March 2018

Montgomery County’s Longest Running School Newspaper

Volume 91 Issue 7

The Tattler

March 2018

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School 4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814

News

Page 2

March 2018

Violent threats hit MCPS

By Matt Levin

It has only been a month since tragedy struck at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed. The shooting spree has raised serious questions and debates about school safety. Since then, Montgomery County Public Schools has experienced multiple events where the safety of schools has been threatened.

The day after the Florida shooting, a student at Clarksburg high school, Alwin Chen, was caught carrying a handgun and knife to school. Police also found he student’s “list of grievances” and a troubling journal. Court documents say that the first the first entry in Chen’s journal stated, “I am an insane and terrible person.”

The journal also later states “Sometimes I think I am cra-

zy or mentally ill nut I hide it and refuse to admit it because I know how to cope and blend into society but it’s just too lonely.” Chen has reportedly brought a gun to school on several occasions, claiming it was for self-defense in case of a school shooting. Chen, an honor roll student, has never been in trouble with the law before and has already been accepted into two colleges. His lawyer, David Felson, emphasized that “there are no allegations by the police or by the state’s attorney’s office of any intention to harm anyone.”

Chen will remain behind bars until his hearing and faces up to 11 years in prison.

The day after this incident, a 15 year old student at Northwest high school was arrested for making an Online threat.

On the post, the student warned other kids to not come

to school. This threat was connected to a string of threats which targeted 10-12 other schools. Police spokesman Paul Starks doesn’t believe the threats were credible, but in fact students trying to make jokes.

Just days later, both Winston Churchill High School and Walter Johnson High School received bomb threats through anonymous phone calls just three hours apart from each other. No threat was located at either school. Officer Rick Goodale stated that the police will, “investigate every one of these threats. We don’t want kids to think it’s a game.

We think it’s deadly serious.”

As if things could not get any worse for MCPS, another bomb threat was made just over a week later, this time to Albert Einstein High School.

This threat was emailed to

the principle of the school, causing the school to be put on lockdown. An intensive search was made causing dismissal of school to be delayed.

Police even brought in explosive sniffing dogs. Yet again, no threat was located. MCPS spokesperson Derek Turner stated ““The problem with so-

cial media is people share rumors and share them as facts” All of these events took place in the span of just over two weeks. In the wake of the 17 deaths at Stoneman Douglas high school in the safest city in all of Florida, we should begin asking ourselves how safe are our schools?

Photo via the Clarksburg student newspaper

Janet Gallagher Named a Finalists for Montgomery County Teacher of the Year

By Josh Garber Among every teacher and faculty member at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, a single teacher outshines

them all. Through her compassion, intelligence, humbleness, and desire to learn, this teacher represents the B-CC environment that the school

The Tattler

strives for. Because of her hard work and determination, Mrs. Janet Gallagher will be accepting the Marian Greenblatt Masters Teacher Award. This

award is not simply given to any teacher. It is given to the teacher that inspires students to succeed and encourages young teachers to be the best they can be.

“She uses data to identify students to challenge with advanced courses. 100 percent of students who previously had failed a state-mandated assessment passed her Bridge to Algebra class, with 75 percent earning a C or higher,” The Marion Greenblatt website writes of Gallagher.

The Marian Greenblatt award was established in 1988 in memory of Dr. Marian Greenblatt, who served the as President of Montgomery County Board of Education in 1978-1979 af-

ter being elected to the board from 1976-1984. Every year, teachers around Montgomery County are nominated to the Masters teacher of the year award. The three finalists for the teacher of the year awards were all named Master Teachers.

Mrs. Gallagher was nominated by Dr. Jones this year for her commitment to teach every student with unquestioned passion and commitent.

Mr. Christopher Orlando was the most recent B-CC teacher to be awarded as the Montgomery County teacher of the year, the honor coming in 2008. The last B-CC teacher to be named a finalist for the award was Mrs. Dawn Charles in 2013. Former B-CC teacher Ms. Evanthia Lambrakopolous won the award in 1998.

The B-CC community saw Westland Middle School’s Mr. Steven Katz be named a finalist for the award in 2013.

Student newspaper of Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS

4301 East West Highway, Bethesda MD 20814

Advisors David Lopilato Rosana Pagan Editors-in-Chief Matt Cohen Camille Devincenti Managing Editors Andrew Cha Conor Kelley Sophia Saidi Emily Schrader News Editors Anthony Ashe Matt Levin

Feature Editors Emily Schrader Sophia Saidi Paloma Delgado Sports Editors Ian Benepe Adwyn Viera Opinion Editors Lee Schwartz Aidan Smyth Matthew Green Style Editors Tory Silver Tina Siyoum

Worldview Editor Lara McMurray

Web Editor Alex Fine

Science Editor Allison Shu

Business Managers Brett Sapin Anthony Ashe Allison Shu Nandita Kohli Nick Gagarin

Backpage Editors Sammie Vekstein Matt Dubrow Art Editors Greg Pfaff Eve McGloon Julia Mencher

Cover graphic by Julia Mencher.

Cover photos by Conor Kelley

In association with the National Scholastic Press Association

News P 3 Physics Olympics Team Wins Maryland State Championship March 2018

By Nandita Kholi On Saturday, February 24, sixty-four teams of high school students from across the state of Maryland competed in the 26th year of the Central Maryland Physics Olympics at Eldersburg High School in Baltimore, MD. B-CC took four teams to the olympics of up to six students in each, and the team came back with 1st place, 3rd place, and a check for $1,000! Moreover, all four teams placed in the top eight.

The olympics went from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and covered a range of physics concepts -- such as tork, rotational inertia, projectile motion, balance, crumple zones, and making inferences -- through six challenges: creating a vehicle to protect two eggs from cracking on a fall, creating the longest and most balanced seesaw, building a top which spins the longest, creating a device to shoot ping pong ball targets accurately, creating a zipline to transport marbles across the room, and answering estimation questions on the winter olympics.

Each event lasted for 30 minutes and was ranked a score out of 400. If a project

age

entirely failed, then it was assigned the score of zero. When asked about strategy, Mr. Jacobs, the team’s physics coach responded that the trick is not to get a zero. The B-CC teams strategized to complete every challenge successfully and conservatively, whether or not it was the best design in order to escape zeroes and go for the win. Mr. Jacobs found this strategy to be very successful in the past and implemented it accordingly; the strategy was overwhelmingly successful and along with the innovativeness of the students, resulted in B-CC’s first ever win after approximately nine previous attempts.

The B-CC teams trained for four weeks during lunch on Thursdays before the competition. In January the Physics Olympics releases the nature of three out of six event challenges while leaving three a mystery. The events announced this year were the winter olympic questions, the egg drop, and the ping pong aiming device. Mr. Jacobs says his role in the practices was not to give answers, and rather was to allow students the chance to get into the spirit

of physics by “tinkering, engineering, [and] prototyping.

In addition to winning overall, the B-CC team that won 3rd place additionally won the individual egg drop event best.

This was because they had the lightest designed egg carrier.

When given all of the materials for the project, this team decided on using mainly the “wild card” material -- styrofoam -- for the challenge.

Mr. Jacobs was overjoyed

by the results of this year’s physics olympics. This was the largest participation of any prior physics olympics by the B-CC students, - with four teams of students from across AP, IB, and honors physics classes, including a freshman who hadn’t even ever taken a physics class before and was on the 3rd place winning team.

Winners will be attending a special luncheon in April with a Maryland Space Business

Roundtable and notably even meeting with the director of NASA. The $1,000 prize will be going towards buying new fun equipment and gadgets of the physics department. Mr. Jacobs ensures that the “winners will have input into how the money gets spent as long as it is appropriate, educational, and not just buying 1,000 cookies or something.”

A Shortened Spring Break in Exchange for Summer

By Isabel Danzis and Grace Harrington

The week long spring break, the time in the middle of the year for relaxing and visiting family, is dead. In the summer of last year, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan made the decision to make all public schools begin after Labor Day while still ending by June 15th. According to the Baltimore Sun, Hogan believes that lengthening summer helps grow the economy by stimulating tourism, gives families more time together and keeps kids in the Baltimore area out of extremely hot classrooms that lack air conditioning.

This decision contradicts the recent trend of starting schools earlier. The Washington Post reports that in many parts of the country, schools are opening earlier to try to decrease the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap and to help prepare students for standardized tests. Hogan’s decision was faced with backlash from the Montgomery County Public Schools community, with educators, students, and parents alike criticizing the Hogan for seemingly putting tourism over education.

Hogan's decision contradicts the recent trend of starting schools earlier. The Washington Post reports that in many parts of the country, schools are opening earlier to try to decrease the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap and to help prepare students for standardized tests.

One of the main complaints by those in the Montgomery County Public Schools system was MCPS’ decision to accom-

modate the new restrictions on the school calender by shortening spring break to only three school days off in the 2018-2019 school year. While this decision was immediately unpopular, Derek Turner from the MCPS Office of Communications explained that with having to accommodate the state mandated holidays and the possible extra days at the end of the year from weather emergency closures, “the only meaningful option that [the county] could do would be [to cut] spring break by two days.”

However, this was not a decision the county made lightly.

MCPS did not get a chance to weigh in on Governor Hogan’s executive order.

“We were caught off guard by this decision and this new mandate,” said Mr. Turner.

But MCPS did let parents and students offer their feedback on the county’s decision to cut spring break. “Once we have the draft [of the calendar] it’s posted to the website, and we receive feedback from the public,” said Mr. Turner. Ultimately, because of the strict constraints placed on Maryland public schools, MCPS was forced to cut spring break or risk opening school on important dates such as religious holidays.

Among the student population of B-CC, Hogan’s decision isn’t a popular one.

Most people feel that having a long spring break is something to look forward to in the long stretch in between winter break and the end of the school year. It’s also generally agreed that by spring break, people are exhausted and use

spring break as a way to refresh and prepare for the end of the school year.

“I think that in that the last couple of weeks of summer, everyone is kind of sick of it,” said sophomore Gracie Albus, “everyone wants to see their friends again, while during the school year everyone needs that break, so shortening that break is really frustrating.”

This opinion is generally shared amongst B-CC’s student body. Since B-CC is very close to Washington DC, it’s home to a lot of international students. The new absence of a break means less opportunities during the year to visit family and friends abroad.

“In my experience, the American summer break is a lot longer than most summer breaks around the world. Instead [schools internationally] have longer breaks during the year. I think that these long breaks in the year give families who live across the world from each other an opportunity to see each other,” said a B-CC international student, Veera Torhonen. “I also think that people around the world like the more longer breaks in the year more than just one long, summer break because it allows them to get away from work or school more often” Torhonen said.

Additionally, the concern has been raised about students that rely on the FARM system.

With the lengthened summer break, kids who participate in the FARM program receive food for less time in the summer.

Most of the teachers at B-CC feel similarly to the students

in that they don’t like the new school calendar. One concern held by teachers is that they, just like students, need time to recharge and come back to school with a fresh mindset. A shorter spring break would make that a lot harder.

