los techos de zinc y nadar para poder sobrevivir. El 28 de septiembre la vicepresidenta de la República Dominicana Margarita Cedeño de Fernández visitó los barrios más pobres de las provincias afectadas para así tener una idea fundamental sobre las carencias.

El caso de México fue algo de suma tristeza para el mundo por el número de vidas que han sido perdidas y de personas heridas. El país presenció un terremoto de magnitud 8.2 a inicios de septiembre que causó mucha conmoción pero que no fue tan devastador como el que ocurriría días después.

El 19 de septiembre, en el aniversario de 32 años del terremoto más fuerte que ha sucedido en México, ocurrió un terremoto de magnitud 7.2. Todos los años para esta fecha el gobierno de la Ciudad de México realiza un simulacro conmemorando lo ocurrido en 1985. Muchos ciudadanos de México habían participado en este simulacro dos horas antes de que ocurriera el terremoto de verdad y que dejaría a mucha gente despavorida y debajo de escombros. De acuerdo con el noticiero El Confidencial, “El epicentro se localizó a 12 kilómetros al sureste de Axochiapan, en el central estado de Morelos, a una profundidad de 57 kilómetros.”

La Sra.González, maestra de español en Blair, tuvo la oportunidad de visitar México un año después del terremoto que ocurrió en 1985. Ella dijo, “No viví en México, fui de visita... y todavía a 365 días, quedaban escombros de los edificios colapsados.” Esto da una pequeña imagen de cuan grave fue el terremoto que ocurrió y cómo los esfuerzos de levantar a un pueblo entero pueden tomar un sinnúmero de meses.

A raíz del más reciente terremoto en México, ahora hay decenas de colapsos de edificios. Uno de ellos fue el Colegio Enrique Rébsamen, en el cual se encontraron 25 personas muertas, entre ellas 21 estudiantes de primaria, según reportes del noticiero Univisión. El paso del terremoto en México sirvió para unir a todos los mexicanos independientemente de su posición social. Muchos se pusieron la mano en el corazón y aportaron su granito de arena organizando sitios de acopio donde colectaron necesidades básicas para las víctimas.

La noticia del terremoto se propagó en todo el mundo ya que residentes grabaron videos de los edificios mientras colapsaban. No fue necesario hacer un llamado oficial de ayuda a otros países porque equipos de rescates

de todas partes del mundo se hicieron presente lo más antes posibles para unirse a las búsquedas en los escombros. Japón y El Salvador fueron unos de los muchos que tenían rescatistas presentes en el área de devastación. El terremoto en México afectó a millones de personas y tuvo más de 326 muertos, según un artículo publicado por el periódico El País. Esto era sin contar a los que aún se encontraban bajo los escombros y las miles de personas heridas, las cuales fueron salvadas por una nación unida. Este terremoto fue seguido por dos sismos de menor magnitud, que ocurrieron el sábado 23 de septiembre y el domingo, 24 de septiembre.

Un gran número de artistas, jugadores

ción, el flujo de gasolina y diésel también se ha sido afectado por desplazamientos en la infraestructura de calles y árboles caídos.

A consecuencia de la situación crítica de acceso a necesidades básicas, muchos residentes de la isla han decidido viajar a los Estados Unidos ya que no se pueden sustentar. El ser ciudadanos americanos ha hecho más fácil este proceso. Un sin número de habitantes han tenido que caminar por las carreteras inundadas para salir de sus casas y llegar a un refugio. Otros tuvieron que recurrir a subirse a techos para alertar la necesidad de ser rescatados dado al alto nivel de agua en sus hogares.

La red de comunicación en Puerto Rico también ha sido fuertemente afectada, lo que complicó la notificación de necesidades por parte de las autoridades de

AMY KRIMM

y empresarios de todo el mundo mostraron su apoyo mediante su gran humildad y numerosas donaciones. La liga Mexicana de Fútbol ofrecieron juegos de fútbol a recaudación de fondos para los afectados por los terremotos en México usando la red social de Instagram para su recaudación. Miembros de YouTube como Juan Pablo Zurita, más conocido como JuanPa Zurita, también unió a comediantes, actores, jugadores y otros artistas de todo el mundo para la recaudación de fondos que ayudaría a la construcción de cien casas para los damnificados del terremoto.

Después del terremoto en México, otro desastre natural que afectó gravemente la isla de Puerto Rico fue el huracán María.

El huracán de categoría cinco entró a la isla el día 22 de septiembre de 2017, según la cadena CNN en español. Antes de que ocurriera este hecho muchos puertorriqueños se encontraban nerviosos por lo que podía pasar. Valeria Cabrera, una estudiante puertorriqueña del grado doce dijo, “No se había visto un huracán tan fuerte desde el huracán San Felipe. Realmente no estoy segura sobre lo que las autoridades y el gobierno de Puerto Rico harán para resolver los problemas que deje este huracán.”

Después del huracán, la isla se vio en una escasez de agua potable, combustible y de comida. Hasta el día de hoy la escasez de recursos está afectando a la isla de Puerto Rico, también conocida como la isla del encanto. La red de energía eléctrica del país fue destruida por el fenómeno natural.

Hay servicios básicos que dependen de la electricidad que se han visto sumamente afectados. Para complicar aún más la situa-

cada municipalidad. Aunque la situación está mejorando lentamente, ya se está viendo evidencia de progreso en esta área.

Los ciudadanos dentro de Puerto Rico y los puertorriqueños que viven fuera de la isla han sentido gran ansiedad al no poder contactarse con familiares hasta días después del azote del huracán. La situación ha mejorado y muchos residentes recurren a buscar antenas cerca de las vías de tránsito para encontrar señal para comunicarse con sus seres queridos y avisarles que se encuentran a salvo.

El cuatro de octubre el presidente de los Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, visitó a la isla por primera vez después de ser electo.

Días antes de su visita el Presidente estaba publicando mensajes negativos en Twitter sobre los puertorriqueños, lo que hizo que miles de latinos y puertorriqueños se ofendieran por su falta de compasión y sentido de sensibilidad. Para muchos el presidente estaba tomando los problemas de Puerto Rico como un juego porque en lugar de prestar atención a la isla, se estaba quejando sobre los jugadores de la NFL. Artistas salieron a defender a Puerto Rico sobre los comentarios que estaba haciendo el Presidente. Por ejemplo, el dramaturgo de ascendencia puertorriqueña Lin Manuel Miranda, director de las afamados

obras de Hamilton, dijo, “Vas directamente al infierno. No tendrá que hacer largas filas.

Alguien dirá: ‘Por aquí, señor’ y se le despejará un camino.” Muchos artistas como Luis Fonsi, Ricky Martin, Gloria y Emilio Estefan, Chayanne, y Nicky Jam han tenido la iniciativa de viajar a Puerto Rico por su propia cuenta y llevar productos que los habitantes necesitan más. Por otro lado el famoso reguetonero, J Balvin y la cantante Beyoncé unieron fuerzas y cruzaron barreras con el remix de la canción “Mi gente”. Los ingresos que se produzcan a través de la canción serán donados para las personas damnificadas y a la reconstrucción de Puerto Rico.

Artistas desde los Estados Unidos también están ayudando a la isla para encontrar una salida de esta situación, como la cantante Jennifer López, quien nació en Nueva York, pero es de ascendencia puertorriqueña.

López declará que donó un millón de dólares para beneficiar a los damnificados de la isla.

Durante su visita a Puerto Rico, el presidente Trump se dirigió a una reunión con funcionarios del gobierno de Puerto Rico. Según un artículo de la cadena CNN en español, ahí él dijo que la cantidad de muertos que había tenido la isla era muy baja en comparación a los otros huracanes en los Estados Unidos. Este comentario fue de mal agrado ya que sus palabras insinuaron que lo que habían sufrido no fue tanta gravedad. No obstante, este no fue lo único de lo que los puertorriqueños se quejaron. Antes de irse, el presidente estuvo en un evento de donaciones al pueblo pero en vez de dar los objetos a cada familia de forma organizada, les tiró rollos de papel toalla al aire a la suerte de quien pudiera tomarlo. Lo más necesario en la isla en estos momentos son el agua y la comida, los cuales llegan a la isla por medios aéreos y marítimos.

El combus-

tible ya está siendo distribuido y la filas son más cortas.

Los problemas de estos desastres naturales se estiman que no cesarán pronto. La última tormenta tropical llamada Nate que se convirtió en huracán al tocar la costa sur de los EE.UU y ya ha perdido fuerzas.

Maryland solo recibirá los efectos de esta tormenta a manera de lluvias y vientos. Esta tormenta ha dejado hasta el momento de la publicación unas 15 personas fallecidas en Nicaragua, según el anuncio del vicepresidente de Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo.

Los desastres naturales no son benévolos para el medio ambiente porque afectan gravemente la zona donde llegan y por eso todos los seres humanos debemos unirnos para cuidar el medio ambiente. Estos desastres son un pequeño aviso de nuestro planeta, el cual está siendo afectado por el calentamiento global.

Una buena manera de hacer donaciones para los países damnificados es vía la Cruz Roja americana. Pueden encontrar más información en la página web www.cruzrojadonaciones.org/.

Los problemas que están ocurriendo en toda América Latina afectan a nuestros países de origen. De igual manera los que vivimos en el extranjero nos vemos limitados al no poder ayudar más de lo que queremos. Debemos estar al tanto de toda la ayuda que pueda ser dada de nuestra parte.

12 de octubre, 2017

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Los estudiantes reaccionan a Adriana Burgos-Ojeda, la nueva vice-directora las eliminatorias del mundial Por Yesenia Sorto Las eliminatorias de la Confederación de Norteamérica, Centroamérica y el Caribe de Fútbol, más conocida como la CONCACAF y la Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol,

JENNIFER CUEVA DIAZ

más conocida como la CONMEBOL, para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA Rusia 2018 están en su etapa culminante. Serán tres equipos de la CONCACAF que clasificarán para ir a la Copa Mundial. El cuarto lugar tendrá una segunda oportunidad en el Repechaje Internacional, el cual es cuando un equipo tiene la oportunidad de poder ir al mundial al enfrentarse a algún otro equipo de otra confederación de fútbol, en este caso será contra la AFC (Confederación Asiática de Fútbol). En la CONMEBOL cuatro equipos clasificarán y el quinto lugar tendrá la oportunidad de ir al

Repechaje Internacional contra la OFC (Confederación de Fútbol de Oceanía).

Los 12 equipos participantes de la CONCACAF fueron divididos en tres grupos de cuatro equipos; los cuales estaban conformados por el Grupo A: México, Honduras, Canadá y El Salvador; el Grupo B: Costa Rica, Panamá, Haití y Jamaica; y el Grupo C: Estados Unidos, Trinidad y Tobago, Guatemala, y San Vicente y Las Granadinas. Los dos primeros lugares de cada grupo pasan a la quinta ronda y disputarán el Hexagonal Final, la cual es una competencia de seis equipos. Esos son: México, Costa Rica, Panamá, Estados Unidos, Honduras, y Trinidad y Tobago. En la CONMEBOL los diez equipos participantes juegan en una liguilla con partidos de ida y vuelta, los equipos son: Brasil, Uruguay, Colombia, Perú, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, y Venezuela.

De acuerdo a la FIFA, los equipos que ya clasificaron para la Copa Mundial son México de la CONCACAF y Brasil de la CONMEBOL. Ambos equipos lideran en la tabla de posiciones de su confederación; México con 21 puntos de 9 partidos jugados y Brasil con 38 puntos de 17 partidos jugados. A los estudiantes de Blair Juan, Jonathan, Dirney y Elías se les preguntó sobre sus opiniones de las tablas de posiciones, tanto de la CONCACAF y la CONMEBOL, y respondieron, “Nos sorprende que el ganador de la Copa América [Chile] no esté en los primeros puestos de la tabla de posiciones en la CONMEBOL”. De la misma manera que les sorprendió que el campeón de la Copa Oro 2017 fuera Estados Unidos, también les sorprende que Perú vaya al mundial por quinta vez ya que su última vez fue en 1892. Los estudiantes de Blair Juan, Jonathan, Dirney y Elías pensaban que tanto Argentina como Chile estarían en los primeros puestos ya que ellos opinan esos son dos de los mejores equipos.

Falta solo una fecha más lo cual sería un partido más a cada confederación.

Por Yesenia Sorto

Adriana Burgos-Ojeda es la nueva vicedirectora de la clase de noveno grado de Blair durante este año escolar 2017-2018. Ella nació en la Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico, y a los doce años se mudó al estado de Florida. A esa edad empezó el séptimo grado y aunque ya hablaba inglés ella comentó,“Tuve la experiencia de sentirme sola, diferente y pérdida en términos de no entender aspectos de la

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

DISPUESTA Nueva vice-directora con metas para a ayudar a los estudiantes. cultura estadounidense.” Afortunadamente, ella tuvo la oportunidad de seguir sus estudios universitarios en Bryn Mawr College, donde especializó sus estudios en literatura latinoamericana.

Después de graduarse, trabajó en la ciudad de Filadelfia en el campo de servicios sociales para una organización, llamada el “Congreso de Latinos Unidos.” En esta entidad siempre quiso trabajar con la comunidad latina. “Me gustó trabajar con familias, tratar de mejorar el ambiente académico de los estudiantes y el acceso a recursos para apoyarlos,” comentó la vice-directora. Luego asistió a Drexel University para hacer su maestría en bibliotecología. Simultáneamente empezó trabajando como bibliotecaria en el 2005. Ella recalcó,“Esto me dio la oportunidad de combinar mis intereses: la educación, la lectura,

el trabajo con familias, estudiantes y hasta la justicia social en la escuela intermedia Newport Mill.” Burgos-Ojeda completó cursos adicionales y una práctica para recibir su certificado en liderazgo educacional y sirvió como bibliotecaria en la escuela secundaria Kennedy.

Este verano se le presentó la oportunidad para servir como vice-directora en Blair y la aceptó con muchísimo gusto. Le atrajo la idea de trabajar con la directora Johnson por su reputación como administradora de la escuela más grande del condado. Ella indicó que sabía que le ofrecía la oportunidad de aprender a ser la clase de administradora que le gustaría ser. Ella comunicó, “Respeto su experiencia y liderazgo.”

Desde su primer día de trabajo en Blair le fascinó colaborar con sus colegas. Los otros administradores de la escuela comparten y le ayudan enormemente en este nuevo ambiente. También comenta que siente una conexión con todos los inmigrantes y con la comunidad latina en general. Su meta es estar presente y tener la habilidad de comunicarse con los estudiantes y sus familias.

Con eso en mente, trae un punto de vista de inclusión a sus proyectos que llevará a cabo en la escuela. También quiere servir de portavoz para la comunidad latina de Blair.

Es de importancia para Burgos-Ojeada que los estudiantes puedan verse así mismos en los profesionales a su alrededor y les quiere comunicar que, “La escuela, la educación y el liderazgo es para todos.” Los estudiantes la inspiran cada vez que comparten lo que han sobrevivido y cómo han triunfado para llegar hasta donde están. Ella les aconseja que, aunque no sea fácil, hay que seguir adelante. Su mensaje es que la cultura e historia latina representa la creatividad, la inteligencia y el poder que tenemos para hacer todos nuestros sueños realidad. Si necesitan hablar con ella se le puede encontrar en su oficina en la sala 240.

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October 12, 2017

A dream deferred continued from An Uncertain Future on A1 the Mexican border, and we feel it here,” says Adler.

Pedro, senior, who is a beneficiary of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, crossed the U.S.-Mexican border when he was 16. When he crossed, Pedro was on his second attempt after he and fellow immigrants were caught by Mexican Border Patrol during their first endeavor. “The coyotes [human smugglers], they say that we have three chances,” he says.

“So I missed one … [the Mexican Border Patrol] sent me back. So I was on the second chance.” Had Pedro failed his third attempt, he would have to pay the smugglers another $8,000 in order to receive three additional chances, money he did not possess.

On the second attempt, however, his group made it across Guatemala and through Mexico. “We passed so many police checkpoints, so many checkpoints, and I thought ‘Are you going to send me back again?’”

Pedro’s bus, though, was never stopped. He and his group made it across Mexico, and eventually to the United States.

Pedro is one of over 300,000 foreign nationals covered by the TPS program, according to the Congressional Research Service. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers TPS to immigrants from 13 different countries due to “extraordinary and temporary conditions in the country.” Immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Haiti are protected by TPS, among others.

According to Pedro, his family sent him to the U.S. so he could escape the pervasive gang violence of in El Salvador. Growing up, Pedro realized that there were only two options: leave El Salvador, or enlist in one of their gangs. “If you’re living in a place where all of them are controlling– because that’s how they say it, ‘we control the place’– they want you, as the young, people to join with the gang,” Pedro explains.

MS-13 and 18th Street Gang are just two of the many rival gangs that compete for profit in El Salvador and other Central American countries. Gang violence in El Salvador, a country unofficially titled the “murder capital” of the world, has a crippling effect on the country’s business and life. According to a report by the Salvadoran government, homicides were committed every hour in the first three months of 2016.

Due to the trauma of growing up surrounded by violence, students coming from these countries have a harder time assimilating in the U.S. “These kids have stolen childhoods,” Joellyn Gil, another ESOL teacher, says. “These kids have never had an opportunity to be children and to have a normal kid life because of the situation that they’re constantly in.”

It was this gang violence that

“The kids tend to tell me ... ‘If I go back, I’d be killed.’”

-Joellyn Gil thrust Pedro more than 1,500 miles to the U.S., where he reunited with his father after more than 14 years of separation. The teenager’s face strains from a broadening smile as he remembers seeing his dad for the first time since he was a toddler. “All my childhood I didn’t see my dad, so I was so happy,” Pedro recalls.

grants, or even just the 790,000 DACA recipients, are objectively high. According to the American Action Forum, a think tank led by a former Congressional Budget Office director, deportation of all undocumented immigrants could take 20 years and would cost somewhere between $400 and $620 billion. The deportation of 11 million workers would simultaneously shrink the U.S. economy and reduce GDP growth by $1.6 trillion.

Another study by the Center for American Progress notes that “putting unauthorized immigrants on a pathway to citizenship– which twothirds of Americans support– would add a cumulative $1.2 trillion to GDP over a decade, increase the earnings of all Americans by $625 billion, and create an average of 145,000 new jobs each year.”

Eliza, a DACA recipient who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when she was four, believes that immigrants come to the U.S. to make a difference. “We are here to study, and to contribute to the economy,” she says.

Deportation has mental and emotional ramifications in addition to the economic implications. After struggling to assimilate and make a contribution to U.S. culture, many young immigrants could be thrust back into a dangerous environment. “The kids tend to tell me all the time, ‘If I go back, I’d be killed’ or ‘If I had stayed, I’d be killed,’” Gil says.

Hard at work for Students want a new country action Immigrants, documented or not, make up a large part of the American workforce. A Pew Research Study in 2014 found that eight million undocumented immigrants work in the labor force, and that “they tend to cluster in sectors and occupations that offer low-skilled work.”

Due to the high cost of college, most undocumented immigrants choose to go directly into the workforce. Even young immigrants in high school, like Pedro, have to work jobs to help contribute to their families.

“Right now, I work in a restaurant because of the timing. In the restaurants, you have the facility to make your own time, so you can work after school,” Pedro says.

Undocumented immigrants contribute more than just their labor to the U.S. economy. According to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants contribute $11.64 billion in state and local taxes a year. The study also found that granting legal status to these immigrants would increase their tax payments by $2.1 billion.

Estimates of the cost of deportation for 11.3 million undocumented immi-

Currently, the fate of DACA recipients lies in the hands of Congress.

The Trump administration is giving both the Senate and the House of Representatives six months from September to pass a legislative immigration solution. Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer, who represents Maryland’s 5th District, is leading a push to pass legislation to protect DACA and TPS recipients. “We need to get the DREAM Act to the floor to debate,” he says. Hoyer believes that

once it gets to the floor, the measure will have enough votes to move forward.

Karina Velasco, a Blair and ESOL alumna who now works with other immigrants as a social worker, knows that if her DACA protection is revoked, her family will be separated.

“I should not be taken away from my daughter,” she says. “It’s not fair. We came here for a better future.”

Not only is the DACA deadline approaching, but TPS status deadlines for all 13 countries are set to expire later this year or in 2018. Protections for immigrants from El Salvador, like Pedro, will expire in March of 2018 if they are not extended by USCIS. Alberto, a TPS recipient who resides in Montgomery County and has lived in the U.S. for 16 years, acknowledges that the crackdown on immigration has forced immigrants to be even more cautious. “We are hiding because ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is coming to detain us,” he says.

Even with the future of their immigration status in the balance, there is little that Blair’s undocumented students can do other than continue to pursue education and a life in the U.S. “Learning is helpful for everybody.

So no matter what happens, they can only improve their chances by education, no matter what outcome,” Adler says.

Pedro knows that there is still a wealth of information to learn in the U.S. “I can be even better. I want to learn more, more, and more,” he says.

If protections for DACA and other undocumented students are revoked, the Blair staff and community wants to ensure the school remains a safe space for all students. “We have policies in place to protect them, and you’re safe and you’re welcome. That’s still true here at Blair,” Adler says.

For Pedro, his move to the U.S. represented a tremendous change and an irreplaceable accomplishment, all of which would be lost should his protected status expire. “I’m afraid now, that I can lose what I’ve got right now,” he says. “All my dreams, all my goals, [could] just go to trash.”

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Un sueño diferido a continuación del artículo ¿El fin de DACA? en A1 gislación. Los políticos republicanos Paul Ryan y John McCain han dicho públicamente que no apoyan la decisión del Presidente de terminar con DACA. Los permisos de los recipientes de DACA estarán vigentes por seis meses más pero podrían ser abolidos si el gobierno no crea una solución dentro de este marco de tiempo. Después del anuncio de DACA, el Presidente comunicó a través de las redes sociales, “Para todos aquellos (DACA) que están preocupados por su estado durante el período de 6 meses, no tienen nada de qué preocuparse - ¡No habrá acción!” Los soñadores se han asimilado a la vida americana. Sus países de origen son desconocidos porque ellos crecieron en los Estados Unidos. Estos no han podido regresar a sus países dada las situaciones económicas, sociales y crimin a l e s .

Johnson indicó que, “Han vivido aquí todas sus vidas. Estudian, trabajan y también pagan impuestos como tú y yo. Merecen un camino hacia la ciudadanía.”

Gracias a DACA, muchas veces los soñadores suelen ser los únicos en sus familias que trabajan y son la fuente de ingreso para apoyarlos. Si los permisos de trabajo son abolidos, muchas familias co-rren el riesgo de bajar a la línea de pobreza debido a la pérdida del ingreso. Desde que el Presidente dijo que su administración iba a finalizar el programa, 15 estados y Washington, D.C. anunciaron una demanda contra sus acciones.

Por todo el país, los soñadores y sus familias esperan el voto oficial del congreso en seis meses. Marvin Hernández Flores, un estudiante de Blair del grado doce dijo que,

“Muchos hispanos están nerviosos ya que hay muchas personas aquí que están en ese programa y entonces por la acción del presidente Trump, me imagino que están temerosos por lo que pudiera pasar.”

Desde el anuncio acerca de DACA, los maestros se han preocupado por una actitud ne- gativa contra los latinos. Se ha visto un bajón en el número de estudiantes en las clases preparatorias de español para hispanohablantes nivel 1. La matrícula de los estudiantes METS también ha bajado aproximadamente de 30 a 8 estudiantes en comparación con el año pasado. La directora del departamento de ESOL, Debra Adler dijo,“

No estamos perdiendo estudiantes pero si pienso entre el público en general hay una atmósfera hostil contra nuevos inmigrantes latinos.”

Esto es afirmado por el informe dado por Johnson en donde dice que la población hispana en Blair todavía es el grupo étnico más grande. Al momento de esta publicación en Blair hay un total de 1,080 latinos entre los 3,135 estudiantes que están matriculados en la escuela.

Afortunadamente las actitudes de la comunidad de estudiantes latinos localmente han sido positivas. Hernández Flores comentó que, “Nosotros como latinos podemos trabajar juntos. Pienso que somos una gran población en los Estados Unidos con mucha influencia económica y social. Debiéramos de ser vistos y escuchados.”

De acuerdo a la página web de MCPS, es importante enfatizar que no es cierto que los agentes de ICE pueden entrar a Blair y que puedan tratar de arrestar a un estudiante o hacer una redada. Tampoco es permitido arrestar a alguien solamente por su estatus legal si no han cometido un delito. Johnson aseguró que Blair y MCPS protegerán a sus estu-

diantes en una situación de emergencia. También recalcó, “Nosotros aquí en Blair no podemos preguntarles a los estudiantes sobre su estatus legal, lo cual es bueno.” Además, comentó que la ciudad de Takoma Park es una ciudad santuario donde nadie puede cuestionar a una persona sobre su legalidad en el país.

La última noticia sobre el tema es que el ocho de octubre la Casa Blanca divulgó una lista de las prioridades para cualquier acuerdo. La lista está enfocada en que el congreso apropie dinero para cubrir los gastos de la muralla entre México y los Estados Unidos. Además de este requisito, el Pre- sidente ha pedido al congreso que trabaje en la reforma migratoria y que limite el número de opciones para obtener una tarjeta verde de

“Aquí en Blair nuestra diversidad es nuestro poder.”

-Renay Johnson

do, Chuck Schumer, comentaron, “Le dijimos al presidente, en nuestra reunión, que estamos abiertos a medidas de seguridad fronteriza razonables, pero esta lista va mucho más allá de lo razonable.” Esta lista está en las manos del congreso y ellos tendrán que deliberar la a propiación de dichas prioridades.

Es importante estar informado sobre lo que está pasando. El ver las noticias, leer artículos y escuchar la radio son unas de las cosas simples que ayudarán a largo plazo. El enterarse de las noticias en las redes sociales es más fácil que leer un artículo en un periódico o en el internet pero hay que tener cuidado porque hay información que es fabricada. Esto puede llegar a confundir. Es de gran importancia encontrar fuentes de noticias de confianza como los periódicos The New York Times y The Washington Post. La mayoría de las fuentes de noticias tienen secciones en español. Un consejo que Johnson le da a los estudiantes que son beneficiarios de DACA es, “Involúcrese en su comunidad con organizaciones como CASA de Maryland para que siempre sepan qué hacer en cualquier situación... La Sra. Young, coordinadora de logro para los latinos de Blair, y la Sra. Mendoza, coordinadora de la comunidad para los padres, pueden ofrecer asesoría aquí en Blair... Estas personas han sido entrenadas para saber cómo apoyar a todas las familias pero específicamente a familias que no tienen estatus legal.” Aunque la reforma de DACA todavía está en el aire, todos deben mantenerse bien informados para saber cómo apoyar a todas las familias pero específicamente a familias que no tienen estatus legal.

residencia. Hasta el momento hay muchos políticos demócratas que han criticado públicamente la lista de la Casa Blanca. La líder de la minoría demócrata en la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, y el líder de la minoría demócrata en el Sena-

Story by / Artículo por Will Donaldson and Laura Mendéz-Pinto Art by / Arte por Marissa He Design By / Diseño por Hermela Mengesha and Isabella Tilley

D3 Features

silverchips

October 12, 2017

Silver Spring gun shop hits its target

How gun shops in the Silver Spring area thrive despite tense politics

By Marlena Tyldesley A stuffed bird is mounted high on the wall alongside a long line of hunting rifles.

Below the rifles, display cases stocked with handguns of every size and make span the length of the wall. Gun stands are posted across the store, loaded with practice targets, camo gear, and gun care equipment. Outside sits a different world. Pedestrians and bikers flood the streets of Downtown Silver Spring, fighting through the Whole Foods parking lot, crowding Veterans’ Plaza, and filing into the library across the street. The majority of them will never step foot in Atlantic Guns.

While parts of Maryland are quite conservative, the state is generally left-leaning. According to Politico, 60.5 percent of Maryland residents voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. In fact, Maryland’s 8th congressional district, which holds Silver Spring and Takoma Park, has elected a Democratic representative in every election for the past 15 years. Gun control is an important part of the Democratic party platform, making Downtown Silver Spring a surprising a location for a gun shop.

Nonetheless, Atlantic Guns has operated successfully since 1950. According to the Atlantic Guns website, George Schneider, a U.S. Army firearms instructor during World War II, opened the store after leaving the service and deciding to sell surplus military guns for personal use.