Additionally, many students already take off days around spring break to lengthen their vacation However, this causes them to miss valuable instruction time. “With a shorter spring break, I could definitely see that happening even more next year,” said Ms. Lloyd, an English teacher at B-CC. Most parents of high schoolers feel that the shorter spring break isn’t good for their children. Many juniors use spring break to go look at prospective colleges, but with the abbreviated spring break, there isn’t time to visit many or travel far.

Additionally, many colleges don’t offer tours on the weekends. Another major complaint of high school parents is the fact that although summer break doesn’t start until after Labor Day, sports start at the regular time. This means that there is a two week period that student athletes must attend practice at school without any instructional time. Parents find this to mean that their vacation time is cut by two weeks, hindering them from enjoying a longer summer.

“Even though the summer seems longer, it’s really not, because of practices and early games,” said a B-CC parent.

Most students that play school sports are annoyed by the lengthened preseason as well. “Now there’s a allusion of getting more summer but

you’re really not. Preseason is so important to building skills and team bonding that you can’t miss it. With preseason there is no way you could go to the beach for a weekend or a week long vacation” said sophomore Vivianna Arnold, who plays Varsity Field Hockey for B-CC. Parents of elementary school aged kids have a different set of concerns. Most feel that their kids are still solidifying basic skills such as reading and writing and the longer break doesn’t help them do so.

“The longer they’re out of school, the harder it is to get back into it, getting used to sitting and doing homework.

Especially for younger kids learning to read, it’s probably better to have more practice reading or writing and not have as big as a break” said David Nicolardi, the father of three children, the oldest of which is first grade at Bethesda Elementary.

Another concern is child care. Many parents in the Bethesda area are working parents and can’t afford to take time off to watch their children during the summer.

Summer camps, in turn, are expensive and many can’t afford to add another week of camp into their budget.

Hogan’s decision to make summer longer has been controversial in the Montgomery County area. It’s created a difficult situation for MCPS to try to fit in all mandatory days, along with creating upset amongst the members of the student, educator, and parent population of Montgomery County.

News

Page 4

Newsbriefs MCPS Updates Snow Day Policy

MCPS Substitute Teacher Arrested

By Andrew Cha On Friday, March 16th, Montgomery County substitute teacher Steven Katz was arrested on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and fourth degree sexual offense.

Katz was specifically charged for inappropriate contact with a student from Cloverly Elementary School, yet, throughout his career, he was a substitute at multiple other Montgomery County elementary, middle, and high schools. The principals of the these schools have been no-

tified of Katz’s arrest, and are providing counseling to students as needed.

Katz was a substitute with MCPS from May 2017 until March 2018. MCPS has fully cooperated with the Montgomery County Police Department and State’s Attorney’s Office throughout the course of this investigation. To avoid potential prejudice in the investigation, MCPS was unable to reveal the details of Mr. Katz’s allegations to schools or neighboring communities until he was arrested.

March 2018

By Matt Cohen

Spring break won’t be shortened this year.

Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s changes to the school calendar has decreased the number of allotted days Montgomery County Public Schools can factor in to the schedule for snow. As snow days, and even a wind day, pile up, MCPS will need to begin to add days back to the schedule in order to meet the minimum number of school days required by the state.

Based on the original contingency schedule

posted on the MCPS website, the next day to be added back would be March 26, the first day of spring break.

Though given the close proximity to the beginning of spring break, MCPS has chosen to go with a different route should the County call for another snow day of the year, June 15 will be the day added back to the schedule, instead of March 26 according to an email from MCPS chief operating officer Andrew Zuckerman.

School Shooting in St. Mary’s County

By Matt Cohen

Just days after thousands of students across the D.C. area and across the country walked out of school, protesting for gun control, tragedy has struck again.

On the morning of March 20, 2018, a shooting occurred at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

The shooter has been pronounced dead, having been shot by the school’s resource officer. The officer was not injured.

The shooter report-

edly was a male student, who wounded both a male and a female student (ages 14 and 16 respectively) with a handgun just before classes began on Tuesday.

The shooter and the two victims were taken to the hospital.

The male student is in stable condition, while the female student is in critical condition according to CNN. The incident was contained quickly by police on campus, preventing further injuries.

Montgomery County named a finalist for Amazon HQ2

By Josh Garber

Map shows the 20 finalist cities that Amazon is considering. Graphic courtesy of Ars Technica.

Twenty jurisdictions around the United States and Canada received jaw-dropping, spectacular news that they made the shortlist for the finalists of the second Amazon headquarters or, as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos likes to call it, “HQ2.”

On January, 18, the leading E-Commerce retailer released the list to the public, narrowing the options down from 238 applications. Amazon’s process for selection was done in secrecy. They organized a team of Amazon economists, human resources managers and executives who oversee real estate to pick out the most optimal location.

The company previously said it was hoping to reside in a metropolitan area populated by at least 1 million people and maintaining a stable, business-friendly environment.

Despite a net worth of $702.46 billion, Amazon was offered enormous tax incentives in multiple cities that desired their second site location.

The most extravagant was submitted by Newark, New Jersey which presented Amazon with a tax incentive of $7 billion in order to offset its costs for building and operat-

ing its second headquarters.

Multiple cities pursued other types of bids to attract Amazon. New York City lit up the Empire State Building and charging stations in Amazon’s orange colors. Tucson, Arizona engineers hauled a 21-foot cactus all the way to Seattle (Amazon’s current headquarters).

Kansas City Mayor Sly James wrote 1000 reviews of Amazon products, giving all of them five stars, and not forgetting to mention why Kansas City was the best place for Amazon.

Even Canada got in on the action, where in Calgary graffiti was painted everywhere promoting that Amazon go there and banners were put up near the current headquarters.

So why have numerous cities and counties all over North America lured Amazon to their city as a second headquarter with gifts and ridiculous incentives?

The reason is because the company says they will spend $5 billion in investments and will employ 50,000 in the chosen city.

Among the twenty jurisdictions that made the shortlist and are interested in this deal are: Atlanta, Austin, Texas, Boston, Chicago, Columbus,

Ohio, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Tenn., Newark, N.J., New York City, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, N.C., Toronto, Washington, D.C., and most significantly, the only county that made the list, Montgomery County, Maryland.

On January 18, when all city mayors were getting notices that their city had made the shortlist, Hans Riemer, president of the Montgomery County Council, learned from a friend via text message that the County had made the shortlist. “My heart skipped a beat,” he said.

“A project of this size would have a huge impact on the county,” Riemer told Bethesda Beat. “It would have a lot of benefits, but we know Amazon doesn't come for free. They're going to seek major tax incentives. We will have to negotiate with an eye on making sure the balance falls very heavily in our favor. There's a winwin here, no doubt, but this is where it starts to get complicated.”

B-CC Senior Olivia Yansaneh understands these complications. “I personally think it could go either way,” Yan-

saneh says. “It could benefit the county but there are repercussions.”

This county, like the other cities that made the shortlist, are very interested in the opportunities available: jobs and investments.

Governor Larry Hogan has conveyed his support to the county’s ongoing attempt for HQ2. “Going forward, we will continue working with our partners in Montgomery County, including County Executive Ike Leggett and his team, to ensure that we do everything possible to bring this project home,” Hogan said. “This news is certainly welcome, but the real challenge lies ahead--and Maryland is ready to meet it.”

County Executive Ike Leggett was particularly delightful of the county’s existence on the shortlist. Leggett said that being selected reflects the county’s strong proposal it pitched to the company, as well as the area’s “tremendous workforce” “high-quality school system” and that “the county is a desirable place to live.”

B-CC senior Pascal Lee enjoys the idea of having Amazon HQ2 in Montgomery County.

“I think that it’s beneficial to Montgomery County because Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world.”

It is indisputable that there will be a more prosperous economy and more jobs in whichever jurisdiction Amazon selects. A new report from Maryland’s Department of Commerce says Amazon would bring $17 billion to Maryland’s economy, bring in $7.7 billion in wages and deliver more than $750 million in new tax revenues. However, there are concerns as to whom will receive those jobs.

Senior Will Ginsberg has very strong opinions with this par-

ticular matter. “It’s not gonna bring more jobs to Montgomery County; they’re gonna ship a bunch of people over here from other places,” Ginsberg says. “I think that the overwhelming majority of people who will work at the Amazon campus are gonna be people who weren’t previously living in Montgomery County and were brought on by Amazon.”

Ginsberg further believes that there is a possibility of Amazon creating an effect on our suburban county lifestyle, which includes a variety of adequate local business. He worries those business may not last with the presence of Amazon.

Lee has a response to those who believe the small businesses won’t last with the presence of Amazon. “There are other headquarters and huge companies here.”

Lee’s point is a valid one.

Montgomery County’s planning board approved the proposal for Marriott International’s new headquarters in downtown Bethesda. Montgomery County officials are considering placing Amazon HQ2 in the White Flint area, which was formerly used as a mall.

Yet, there are plenty more than the loss of lifestyle, and falsehoods of promoting new jobs in the county are just a few concerns with the possibility of Montgomery County becoming the next Amazon headquarters.

“We might be spending way too much money on bringing Amazon to Montgomery County when we could be using the money for other more important things: Like helping our schools get a little better and address more important issues,” says B-CC junior, Aidan Smyth.

Do the disadvantages outweigh the advantages? Montgomery County officials have already decided that they do not. Does Montgomery County have even a chance on becoming the second headquarters

Worldview

March 2018

Filipino Drug War Kills Thousands

Page 5

By MacKenzy Woodyard and Ella Grove

decided were “mass killings”.

As the investigation turned grim, President Duterte released a “drug matrix” that linked government officials on the committee to drug trafficking. The accusations were quickly pushed by De Lima and the other officials; enraged by their response to his allegations, Duterte told De Lima to resign and “hang herself”.

Duterte quickly took control of the investigation and used his allies in the Senate to push out those that opposed him. Duterte continued to pursue his War on Drugs with no restraint, even commenting that “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews. Now there are 3 million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them”. Duterte used his connections to pursue his policy with no checks on his power and little concern for the rights of the people he claimed to serve. Eventually, he began to threaten any that dared to speak out against him, claiming that human rights advocates should die for supporting drug addicts. Reporters and agencies around the world responded with reports and investigations into the situation in the Philippines. As the pressure mounted and personal testimonies from police officers confessing to killing criminals for money were published in the press, Duterte quickly backtracked from his previous stance. In a speech before Asian representatives, Duterte said these testimonies were all lies meant to demonize him to the public.

However, Duterte continued to make public comments condemning drug users, even going so far as to claim that they deserve to die because they

have “shrunken brains incapable of proper thinking”.

It was only a matter of time before the International Criminal Court stepped in as Duterte made no attempt to hide his commitment to these killings. In October of 2017, the court published a statement expressing concern over the events occurring in the Philippines and warned the national officials that anyone proved to be involved would face full prosecution from the court.

The court announced a preliminary examination into the killings linked to the “War on Drugs” in February 2018.

The court plans to analyze the any crimes supposedly committed in the Philippines since July 1st, 2016.

Just this week, President Duterte announced that he is withdrawing from the ICC immediately. The president claims that the court’s attempts to investigate this matter were “in violation of due process”. However, the ICC says it takes a year to formally withdraw from the court after an official notice is made and the president’s decision won’t stop the court from investigating. They will still be able to investigate events that occurred while the Philippines was a member, the problem will be acting on what they find. The ICC has no troops or police force of its own, the court relies on the authorities of its member countries to hand out its rulings. Therefore, the court could still make a ruling after the Philippines withdraws from the ICC but the local authorities might not carry it out.

released by CNN, there was a massive outcry from the public and leaders from European and African nations. This video brought together African and European leaders to discuss solutions to minimize an eventually cease the influx of migration. Their other main goal was how to aid those who have been captured and tortured in Libya.

Many migrants from Sub Saharan African countries have been fleeing their home country in hopes to reach Europe to strive for opportunities they think will be easier to obtain. Specifically the citizens of Niger and Chad having been

fleeing in the thought to seek easier opportunity in Europe.

Many migrants who have been saved have expressed their own stories of their trials.

In the times we are in today, it seems unbelievable that people would still be doing this as if it were ethical.

The United Nations has urged Libya to take “urgent action” and that “It is now clear that slavery is an outrageous reality in Libya. The auctions are reminiscent of one of the darkest chapters in human history, when millions of Africans were uprooted, enslaved, trafficked and auctioned to the highest bidder.” Based on the United

nations response, more action on human trafficking has been stated but there has been no other action provided by the united nations towards those impacted by the war torn countries.

We are now still awaiting more action towards human trafficking in Libya and see what further action the UN and other leaders will do to take action, or will the media completely silence this problem and let it fade into the abyss.

ing and arguing when his local supermarket received a new shipment of water bottles. At one spring in Cape Town the city was forced to post guards, as fistfights had broken out, with multiple people being arrested. The amount of people trying to collect water is so large that it has created massive amounts of traffic congestion.

This situation isn’t unique to Cape Town. Many other cities could face this in the next few decades, for a variety of reasons. And this situation isn’t unique to impoverished nations. According to the Greater London Authority, the city of London could have serious water shortages as soon as 2040.

California has faced severe

drought and they could be facing another one, which would lead to severe water shortages. Rising temperatures as a result of climate change has resulted in decreased snowpacks, which store water for human use. This is because the temperatures in the mountains are too high for precipitation to come down as snow.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo courtesy of BBC News cians, judges, military officers, and police.

On the eve of Rodrigo Dute- groups, however, the national Human rights experts and rte’s election victory, on May media brushed over those aladvocates grew more and 9th, 2016, he made a shocking legations and instead praised more concerned as the death statement outline his plans for Duterte for making Davao City toll mounted and Duterte a “War on Drugs” he would one of the world’s safest citshowed no signs of stopping wage as president. The soon- ies. In reality, Davao City has to-be-elected president of the the highest murder rate in the his crusade. On August 18th, 2016, United Nations human Philippines told a crowd of Philippines. more than 300,000 people, After Duterte was sworn rights experts called upon the “If I make it to the presidential in as president on June 30th, Philippines to stop the killpalace I will do just as a I did 2016, he ordered the police ings but the request just infuas mayor. You drug pushers, to adopt a shoot-to-kill poli- riated Duterte. He responded hold up men, and do-nothings, cy for suspected criminals or by threatening to withdraw you better get out because I’ll drug users. He even offered from the UN and to form a kill you”. And unlike many to pay a bounty for the dead separate group made up of other campaign promises, the subjects the police brought African countries and China. president followed through. in. By July 3rd, 3 days after However, officials from the Since elected as president of Duterte became president, the Philippines quickly stepped in the Philippines, Duterte has police reported that they had and assured the world that the launched a war against drugs killed 30 alleged drug dealers Philippines would not be withthat has left over 10,000 peo- so far. The conflict only con- drawing from the UN despite ple dead. tinued to escalate as Duterte the President’s claims.

As the situation worsened Duterte was the mayor of encouraged citizens to take it and the world turned its eyes Davao City before he became upon themselves to distribute on the Philippines, a Conpresident. During his tenure he “justice”, essentially giving all gressional into the killings was involved in a group called citizens a license to kill anyone was opened, chaired by Senathe Davao Death Squad, a vig- they believed to be involved tor Leila de Lima.

The Senate ilante group that carried out in the drug trade or even suscommittee soon had reason the deaths of street children, pected of being a petty crimito believe the International petty criminals, and drug us- nal. Duterte himself released ers. He has been criticized for names of supposed criminals Criminal Court may have juthose actions by human rights to the public including politi- risdiction over what had been

State of Libya: Is Action Going to be taken a Step Further?

By Olivia Yansaneh

Photo courtesy of Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP photographer In recent months, various the state sparked again when news articles internationally a video of Sub-Saharan mihave expressed how horrific grants were seen being aucthe state of Libya is and how tioned off by a Libyan aucit’s affected the state of its own tioneer in an abandoned area people, but tensions within at night. When the video was

Crisis in Cape Town

By Will Ginsberg A major city is a few months away from running out of water. After years of drought, Cape Town, South Africa is a city of 433,000 people that could run out of water within the next few months. The metro population is 3.7 million people. It lies on Africa’s southwestern coast, on the Atlantic Ocean.

On February 1st the amount

of water allowed for use by residents was lowered to 50 liters or approximately 13 gallons per person from 23 gallons.

The average shower uses 2.1 gallons per minute. The use of water for gardening and washing cars is banned.

The water shortage has led to growing unrest. Raymond Joseph, a resident of Cape Town described people shov-

Science

Page 6

Physicist Stephen Hawking passes away

By Adwyn Viera This past Pi Day, March 14th, 2018, the world lost a physicist who made vital contributions that helped greatly advance our understanding of the universe we exist in today.

Stephen Hawking was born in 1942, in the city of Oxford, UK. He studied at University College, Oxford, and later at the University of Cambridge, where he focused on cosmology. As a young man, Hawking

showed a remarkable insight into theoretical physics concepts that many of his peers simply did not have. This would prove to be vital during his career.

Hawking’s most prominent theory is the concept of Hawking Radiation: the radiation emitted by black holes. This concept of this radiation argues that black holes are not in fact infinite, and will eventually evaporate. His famous

book, A Brief History of Time, is renowned for its ability to explain complex concepts such as Hawking Radiation, in terms the average person would have no trouble understanding.

The Tattler asked B-CC’s resident physics expert, Mr. Jacobs, for his opinion on the physicist and his contributions. Mr. Jacobs explained that Hawking was special for more than just his conceptu-

al contributions. He battled with ALS for a very long time, the disease he eventually died from, and yet, he was still able to “embrace his role in the public”. He appeared on T.V. shows such as The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory, and even has had an effect on the way we speak today. Mr. Jacobs explained that Hawking is the reason we refer to places such as Chipotle, and endless abyss that will suck up all your

March 2018

money, as a “black hole”, the term Hawking himself coined.

Stephen Hawking was a phenomenal physicist, yet also a phenomenal inspiration. He proved that, even with a disability as severe as advanced ALS, one can still make a positive contribution to the world.

His pop-culture presence, as well as his genius theories, will be greatly missed by the world as a whole.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Makes History

By Sasha Frank-Stempel Elon Musk’s space transportation and exploration company -- SpaceX -- successfully launched its new Falcon Heavy Rocket on February 6th. First introduced in 2011, the rocket is now the “most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two” according to the SpaceX website.

The Falcon Heavy Rocket included one of Musk’s own

Tesla Roadster, with a mannequin in a space suit named “Starman,” in the driver’s seat. The mannequin, whose name is an homage to the David Bowie song of the same name, has embarked on a journey that will take it millions of miles away from its home planet. This represents a huge leap for those who wish to explore further into space.

The ability to launch rockets in a more cost-effective manner will allow more trips to the

International Space Station, and potentially beyond in the future. As a first step, he hopes this launch will bring us one step closer to the creation of a lunar base, and Musk’s ultimate goal: a colony on Mars.

The Falcon Heavy is a modification of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, with an improved rocket core and an addition of strap-on boosters.

This addition enables it to carry an increased payload: it can now lift twice as much mass as

NASA’s retired fleet of space shuttles. This is important for SpaceX as it can now ferry more materials and resources to the International Space Station.

Another big appeal of SpaceX and its rockets is their reusable launch system, since an issue with the current model of space flight is that many NASA rockets and boosters are single-use only, dramatically increasing the price of missions. SpaceX drastically

cuts down on launch costs by landing the boosters and the rocket core on platforms set up near the launch site and at sea.

With this most recent launch, they were able to successfully land 2 out of the 3 boosters.

While SpaceX has elected not to reuse any of the parts from this launch, they have demonstrated their ability to recycle large parts of their rockets.

Iceberg Split Apart, 120,000 Year Old Ecosystem Discovered Underneath

By Ella Grove After hiding under ice for 120 thousand years, a new ecosystem was discovered in July of 2017. This occurred when giant iceberg A68 broke off from the Larsen Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Ocean. A68 is four times the size of London and the third largest iceberg known in human history. As it drifted away from the shelf, an

entire seabed of undiscovered life came to light.

Scientists were able to watch A68 break away through use of satellites, and had been closely monitored for years leading up to the final crack.

While the split was expected, scientists were not anticipating the unique seabed lying beneath the ice.

However, scientists need to research the over 3,700 square

mile ecosystem soon. When sunlight hits the water, phytoplankton will colonize the area, changing the dynamic of the region. The sunlight will also heat up the water, which could prove detrimental to the organisms lying underneath.

Unlike other known species, whatever organisms reside in this dark haven have adapted to to a very low-food environment. Living in com-

plete blackness, marine scientists speculate we could discover many new species, some of which are being described as, “alien species”. It is speculated that we will discover organisms such as sea cucumbers discovered on the Arctic Shelf, which are also used to extreme cold and lack of sunlight. This new dark place is unlike any other ecosystem we’ve researched, as it’s been

completely untouched for such a long time, and scientists are currently working on getting a team to start researching this isolated area.

As for the leftover iceberg, it’s still drifting away from its original shelf. While it’s already somewhat breaking apart, it’s expected to be drifting around the open ocean for many years to come.

WAYS TO SHOWCASE YOUR BUSINESS AND INCENTIVIZE YOUR TEAM MEMBERS Whether you’re cheering for your favorite team, motivating employees, thanking clients, or launching a new brand, decorated apparel and promotional products will keep your logo front and center every day.

We are ready to help you find the right embroidered or screen printed shirt, hat or promotional accessory to help you grow your brand. Come into our local showroom and see how Fully Promoted can help you.