Sixty-seven years later, George Schneider’s grandson, Mark Schneider, now manages the store. In an attempt to cater to everyone, Mark Schneider’s store sells guns for defense, high end shotguns, high end rifles, and guns on the more affordable side. “We have a little bit of everything,” he says. “We have a big self-defense

market … [and] a good hunting market.”

Mark Schneider’s customers are not the only gun owners in the area. Christian Layke, a 46-year old Takoma Park resident, lived around guns nearly his whole life. His grandfather taught him to shoot a pellet gun when he was five years old and intended to teach him to shoot a shotgun when he turned 16 but fell ill and passed away before he could. Now, Layke uses guns for hunting, as well as trap and skeet shooting.

Layke keeps his guns at his mother’s house, because, as he says, he “prefers to stay married.” His wife is adamantly opposed to having guns in their home. “She had a strong emotional reaction against guns, despite never having fired one,” Layke says.

According to Layke, not all Takoma Park residents share his wife’s attitude toward guns. “I know a couple of families who have guns,” he says. “I strongly suspect that more people have guns than I know.”

Layke is not especially passionate about gun ownership. “I’m pretty ambivalent about it,” he says. “I find hard-core second amendment advocates to be misguided, and I don’t enjoy conversations with them.”

Despite owning guns, Layke disagrees with these avid gun owners on the issue of gun control. “I would be happy needing a license to own a gun,” Layke says, “and would therefore be ‘the enemy’ to many of them.” While Layke has never purchased a gun, only inherited them, if he were to buy one, he says it would be from a local store.

That is where Atlantic Guns comes in.

In an area where gun culture is certainly not common and sometimes even frowned upon, Atlantic Guns provides the perfect template for a Takoma Park gun owner like Layke to satiate his hobby. Despite the liberal area Atlantic Guns finds itself in, the store has remained standing for decades

soapbox Does anyone in your family own a gun?

“My uncle owns a handgun... He says that he never uses it and that its only purpose is for protection.”

— Jake Kibunja, senior

“It makes me feel uncomfortable and unsafe to think about having a gun in my household.”

— Sabrina Flores, junior

“In my country El Salvador I have an uncle who owns a gun... because there are many gangs.”

— Madelin Andrade, junior

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

AN UNLIKELY LOCATION Atlantinc Guns is a gun shop in Silver Spring. George Schneider opened the shop in 1950, and it has been in business ever since. and never had an issue with criticism. When asked if the store has gotten any pushback from the local community, Schneider answers, laughing, “At least not to my face!”

This story is accompanied by a video produced by Ben Miller. To see the video, scan this code with a QR reader app or use the URL below. tinyurl.com/chipsrange

silverchips

October 12, 2017

Features D4

Experience or exploitation?

Unpaid internships are popular, but they may not be fair

By Lucy Gavin

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

A PERSONAL DECISION Suraya Muhamed and Mahnaz Habib each choose to display their religion differently.

Unraveling the headscarf

By Arshiya Dutta

Suraya Mohamud’s morning routine is similar to that of most teenage girls. She rolls out of bed, brushes her teeth, and picks out an outfit for the long day ahead of her.

It is her final steps that set her apart from the others. She proceeds to open a wooden closet door, and scans a colorful array of scarves in order to find one that will match her blouse. She selects a bright blue and purple scarf and grabs several metal pins to help her secure it. For her, wearing a hijab every day is more than just a religious routine; it is a part of her identity.

The right to practice religion is fundamental, and every person makes a decision about the degree to which they subscribe to religious customs. Many, like Mohamud, choose to incorporate their faith into their physical appearances. According to David Whitacre, a Comparative Religion teacher at Blair, religious clothing can be symbolic of one’s inner truths. As Whitacre explains, wearing a hijab can show “modesty, humbleness, and a constant connection to Islam.”

However, there are many who chose not to wear a hijab.

Mahnaz Habib is a born Muslim like Mohamud. She celebrates Muslim holidays, prays regularly, and abides by Muslim values, but unlike Mohamud, she chooses not to wear a headscarf. “I don’t think modesty means that you have to cover up,” Habib says. Instead, she focuses on trying to show modesty through her actions and through her words.

Although Habib is proud of her religion and openly tells people about her faith, she would feel slightly vulnerable if she wore a hijab because of how much hate is associated with Islam.

In contrast, Mohamud feels empowered by wearing her hijab in public. “Being Muslim is a big part of my identity, [and] I want people to know that about me,” she says.

Regardless of these differences, the two girls shared the same journey of self-discovery when deciding whether to wear the headscarf or not. While the decisions made

by Habib and Mohamud were both somewhat influenced by female family members, the ultimate decision was their own. “I fell in love with my religion first,” Mohamud says.

“When I felt as though I could take the next step, I knew that my mom would support me.”

Regardless, both girls face their fair share of dilemmas. Habib feels sometimes that because she does not wear a hijab to Sunday school or a Mosque, it makes others think she isn’t proud of her religion.

Mohamud faces a different type of dilemma, which is discrimination. By wearing a hijab in public, she opens herself up to Islamophobia and other ignorant comments.

She remembers one time when another student she did not know put two fingers to her head and said “Boom, I hate Muslims.” Although she does not like talking about times where she faces ignorant people, she has to deal with them on any given day.

Despite their differences, both girls embrace the freedom of religious expression in their own ways, whether that involves wearing a hijab or not. Whatever they choose, they are bound by one faith that runs deeper than a layer of silk.

“I have such a strong connection to the other girls around Blair who do wear hijab or don’t wear it,” Mohamud says. “We’re all going through the same thing. We all are united under one belief. By saying you are Muslim it is stronger than any bond.

Whether you wear a scarf or not you’re my best friend.”

Over the summer, freshman Joseph Zenick spent his days interning for a cybersecurity and metadata company based in North Carolina.

Zenick spent hours arranging data, working on the company’s operating system, and even running server maintenance for the tech conglomerate. But after weeks of meticulous labor, Zenick received nothing from the company.

A case like this is far from abnormal. According to The National Association of Colleges and Employers, 46.5 percent of internships were unpaid in 2014.

This type of work, however, was deemed illegal by The Fair Labor Standards Act of 2009. The legislation details a specific set of criteria that must be met for an internship to qualify as unpaid, but as of right now a number of companies have circumvented the law completely.

The first criterion employers must meet when setting up unpaid internships is that

of outdoors, working on the computer.

He honed his skills in web scraping programs, which is extracting large amounts of data from websites and saving it to a local file.

Jeffries now wishes she had been compensated. “Looking back on it, it was a lot of fun,” she says. “I made some super cool friends, but I really wish I had been paid.”

Enforcement

The Fair Labor Standards Act has been difficult to enforce since its conception. According to Susan Carle, a professor of labor relations and employment law at American University, there are three main reasons the law is hard to enforce.

“One is that interns want the job, and employers want unpaid interns, so there’s no one to really report the violations,” Carle explains.

Carle believes the criteria itself can be a source of confusion.

“The factors are a little ambiguous because basically the point is that the intern-

TIFFANY MAO

COURTESY OF KATIE CALINGAERT

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE Junior Katie Calingaert discussess her research experiences with a group.

Calingaert spent this past summer working as a fellow for Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin. the training must involve academic instruction as opposed to menial labor.

The second requirement stipulates that there must be a mutual understanding between the employer and the intern that the intern is in no way entitled to a job or payment at the end of the training period.

Finally, the employer must receive no immediate advantage from the intern, meaning the internship should be more valuable to the intern than to the employer. The purpose of this criterion is to ensure that employers do not exploit unpaid interns, but it is difficult to quantify.

According to Zenick, his internship involved little to no guidance and was instead focused on the same tasks that paid employees were given.

“Out of eight hours a day, about an hour and a half would be watching other people, while the other six and a half would be actually doing stuff by myself,” Zenick recalls.

On the job

Senior Nina Jeffries worked in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as an intern for the Student Conservation Association.

Every morning she would wake up at 6:00 a.m., eat her daily breakfast of instant oatmeal, and then hike up the mountain to perform maintenance on her assigned trail.

She would cut brush for hours every day, stopping only to eat a quick lunch.

While the hours she worked were similar to Zenick’s, he spent the day indoors instead

ship has to be primarily for the educational benefit of the student in order for it to not be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Carle says. “But it’s really hard sometimes to figure out what is primarily for educational benefit and what is primarily for the benefit of the employer.”

According to Carle, the final reason has to do with problems within the Department of Labor. “The labor department doesn’t have the resources to really pursue violations in general, and they’re much more concerned about different kinds of violations, where people are clearly employees,” she says. “It kind of falls to the bottom of the priority list.”

The alternative

While interns like Zenick found their experiences to be less educational than they imagined, some internships are in line with the Fair Labor Standards Act and provide more of a learning environment.

One was Representative Jamie Raskin’s six week long educational program, Democracy Summer. In this fellowship, high school students like Katie Calingaert, junior, are trained in campaigning and political skills.

Calingaert worked on Raskin’s phone bank, learned about political strategy, and put together discussion groups on issues like climate change, and immigration policy.

She feels the program gave her a beneficial set of experiences. “We all have something we want to change in our world or in our communities, and what this program

did was teach us how to do that,” she says.

Mae Gilligan, senior, also spent her summer with Democracy Summer. Gilligan was aware from the beginning that the intern-

“Interns want the job, and employers want unpaid interns, so there’s no one to really report the violations.”

-Susan Carle, American University Professor

ship would be unpaid.

“It specifically stipulates this is a fellowship so we’re not paying you, because you’re contributing but it’s not a working relationship,” she says.

Calingaert’s perspective on compensation changed throughout the internship.

“During that time I was saying this is too much work, I need to be paid,” she says.

“But now I know that we were paid with knowledge.”

D5 Features

silverchips

October 12, 2017

Changing climate, changing tides

Flooding, beach erosion, and worsening storms in the future of Maryland’s beaches

By Anson Berns From August 28 through September 1, as the hallways of Montgomery County schools remained devoid of students for the first time in years, the Maryland beach industry enjoyed an additional week of summer business. The delayed school year start was a consequence of Governor Larry Hogan’s transparent attempt to rake in more beach revenue through a statewide extension of summer vacation. Hogan’s plan may have been successful, but the biggest threat to Maryland’s beach tourism industry has nothing to do with revenue. The beaches of the Eastern Shore are vulnerable to climate change and the storms and flooding it brings with it. With rising sea levels eroding the rapidly shrinking coastline, the effects of global warming are already visible. Maryland’s schools will still be standing as time ticks on, but its beaches have no such guarantee.

Within two weeks of MCPS’s late opening—as Hurricane Jose wound down into a tropical storm moving north along the east coast—the few vacationers remaining in Ocean City witnessed violent, ten foot waves crashing onto the beach. Officials in Delaware scrambled to close the Indian River Inlet Bridge near Bethany Beach as the storm surge pummeled the coast with water, breaching dunes and spilling over into the streets.

The area’s major roadway, State Route 1, was flooded and closed for hours. While infrastructure was largely safe, the threat of Jose was apparent despite it being almost 200 miles away. With Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria joining Jose to create an unprecedented barrage of tropical storms affecting

the eastern US in recent months, it is more likely than ever for Maryland beaches to be hit by storms they can’t handle.

The long-range damage inflicted by Jose is reminiscent of Maryland’s last brush with a storm of this magnitude: Hurricane Sandy.

While Sandy’s closest landfall was in New Jersey, the storm still killed nine Marylanders and extensively damaged the beaches of the Delmarva Peninsula. Sandy also marks the last time Ocean City’s Comprehensive Emergency Operations plan was put into use, resulting in a city-wide evacuation for an entire week. According to scientists at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), that plan may have to be executed more frequently in the future. A Coastal Resiliency report done by the MDNR in March 2016 assessed Ocean City as having a very high Shoreline Hazard Index, a metric created to quantify an area’s risk from coastal flooding and erosion from storms.

The coast is largely protected against flooding comes in the form of dunes, which the same MDNR report classified, along with similar natural habitats, as a major factor in the protection of the Eastern Shore. However, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Maryland agree that the violence of storms in the region is accelerating.. If storms like Jose cause a small dune breach, harderhitting storms will breach larger, significant sections of dunes and could do serious damage to economic institutions such as the boardwalk. Climate change-based closure of businesses would be detrimental to the beach tourism industry, rendering efforts like

Hogan’s executive order useless.

While storms like Jose may give scientists a glimpse into a terrifying future, climate change is no hypothetical. Global warming has already taken its toll on beaches in the form of rising sea levels and shrinking shorelines. Rising sea levels in the area are exacerbated by land subsidence, a process in which terrain sinks lower due to human interference with groundwater. A 2015 University of Vermont study named the D.C. and Chesapeake area as one of those most affected by the process, predicting the city will sink six inches

or more in the 21st century. This phenomenon, coupled with global sea level rises, is already markedly changing the Chesapeake landscape. According to the Washington Post, some islands in the bay, like Holland Island, have already sunk underwater, while others, like Smith Island, are soon to follow.

The MDNR’s strategic plan for sea level recognizes the risks of sea level rise of this magnitude, which often leads to saltwater invading freshwater areas and disturbing the natural ecosystem. As coastal communities sink farther and far-

ther into the ocean, large scale flooding only becomes more of a threat to beach communities.

Global warming has made the future of Maryland’s beaches uncertain. The precarious position of the Eastern Shore means that the coming century could see storms that drastically alter the landscape of the Chesapeake Bay area and submerge beaches. Regardless of efforts made to funnel business into beach tourism at the expense of schools, climate change may ensure that within the next century there simply will not be any beaches left to tour.

SEOYOUNG JOO

October 12, 2017

Features D6

silverchips

Speaking out in a silenced world

Reality of abuse in teen relationships

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

Emily clutched her boyfriend’s arm, begging desperately for the slightest of changes in his vacant expression.

Knowing what would make Rick happy, she told him, “I’ll do it.” At the end of the night, Rick got what he wanted, the fulfilment of his sexual dreams.

Emily, on the other hand, was left alone without any sense of control over her choices.

Like changing seasons, Emily watched her relationship transition into a series of ticking time bombs.

In a matter of days, she experienced Rick’s guilt tripping and aggressive, intimidating tactics to satisfy her romantic partner.