Personalized apparel is an important part of promoting your brand. Are You Fully Promoted?

7030 Wisconsin Avenue Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (301) 656-5608 www.embroidme-bethesda.com

SCHOOL SPIRIT

EMBROIDERY

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS

Student Life

March 2018

Page 7

Senior Sarah Paul, a victim of Senioritis. Photo by Camille Devincenti.

The Dangers of Senioritis

By Julia Wilson, Audrey Zantzinger and Jamie Mills

Senioritis is an extremely common disease among high school seniors worldwide. Senioritis targets cells in the left side of the brain which are proven to control analytic thought, logic, reasoning, right hand control, and number skills. Symptoms include laziness, skipping classes, failing to write coherent papers, disinterest in school-related academics and activities.

Only prescription known: graduation. There are many strands of this disease affecting the diverse population of students in different ways. The most common strands of Senioritis include, Athleticus Commiticus, Senioritis Europa, and Senioritis Celebrationem.

Doctors have concluded from intensive study that Senioritis is highly contagious and is transmitted through social media and the completion of first semester. It is observed that Senioritis is making its way through Montgomery County fast, beginning in Churchill, spreading to Walter Johnson, and Walt

Whitman. There are now rumors that Senioritis has finally plagued our own Barons. In order to see if those rumors are true, Doctors Wilson, Zantzinger, and Mills interviewed students to obtain more information on this infectious disease.

A rare form of the disease is seen to only affect the most athletic of the students, the dangerous strand: Athleticus Commiticus. To be able to fully observe the effects, the team had to hunt down the most elite of the athletes, the commits. The team was lucky enough to meet Sophia Wallach, a recent soccer commit to Tufts University, who answered some of the most pivotal of questions to the investigation. Her feelings of Senioritis began earlier than the majority of students who are diagnosed with the disease, the beginning of second quarter, “I didn’t have to apply to nearly as many schools as a lot of my peers did so college applications weren’t much of a stressor.” Furthermore, being a com-

mitted athlete, Wallach believes that her case of Senioritis is much more intense, since the beginning of the school year Wallach has been able to “...relax a little bit and not put too much stress on assignments/tests…”

Lastly, Wallach states that in order to treat her Senioritis she constantly naps and goes on long drives listening to classical jazz.

The most dangerous form of senioritis is something beyond imagination: Senioritis Europa. Those infected with Senioritis Europa are IB students applying to universities in Europe.

The European system requires these students to perform well on their IB exams at the end of the year in order to receive an official acceptance into college. It is truly frightening. These poor students must battle their Senioritis Europa up until their last exam.

Students must suppress their symptoms of laziness and disinterest and continue their studies as if it was the first day of ju-

nior year.

Doctor Zantzinger interviewed Millie Elsey, a senior going to a European university, to gather more intel on this illness.

“Senioritis hit me like a bus junior year. I’m utterly plagued by a lack of motivation or interest in anything school related,” explains Elsey. She believes that IB has perfected her ability to write a completely unsubstantial essay while still sounding like she knows what she is talking about. But, her situation is atypical, “I can’t succumb to senioritis like others can as my acceptance to my top choice university is completely contingent on my IB exam grades. While everyone else is being a second semester senior, I’ll be hitting the books.”

Elsey and all of the others with Senioritis Europa, we are praying for you.

A much more common strain of Senioritis is actually very enjoyable. Seniors who contract Senioritis Celebrationem “throw down” every weekend and are much more likely to ask

“What’s the move?” then “What’s the homework?”

Doctor Mills discovered Senior John Narvaiz has the most extreme case of Senioritis Celebrationem ever recorded.

He’s been observed hosting an astounding 432 times in 2018 alone. Narvaiz cites the hardest part of living with the disease is avoiding citation, but he is on a first name basis with every Bethesda police officer and K-9 unit, so he can talk his way out of any potential baggage.

Despite the precautions we took during this investigation, we the doctors believe that we have caught this epidemic.

Laziness and disinterest have take over our lives.

What will we do next?

How will we endure the next four4 months? Who will find a cure? These questions and many more are left… unanswered.

Page 8

Feature

March 2018

Former Baron Elliot Verburg Skates for Olympic Dreams

By Alex Fine and Eve McGloon With the recent conclusion of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, many athletes have their sights set on four years from now.

Returning home, athletes will resume their vigorous training because to them, 2022 is right around the corner.

Six hours a day, six days a week, former B-CC student and Olympic prospect Elliot Verburg can be found on the ice. “It’s one of the most time consuming, energy consuming, and financially draining sports there is,” Verburg said.

He makes his way to the rink at 4:30 each morning -- well before most teenagers are even awake.

Verburg began skating at an early age. He spent hours at ice rinks watching his sister take lessons, inspiring him to take up the sport himself. At eight years old, Verburg tied the laces of his skates for the first time. He soon found he had a natural performance ability when people told him that “watching [him] skate was so entertaining.” The positive feedback motivated Verburg, and pushed him to work longer and harder. However, for the Olympic hopeful, the road to Beijing in 2022 has been anything but smooth.

Training at the International Training Academy in Canton, Michigan, Verburg has done everything to elevate his individual level of performance, but in his sport it takes two to succeed. Ice dancing is a partner ice skating program that mirrors ballroom danc- Photos courtesy of Elliot Verburg ing. Much of Verburg’s adver-

sity originated in his numerous partnerships of the past.

“Over the past few years I’ve had multiple partners realize that they didn’t want to sacrifice having a normal teenage life,” Verburg said, “and it was incredibly discouraging that no matter how hard I worked or how much I wanted to be successful, success kept getting taken off the table because someone else didn’t want to put in the work.”

With his most recent partner, Tish Marsh, the duo was bound for Beijing 2022 to represent Great Britain. Marsh left England and her family and friends behind to pursue her dream of international skating. Despite the hard transition, she expressed in an interview, “I’m glad I did it, otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today.” Verburg also has ties to Great Britain with much of his family living there.

Despite receiving many accolades on the world’s biggest stages, the partnership unraveled, announcing on Facebook that “due to health issues Tish [had] decided to take a break from skating” and that “Elliot too [would] be taking time [off] while he considered new paths.” With this split, Verburg’s future was uncertain and he was left in a position all too familiar.

Despite this huge setback, Verburg wasn’t ready to hang up his skates just yet. Verburg aims to compete in the next winter olympics, for fear of missing “the fire that burns when you’re competing in front of thousands of people.”

Feature

March 2018

Page 9

Meet the Face of After School Bakery - Jeremy Scheck

By Audrey Zantzinger, Keely O’Keefe, Julia Wilson Jeremy Scheck, a senior at ing out dough for lemon meB-CC, is not your ordinary full ringue pie, they would work IB student; he is the creator of together for hours. Though the a baking website which shares spark to create After School artfully curated recipes each Bakery came for Scheck when week called After School Bak- watching TV. , “After watching ery. a documentary on bread bakBaking with his grand- ing my sophomore year, I bemother as a young child came infatuated with the pracsparked his passion for food; tice,” Scheck said. “I decided from braiding challah to roll- that I wanted to sell bread and

deliver it on my bike. It was a fun venture, but not exactly legal and a lot of work! I decided I needed to find a better way to share my love for baking. I realized by creating a website to share recipes, I could combine my interests in baking, photography, and writing in one productive place. In just a few hours, afterschoolbakery.com

was born.”

After School Bakery began with a few business cards, some stickers, and a couple pictures taken on Scheck’s iPhone. He typed up a few recipes, and he designed a website.

Over a year later, the website has evolved tremendously. It now has over a hundred subscribers, countless recipes

in English and even some in Spanish, professionally shot photos, and a thriving social media presence. Scheck will be studying food science at Cornell University next year.

We got a chance to get to know this baker a little better.

Photos courtesy of Jeremy Scheck

Q & A with Jeremy

5 minutes 1 hour

@afterschoolbakery

What is your favorite recipe?

Probably my vanilla cake recipe. I spent a lot of time finding the ultimate recipe and developing it and whenever people try it, they say it’s the best vanilla cake they have ever tried. It’s light and moist and has a lot of flavor without being too sweet, contrary to the dry sponge people usually try to pass off as cake.

Why do you like baking in particular to other culinary pursuits?

I do enjoy savory cooking in addition to baking but I guess I decided to focus on baking because I found out that I was pretty good at it. A lot of people are good cooks but I think fewer are good bakers.

Do you plan on continuing ‘After School Bakery’ at college next year? If so, how?

Short answer, yes. Long answer, I think the focus will probably have to shift because I won’t have the same level of access to a kitchen. I’m majoring in Food Science, and while it’s more Chemistry than Culinary, I’m excited to take the courses that Cornell has to offer making ice cream and beer.

Would you like to open a bakery and work it full time in the future?

After college, I definitely want to work as a scientist rather than in the service industry. I see myself working in South America solving food related issues or maybe creating the next Golden Rice in a lab. Maybe further along the line, I would want to open a little cafe.

What differentiates your baked goods from other bakeries in the area?

In general, my goal isn’t to be fancy. My goal is that is if I make a chocolate chip cookie, I want it to be the absolute best chocolate chip cookie.

What has been your most memorable or remarkable achievement with After School Bakery?

Being asked to do multiple demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma was really validating that I am becoming experienced in the field, but probably getting into college as a food science major was my biggest achievement to date. I am so excited to learn about the subject.

Feature

Page 10

MoCAT Lives on as CoCAT

By Camille Devincenti On March 13th, the Conference of the Contemporary American Teenager (CoCAT), a pop-up exhibit created by B-CC students, was held at the Studio Theater in D.C. The event showcased teens’ viewpoints on issues ranging from gun violence to gender to depression to race. The CoCAT exhibit, which ran for three hours on all three floors of the Studio Theatre, offered a rare opportunity to engage directly with teens on topics they typically discuss only in their own circles, if at all.

With a large audience of B-CC students, parents, senators, and teen activists, there were several different student-led panels to cater to different interests and topics.

The highlight of the event was the panel on gun violence, inspired by the students from Parkland, Florida. B-CC students participated on the panel

Photos by Kendall Smith

with Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Nick Anderson of the Washington Post, and free speech activist Mary Beth Tinker. They engaged with parents, students, policymakers, education and business leaders on solutions around gun violence and school safety.

The event started off with a panel on Hookup Culture, led

by Ella Goldblum, Owen Bonk, and Gabriela Jeliazkov and moderated by Aidan Smyth and Lee Schwartz. They combined discussing masculinity and sex with hookup culture and consent. They covered teenage hookup culture and how their practices are unique to their generation and then linked this to consent. “The panel itself was a little hectic, but I think really successful.

This is a complicated subject that causes a lot of controversy, but I think everyone in the panel agreed that this subject needs to be talked about,” said

Schwartz.