Despite such obvious signs, Emily still referred to Rick as her boyfriend, not her abuser. The continuous emotional damage he caused was temporarily forgotten when he showed an ounce of affection.

Although people of all ages and genders are susceptible to abuse from their partners, women of late teens and early adulthood are especially vulnerable and can be completely unaware of the signs of an abusive relationship.

According to Safe Voices, a nonprofit that helps victims of domestic violence, “women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest per capita rates of intimate violence.”

Early teens are also susceptible to abusive relationships, as most of them are not knowledgeable about the topic in the first place.

According to Safe Voices, “only half of tweens (age 11-14) claim to know the warning signs of a bad/hurtful relationship.”

Commonly misconstrued as something strictly physical, relationship abuse can also be emotional, sexual, and verbal.

The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness defines relationship abuse as “a pattern of abusive and coercive behaviors used to maintain power and control over a former or current intimate partner.”

Unexpected behavior

Abusive relationships often start off with good intentions. Partners amplify positive qualities such as kindness, love, and affection. At the beginning of their relationship, Rick was everything Emily wanted: mature, kind-hearted, and emotional.

“He seemed nice… I knew he was in touch with his emotional side. Other guys I engaged with were completely not which bothered me,” Emily explains.

But after several weeks, Emily felt confined. She said “yes” to anything Rick desired; even a mutter of a “no” would be followed with a feeling of responsibility for Rick’s ongoing depression.

According to “In the Mix”, a national PBS weekly series for teens, “nearly one in five teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend had threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a break-up.”

At even just a hint of rejection, Emily was lured into saying yes yet again.

“When I said ‘I don’t want to do this right now,’ he would just say ‘I’m really sad all the time, please make me happier,’” Emily says. “I knew that he had a lot of emotional problems and mental illnesses, but I didn’t think that it would come into affecting me.”

Recognizing abuse

No one expects abuse. When asked, most people can even identify the signs of an abusive relationship.

However, realizing the abuse and knowing what course of action to take in one’s own relationship can be completely unrealistic.

The lack of knowledge teens have about abusive relationships stems from the lack of education prior to late teens.

LOVEISRESPECT.ORG

HANNAH LEE

“Dating and Sexual Relationships” is part of MCPS’ tenth grade Secondary Comprehensive Health Education Curriculum Framework, which means students learn about the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships from ages 15-16.

As a result, students are left without information in their early teen relationships.

According to the Do Something Organization, only “one-third of the teens who were involved in an abusive relationship confided in someone about the violence.”

Emily was one of the two-thirds of victims who did not confide in anyone.

She was reluctant to admit to her friends

— and to herself — that Rick was abusing her. “I didn’t talk to them [my friends] because I was in denial about it,” Emily says.

Emily found it hard to speak about her relationships, as she was clean of any bruises on the outside. She felt a need to prove that she was being abused to others in order to be deemed worthy of receiving help.

Emily reached her breaking point, unable to deal with the overwhelming burdens of Rick’s words.

She started to lean on the people who matter most to her: friends and family.

After opening up to her parents, Emily realized that could not tolerate her abusive relationship any longer. “They told me that it’s never okay for someone to do that,” Emily says.

Things that seemed small at first turned into loud, blaring signs that she was caught in the middle of an emotionally abusive relationship.

Finding solutions

In addition to Emily’s approach, hotlines, school counselors, friends, and online resources are all viable options for victims.

LoveIsRespect.org, a national teen dating abuse helpline, provides participants of abusive relationships with open ears through an online chatting service.

At Blair, there are over ten school counselors who give guidance and a sense of direction for all types of issues, ranging from schedule changes to toxic relationships.

Emily Putney, a guidance counselor, says that there are many resources at school for student victims of abusive relationships.

“We have given them options in terms of reporting it, therapy, policy, and safety options,” Putney says.

“We never tell anybody what do to but definitely give them suggestions on their relationships and let them know that they are safe at school.”

Breaking free

THE NATIONAL DOMESTIC HOTLINE

HANNAH LEE

For Emily, realizing the abuse was one matter but leaving the relationship was another step to take.

After just three months, Emily broke free of Rick’s dominating presence with support from friends and family.

While breaking up Rick, Emily made sure to not leave the relationship without giving the last word. “I told him that I didn’t like how he wasn’t communicating with me,” Emily said.

Although Emily noticed the relationship becoming abusive on her own, her friends played a large role in giving her endless advice and support.

“My friends helped me realize more things… they pointed out the things he did,” Emily said.

Emily also learned what she and others should do if someone of her age becomes involved in an abusive relationship.

“Be honest with yourself… it’s hard to admit but the best thing to do is to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.”

E1 Entertainment

silverchips

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on books, black beauty, and hair

October 12, 2017

from ADICHIE page A1 stories only about people who are like you.

In some ways, literature, shapes our reality, so if you’re reading books and you’re not seeing people who look like you, you start to think that your story is not worthy and that’s a very dangerous thing.

Q: How do you feel about your book, Purple Hibiscus, being taught in schools?

A: When you’re a writer it’s always nice to be read. You write books and you never know if anybody is going to read them. It makes me particularly happy that young people are reading it because I hope that it makes it possible for them to talk about difficult things.

I think when you read a story, it makes it easier to talk about difficult things. If there are people who are dealing with abuse or who have questions about religion and that sort of thing, I like to think that the book will help them start to talk about those things.

Q: We see Kambali in Purple Hibiscus go from a life shrouded in silence to liberation and defiance. Do you see a revolution of sorts happening for black women in the same way?

A: I think that black women have always been strong. I think that in this country, in the history of black women, there’s a kind of resilience. The country is so determined to hold [them] down and still somehow they survive.

I like, for example, black women who are very active on social media. So often I’ll read pieces on “Black Twitter” and apparently it’s mostly women and they shoot people down when they need to. And I’m like, “Yes!” But I really think black women have always been strong.

Q: You said you do not want to focus too much on hair while raising your daughter.

In a time when the natural hair movement is everywhere on social media and youtube, what is your reasoning for this?

A: I’m actually very keen on hair. When I’m not able to write, I waste my time watching hair videos on youtube. And the thing about those people is, I’m like, how...did you get that twist to happen, because I’ve tried that product and mine did not work.

So I like hair, but what I mean is that when I was growing up, on weekends they would take me to get my hair done. My brothers would go and do other interesting things and I spent the whole Saturday in the hair salon.

And I thought that was a waste of time.

So when I’m with my daughter, I’m going to do her hair and we’ll do all kinds of hair things, but it won’t take the whole day. It’s not going to be the primary thing. I was raised to think that my hair had to be perfect, my hair doesn’t have to be perfect.

I’m a very big fan of the natural hair movement. I’ve been natural for almost 20 years. Before it was cool. And I’m really happy now to see black women wearing their

AVERY BROOKS

hair the way God made it.

Q: When it comes to the natural hair movement, do you think we are coming closer to accepting all different hair types?

“I love my 4C hair. I think of it as architectural hair because it can do things; it can stand.”

-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Author A: No, I think most black women still want to have biracial hair and I think it’s important to acknowledge that. And there’s always sort of the idea that if you’re a 4C or a 4B, you have to try and get your hair to be something else. And I just don’t even have time for that. I think there’s still a lot to be done, but I think it’s getting there.

You have to remember that 10 years ago

even being natural, no matter what your curl pattern was, was just not a thing. And now it is, so it’s progress. And I’m hoping that in the next 10 years we will start to see all kinds of natural hair as equally beautiful. Because I really think they are. And I love my 4C hair. I think of it as architectural hair because it can do things it can stand.

Q: For a lot of black women, growing up in this country, it’s hard for them to see themselves as beautiful. What was it like coming from Nigeria, growing up in that culture, and then coming to America?

A: You know it’s funny, somebody was asking me recently about the privilege of being beautiful. Because when you are attractive it’s a privilege. And I said to them: it’s a privilege I had in Nigeria, but when I came to the US, I didn’t really think of it because this is not a culture that acknowledges dark skinned black women as aspirational. I realized that I’m not what is aspirational in America. But I thought that was America’s problem, not mine.

But I do worry about what [magazines and social media] are saying to young women. I worry about it, and not even just for black women. I think all women have this issue of their bodies and there’s always something to dislike. And I think that’s so unhealthy.

If you talk to men, they’re not spending all of their time thinking about how they need to make their bellies flatter or make their butts bigger. So while I think that social media is good, I think it’s dangerous in some ways because it gives a version of reality that isn’t true.

Q: How has America changed your worldview?

A: I now want to have 75 different kinds of cereal in a supermarket. I did not have that expectation in Nigeria. You go to Nigeria and you go to the supermarket and there’s corn flakes and oats.

You come to the US and there’s corn flakes with berries, corn flakes with strawberries, corn flakes with reduced fat, corn flakes with reduced sodium. Having lived here off and on for 15 years I now expect variety in cereal.

This is how America has changed me.

Q: When it comes to black beauty and hair, do not understand why it is so deepLISTENING TO THE CROWD The moderator and Adichie listen to an audi- many ly important to black women. How would ence member’s question as part of the Q&A portion of the evening’s event. you explain it to them?

AVERY BROOKS

A: To be a human being is always to want.

We all seek validation. The whole point of being human is to feel that you’re not alone.

And being young also means you’re insecure, you’re questioning, you’re growing, and if you’re not seeing yourself reflected as something that is good, it affects you.

So it’s important to ask those people, well now imagine, imagine that every magazine you opened had people who are from Sudan. And you’re white and that’s all you see, over and over again, and when they’re like, “Here’s the new look for the summer,” this ebony black woman, gorgeous woman, with a big afro. And that’s what you see over and over again and you’re white, it will mess with your head.

So it’s good to flip the story and say to them “imagine.” Or imagine for example that the only time blond hair is considered beautiful is when this beautiful ebony col-

“I realized that I’m not what is aspirational in America. But I thought that was America’s problem not mine.”

-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Author

ored sudanese woman puts on a blond wig.

All the other times blond hair is like, “Ehhh.” But the Sudanese one puts it on and it’s like, “Yeah! Beautiful.” That’s what cultural appropriation is. Storytelling is very good because that’s how to get people to try and imagine what it’s like to be in your shoes.

Q: What are you reading now?

A: I’m reading a lot of things. I’m reading a book of poems by Terrance Hayes, he’s an African American poet. He’s just fantastic.

And I’m also reading an English [author] called Tessa Hadley. Who is just brilliant.

A short story collection called “Bad Dreams and Other Stories.”

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Entertainment E2

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October 12, 2017

Living the meme

The journey to internet sensation

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!

COURTESY OF CHRISTY CANJURA

COURTESY OF NABILA HACK

VIRAL SNAPSHOTS From left to right: Senior Christy Canjura puckers up millimeters from pop singer Ariana Grande. The space between their lips gained popularity online as a visual representation of proximity; Blair alum Nabila Hack pauses while changing shoes during a photoshoot. This photo got exposed to thousands of people as a meme illustrating the concept of function versus fashion.

By Camden Roberts In 2015, senior Christy Canjura opened her Twitter app, not expecting to see her own face looking back at her.

“I never really pictured myself as a meme,” Canjura says. She describes herself as shocked, because she was so used to seeing other people.

Meme culture is a relatively new idea, one that became more popular with the rise of social media, and it changes so quickly that society seem to forget the people behind the images. The backstory behind the meme is almost always completely ignored, and the real person behind the image is often forgotten.

To really understand the contemporary usage of the word, the background needs to be explained.

The first usage of the word “meme” is in the 1976 book The “Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist. In his book, Dawkins discusses the need for a word that represents how information is passed

from person to person. “[We need] a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission,” Dawkins writes.

He initially suggested the word ‘mimeme,’which is Ancient Greek for “imitated thing”, but shortened it to meme.

Recently, the usage of the word has evolved and is primarily used to refer to jokes that are shared on social media. They tend to be either a picture or a specific sentence structure repeated in different contexts.

Damien Pfister, an associate professor of communication at the University of Maryland, describes the new interpretation of memes as a kind of cultural currency.

“If you can deploy a meme as a tweet or a text, you gain more social capital or more cultural power, I think that’s not too far off from the power one might accrue with currency, 2,000 years ago,” Pfister says.

Basically, the use or creation of a meme makes a person seem funnier or more approachable on social media.

Just as most of the trends that appear on social media do, meme culture affects students at Blair.

Canjura’s meme was a copy of her meet and greet picture with Ariana Grande, which was shared widely on Twitter.

“I became like a little trend.”

Canjura says.

Often in meet and greets, the fan comes in with an idea for a pose to do for the picture. “We decided we were going to get married,” Canjura says.

In the picture, Grande and Canjura are facing each other, pretending to be about to kiss. Behind them, Canjura’s friend holds her hands up, imitating a priest. The pictures from the meet and greets were uploaded onto a website so people could find theirs, and fans of Grande found and shared Canjura’s photo.

The picture was shared widely because it appeared that Canjura and Grande were kissing.

“They were like, ‘Oh my God, Ariana kissed a fan,’ so that was on Twitter for maybe three, four days. They found my [username] and they were tweeting me like, ‘You’re so lucky, how did it feel?”

Canjura says.

Once the picture gained popularity, people began to make it into a meme, zooming in on the small space between their lips and pairing it with text like “how close I am to —.” (Ex: How close I am to having an emotional breakdown, because their lips are close together. This indicates that the person who shared the meme is close to a breakdown).

Canjura describes the whole experience as surreal. “[The first time I saw it] I was a little shocked.”

Canjura is not the only Blazer who has been the subject of a meme in recent years. Nabila Hack, who graduated from Blair in 2016, also had a picture widely shared.

During a photoshoot in New York City, she was changing her shoes, and the photographer stopped her to take a picture. “He got me in the transition of changing my shoes from sneakers to high boots.” Hack says.

The photographer shared it on his Instagram, and it was reposted from there.

“It went extremely viral, I

As summer has come to an end, I cannot help but feel disappointed with the movies in recent memory.

Of course there have been some standouts such as the wonderfully stylized Baby Driver and the tension filled Dunkirk, but the majority of movies fell into the realm of passable.

This rampant mediocrity is not a recent phenomenon. Despite being widespread, it stems from one main source: the production companies.

A big movie is essentially a business. The film needs to bring in more money than it cost to make, through box office sales, merchandise, DVDs, and streaming rights, in order to create a net profit. With the decline in theater attendance, production companies, those funding the projects, will do whatever is necessary to make money.