Another popular panel was one on micro-aggressions, led by B-CC Seniors Anthony Ashe and Jessica Kapoor. Ashe and Kapoor showcased a video they made in January for MoCAT about micro-aggressions, interviewing students who had experienced them in school. For example, one student spoke on her experience of being called out in class because her teacher thought she did not speak English, when in reality it was her first language. Ashe and Kapoor also posed thought-provoking questions, like “Why do you think micro-aggressions still exist in our community? And what can we do to fix it?” “The discussion started a meaningful dialogue and I think people were able to get out their ideas. While everyone didn’t agree on the causes, everyone wanted the same end goal of finding a way to eliminate the problem,” Ashe said. As for

continuing this discussion in the future, the video shown at the micro-aggressions panel is going to be used to train teachers so they have a better understanding of how it affects B-CC students.

After the panel on micro-aggressions, there was a young conservative panel which talked about what it is like to be a conservative in the ultra-liberal Bethesda community. Narek Grigorian, who identifies as an economic but not social conservative, said that “it was great for the Conservatives because they could finally talk about how they really feel about certain issues. Too often people associate conservatives with Trump and other famous ‘conservatives.’ People seemed to understand us more… Afterwards people came up to me and asked me questions which they got answers for and there was a sense of mutual understanding because the audience was listening not to respond

March 2018

but rather to understand.”

Meanwhile on the lower level of Studio Theater, there was another panel in which student entrepreneurs talked about their experiences and gave advice to students who wanted to start their own businesses.

The event took place the day before National Student Walkout Day, and just prior to the March for Our Lives demonstration on March 24.

Students will be able to register to vote at the event and participants can donate funds to enable other students to join the march.

CoCAT was a successful and influential event to spark frank and honest conversation on pressing issues, further understand different viewpoints and surface workable solutions that will influence tangible actions.

March 2018

Feature

Page 11

A March to Remember - March 14th, 2018 March 14, 2018 was Nation-

al Walkout Day. All across the United States, thousands high school students walked out of class, protesting for gun control, in an effort to make their schools safer. B-CC students took three approaches to the walkout. 200 students boarded the Metro, and rode down to The White House, where they sat down for 17 minutes, in honor of the victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. They then marched to the Capitol, where congressmen, including Bernie Sanders, spoke. At B-CC hundreds of students marched out on the baseball field, and took their protest around the school, marching in a circle around the building. All the while, many students remained inside, the building, some as a

The White House "You are creating a drumbeat across America, a drumbeat that will echo until we get the job done," Pelosi told the students as she thanked them for bringing this movement to the steps of the Capitol and declaring that "enough is enough."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, got a rock star’s welcome when he addressed the crowd, telling them “All across the country, people are sick and tired of gun violence, and the time is now.” He told the students he was proud of “your courage and your intelligence and [your] leading the nation in the right direction.”

Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s delegate to Congress, told the crowd they were “too young to work, but old enough to become the first generation to fight for their own lives.” She praised the students’ “determination of your new generation to do what we before you have failed to do.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine said the students comprised “the new ingredient” that was “changing the terms of the debate.” He drew parallels to Martin Luther King’s work desegregating public accommodations, in which the involvement of teenagers – which King resisted at first – tipped the scales. “In the past, it seemed despairing – that after a shooting there’s a little bit of talk, and then nothing happens,” Kaine said. Among the changes he suggested were universal background checks and reauthorizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence as a health issue.

Auditorium “I completely believe in the cause, but I just feel like it won’t do anything. You know, I was in the walkout last year at Blair, for the walkout against Trump’s election. I just don’t think it did anything. Even the victims of the Florida shooting, I just think our country isn’t willing to do anything about it. I think our country just doesn’t seem to care, unfortunately.”

“We did go to protest for a brief bit, but [I] was kinda against it ‘cause we’re pro second amendment.

We feel as if people are trying to infringe upon that amendment, which is part of the constitution. It’s kind of communistic.”

“Well, I really wanted to go to the walkout, but juggling tryouts was today. I’ve been working really hard for this. (Proceeds to juggle 5 tennis balls) I’m kind of really good at juggling.”

School Protest “The marches last week were heartfelt and truly vital. They gave us the opportunity to remember the lives lost,and to commit ourselves to taking an active role this debate. Our lives are in our hands.”

-Vikram Akwei Akwei worked with B-CC administration to built the walkout into the school day in an effort to keep studetns on campus. The walkout served as both a memorial and protest as students marches around the school, and read off the names of those lost in Parkland, Florida. The school walkout allowed for students to make their voices heard, while not missing vital class time. Akwei stresses that the message sent by those who walked out at B-CC and those who went to Washington D.C. was no different, they all were speaking out for the same cause.

“The main thing? The fact that they scheduled it.

That kind of defeats the purpose of a walkout. It’s like ‘Hey, yo, you guys can leave’ but we can’t actually leave, because it’s on campus.”

“Where were you” graphic by Julia Mencher. Bottom right photo by Conor Kelley, bottom middle photo by David Lopilato, bottom right photo by Matt Cohen

Style

Page 12

March 2018

Round 2: Workout Barons Try Aerial Yoga Class

By Hanna Oestros and Tina Siyoum Aerial yoga is a combination of acrobatic arts and anti-gravity poses. With the support of a hammock, you do a combination of yoga poses which build balance, flexibility, strength and stability.

The Flying Buddha is an aerial yoga and meditation studio located in the neighborhood of Potomac. As displayed on the website, luxurious silk

hammocks were hanging high from the ceiling of a spacious and serene dance studio so you could only imagine our surprise when we turned onto the street and realized that the yoga studio was located in the basement of the yoga instructor’s house. Tina immediately wanted to go home but after a long pep talk in the locked car, we decided to pull into

the driveway. As we pulled in, Hanna rolled her window down to give Tina a better view of the house so that she could feel more comfortable but that ended up making things worse. As soon as Tina heard the distant howling coming from the woods right next to the house, it was a wrap.

After some more convincing, we braced ourselves and

finally got out of the car only to be welcomed by rainstorm.

Too late to turn back now, we ran to the front door with our jackets over our heads. To our surprise, we found a piece of paper taped to the front door that read “follow the blue pots to the back door”. As if this experience wasn’t spooky enough, we followed down the path of the blue pots only to

find ourselves in the middle of a forest with some cut down trees. Reluctantly furthering down the path, we finally arrived at the basement doors.

Plot twist: Sarah Rehman, an eight month pregnant yoga instructor, welcomed us with a warm smile.

“This was a very interesting experience to say the least. I was terrified most of the “Honestly, I didn’t know I was capable of making my body do that. It’s a lot time, but I have to say I’m happy I did it. It’s something everyone should try in harder than it looks and it definitely takes more than just flexibility to hold those poses... “Just for the record, this experience is how all horror movie plots their lifetime” -Hanna Oestros start. I feel like we should’ve been the characters who ran from the creepy house instead of towards it but clearly, Hanna had other plans.” -Tina Siyoum

Style

March 2018

Page 13

The Problem with Makeup Brands’ Lack of Diversity

By Olivia Andreassi and Vanessa Pontachack In the beauty industry, especially in makeup brands, companies are starting to lose their credibility with the lack of diversity that they bring to their products.

Customers who are of color are facing an industry where makeup is sold in predominantly light skin tones. Ever since Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty many girls had high hopes for what was to come in the future. Many have noticed the amounts of minorities that are being discriminated against due to the color of their complexion. It has been a problem for many, many years about the lack of diversity within foundations made by various makeup companies.

Many believe that the industry has not adjusted to the majority of its customers, which is minorities. This is an issue that is still relevant as of today, with the lack of dark to deep-dark shades that the high-end makeup brands are catering to.

Finding your correct shade can be hard, but it is significantly harder for darker skinned people to find their shade, or even a shade close to their skin tone because of this problem.

Recently, Tarte cosmetics, a very popular makeup brand, released a new foundation, Shape Tape, which has been highly requested due to the high demand of their Shape Tape concealer. Everyone noticed when the swatches were released that out of the fifteen shades they have created only three of them were darker tones. Makeup lovers everywhere were excited for this release, but unfortunately, were disappointed. Complaints were sent to Tarte for their lack in foundation range in their most popular product.

In response to this backlash, Tarte revealed that they will be adding 10 more shades to this collection.

Many B-CC students were “disappointed but not surprised” at the lack of diversity and believe that “if they want to be popular and widely accepted they should create more shades” says Junior, Gloria Karekezi.

When asked what she thinks about the lack of diversity in makeup foundations, Junior Kalin Condon stated, “I think it is really important for brands to have every shade because there are so many beautiful shades of women, and

women of color cannot possibly use really light colors for their tone and it is not okay to assume they don’t deserve as many shades as white people.”

Though there are so many companies that yet need to accomplish this goal, a big handful of companies have been very successful at including a great range of shades so everyone can enjoy the pleasure of makeup.

Some of these companies include: Nars, Fenty Beauty, HudaBeauty, and Kylie Cosmetics.

These companies have received many applause for their inclusivity in shade ranges, especially Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, which has the most foundation shade ranges out of any cosmetic company in history; 40 shades!

Big beauty brands have been at risk at the consumer backlash as women-and mencall for recognition of different in shades.

The diversities agenda calls upon the industry to refocus their business on consumers as people and to enable them to become the most beautiful versions of themselves and be proud of who they are, no matter their skin tone.

Tarte foundation swatches. Photo courtesy of Popsugar.

Black Mirror: Don’t Just Slack...Slack with Style

By Rachel Danegger and Hana Zherka

If you have not already indulged in this Netflix series, here’s our suggested playlist.

1. USS Callister Suspense. Intrigue. Large spider things. This episode has it all. Possibly one of the most disturbing episodes (and that’s saying something), your pity for this 40 year-old bullying victim will disappear as his childhood fantasies turn sinister. The thing that makes this episode top of the list is the creepy beneath the multi-colored costumes that you just can’t help but keep watching.

2. White Christmas For five years, two men have been stranded in a wilderness house together; they’ve never spoken to each other. Painful memories and shocking twists dominate this episode, leaving viewers consistently questioning what’s real and what isn’t.

3. San Junipero In this episode, viewers are dropped into a 1980s themed beach town called San Junipero. We soon learn that San Junipero is not exactly as it seems. With beautiful pastels, painful and real romance and the strikingly similar paradox of a “copied brain,” San Junipero is able capture a lifetime of love, experience and adventure into one episode.

4. Be Right Back In this heartbreaking episode, we are faced with one of the toughest human experiences: the death of a loved one. This episode explores how far we would go to bring back the ones who are gone, and the ways technology can help us. But prolonging the inevitable stages of grief can only last so long, and comes with harrowing consequences. You will laugh. You will cry.

5. Hated in the Nation Bringing an all new dimension to cyberbullying, Hated in the Nation brings to light multiple problems with innovative technology. It touches on a conflict being made real today: hacking. With the rapid movement to online cars and currency, the general public feels unsafe with the potential for hackers to have access to every aspect of our lives. This twist on a cop drama will have Blade Runner, Criminal Minds, and Hitchcock fans on the edge of their seats.

6. Fifteen Million Merits 15 Million Merits begins by dropping you into a society in which people lived in an enclosed, screen covered space, in which the participants seem to be stuck in a forced labor situation. Spending their days biking for “merits,” participants only have one way out, pay to enter a singing competition. 15 million merits introduces an interesting idea of a completely screen based society of the future yet includes romance, frustration and pain that the viewer can relate to.

7. Playtest You’d have to be insane to voluntarily enter a VR game that turns you deepest fears into a personalized horror show, right?....Right? Our main protagonist doesn’t think so. Every time you think it’s over, another twist smacks you in the face. Second scariest to Black Museum, this episode is not for the faint of heart.

8. Hang the DJ In a society where searching for your own partner has become an obsolete activity, a new system takes its place. “Coach” controls each person’s dating life by using different calculations and simulations to find each person’s “99% compatible partner.” This episode challenges the basic rules of dating by choosing the relationship length in advance, replacing first date awkwardness with a pre-decided expiration date.

9. Black Museum On the way to visit her father, a traveler comes across the “Black Museum” by a gas station, filled with criminological artifacts. With each “exhibit” more distressing and shocking than the last, we soon learn about the owner’s questionable research on people. This episode pushes the ideas of morality, sanity and life as we know it, offering a huge twist at the end that leaves you speechless.

Style

Page 14

March 2018

Find Your Dream Prom Dress With Once Upon A Prom A crown sits on top of Aya’s blonde curls as she gazes at her own reflection in the mirror, wearing a new—well, new to her— flowing turquoise sequined dress, dangling sparkle earrings, and open-toed silver shoes, she looks radiant. Seeing herself in the mirror, she gasps, as if shocked by her own beautiful reflection. “Thank you,” she says, with a smile that conveys her joy. “I feel like a princess.”

And, have you met Titania?

Walking into the Once Upon A Prom Store, set up in the club’s very own dance studio at B-CC, she is trailed by her friends. Titania explains to Once Upon A Prom’s President, Tory Silver, that she and her girlfriends are foreign exchange students living in the US on a restricted budget.

Looking around the room, she

is amazed by the racks and racks of dresses and the array of giveaways, manicures, pedicures, updos, and cosmetics.

“So many dresses,” she says, incredulously.

“Almost 3,000,” Tory replies.

“In Ghana, where I am from, no one would believe this is true.”

Helping girls like Aya and Titania is what members of Once Upon A Prom do every year. Once Upon A Prom, a club dedicated to making the Cinderella story come true for underprivileged girls, has a mission to make prom an event all teens can access, regardless of economic or family circumstances.

What began as a makeshift club started by a B-CC senior who has long since graduated has evolved into a nationally

recognized charity that annually helps over 800 girls a year find their glass slippers. Once Upon A Prom supplies it all: dress, shoes, accessories, and gift certificates. Sadly, the club cannot provide the Prince and the chariot, although those are two intended goals for their 2019 giveaway.

Started in 2011, the Once Upon A Prom Club will host its eighth annual giveaway on April 11, from 2 to 6 PM, in the newly renovated dance studio that will be turned into opulent dressing rooms. Open to any student who walks through their doors, Once Upon A Prom members are looking forward to giving away more dresses than ever before.

When asked why she became involved with the club, Tory Silver said, “My older sister, Carly, started this when

she was at B-CC. The baton passed from Sister 1 to Sister 2 to Sister 3 and then to me.

Growing up in a house of six girls (and two boys), we saw how expensive it is to go to prom. Between the cost of the ticket and the dress and the shoes and getting your nails done, it is a lot of money. We wanted to find a way to ensure that every girl could have this moment. Every girl deserves to be a princess,” Silver added.

That is actually the motto of their club.

Junior Lola Epstein joined the club as Co-President last year. When asked what her favorite part of the club is, Epstein didn’t hesitate as she said, “Seeing the smiles on all the girls’ faces as they look at themselves in the full-length mirrors. That, for sure, is the best takeaway ever.”

Fortnite addiction sweeps the nation

By Harry Turner Whether it’s a successful squad run with the boys, a solo round where you receive all the glory, to the painful heartbreak of being the first to go on the main streets of Tilted Towers, or in the bowels of Shifty Shafts, people can’t get enough Fortnite. For those not familiar with this groundbreaking, all too real, FREE video game, I have no words.

The Nite is a game played online against other warriors, where the last man/woman standing is crowned winner.

At the beginning of every match all challengers are loaded onto a bus soaring through the air. Once up in the clouds, with only an axe in hand, all players must choose when

they’re going to sky dive out, and where they plan to wreak havoc. Scattered across the island are various weapons waiting to be picked up and used to assist you in your run for glory. However, while weapons are important, you’re mental if you think you can last on the island without a med-kit, which heals injuries endured on the field of battle, slurp juice, which works as a layer of shield, and of course building materials. Wood, brick, and steel are found all over the island, and are used to build forts, which provide comfort and protection which are often lost in the heat of battle.

This online game requires strategy and focus. Fortnite is proving itself to be more than

a fad. From frat bros, to high school students, to wide eyed 12 year olds, everyone is rally-

ing around the new wave, and show no signs of slowing up.

So if you haven’t experienced

Collecting and storing dresses all year and contacting merchants for donations is a lot of work, both Silver and Epstein say. “The Sunday meetings, the conversations with vendors and retailers to get dresses and gift certificates, the weekends spent sorting and sizing—it is a lot of hours,” Epstein says.

Silver nods her head in agreement, remembering one girl she helped last year who wrote her a special thank you card. “I’ll never forget it,” she said. “She called us her fairy godmothers.”

And, that is what Once Upon A Prom does: making dreams come true, even if just for a night.

the wonder that is Fortnite, rally the troops, and hop on the sticks.

Opinion P 15 The Pledge of Allegiance: an irrelevant and outdated tradition March 2018

By Aidan Smyth Each morning, about three people in every second period class stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. This may be a consequence of it being early in the morning, when students are tired and not willing to stand up for a minute to say the pledge. It may be that the ten minutes allotted at the beginning of second period for morning announcements are simply being used for other purposes - homework, talking to friends, texting, etc. - that the pledge only serves as background noise. It may be that students at B-CC do not feel the need to pledge their allegiance to a piece of cloth, which could have to do with the dominant political ideology in the area...or common sense. Whatever the reason

age

for lack of participation, the pledge of allegiance is outdated and unnecessary. No real reasons remain to have the pledge of allegiance recited every day at schools across the country besides nostalgia and a naive sort of nationalism.

The Pledge of Allegiance emerged at the close of the 19th century, written by Francis Bellamy to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in America. Its words carried undertones of nativism and bigotry as Bellamy tried to define what it was to truly be American in reaction to the waves of immigrants pouring into the country from southern and eastern Europe.

Bellamy was opposed to the immigrants being granted citizenship; he feared the deg-

radation of America with the inclusion of every new immigrant into American society.

The words “under God” were not added into the pledge until 1954, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower directed the addition of “under God” as a way to distinguish the United States from the godless Soviet Russia.

If one is to look only at the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance, it instantly becomes clear that it is an outdated piece of gross nationalistic pride. Messages of bigotry and nativism have no purpose in modern society, nor do fear-mongering and red-scare politics. However, beyond the origin, which, again, should raise red flags, the question must be asked: why is it necessary that our school-aged

children must be subjected to, at the very least, listening to the Pledge of Allegiance every day?

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as an obligation to our country is a ridiculous concept. One might argue that our veterans fought to ensure that our rights are secured against infringement by any person or institution and, therefore, we should feel an obligation to stand for the pledge. However, included within our rights that we enjoy in the United States is that we don’t have to support our government or our country if we don’t feel like it, or if we feel like our government does not stand for our values. The First Amendment and the Supreme Court affirm this idea.

In any case, it is simply tire-

some and frustrating to see Americans cling to the Pledge of Allegiance as though it still means something. At this point, it is no more than a way for the government to instill a sense of nationalism into the children of the nation at a young age. Children should be able to decide whether or not they feel pride in their country on their own. The pledge elicits feelings of totalitarian and fascist rule, in which young minds are told to pledge their allegiance to a country that they know hardly anything about. It attempts to exert control over US citizens before they have the chance to think for themselves, trying to limit any future possibility of dissent or opposition to the government. The Pledge needs to go; it is no longer needed.

We Need to Reevaluate Our Perceptions of Dark Humor

By Lee Schwartz If people are in conflict about what can or cannot be joked about, who wins? The art of offensive jokes is a delicate one, balancing on a line between funny and just plain messed up. These borderline-alarming jokes are, on the surface, a way to blow off steam and write off serious problems as trivial. It’s stress relieving and often funny. But this genre of jokes hints at a more painful truth; they are both a coping mechanism and an act for attention.

While a jokester cannot control what offends an audience, the audience has to recognize that making offensive jokes about many topics could really be a coping mechanism that hides uncomfortable emotions about a subject. It replaces fear and horror with light humor. This may not change the offensive nature of

the joke, but it shows that the jokester may not really mean what he says. It is easy to write off problems as small and insignificant. This makes them easier to handle, and maybe even easier to solve. There is not always malintent in an offensive joke, and they sometimes provide a good laugh.

While I would like to believe this is the only meaning behind offensive jokes, this is sorely false. Sometimes there is malicious intent. There are shallow people who need to impress others with their insensitivity.

These offensive jokes provide a way to belittle an unliked group of people. They allow hate to prevail because these jokes get a reaction. It’s fun to see people get riled up. It’s fun to push boundaries. It’s fun to get attention. This is the fruit of a jokester’s labor as they stab at open wounds. The reason why it’s funny is because it

doesn’t apply to them. Because they don’t suffer the hardships of their joke, it is not really offensive to them. Their ignorance allows them to make their jokes with the feeling that they are acceptable. These jokesters, I believe, become very brash and insensitive over a period of time. As they desensitize serious problems around them, making light of people’s hardships, they lose a sense of human morality.

Freedom of speech means that you have the ability to share your opinions without being repressed, not that you have an excuse for being an immense ass. Hiding behind your “rights” doesn’t change a twisted nature. Sometimes these jokes cut too deep and twist a knife in the suffering of many people. There is a point of no return, a point where offensive jokes become sick. My advice to an offensive jokester

is to know your audience. Say the offensive jokes around people who will appreciate them, and avoid the just-messed-up jokes overall. There is a line to cross, and you shouldn’t cross it. How do you know what’s offensive and what’s just messed up? If your moral compass is that blurred in the first place maybe you just shouldn’t talk at all.

As for the audience, you cannot completely stop offensive jokes from happening.

Sometimes, you have to let things slide off your back. It saves your energy, and takes away the power of the jokester.

You may not be able to stop them, but you can stop them from mattering. Hate spreads when shots are returned. Silence is excruciating, and completely gets rid of their power.

This does not mean you sit in silence when a serious problem needed to be spoken up

for, but it means disregarding irrelevant hate made only to get a reaction.