The easiest way to make a box office hit is to fill a tried-and-true mold. No one does this better than Marvel studios. Marvel’s first film, Iron Man, struck a chord with audiences. It was a superhero movie that could be enjoyed by everyone, not just comic book fanatics.

Grossing half a billion dollars worldwide, Iron Man opened up the doors to “phase one” of Marvel’s cinematic universe. Marvel followed with five movies over the next four years: four origin stories and one movie that tied them all together in the $1.5 billion grossing monstrosity known as The Avengers.

The problem is, other than the story and characters, there was nothing noticeably different about the movies. This has continued on through phase two and three of the cinematic universe—independent and interconnected stories leading to a final concluding chapter of the storyline.

Even slight deviations from the formula such as Guardians of the

gained almost eight thousand followers,” Hack says.

She was never actually tagged in the post, but people found her anyway.

Canjura and Hack were both aware that their pictures would be public. “I knew it was going to be posted at some point, and I was gonna post it, so I don’t think it’s really that much of a problem,” Canjura says about other people sharing her photo.

Unlike Canjura’s, Hack’s picture was designed to be a meme.

“It was planned and that’s what

Galaxy and Doctor Strange, with their quippy humor and bright colors, still contain a thick smear of Marvel’s influence through the forcefully interconnected universe.

At its very heart, Marvel does not want to make movies that are unique and advance the art form; they want to rake in cash. They create movies that are virtually identical in editing style, music, sound direction, color direction, and cinematography without receiving backlash from critics or negative reaction from audiences.

For example, most Marvel movies attempt to up the stakes of the last with the threat of earthly destruction almost always being the primary worry. The Avengers, Thor 2, The Avengers 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2, and Doctor Strange all feature a powerful being or race of beings threatening the safety of the world.

When these elements are already established by the production company, it leaves little room for the director to make creative decisions. Big production companies will take fewer risks on projects and stick to the methods that are proven to make money.

Edgar Wright, the director of Baby Driver, has made a handful of other movies such as Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, each handcrafted with editing genius and visual brilliance. He is a director that makes a movie an experience, rather than a simple moving picture.

When Marvel hired him to direct their 2015 movie, Ant Man, they limited his creativity by telling him exactly what they wanted from the movie with little creative room to do anything interesting. “I wanted to make a Marvel movie but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie,” Wright explained in a Variety podcast, when asked about his departure from Ant Man. These are movies that many people watch. By supporting this trend, originality is going to become a rare commodity, and by the time people begin to demand something new, novelty will be a long forgotten concept. All I know is that I will not be there to watch any of the Avengers ensemble ever again.

most people don’t know,” she says.

Social media has been so involved in pop culture that the evolution of the word meme almost seems inevitable.

Memes as a part of society is nothing unprecedented. “People have always used new communication media to influence social networks,” says Pfister.

Communication has evolved, from spoken language, to written language, to the Internet. The way ideas are shared has changed, and will continue to change.

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E3 Entertainment

October 12, 2017

Sitting down with the directors of Battle of the Sexes

By Elias Monastersky

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are film directors known for movies like Little Miss Sunshine and Ruby Sparks. Their most recent film, Battle of the Sexes, tells the story of the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King, played by Emma Stone, and Bobby Riggs, played by Steve Carell.

The tennis match was an important turning point for women’s tennis and feminism as a whole.

Q: How do you deal with the criticism toward your movie concerning its focus on feminism and advocacy for gay rights?

Jonathan: It was interesting because our film started to get bad reviews before anyone saw it. If you went on IMDb, it had all these bad scores and it was just people who were anti-feminist.

So it’s interesting for us to experience that kind of hostility toward the film and of course that’s what women have had to deal over the years. We hope that people will approach the film with an open mind.

One of the things that Billy Jean always stresses is that you need to respect your opponent.

She respected Bobby Riggs and Jack Kramer. All these people she fought with, she always knew it had to begin with respect so hopefully that’s something that people will take away from the movie.

Valerie: We didn’t think of this as an agenda movie. We really wanted to humanize everyone in the movie and in the story and hopefully everyone will have some entry point for the story.

We’re not just looking to satisfy the converted. People who already understand the fight for women’s equality, we wanted to make sure that the story was compelling and that you get involved with her story rather than just the political argument. So compassion for the characters as opposed to creating an intellectual argument.

Q: The overall issues that the movie tackles are still very relevant today. How did you take into consideration that this movie would be concerning a controversial topic, that is still heavily debated 44 years after the tennis match?

Valerie: We realized that a lot of these issues will never be completely resolved or set in stone, that power struggles are ongoing and equality is something that we’ll always have to fight for, not just gender equality, but wealth equality and racial equality. It was important for us to raise the issues and also just raise the question for the audience: Yes, a lot has happened in 44 years, but also we still have a long way to go. We hope that the audience will see how much has changed and how much hasn’t changed.

Q: When you’re making a movie that has to tell a true story, how do you know where to stick true the facts and where to exercise creativity and embellish?

Valerie: The way we approached it is, we’re telling a story, so we have to try to make the story as engaging as possible, which sometimes means leaving out some facts.

The things we felt we could change the most were the order of events and the timeline. We messed with the timeline a little bit for dramatic effect. We make sure that it feels true to the emotional logic of the story, so that it feels true to the person, to what they experienced.

Jonathan: The story that we show took about 3 years in real life and we kind of made it all in one year. But there’s lot of stuff in it that is 100% true. She really talked to Nixon and that is Nixon in the voice. And all of the broadcasters are real and what they said in the match is all real.

Valerie: All the scores are real.

In the last match, we took the voice of the commentator, Howard Cosell, who was one of the biggest sports broadcasters of the time, and we used his commentary verbatim. It’s actually him talking. As long as we’re not really stretching the facts, we feel like it’s still a true story.

Q: How did you cast the roles?

Did you know exactly who you wanted or were you looking for specific qualities?

Valerie: We met with Emma [Stone] pretty early on when we first got the script. She was already interested in it, because she knew who Billy Jean was and she was interested in playing a real life person.

She’s never done that before.

She knew that the role would be really challenging and she loves a challenge. And we are big fans of Emma’s. She just seemed like she had the right attitude going in.

Jonathan: We talked to her about training. She had to train for four months to learn tennis and also to get strong and be able to look like a professional athlete.

Valerie: Steve [Carell] was a pretty good tennis player but he had to spend 3 to 4 months practicing with Bobby Riggs’ coach and he studied in the style of Bobby which is a very different style of tennis in the 1970s. What was really fun in casting the whole movie was how many great roles there were.

There were so many great personalities in this story. And because we were shooting in LA we could choose between a lot of really great actors who like to stay in their hometown while they’re working. People like Sarah Silverman, Fred Armisen, Alan Cumming, and Elizabeth Shue. So across the board we had a really great cast.

Q: What prompted your unique use of camera focus and extreme close ups to represent the internal conflict within Billy Jean King, especially concerning her sexuality?

COURTESY OF JONATHAN DAYTON AND VALERIE FARIS

MAKING A RACKET This newly released historical film intimately recounts the 1970s through the stage of the tennis court. The characters Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs play a fateful match that challenges the gender roles of the era and examines the discovery of sexuality.

Jonathan: It’s very important that we communicate the internal world. We talk a lot about the internal battle and the external battle. For the internal battle, it was done through close ups and also through audio. When she gets her hair cut, all the other sounds drop away and we go to this very intimate recording of the just the two voices.

“A lot of these issues will never be completely resolved or set in stone, that power struggles are ongoing and equality is something that we’ll always have to fight for.”

-Valerie Ferris, Director

Valerie: The mic is really close to their mouths so it feels like someone whispering in your ear.

Jonathan: And we also used music. We had a theme that we would play whenever we had a

personal struggle moment with Billy Jean.

Valerie: In addition to the close up macro photography, a lot of the moments that were more intimate with the characters and had more feeling in them, we shot hand held. and when we’re stepping back and we’re seeing a more public view, it’s more solid. What we were interested in is there was this public view of what was going on and there was private view. So we wanted the audience to feel an intimacy with the characters, but then occasionally step out and be reminded that this is all happening in the public eye.

a complex character and that he wasn’t reduced to just a clown. We understood some of the reasons why he acted the way he did. We saw him as a man who felt that the world had passed him by now that he was out of the spotlight and wanted to feel significant again, which we felt were pretty universal feelings that people have. We felt it was ironic that the way he was a kept man, that his wife was the one with the money and he was in his father in law’s business and we felt the truth about the situation was pretty poignant.

Q: A good portion of the movie is designed toward developing the character of Bobby Riggs. He goes from a character that you hate to one that you have sympathy for.

So why did you choose to do this instead of the obvious decision to villainize him?

Valerie: He was exploiting the chauvinism of the time. Not that he wasn’t a chauvinist, but I think he saw that he could use it as a means to get attention and by doing he actually called attention to the chauvinism and sexism of the time. So, in some ways he helped Billy Jean become the icon that she is.

Jonathan: We wanted to make sure that people saw Bobby as

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Entertainment E4

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October 12, 2017

Blazers of Note

From faraway fantasies to reality

What the shifting young adult genre tells us about society

By Elise Cauton

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Ryan Vyskocil Junior

Junior Ryan Vyskocil hasn’t stopped dancing since he was four years old. His exuberance paid off this year when he won the highly coveted Tremaine Senior Dancer of the Year award.

“My mom saw me dancing around the house, and she thought I was too energetic, so when I was four she threw me in dance class,” he said.

Vyskocil became more motivated and serious about dancing when he was eleven years old and attended a convention in DC with his dance studio. His teacher took him aside and told him that he was a good dancer, but he needed to improve his techniques. “It made me really motivated to reach farther and try new things,” he said.

In order to fit this all in, everyday after school, Vyskocil heads to two different dance studios to train: three hours of classical dance, then another hour or two at a second studio.

Vyskocil was overjoyed to learn that all of his hard work and training helped him to win the award. “I felt ecstatic,” he said. “It was crazy.”

Vyskocil is a member of the nationwide Tremaine Dance company, and during select weekends he tours and competes all across the country. After Vyskocil graduates, he plans to pursue dancing professionally.

other means of escaping their lives,” says Kato. “It might be social gatherings at night, or drinking, or any other ways they can escape. But, younger people don’t have these outlets.”

There has always been something intriguing about young adult fiction. After many feared the extinction of young adult novels during the 1990s due to a lack of popularity, the genre defied the odds and has proven to be one of the most profitable markets in literature. The genre was popularized during the 2000s through dystopian novels like the “Hunger Games” and “Twilight.” Close behind, realistic fiction novels such as “The Fault in Our Stars” and “The Hate U Give” rushed into the limelight. In a study conducted by Nielsen BookScan, a data provider for the book publishing industry, 2.4 million young adult books were sold in the first five months of 2012 compared to just 981,000 sold in 2006.

But the renewed popularity of young adult fiction is not accidental. These novels provide teenagers with life lessons that can be difficult to learn in real life. Most importantly, they reflect the rise of a culture that is not afraid to directly address social and political issues.

A new age for realistic fiction

Paving the way toward popularity

According to Epic Reads, a community for teenage readers, dystopian novels spurned young adult novels into mainstream culture. They are often post-apocalyptic, with a main character that realizes the constraints of the society they live in and attempts to produce a better community.

According to Shelly Diaz, editor of the young adult section at the School Library Journal, the rise of dystopian novels, specifically for adolescents, was caused in some part by the September 11 attacks.

“We saw this rise of dystopian especially post-9/11,” Diaz says. “When people, especially young readers, grew up around this time, they had to grapple with big scary issues around the world including terrorism… Fiction is often a way that young people can see these big issues of fear, terrorism, and [political] control in a

SALLY ZHAO

safe space.”

Andrea Lamphier, Blair’s media specialist, believes that students are drawn to dystopian novels because they provide a sense of hope when the students feel helpless. “I think the reality for many students is that [they] don’t have as much control over their lives as they want to,” she says.

Another appealing part of dystopian novels is that they allow teenagers to exit reality and immerse themselves in an entirely different universe. The same goes for escapist novels, books that immerse the reader in a completely different realm, such as the “Harry Potter” series. Dr. Yuki Kato, an assistant professor of sociology at Georgetown University, points out the importance of these novels as a means for teenagers to withdraw from their reality. “Adults have

With social activism and justice movements becoming more transparent with social media, the young adult genre is shifting.

Instead of weaving in messages of social injustice into a dystopian setting, authors are now creating novels that directly address racial and gender issues through realistic fiction, or in some cases, nonfiction. This trend reflects the beginning of the young adult genre in the 1970s. Authors often wrote of hard-hitting topics like drug use, underage drinking, and death. For instance, “All American Boys” is a 2015 novel that discusses police brutality and racial profiling. “It is absolutely socially and politically relevant and incredibly timely,” Lamphier says.

Social media is an influential component that encourages teenage participation for social issues. Kato addresses the possibility that social media is factor for growing teenage participation in politics. “Some of the younger people might feel more energized about being politically active,” Kato says. “[that] is something I’ve heard, that younger people are a lot more interested in politics than before.”As a result, authors are no longer merging their political message into a dystopian or fantasy setting; they are explicitly using realistic fiction to make a point about social issues.

Kato sees the influx of books surrounding social issues as a different, more mature response from adolescents. “This tells us something about how younger people are making sense of the world… it’s not unusual that younger people… are a lot more pragmatic, and sometimes have a sharper and calmer response to what adults see as a crisis,” Kato says. “There’s something about younger people… looking for something positive, while adults are going back to read The Handmaid’s Tale, or something much more depressing and dark. And that gives me hope, if that’s really the direction.”

Movies in color: The importance of diversity How diverse films improve box office performance

By Arshiya Dutta

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

Jordan Jesse Bondo Junior

Most Blazers have probably heard of junior Jordan Jesse Bondo from his widely known Instagram account or have seen him taking photos of students at Blair. But over the summer, Bondo went outside of the Blair community to take photos of tourists in central D.C. Bondo not only took over 350 photos with permission of foreigners visiting D.C. but went a step further and uploaded them onto his website for free and accessible to the public, motivated by his passions for filmmaking and photography. “I was mainly trying to learn how my camera works,” Bondo explained.

Aside from his summer project, Bondo enjoys taking photos of Blazers throughout the year. “The best part of taking a picture is looking at everyone’s smiles… I get to make other people feel good about themselves,” Bondo said.