Even so, I acknowledge that one should not be scared to say something because it might be too sensitive. That would be restrictive of their ability to speak. I also admit I have laughed at offensive jokes; if they do not go over the line, they can lighten a situation and make it easier to deal with. But this is different from sprouting plain hate for attention and just to hurt.

Even if you are not sensitive to these problems, you should be compassionate enough to acknowledge there are sensitive people around you. You do not deserve to laugh as people are hurt. An offensive joke isn’t always an absolute knee-slapper, and if all else fails, an apology goes a long way.

A Step In The Wrong Direction: Raising The Age to Buy a Gun

By Will Ginsberg I agree with the NRA that we should not universally raise the age to purchase a gun to 21.

Furthermore, we should lower the age to purchase a handgun from 21 to 18. These age limits will not solve the problem. Instead, they are discriminatory.

At the age of 18, you can enlist in the military and are required to sign up for the selective service or the draft if you are male. Back in the days of the Vietnam War, people under 21 were not allowed to vote, yet they were being sent halfway around the world to die in combat. Raising the age from 18 to 21 for the purchase of rifles and shotguns and maintaining the age to purchase a handgun at 21 is absurd. If the government is willing to send you off to another pointless war in which you will be allowed, and required, to operate high grade weaponry, you should be allowed to purchase a weapon to defend

yourself at home.

In addition, raising the age at which you are allowed to legally purchase a weapon would likely not be that effective at stopping mass shootings. Many mass shootings have been carried out by people over the age of 21.

The shootings at Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Pulse Nightclub, and Aurora were all carried out by people over the age of 21. Those who weren’t able to purchase weapons legally, such as the shooters at Columbine, received weapons from friends. Adam Lanza, who killed 20 6th graders at Sandy Hook, stole weapons from his mother.

Raising the age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 may save some lives, and may have stopped the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, as Nikolas Cruz, the shooter, was only 19. Still other laws may be just as effective, if not more effective, and could also be less discriminatory. To put

it simply raising the gun age from 18 to 21 would be age discrimination, as it is no more likely for an 18 to 21 year old to commit a mass shooting, as it is for someone over 21 to commit a mass shooting.

The overwhelming majority of mass shootings are carried out by white men, yet no one is advocating taking away their ability to purchase a firearm.

One law which could help prevent mass shootings and suicides is an extreme risk protection order law. This was a law in five states at the time of the shooting and is now a law in Florida. It allows family members and law enforcement to petition a court to confiscate a person’s guns. If the court determines that the person is a risk to themself or other others, law enforcement is allowed take that person’s guns. In the case of Nikolas Cruz, where law enforcement was called on him dozens of times, it is very possible that police would’ve gone to the

courts, and obtained a court order.

More comprehensive background checks could have prevented the shooting. It was clear that the shooter was mentally ill to people who knew him. Furthermore, they knew he was prone to violence. A simple look at his social media revealed a sick, twisted individual. His social media was also in the public domain, meaning that using it as part of a background check wouldn’t be an invasion of privacy. Employers look into potential employees’ social media accounts, so why shouldn’t we do the same with potential gun buyers?

State, local, and federal officials must also communicate better. Many states don’t even enter information into the federal background check system.

The United States Air Force didn’t report the court martial conviction of Devin Kelley, the shooter who killed 26 people in Sutherland Springs, TX,

to the FBI. If he was reported, it would’ve likely stopped the shooting, as he would’ve been barred from purchasing a weapon.

Instead of banning the ability to purchase guns for an entire group of people let us start first by forcing law enforcement to do their job better by allowing them to confiscate weapons from those who are a danger to themselves or others. We must also overhaul the background check system. Cooperation between the states and the federal government is important as well. Moreover, we need to deal with the way we discuss and deal with mental health. These are things we can all get behind regardless of political affiliation.

Opinion

Page 16

March 2018

The Bump Needs to Go

By Will Tenpas The grade bump. It’s infamous. Everybody seems to have had an experience with it, and everybody seems to have had a different outcome with it. “Oh yeah he bumped me from an 88.2! It was awesome!

And I didn’t even have to work that hard,” or “I did every single homework and have an 89.4 and she won’t bump me!”

It’s time for the discretionary grade bump to be stopped.

According to MCPS Grading Regulation, for grades 6-12, a teacher may round up “one half a percent” when calculating grades, and may “force the

grade with consultation with an administrator and approval from the principal” if the teacher “has evidence that a student demonstrates a different level of performance than a calculated marking period grade indicates.” In theory, this sounds like a fair policy that correctly rewards effort and gives some amount of discretion to the adults that are seeing the student every day of the week. In practice, however, there are several issues.

First, the consultation with administrators and the principal is relatively unheard of, and it is unclear how much it is prac-

ticed. If this practice were followed strictly, maybe the hassle would be enough to prevent courtesy bumps. However, as it is used- or not used for their matter- it is unclear that this oversight is actually making a difference.

A second issue that arises is the varying definitions of “evidence that a student demonstrates a different level of performance.” Experience at B-CC alone proves that this “evidence” can differ from teacher to teacher, even within a department. Some teachers have strict “no bump” policies, while others bump grades that

are closer to the middle ground than the next grade up. These differences between teachers can cause serious frustration among students; even if a student feels they have demonstrated an honest effort and complete understanding, they could be halted in their tracks by a strict teacher stuck to his or her own policy.

The bump is a serious issue in a grading system saturated with beneficial and generous policies. A “no exceptions” grade range would level the playing field and ensure that all students have the same expectations and requirements.

While discretion can be a useful tool, the system has run rampant, and there must be regulation in a school system as large as MCPS. This grade range could also be used as a motivational student for students to work harder. Perhaps the range for an A could be 90100, but could be extended to 89.5-100 if a student has an A in the completion category.

Regardless of the following policy, the grade bump and discretionary grades must be banned from MCPS.

Why Trump’s Military Parade Is a Bad Idea

By Daniel Navratil President Trump ordered high-level military generals to begin planning a military parade, according to officials present in a Pentagon meeting on January 18. Trump was apparently inspired by the military celebrations he witnessed in Paris on Bastille Day in July.

In a press conference after the parade he told reporters that “it was military might… and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France,” adding that “we’re going to have to try to top it.”

In a recent White House statement, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Trump wants to “explore a celebration” at which all Americans can show their appreciation for the military.

However, Trump’s dreams of seeing soldiers marching and tanks rolling down Pennsylva-

nia Avenue are ill advised.

Besides being financially irresponsible—estimates put the cost between $10 million and $30 million—a boastful military parade would be a diplomatic misstep. When a similar parade was proposed to President Eisenhower as a response to Soviet displays of military might, he immediately rejected it. He said that an imitation of the military celebrations so often carried out by totalitarian powers would demonstrate weakness and insecurity rather than strength.

As we witness such pageantry from nations like North Korea and Russia, his wisdom remains relevant.

In addition to being ill advised, Trump’s military parade would also be a break from tradition. While military parades in the United States are not unheard of, they have usually followed the arrival of peace,

like after the World War II victory in 1945. A parade simply to show military might would be out of character. After all, the United States is a nation of peace, not war; we should respect the military, not glorify it. We are not North Korea or Russia. We use the military to defend democracy and to maintain peace, not as a propaganda tool to intimidate the world.

Great American values are shown in our civil institutions, not public displays. A military parade, hidden behind a guise of patriotism, would seem to draw attention to President Trump rather than the values of our democracy.

Image by Daniel Navratil

The Tattler The Tattler is the longest running student newspaper in Montgomery County, now in our 91st year. Help us keep the voices of student journalists alive by donating to The Tattler at the donations tab on tattlerextra.org. You can keep in touch with The Tattler on social media: Tattler news: @tattlerbcc Barons sports: @BCC_Sports

Sports

March 2018

Page 17

2018 MLB Season Preview

By Lansing Lee

Spring training is in full swing, and the Tattler is excited to release its preview for the upcoming baseball season. Let’s see who’s going to win it all!

MOST IMPROVED TEAM The Giants finished last in the National League last season, which has become a common theme of the odd-year even-year dynamic.

In the last four even years, the Giants have made the playoffs and have won three World Series titles. They have missed the playoffs in all of the odd-years in between. Well, the Giants look to be gearing up for another magical even-year run. During the offseason, they acquired veteran third baseman Evan Longoria from the Rays and veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the Pirates. They also look to have ace Madison Bumgarner for a full season, barring no more dirt bike accidents. All in all, the Giants look to improve a lot this season, but they still are probably just a Wild Card team, as the Dodgers still have far and away the best team in the NL West. However, with experienced veterans, and a rejuvenated team, look for the Giants to make a run in October.

DIVISION WINNER LEAST LIKELY TO REPEAT The irony in this is that the Red Sox actually improved this offseason. Recently it was announced that they signed star J.D. Martinez to a five-year deal. This is a great move for a team that has gone 1-6 in the last two postseasons, as it shores up their biggest hole, a lack of a middle-of-the-order power bat. However, the Yankees look like the favorite in the American League, and the Sox signing of Martinez doesn’t change that.

A team that was one win away from the World Series added the defending NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton, giving the Yankees the two premier home run hitters in baseball in Aaron Judge and Stanton. The Red Sox are a good team, but the Bronx Bombers still look to be the clear favorite in the East. Look for the Red Sox to be a wild card team this year.

SLEEPER TEAMS The Brewers may now have the best outfield in baseball. In the span of a few days, they added Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, pairing them with Ryan Braun to create a scary trio. They also have speedster Jonathan Villar, slugger Eric Thames, and a solid pitching staff. A team that led the NL Central at the All Star Break added two players with a combined 9.2 Wins Above Replacement in 2017, without losing major pieces. While it looks the Cubs will still win the division this year, look for the Brewers to get one of the NL Wild Cards and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

NATS REPORT The Nationals fired their manager, but personnel wise have had a pretty quiet offseason. That could be a good thing, as they are the only team in the National League with at least 95 wins each of the last two seasons. The Nationals seem to be the clear favorite to win a third straight division title, so it all comes down to what they do in October. With stars Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy slated to become free agents after the 2018 season, this is a make-or-break year. Also, the Nats could look for an upgrade at catcher, as they could still try to trade for Marlins backstop J.T. Realmuto, more likely closer to the trade deadline in August at this point.

Despite impressing during the early parts of Spring Training, the Nationals sent promising prospect Victor Robles to the Triple-A affiliate. Adam Eaton made a return during the spring, hitting a home run in his first at-bat. If the Nationals can get similar production from all of their stars, there is no reason why they can’t win 95+ games again this year, and maybe get over the hump and win it

Mike Trout has been the best player in baseball for years, would be a first ballot Hall of Famer if he retired today, and may be on his way to becoming the greatest player of all time. However, over his seven year career he has played in a total of three playoff games.