As a result, Bondo receives widespread attention on social media. He broke several milestones this summer, garnering over 33,000 followers on Instagram and 600 subscribers on YouTube.

Bondo hopes to travel to places other than D.C. and the Blair community to widen the variety of his photos, and to someday become a filmmaker.

By Rosie Daly and Hannah Lee

Hollywood is notorious for its problems with whitewashing and diversity. In recent years, backlash surrounding all-white Oscar nominees flooded social media through the hashtag “#OscarsSoWhite,” and outrage about racism in the movie industry spread. 2017 brought noticeable triumphs towards diversity with the success of movies such as “Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures,” “Lion,” “Wonder Woman,” and other movies starring people of color and women.

Women and people of color, however, are still gravely underrepresented in almost every aspect of the movie industry. This is a blatant injustice to minority groups, especially considering that films with diverse casts are more successful.

On-screen representation is crucial because it spreads the message that minorities’ stories deserve to be told. In contrast, excluding them perpetrates the ideas that they are non-existent, unimportant, and that their stories are not worth telling. Despite this, only 28.3 percent of speaking characters in American films are non-white, and for every 2.3 men shown on screen, there was only one woman shown, according to 2014 and 2016 studies by the University of Southern California.

Apart from representation being a pressing ethical issue, Hollywood would actually benefit from diverse casting. According to a study done by the Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, more diverse casts, on any budget level, consistently produce higher grossing films. In the study, 413 films of different budgets were analyzed for their cast diversity and their respective success in their opening weekends.

The results were that diverse films, which ranged from a 38 to 70 percent nonwhite cast, made an average of a $31 million on opening weekend, rather than the $12 million for the films with less diverse casts.

The movie industry, whether it knows it

CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY

or not, is hindering its own success through lack of diversity.

The relationship between diversity and success is not new. A report by the University of California, Los Angeles found that, in 2012, films with a 31 to 40 percent nonwhite cast had “highest median global box-office return as well as the highest median return on investment.” The same study found that, in 2016, films with a 41 to 51 percent nonwhite cast experienced the same success.

Along with this, according to Box Office Mojo, movies starring women in 2015-2016 made nearly $50 million dollars more than movies starring men.

This trend is especially clear in one of 2017’s most successful films, “Wonder Woman,” starring female lead and person of color Gal Gadot. “Wonder Woman” was the highest grossing film of summer 2017, making $406 million. “Wonder Woman” also reached a historic high being the highest grossing domestic release of all DC Extended Universe movies, topping “Suicide Squad” and “Man of Steel.”

ELISE CAUTON

It was female driven and directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins, and it still managed to be successful among all types of people.

Although it is clear that women are capable of starring in and directing movies, they remain underrepresented in the film industry. Women must be represented more, and it can start with hiring more women as directors and producers of films.

Although movies starring female leads and minorities such as “Wonder Woman,” “Girl’s Trip,” and “Hidden Figures” have been on the rise, film casts remain predominantly white.

Hollywood is stepping in the right direction, but it is still not enough to compensate for the whitewashing and sexism in the film industry.

The importance of fair representation in the media cannot be stressed enough, and Hollywood must prioritize inclusivity above all else. Or, white producers can continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on white actors to produce mediocre box office flops, that’s fine too.

E5 Entertainment

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Keeping Blazers dressed for success

By Emma Cross and Olivia Gonzalez Satire Dear MCPS, We noticed you changed our dress code policy, and we cannot help but feel that it was our fault. We should have known that wearing shorts in 90 degree weather would distract our male classmates, but we foolishly assumed that our comfort would be prioritized. How stupid of us for forgetting that the education of our male peers is more important than our own.

On behalf of everyone who has failed to dress “in accordance with the community standards,” we would like to formally apologize for plaguing our school with this irresponsibility that has led to the distraction of countless innocent students. Had we dressed as respectable young women, our test scores surely would have increased. We are deeply sorry for preventing our peers from succeeding. We realize that the sight of our bare shoulders and knees might be deeply upsetting and distracting to the school community. Of course, we would expect our classmates to be focusing on this instead of their coursework. Indeed, most of our school-related problems are linked to the excessive display of female flesh.

In no way is the stress of high school linked to an excessive amount of homework, a ridiculously early start to the school day, or the crowded hallways across schools in

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

Montgomery County. It is not a poorly designed curriculum; rather, it is girls that refuse to cover up. We would not be surprised if our revealing clothing caused the achievement gap.

In particular, we acknowledge that we do not own our bodies and have no right to wear what we like. We thank you, Blair dress code, for reminding us that society dictates what we should wear. In

the guise of creating a proper “atmosphere” in the school, young women are rightly reminded that their bodies are just an object for others’ viewing pleasure. We also thank you for creating a dress code specifically targeted at us promiscuous young women, who obviously need much more guidance in how to dress than our male counterparts. We are so thankful that you decide

what we wear so we do not have to waste our time picking out an outfit every morning!

Not to mention how grateful we are that you do not think our male peers can control themselves when they see our bare shoulders. Can you imagine how chaotic it would be if we thought our bodies were more than merely sexual objects? That maybe most of us just come to

October 12, 2017

school to learn? How absurd.

Often we forget that how we dress disrupts our “safe environment” at school, because obviously the sight of the female body is a danger to all in a learning environment.

Every time that I am told to pull down my skirt or put on a jacket, I am more reassured that I am protected from the evil that is spaghetti straps.

As women have gained representation and sexism and misogyny seemingly decreased over the last few decades, it is always nice to have a friendly reminder that women, no matter how hard we try, will never be equal to men. The best part about the dress code, though, is that it’s like we’re living history--it feels like we’re still in the 1950s. Talk about school being applicable to the “real world!” We really feel connected to all of the scandalous women of the past.

It’ll be crazy when we go to college and get to wear whatever’s most comfortable.

Imagine that! Fortunately, for the remainder of our time at Blair, we will no longer have to worry about being distracted by a stray shoulder in class. The new dress code policy is absolutely an improvement to our educational environment; in fact, why not make it stricter in the future?

XOXO, Miss Modest

October 12, 2017 Fall

by Addie McDonough and Lucy Solomon

Sudoku (easy)

silverchips Across

1. Olive National Heritage Society 5. Six-pack 8. Fist color in the rainbow 11. Unites States 12. Women of color 13. ______of screams 15. Italian city 16. Run batted in 17. Halloween candy ___ pop 18. Disney Show _____ Falls 20. Common fall attire made of wool 22. Stock abbreviation 23. A Movie 24. What?

27. Give me a sip of that 29. The fall of an apple inspired this scientist 34. Lucy Halle character 36. “____ Your Girlfriend” Robyn 38. Several varieties of sorghum 39. “Napoleon, gimme some of your____.”

40. Stinging ant from Guatemala 42. Gilmore Girl 43. How you hit up your girl in middle school 45. Nintendo product 46. Bar in Simpsons

47. iCarly Dancing 49. What you do because of sleep deprivation 51. Pumpkin Spice latte 52. Non-State Armed Group 54. Not It is 56. ________ your horses 60. “ _______ Has Fallen” Movie 64. Type of chain link fence 65. Professional golf league 67. October Zodiac 68. Summer round fruit 69. Scream Queens actor 70. Type of Sock 71. People who make out in the hallways 72. ____ on the Shelf 73. Jam Session Down 1. Remarkable person or thing 2 Vampire Diaries actress 3 Kannada flower 4 slow insect 5 Amiss 6 “ ______ the builder” 7 Science Fiction 8 Gene that produces reelin 9 ____ Woods 10 Drunk Dial you later 11 Cozy fall footwear 13 fire 14 Atom with charge 19 Thicc Boi

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21 Rapper from Bisho 23 Alicia Keys Song 24 Cascade of water 25 Candle Smell 26 Percy Jackson Bad Gods 28 Public Authority for Electricity and Water 30 Insect Dance Move 31 Girl Scout 32 Many Shreks 33 Famous Buzzfeed writer last name 35 American Society of Interior Designers 37 Princess who kissed brother 41 Part of eye 44 This bridge is falling down 48 Michigan State University 50 Harry___ 53 This does not fall far from the tree 55 ____ your on camera 56 When you are too lazy to use the stairs 57 This Bands Fall out began with Zayn 58 Type of Owl 59 New in Latin 60 Quaker_____ 61 Positive Behavior Interventions and Support 62 Goddess of fate 63 Sigma Alpha Epsilon 66 This makes your hair crusty

TIFFANY MAO

COURTESY OF WEBSUDOKU AVERY LIOU

ARITRA ROY

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Archives

October 12, 2017

Edited by Ben Miller and Laura Espinoza

This school year marks the 80th anniversary of Silver Chips. To celebrate the occasion, we will be reprinting articles from our past eight decades in this and upcoming editions. The first entry in this series, covering Silver Chips in the 1930s and 1940s, can be found in our June 2017 edition, accessible through the QR code at the bottom of the page.

This cycle, we are taking a look back at Silver Chips in the 1950s. The decade marked a period of expansion for both the paper and Blair as a whole, with a rapidly growing and integrating student body challenging Silver Chips to expand its coverage and complexity.

While the newspaper continued to focus heavily on school sports and events, it also waded into more challenging topics like public health, race, the Cold War, and divisive American politics.

In general, the Chips editorial board echoed the conservative social leanings of the era but also encouraged students to embrace an international, unprejudiced view of the world.

During the fifties, the paper earned a variety of accolades from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Quill and Scroll Journalism Society and published a multi-year series on tuberculosis awareness which received national attention and commendation.

Howard Metcalf said. “There were two large spruce trees at B-CC cut down, a paint job on each school, and difficulties after the game in both communities. We cannot have this occurring every year as has been done in the past.

“The cutting of the spruce trees promoted the action,” said Athletic Chairman Charles Deffinbaugh. “As badly as I wanted to play them in basketball, I could see no others alternative.”

After discovering the spruce trees cut down, a caucus of both councils and administrates met early Saturday morning in a two-hour conference to decide what action should be taken. By mutual consent of the schools it was decided that the blow struck should be a hard one and so recommended that, starting with Saturday’s game, all athletic relations were to be severed.

“Head for the hills, the girls are taking driving!”

October 13, 1950 WHILE BLAIR BURNS, SCHOLARS FIDDLE Nov. 18, 1955 by Bonnie Feldesman Hypothetical reporter’s question, “What would you do if one of our false alarms turned out to be the real thing and you found the school burning down?”

Cheryl Green - Get my flute. Then as everyone’s running out I’d play “Scotland’s Burning.”

Leona Williams - I’d grab a couple sophomores to kindle the fire!

Bonnie Park - Throw my geometry book in!

Ronnie Willis - Save my old man’s slide rule.

Bernie Kanstoroom - I’d sit back, relax, and grab a Chesterfield--they satisfy!

LOVE IS GRAND, BUT...

May 3, 1951 In the springtime a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. But do these thoughts have to be turned into action on the school grounds? What romance is there in kissing your best girl or beau in front of several hundred other people?

A couple that cuddles in front of their classmates in school appears to have little respect for each other. They cheapen themselves by letting the semblance of doubt in the minds of their observers that if they do this at school, what do they do when they are elsewhere?

They also cast an unfavorable reflection upon their parents by showing a lack of sound home training. Many parents would be shocked if they saw their offspring in action in the halls.

Think twice about love making on school grounds. Love may be blind, but other people are not!

A NOTE TO SENIORS June 4, 1953 by Lee Russell Here we are, you and I, ready to go out into the world after twelve years of school.

As we look at our future, we see two roads, one straight and narrow, the other, crooked and very broad.

Which shall we follow! Many will take the straight and narrow road, but what about the rest of us? Let us examine the broad and crooked road, dividing it into three lanes. The middle lane is crime, and to either side are racial and religious prejudices. Few of us will follow crime, but a lot us will wander onto one of the two outside lanes.

Why? What is the difference between a Catholic or a Jew, or a white and yellow man? “His religion,” you answer, of “his skin.” With a little thought, however, we shall realize that because a man is so slightly different from us is no reason to hate him. He is still a human being, being conceived and born just like us--eating, drinking and breathing like us.

We are all brothers, just as if we were born into each others’ families. For what are we but one part of a huge family, conceived and created by one almighty Father?

“A Typical Bopper” March 5, 1953 TUBERCULOSIS AND YOU Dec. 17, 1952 Do you have tuberculosis?

This is a frank questions which you may regard as insulting and somewhat unnecessary, but in 1950 tuberculosis ranked second in cause of death between the ages of 15-24. This is not mentioning the countless illnesses and hardships for which this killer is responsible.

Probably you will proceed to describe yourself as a perfectly normal person who doesn’t have any symptoms of any kind of illness. Actually, this is one strike in your favor--but not always, because TB doesn’t let you know when it’s doing its dangerous work until it has a substantial foothold.

We are inclined to feel a certain sense of security in our youth which in a way is justified, but tuberculosis is no respecter of age, color, nationality, or sex. It will strike anywhere, anytime. In fact, in just 17 ½ minutes, one more person will die of TB. In spite of this, tuberculosis can be prevented with the cooperation of everyone.

The first step is the detection of the disease.

Despite modern medical developments, it still requires a little effort on the part of the individuals to detect Mr. TB germ.

In Montgomery County, it means just a little walk up to the TB x-ray mobile unit to have a chest x-ray--just a matter of minutes.

Each x-ray costs the County about 50 cents.

Compared with the 15 thousand dollars to heal one case, it is quite a difference.

Although this x-ray service seems to be commonplace, it is unique in Montgomery County. Last year, over 32,000 people were x-rayed and 305 new cases were detected.

We have, right in our own backyard, one of the best TB control programs in the nation.

NEW BUILDING DOUBLE SIZE OF BLAIR Sept. 12, 1952 “How in the world will I ever find my classroom?” were the cries of the new and old alike. The puzzle was due to Blair’s long-due new building--three and a quarter million dollars worth of steel, brick, and stone that will be the headquarters for 1700 Blazers.

The new Wayne Avenue entrance is Blair’s first usable main entrance in its history. For everyone’s convenience, it is located by the main office. A new central sound system to cover all the rooms has been installed. The 20 new classrooms, 12 of which have been allotted for social studies, display a variety of soft colors. Blair’s new instrumental music room is complete with storage space for music, instruments, and new equipment. A new library, twice the size of the former one, calls for a second look.

A new numbering system of rooms has been devised to eliminate as much confusion as possible. The first floor is designated as 100; second floor, 200; and third floor, 300. Room numbers are even on one side, odd on the other.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL DYING HERE May 17, 1957 by Mike Bird The way things are shaping up now we very probably will have no major league baseball in Washington within the next two years.

Many causes are behind the slump of the Washington franchise, which is potentially one of the most successful ones in the United States. These include, among others, lack of adequate parking facilities, lack of transportation to and from the park, and most importantly, a ball club that is perennially in the second divisions. In fact, Washington has not had a team in the first division since 1946, when they finished fourth, and has not won a pennant since 1933.

The pathetic teams fielded by the Senators are due chiefly to the pennypinching tactics of Calvin Griffith and his late father , Clark Griffith. The hopes of Washington fans have been smothered throughout the years by the Griffith clan’s refusal to set up a half-decent farm system, while other teams are investing millions in developing young players and then winning pennants as a direct result. No other club has been nearly as lax a the Senators in this field and the effects are showing in the anaemic attendance at Washington ball games.

AREN’T WE NEAT May 17, 1957 We have a crowning glory to end this year. We have had restricted the privilege of leaving campus during exams. Added to our other trumps--smoking restriction, et al--we’ve weathered a fine year, causing the administration to revoke at least half a dozen privileges. Well done, student body!

VANDALISM CAUSES TEMPORARY END OF BLAIR-BETHESDA RIVALRY Nov. 30, 1950 Because of uncontrolled vandalism caused by the rivalry between Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School and Montgomery Blair, all athletic relations have been severed for an indefinite length of time.

The student councils of the two schools stressed the idea that they would continue to work together as before with the exception of athletics. They expressed belief that due to this occurrence they would continue their work with renewed vigor.

Damage this year has been quite extensive,” state Interschool Relation Chairman

THE CHESAPEAKE & POTOMAC TELEPHONE COMPANY September 12, 1958 To read our first archives page, scan the code to the right with a QR reader or use the URL below: tinyurl.com/chipsarchives

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October 12, 2017

Tensions run high at Sherwood game

Sports F1

Standing rivalry causes increased security precautions

By Mindy Burton

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

BLAZER STADIUM, Oct. 6 — The Blair vs. Sherwood football game was a constant source of tension, caused by a year-long rivalry between the teams and conflicts that occurred after last year’s game.

Increased security precautions were added

by Principal Renay Johnson to prevent another incident. Over 10 police members, all of Blair security guards and administration, and additional staff and security members from Sherwood were present, as requested

by Johnson.

Johnson attributed the necessity of security to the numerous conflicts that occurred at the Blair-Sherwood game last year.

“Last year, when we played Sherwood, both teams were undefeated, so we went into the game 7-0 and 7-0,” Johnson said. “It attracted a large crowd, but then when the game ended, students from both sides had a number of conflicts to the point where more police had to be called at the end of the game to control the conflicts going back and forth -- anywhere from arguing to actual fighting to cars revving up in the parking lot like they were going to run over people.”

Jacob, a senior at Sherwood, said that his friend had to pay for the damages done to his car.

“We were walking out and there were about 30 or 40 kids all jumping on his car.

He got around $3000 in damages on his car,” Jacob said. “He had dents everywhere. His parents wouldn’t pay for any of it, so he had to pay for it all.”

Officer Trent Green of the Third District said that the police were positioned to step in should the school personnel not be able to handle a situation or if a law was violated.

“Security already has a problem enforcing here because they’re familiar with the students. The faculties from both schools come in second. Then, we come in,” Green said. “If there becomes a violation of law, then we immediately skip over them.”

On the day of the game, Johnson reminded students over the intercom to be on their best behavior and be prepared for the extra security measures. Johnson said that this announcement of heightened security was sparked by the video circling social media.

A controversial hype video created by Blair students was posted and retweeted multiple times on Blazers’ Twitter accounts.

The video depicted footage of last year’s game and images of Sherwood students burning the Blair logo. One copy of the video, posted on YouTube account “F*** Sherwood” and entitled “Sherwood Week,” has over 350 views.

Some students, such as Blair junior Meric Yigit, purposely chose not to attend the game to avoid getting in trouble. “I know there’s going to be a fight, because I’m pretty sure we’re going to win this year,” he said.” I don’t want to get in trouble.”

Other students were unphased by the possibility of conflict, saying that Johnson was simply warning them of additional security measures.

Junior Patrick McNeilly said, “[Johnson] is taking it seriously, because of what happened last year and she thinks it’s going to happen again. I think there’s going to be a fight, but it’ll probably be broken up quickly.”

Starting at kickoff at 6:30, fans enthusiastically cheered on their teams, as the game festered in a scoreless stalemate for the first quarter. The score appeared to be matched at 0-0 as the clock neared halftime, but with only three minutes left in the second quarter, Sherwood completed a 22 yard pass to score

.

AMARINS LAANSTRA-CORN

POLICE KEEP WATCH Montgomery County Police Officers remain vigilant during the Blair-Sherwood football game to ensure the safety of students. the first touchdown of the game. Just two minutes later, Sherwood scored again on a 35 yard pass, leaving the halftime score at 14-0.

The third quarter kicked off with sophomore Christopher Watkins’s 65 yard touchdown run that brought the score up to 14-7.

As the game progressed, excitement and yelling spread through the Blair stands. In the middle of the crowd, a fight between Blair students broke out and a girl was led away by the police in handcuffs. “I saw this girl swearing and cussing with her fists clenched. She was punching the fence.

She just started swinging at it. Then, the cops grabbed her really aggressively,” junior Htoo Eh Redford-Maung Maung said.

“They brought her behind and she just got carried away in ‘cuffs.”

With only four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Blair was positioned at Sherwood’s 10 yard line. Sherwood intercepted the ball and ran 100 yards to score the final touchdown of the game, bringing the final score to 28-7.

The game ended peacefully as fans were funneled out through different exits to avoid conflict in the parking lot, according to Johnson.

With a record of 3-3, Blair is still able to make the playoffs. Senior quarterback Matt Siff said that the loss should not have a large effect on their season. “In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it should have an effect if we can just turn it around and stay together as a team,” he said. “If we can win the next four, we can make the playoffs, and that will be a success for our season.”

The new faces of Blair Sports A look at this year’s new fall athletics coaches

By Lucy Gavin

came to Blair to follow in the footsteps of her mom, cross country coach and teacher, Angelique Bosse. “I watched her coach all the way through and I think she’s a great coach, and I felt what better way to have an experience to coach than with her,” Bosse says.

“Not many people have that, so I was really excited to be able to say I coached with my mom.”

JV boys’ soccer coach Joseph Pratt wasn’t sure if he wanted to work here, but after his job interview with Boule, he knew Blair would be a good fit. “What she said about the school and how good the team is and just how the whole program works to improve the guys on the field and in the class was just great,” he says.

After completing warm-ups together, the varsity and JV field hockey teams separate for the rest of practice. JV coach and science teacher Courtney Mason now has to lead her team by herself.

On her own, Mason thinks back to what she’s learned in the last few weeks to figure out what to do next. It may seem easy to be a coach, but this is not only Mason’s first year with the team, it’s her first year with the sport as a whole.

Diverse backgrounds

Although Mason’s field hockey experience is limited, she has been taught much of what she knows about the sport from the Internet.

“I’ve been doing a lot of studying online,” she says. “You know, you can learn anything on YouTube.”

She has also decided that there must have been many coaches in similar situations before her.

“I’m just going to take a guess that I’m not the only one who’s ever picked up a coaching job that didn’t know the sport,” she says. “Because there are lots of manuals that are very detailed about how to run a practice and what drills to do.”

The varsity field hockey coach, Megan Lusby, has acted as a mentor to Mason throughout the season.

“She really has helped guide me a lot because she’s played field hockey and she’s been doing it for a long time,” Mason explains.

Varsity soccer coach Edvin Hernandez, on the other hand, has been coaching soccer since 2001.

“I am a professional coach with a master’s diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and I have a national youth coaching license from US Soccer,” he says. “I also coached for five years at Good Counsel High School in Olney.”

The struggles of coaching

ELIA GRIFFIN

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Varsity and JV Boys’ soccer coaches Edvin Hernandez (left) and Joseph Pratt lead their teams in practice.

The hunt for coaches

As athletic director, Rita Boule oversees the hiring of new coaches.

“In order to hire a new coach, you have to advertise in the building for a couple of weeks and see if anyone wants it,” she says.

“Then it goes to the county, so any MCPS employee would have the next opportunity.

And then anyone can apply to the position, in or out of MCPS.” For a JV coach, Boule looks for someone who cares about the students and is willing to help them develop the skills they need in the sport.

“I’m looking for someone who is just really passionate about kids,” she says.

In order to become a varsity coach, however, Boule’s requirements are stricter. “It’s the whole package,” she says. “Someone with strong leadership and strong organizational skills and a good amount of positive experience in the sport.” For any position, though, Boule values one trait above the rest.

“I always look for someone who is going to put the student athlete first,” she says.

Choosing Blair

Assistant cross country coach Anna Bosse

Every coach has to deal with a number of different stressful challenges while on the job, but it’s especially hard when one is new. Mason has adjusted well to the sport considering the small amount of time she’s been coaching field hockey, but problems will still arise.

“Some of the girls on my team are new to it as well, and that’s the part that I struggle with,” she says.

For Hernandez, the transition from private to public school has been a big adjustment.

“From where I come, at a private school, I had a coaching staff, a trainer at practices and games, and I had several fields available,” he says. “[At Blair] the main logistics you do yourself.”

Despite these challenges, Hernandez enjoys the unique atmosphere a public school provides.

“I’ve noticed that the desire to compete at a public school is so much greater than at a private school,” he says.

“Just to see the nature of students at a public school and how engaged they are in sports and in their communities is something that we see here.”

F2 Sports

silverchips

Halfpipes and stereotypes

October 12, 2017

Female skaters combat sexism in the skating community

By Elise Cauton To the passive onlooker, the sport of skateboarding is associated with snapbacks, Vans, and teenage boys flipping ollies on the sidewalk. But there is another group of skaters that is often overlooked in the male dominated sport: girls. According to the Public Skatepark Development Guide, only 23.9 percent of skaters are female; however, the number of female skateboarders is growing, and they are ready to be acknowledged.

Adair Holton, junior, began skateboarding when she was in third grade after being introduced to the sport through TV shows.

“When I was little, I was a Jake Long American Dragon watcher,” says Holton.

Junior Willow Edge also started skating at a young age. She was introduced to skateboarding through her friends when she lived in Chicago. “I first got on a skateboard and learned to skate when I was five,” says Edge. “I do hip hop [dancing], so a lot of the people I was around were also skating.”

Similarly, senior Grace Hoggarth first learned to skateboard in the seventh grade, after borrowing her neighbor’s old skateboard. “I was taking care of my neighbor’s pets, and they had an old skateboard… and I was super interested,” says Hoggarth. “So I asked them if I could borrow it, and I started teaching myself in my neighborhood.”

Skating and sexism

The enthusiasm that Holton, Edge, and Hoggarth have for skateboarding is often countered by the societal stereotypes that discourage girls from skateboarding. The gender gap among skateboarders can be attributed to the emphasis on confidence and risk taking in the skateboarding culture.

Edge notes that girls tend to have a lack of confidence, and tend to internalize criticism.

sions and ... assumptions.”

Edge has also received snide comments from male skaters once they realized that she is a girl. “There’s always the whole people that stare at you a little moment longer,” says Edge.

“I’ve been catcalled while skating.”

Similarly, Hoggarth faces encounters stereotypes when people do not associate her appearance with skateboarding. “I’ve had a few times where people would be like ‘oh yeah, I didn’t expect that from you’ because I wear dresses all the time, and this year I dress pretty girly,” says Hoggarth. “Some guys imagine you look a certain way if you’re like that, or be a certain kind of person.”

Overcoming the obstacles

JEDEDIAH GRADY

SKATING FOR SPEED Senior Grace Hoggarth cruises on a longbard outside Blair.

“Girls have a habit of thinking about [negative comments] more,” says Edge.

Holton agrees that the misogynistic nature of the community fends off potential female skaters. “Girls are [often] scared to [skate], because you know you’re going to learn to fall for a long time, and you’re going to suck for a long time,” says Holton.

“And in this world, it’s not really okay for girls to suck. ”

Potentially, the skateboarding community can be a friendly and helpful environment. Holton notes that while many in the skateboarding community are welcoming, however, some dissuade girls from skating with unintentionally offensive remarks and actions.

“The guys are normally cool at the skatepark and stuff,” says Holton. “But they don’t really get those microaggres-

Social media is one of the driving factors that is pushing skateboarding into the mainstream. Instagram accounts featuring pictures and videos of skateboarders and their fashion are becoming increasingly popular, but the female skater’s presence is still disproportionate compared to their male counterparts. “[Female skaters] definitely do not get as many props as they need to, like on social media … you can definitely tell,” says Holton. “Because most of the posts, or whatever, are targeted at guys.”

Nonetheless, female skaters that are active on Instagram are shattering glass ceilings; Leticia Bufoni, a Brazilian skateboarder, currently has 1.4 million followers.

One of the main discouragements that female skaters face is the lack of role models to look up to, but this could easily be solved through exposing new skaters to other girls that skate. Hoggarth already recognizes how much of a difference having a role model is.

“I skateboard a lot in my neighborhood… and there’s this one nine year old girl who lives across the street from me. I was talking to her mom, and her mom told me ‘oh yeah she sees you skateboarding all the time, and the other day she asked her dad if he can buy her a skateboard,’” says Hoggarth. “And he did.”

October 12, 2017

silverchips

Sports

F3

Teachers stand with Kaepernick

A commitment to social justice through the use of an NFL Boycott

By Adenike Falade

By Henry Wiebe The Nationals are going to win the World Series. I have never been so sure of something in my life. They have the rotation. They have the starting lineup. They have the bench. They have the chemistry.

Everything is going to work for them. This is our year.

The Nats’ offense, even though the injuries caused half of the starting lineup to miss considerable time, is as potent as ever. With the exception of Adam Eaton, all opening day starters are healthy for the playoffs. Even Eaton’s replacement, Michael A. Taylor, posted a regular season slash line of .271/.320/.486, with a fWAR that placed him among the top 50 in the National League.

The core of the Nats’ order consists of Bryce Harper, perhaps the best young player in the game, Anthony Rendon, the player with the highest fWAR in the NL, Daniel Murphy, who was the runner-up for the batting title, and Ryan Zimmerman, the franchise veteran who had the best season of his career. This lineup will strike fear into the hearts of any opposing pitcher.

In the postseason, a team only needs a three or four dominant relievers in order to be effective. The Nats have found this is Matt Albers, Ryan Madson, Brandon Kintzler, and Sean Doolittle.

Madson and Doolittle came to Washington in a midseason trade with the Oakland A’s, marking the eighth time since 2010 that the Nats’ General Manager, Mike Rizzo, has struck a deal with Billy Beane, the A’s GM. Although he missed time with a finger injury, Madson was extremely effective in the set-up role, with an impressively low ERA of 1.83.

Upon his arrival in Washington, Doolittle was immediately plugged into the closer role. Prior to this trade, the Nationals had blown a whopping 16 saves. The hard-throwing left-hander thrived, saving 24 games with only one blown save.

Kintzler was acquired via trade with the Twins. The former Minnesota closer stepped into a high leverage reliever, as Doolittle was already settled as the closer.

Albers was quietly the Nationals’ most consistent reliever all season, posting the lowest ERA on the team at 1.62. With this vastly improved bullpen, the Nationals have the ability to lock down the final innings of a game, an aspect of baseball that is crucial to a successful team.

The starting rotation, led by three Cy Young candidates in Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez, is perhaps one of the best postseason rotations ever. The Nats have three starters that are able to completely lock down even the best of lineups.

Although Strasburg took the loss for game one, he didn’t give up any earned runs and he pitched an extremely clean game. He was just unlucky.

Gio pitched very well in game two considering the Cubs are one of the best offensive teams in the MLB against left handed starters. Gonzalez also allowed the most regular season walks in the league, and the Cubs’ lineup drew the most walks in the league. All of the intangibles for game two were pointing to another Cubs’ victory, but the Nationals were able to prevail despite the negative game script.

The Nats stellar roster and the resilience that they have showed so far this posteseason makes it very clear that they have what it takes to bring home the championship.

“Wiebe’s World” is a monthly column where sports editor Henry Wiebe expresses on current events in the world of sports.

Nina Blake’s San Francisco 49ers jersey laid abandoned in some drawer as the 2017 NFL season kicked off. Her hometown team suffered a pathetic 23-3 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers that Sunday, but she couldn’t care less. To her and a number of her colleagues, former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s involuntary departure from the NFL signaled the end of Blake’s commitment to professional football.

The Kneeling Begins During the 2016 preseason, Kaepernick sat and kneeled for the national anthem on multiple occasions. The protest gained attention with the release of an interview he did with NFL Media.

He was influenced by the seemingly careless disregard for African American lives in the U.S. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” stated Kaepernick in the interview.

His actions were quickly followed by extreme criticism from key NFL contributors. Drew Brees, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, called his protest disrespectful and self-contradictory.

Kaepernick’s former head coach, Jim Harbaugh, disapproved of the kneeling and his reasoning for doing so. “I acknowledge his right to do that, but I don’t respect the motivation or the action,” he stated. Kaepernick was not picked up by any team during his free-agency following the backlash.

Teachers Take Personal Offense Kevin Shindel felt the repercussions Colin Kaepernick faced for his actions were too egregious for him to continue watching football. This came after roughly 35 years of watching every single game, winning multiple Fantasy Football tournaments, and rooting for his home team, the Baltimore Ravens.

Shindel believes the demonstrations are legitimate and decided Kaepernick’s live-

ELIA GRIFFIN

FORFEITING THE 49ERS English teacher Nina Blake stopped being a fan of the San Francisco 49ers after Kaepernick lost his job, and decided to boycott the NFL to show her solidarity with Kaepernick. lihood should matter more to him than football. Though he is steadfast in his decision, it doesn’t make giving up decades of football any easier. “Sunday, I wanted to watch, you know? I really wanted to watch. But I’m just done with it,” he explained.

The fact that the Ravens toyed with the idea of hiring Kaepernick especially hurt him. Back in 2012, Kaepernick led the 49ers to their first NFC Championship win in nearly 20 years, so he was an obvious choice.

Quarterback Joe Flacco missed the preseason with a bad back, and although Kaepernick’s name was thrown around as a potential backup, he was never contacted.

“I want my team to stand up and do what’s best for society. And when they didn’t, I hoped they’d go 1-15. I hope they never win another game,” he emphasized.

Rough Race Relations

JENNIFER CUEVA-DIAZ

The racism Kaepernick shed light on is too real for people to be denouncing his actions. The KKK, an antebellum institution of white supremacy, marched just a few hours from Blair without consequence.

Susan Thornton reasoned, “AfricanAmericans in 2017 shouldn’t be the predominant ones being pulled over by police [and] killed during traffic stops.” She is also boycotting the NFL. Blake’s status as a California native and an African-American brings this issue closer to home. Kaepernick’s cause, acts, and skill as a player are all legitimate to her, but the NFL is still keeping him from playing for unspoken reasons.

“The reason he is not playing is because he took a stand. And people don’t

like that he took a stand. I can’t watch the games and not feel a little disgusted,” she remarked.

Kenneth Smith followed the New York Giants sparingly throughout the years, but even that became too much when he witnessed the way the NFL treated Kaepernick. “They can tolerate violence against women, and drug use… [but] they didn’t want the distraction they said that Kaepernick would bring to a team,” he said.

Presidential Interception The demonstrations intensified recently after President Donald Trump used a derogatory and explicit term during one of his rallies to describe the protestors on the field.

Following those comments, every single game the following Sunday featured some form of anthem demonstration, whether individual players kneeled or full teams linked arms in opposition of Trump’s comments. The original purpose, to call attention to racial inequality, was forgotten in the wake of Trump’s hate.

Blake does not think the acts hold much meaning anymore even though they are more unified. “To me, it’s moved past that.

If [Kaepernick] gets a job right now, maybe I would consider it. [But] to me, the ship has kind of sailed,” she said.

No teachers plan to end their boycotts in the near future. The paraphernalia collected over decades serves as a reminder of a league they were once proud of.

Blake still holds her Kaepernick jersey as a dear memento. “It’s one of my favorite shirts, [but] I don’t wear it because it’s from the National Football League.”

soapbox Do you think athletes should protest during the national anthem? Why or Why not?

“They are exercising their freedom of speech. It’s good that these athletes are raising awareness of issues and expressing their opinions.”

— Uro Lyi, senior “Athletes should be able to protest because it is in their rights to do so. It is not disrespectful because the flag is not being damaged.”

— Kevin Zhou, junior “I think that some athletes don’t protest because thy fear backlash from coaches or teammates.”

— Haydy Rodriguez, junior

F4 Sports

silverchips

October 12, 2017

NIAMH DUCEY AND AMY KRIMM

October baseball: The best month of the year Team previews and predictions for the MLB playoffs

By Miranda Rose Daly The excitement, anticipation, torment, and satisfaction to determine which team will come out wearing victory rings make the Major League Baseball playoff games new and exciting every year. With the postseason underway, here are team-by-team breakdowns and predictions for who will win the sport’s most illustrious prize.

The hottest team in history

The Cleveland Indians are the clear favorites in the American League, the top seed and one of the first teams to have clinched their division. They were able to rebound after a disappointing end to their 2016 postseason, when they made it to the World Series before an extra-innings Game 7 loss to the Chicago Cubs, by earning the best record in the AL this season. They even broke an AL record with 22 wins in a row, crushing the 2002 “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics 20game streak.

Francisco Lindor was one of the best players in the league during their winning streak.

The 23-year-old shortstop hit .365 with 8 home runs over the streak, proving he can pull through in clutch situations. Corey Kluber, a favorite to win the Cy Young, led the AL with 18 wins and a 2.25 ERA. The Indians also have a stellar bullpen; their relievers had a combined 1.70 ERA during their winning streak.

Win it for Harvey?

The Houston Astros are one of the few teams that have never won a World Series, although with 100 victories this year they have a shot to make franchise history this postseason. They even overcame being displaced by Hurricane Harvey to win their division. José Altuve is a top contender for the AL MVP award. The All Star second baseman has a batting average of .346 and an on base percentage of .410. Altuve reached 200 hits for the fourth straight year, one of four right-handed hitters in MLB history to achieve that feat. The team leads the MLB in runs, scoring a whopping 896 times, 38 more than the second-best New York Yankees. With the addition of former Cy Young winner Justin Verlander over the summer to boost their rotation, they are looking like a solid team heading into the playoffs.

inside SPORTS

Red Sox back again

The Boston Red Sox have won the AL East for the second consecutive season, winning 92 games. Their success is partially owed to Boston’s average of 5.24 runs a game since the beginning of August. Helping to make this offense hot is rookie third baseman Rafael Devers, who made his Major League debut in July. He has hit 10 home runs in 58 games.

His backup, Eduardo Nunez, is very versatile and is also able to serve as the backup for second base and shortstop. Acquiring starting pitcher Chris Sale has bettered Boston’s prospects in the playoffs, as he is another top candidate for the AL Cy Young, boasting 17 wins and a 2.90 ERA with a remarkable 308 strikeouts. Twenty-four-year-old right fielder Mookie Betts leads the team with 24 home runs, 102 RBIs, and 166 hits. The 2017 Red Sox look like they might have enough power to push through the postseason.

Can the Nats break through?

The Washington Nationals clinched the National League East Division for the fourth time in six seasons. However, the team has yet to advance past the division series. What sets them apart from other teams this year is the depth and usage of their bench. With many key players out for extended periods of time due to injuries, including Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Jayson Werth, and prized offseason acquisition Adam Eaton, the Nats have been forced to use their bench more than they have in the past. For example Brian Goodwin, a backup outfielder, hit 13 home runs, and had 30 RBI’s in 74 games played. Wilmer Difo, Howie Kendrick, and Michael A. Taylor have all bolstered the Nationals bench. The Nationals also have a good balance on offense and defense. They have three star starting pitchers, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez, all of whom will be candidates for the NL Cy Young Award. Anthony Rendon, who has more walks than strikeouts, could be a top contender for the NL MVP. This 2017 team looks like a powerhouse headed to the playoffs looking to seek their first trophy.

Kershaw and company dangerous again

The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the NL West Division, and although they stum-

bled through the last month of the season, they are still a dangerous team. Acquiring Yu Darvish before the trade deadline added to their already impressive rotation consisting of Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, and Alex Wood. They have won 104 games and are the top NL seed. First baseman Cody Bellinger is a favorite for the Rookie of the Year award. He leads the Dodgers with 39 home runs—the most homers ever in a NL rookie season—and 97 RBIs. Third baseman Justin Turner is also leading LA’s potent offense with a batting average of .322 and an on base percentage of .415. The Dodgers seemed to have bounced back from their losing streak, but need to stay that way to have a chance in the postseason against tougher competition.

Can Cubs Repeat?

The Chicago Cubs are the reigning World Series Champions. With a powerful lineup featuring Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, and Kris Bryant, it looks as though they have a good chance of repeating their victory from last year. Bryant leads the team with 162 hits and an on base percentage of .409. The Cubs also have a strong starting rotation, led by ace Jake Arrieta, who finished with an ERA of 3.53 and 14 wins. However, Arietta is suffering from a hamstring strain, so his status for the division series is uncertain. The Cubs have strong options aside from Arrieta, though, like Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Jose Quintana. Relief star Wade Davis led the bullpen this season and finished with 32 saves. The Cubs have had few rocky periods this season, and will need some stability in order to pull off a repeat.

Home field advantage plays out

The Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins 8-4 in the AL Wildcard game, which included a lot of home runs and pitchers.

The Yankees will go on to play the ominous Indians in the AL Division Series. The Twins pulled Luis Severino, starting pitcher for the Yankees, from the game in the first inning after he gave up two home runs resulting in a three run lead. Twins veteran Ervin Santana also pitched a disastrous inning. He gave up a three run homer that tied the game. Unlike Severino, Santana took the mound for the second inning and after another home run by

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New York, he gave up the lead. Although the Twins scored a run in the third inning, it did not deter the Yankees. New York kept scoring, including a home run by Aaron Judge to win the game. This comeback showcased the Yankees ability to use their bullpen when necessary and their power hitting in necessary situations.

Wild West

The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 11-8 in the NL Wildcard game at Chase Field between both NL West teams.

The D-Backs will go on to play the Dodgers in the NL Division Series. The Diamondbacks were the first team to score, with a three run homer by Paul Goldschmidt in the first inning, reminiscent of the AL game the night before. The D-Backs kept scoring, leading 4-0 in the 2nd inning, and 6-0 in the third inning. The Rockies started a comeback in the fourth inning, but it only amounted to 4 runs. They picked it up again in the seventh, and after a few runs and a two run triple by Archie Bradley, they led the D-Backs 8-4. In the eighth, Arizona matched Colorado’s rally with a two run triple by AJ Pollock. After a final run, also in the eighth, the Diamondbacks finalized their 11-8 win. This high scoring game displayed Arizona’s ability to match their opponents in runs, a good trait to have heading into a series with the Indians.

Final Predictions

All of the contending teams have the makeup of winners, but at the end of October, only one team can hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy. In the AL Division Series, the powerful Astros will defeat the Red Sox, and the Yankees will lose to the dominant Indians.

The Astros have too much offensive power to be held down by the Red Sox. Although the Yankees do have the hitting power of Aaron Judge, the impressive Indians will be too much to handle. In the AL Championship Series between the Indians and the Astros, the Altuve-led Astros will not be able to overcome the young talent of Cleveland. On the NL side, the well-rounded Dodgers, with Bellinger, Kershaw, and Darvish, will defeat the Diamondbacks. The Nationals will win the NL Division Series against the Cubs behind former MVP, Harper, and the dynamic pitching duo of Scherzer and Strasburg, who are finally healthy for the playoffs. But in the NL Championship Series, the Nationals will fall once again to the number one seed in the NL, the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the World Series between the Indians and the Dodgers, Cleveland, with the combined talent of Corey Kluber and their power hitters, will finally be able to go home with Championship rings for the first time in 69 years.