That should change this year, as the Angels won the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes and will bring the two-way Japanese star to hopefully bolster their lineup and pitching rotation. As well as bringing in Ohtani, they also traded for veteran Ian Kinsler, and keep last year’s veteran pickups Brandon Phillips and Justin Upton. Look for the Angels to win a Wild Card this year and give the AL first seed a run for their money in the ALDS. The Mariners always seem to be the sleeper team for the playoffs.

This offseason, they acquired Marlins speedster Dee Gordon who they will be trying at center field, as well as A’s first baseman Ryon Healy to bolster an already solid lineup. With Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano leading the charge these new pieces should be able to compete for the playoffs. However the Mariners success this season hinges on Felix Hernandez. If he can stay healthy and start 25-30 games, the Mariners look like a real force to be reckoned with, but if he can’t then it will be asking a lot for the rest of the Mariners staff to pick up the slack. Will this be the year the Mariners finally make the playoffs…? No, probably not, look for them to contend until the end of the season, but Felix Hernandez’s health and age is too much of a concern to project the Mariners to break through this season.

The Mets are a team that have been injured for much of the last two seasons. However they still have a lot of the players that led them to the National League championship in 2015. While players such as David Wright are clearly past their prime, and Matt Harvey has been a shell of himself due to injuries, if either of these players can return to some sort of top form, as well as if new additions Todd Frazier and Adrian Gonzalez can play well, the Mets could compete for the playoffs.

ORIOLES REPORT This year is really all about what the O’s will do with superstar Manny Machado. After a dismal second half of the 2017 season that saw them finish last in the AL East, they have a decision to make. Machado is a free agent after this season, and a contender would likely give up a lot of prized prospects to get him at the trade deadline, even for just a half year rental. If the O’s don’t seem to be contending at the trade deadline, they will probably just cut their losses and get what they can out of Machado to avoid losing him for nothing or having to get into a bidding war for a possible $400 million player. However there is a chance that they could over-perform with Machado most likely going off in a contract year, and aging stars Adam Jones and Chris Davis having solid years, but with the current state of their pitching staff the Birds don’t look that promising.

AWARD PREDICTIONS NL MVP-Bryce Harper, OF, Nationals, AL MVP-Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees NL Rookie of the Year-Ronald Acuna, OF, Braves, AL Rookie of the YearShohei Otani, RHP/OF/DH, Angels NL Cy Young Clayton Kershaw, LHP, Dodgers, AL Cy Young Dallas Keuchel, LHP, Astros NL Manager of the Year- Craig Counsell, Brewers, AL Manager of the YearMike Scioscia, Angels PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS NL EAST-Nationals, NL CENTRAL-Cubs , NL WEST-Dodgers, NL WILD CARD 1-Brewers, NL WILD CARD 2-Giants AL EAST-Yankees , AL CENTRAL-Indians, AL WEST-Astros , AL WILD CARD 1-Angels , AL WILD CARD 2-Red Sox WORLD SERIES PREDICTIONS Nationals vs Yankees Winner: Nationals WS MVP-Bryce Harper

2018 PyeongChang Olympics recap

By Joel Herberman There were high points and low points for team USA in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Team USA’s 244 athletes finished with 9 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 6 bronze medals for a total of 23. 17 yearold snowboarder Red Gerard was the first American to win gold in these games, and became the youngest American to medal in a snowboarding event. Another snowboarder, Chloe Kim, stole the show as she easily won gold in women’s halfpipe. Chris Mazdzer made history as he became the first American to medal in men’s single luge, winning a silver. Snowboarder Shaun White earned his third all-time gold medal in men’s halfpipe, making him one of the most

successful American Olympians ever. Another bright spot for Team USA was the women’s hockey gold medal victory against Canada, their first gold medal since 1998. The game went into a shootout, and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the winning goal off of a shifty move that fooled the Canadian goalie. Without NHL players, the men’s ice hockey team struggled as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Czech Republic.

Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin aimed to win gold in 3 different events, but finished with a single gold medal and one silver. Legendary skier Lindsey Vonn likely won her last medal with a bronze in downhill skiing. Nathan Chen was favored to win gold in men’s single skating short program but

failed to medal. From a medal standpoint, the US seemed to disappoint in these games.

Previously, the US won 28 in Sochi, and 37 in Vancouver, compared to the 23 that were

won in PyeongChang.

Chloe Kim celebrates her Olympic gold medal, Photo via USA Today

Sports

Page 18

March 2018

Injury of John Wall: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly a huge player, has received a

By Evan Scarupa, Nathan Messer, Erik Ter-Gabrielyan, lot of criticism these days as well, some of it coming from and Pablo Lopez Fernandez his own teammate, Marcin The Wizards, after their Gortat. Gortat released a tweet January 25th game against on February 1st that attempted the OKC Thunder, had 26 to throw shade at the playing wins and 22 losses and were style of teammate John Wall. placed 5th in the eastern conThe Good ference of the NBA. Currently, It seems like the controafter their February 26th game versy surrounding Gortat’s against the Philadelphia 76ers, tweet hasn’t affected play on have 35 wins and 25 losses the court as their winning run and are currently ranked in has continued. In fact, the 4th in the eastern conference. Wizards have the led the NBA The difference the absence of a assist rate. At the helm of this huge player can make in bas- run has been Bradley Beal ketball can alter their teams who has put up an average of season. However, it seems that 20 points a game since John John Wall being gone may Wall’s injury. Born in Mishave helped improve the Wiz- souri, Beal was a top prospect ards record. coming out of high school. He Since John Wall’s last game decided to attend the Univeragainst OKC Thunder on Jan- sity of Florida, where he averuary 25th, the Wizards have aged 14.8 points a game in his ran rampant in the NBA. John lone season there. He was seWall, who is considered the lected third overall by the WizWizards most valuable player, ards and since then has grown sustained a knee injury on the leaps and bounds yet there’s 27th of January which has so always been a sense that Beal far left him out for 8 straight has been in John Wall’s shadgames. In those 8 games, ow. However, The 24 year old the Wizards have won 6, 5 of has really stepped his game which were in a row directly up this season and become after Wall’s injury. The Wiz- one of the leaders of the team. ards are currently placed 4th Three months ago, he hit a cain the eastern conference out reer-high 51 points against the of 15.

Blazers. Beal also became the Since Wall’s injury, a lot youngest player in NBA histohas happened that has proved ry to make 700 made 3 pointJohn Wall to be an essential ers. For his incredible perforplayer on the team. Bradley mances this season, Beal was Beal has stepped up to the named for the first time as an plate and come up big recent- NBA All-Star. Beal isn’t the ly, when it has really mattered. only player who has been playHowever, the wizards record ing well in the absence of John has slightly diminished be- Wall, as Otto Porter Jr has cause of the absence of this drastically improved his game. huge player. John Wall, being He recently hit 23 points vs

the Hornets and 27 vs the Celtics, the number 2 team in the Eastern Conference right now.

The Bad John Wall was diagnosed with an injury to his left knee on January 30th 2018. According to the official Washington Wizards website, “Wizards guard John Wall underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his left knee today… Wall is expected to miss approximately six to eight weeks and will begin the rehabilitation process immediately”. John Wall has had other knee injuries in the past, including a stress injury to his left knee in the 2012 preseason; an injury that left him on the sideline for the first 33 games of the season. John Wall plays a point guard position, averaging 19.4 points, 9.3 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game this season and is easily regarded as an integral part of the Wizard’s team.

Wall has just recently gotten off of his crutches and is on his way back to being able to play again.

However, he is not expected to make his return to play for a few more weeks. He will miss the Wizards next game tomorrow, which is against the Toronto Raptors at the Capital One Arena in DC.

Without John Wall, shooting guard Bradley Beal has been carrying the offensive burden of the team. Beal will have to work harder for the next weeks and maintain the playing style that Wall accomplishes when he is on the court.

The Ugly In John Wall’s absence, the team chemistry has been shaken by comments from the starting center, Marcin Gortat. Gortat, after capping off a tough win against a strong Raptors squad with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists, posted an extremely controversial message to twitter.

“Unbelievable win tonight !

Great ‘team’ victory!” Gortat tweeted. He surrounded the word team with quotations to take a jab at John Wall not being a team player. Wall initially tweeted out, “Lol”, but deleted the message later.

Wall was interviewed by SC6 and responded. Wall put Gor-

By Lansing Lee

spend more than they are on programs that already lose them money. Instead of paying more to keep open their smaller programs, they would cut those programs to instead make more money for big name recruits in football and basketball. That’s unfair for the thousands of collegiate athletes If college players are allowed to be payed, smaller Division I schools will be unable to compete for top basketball and football recruits. In 2011, the last year for which numbers are available, Duke, North

Carolina, and Louisville generated the most revenue for the NCAA in basketball, and if they were able to use that to pay players it would create an almost endless cycle, as the top recruits would continue to come to Duke and North Carolina (excluding Louisville because of the recent scandals), and no top recruits would go to smaller basketball schools like LSU and Washington.

While those seem like random schools, those are the schools where the last two first overall picks in the NBA draft have attended (Ben Simmons and M a r k e l l e Fultz).

Do you really think t h a t those schools, w i t h their below average b a s ketball p r o grams, would be able to get those players to come

Why college athletes should not be paid March Madness begun and that of course inevitably leads to another discussion about whether or not NCAA student-athletes should be paid. Spoiler: The answer is no! However, I should preface this argument by saying, while college athletes shouldn’t get paid, the NBA and NFL should get rid of rules that require players to stay in college for a certain amount of years before entering the draft (1 in the NBA, 2 in the NFL). If a professional sports team wants to employ you when you are 12, they should be able to employ you when you are 12. Many of the greatest NBA stars of the 21st century didn’t attend college, and were drafted straight out of high school. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard, just to name a few. The debate about whether or not one-and-done should remain a thing or if instead players should be drafted out of high school will go on, but it doesn’t change the fact that college athletes just shouldn’t be paid.

Men’s Basketball and football do make large sums of money for the universities in the Power 5, (schools in the ACC, Big 10, SEC, Big 12, and PAC 12), however at most uni-

versities those are the only two sports that make any profit in for the school. In fact, most of the collegiate sports lose the universities thousands to hundreds of thousands dollars, even though baseball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, golf, swimming, water polo, etc. players work just as hard and put in just as time away from the classroom as the basketball and football stars. One problem arises from this immediately, it would be almost impossible to expect the colleges to pay their hundreds of athletes in the sports that are losing them money fairly.

Even if t h e r e w a s strict regulation to ensure that every player had to be paid equally no matter the sport, m a n y colleges wouldn’t want to have to

Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register

tat on blast, saying that “It was more just shocking to hear from him, and understanding that he gets the most assists from me, and the most spoonfed baskets ever.” Gortat has not been having the greatest season either, only averaging 8.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. Wall, on the other hand, before his absence was averaging 19.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 9.3 assists. This is not the first time there has been tension on the Wizards, either. John Wall and Bradley Beal, arguably the two best players and NBA all stars, used to despise each other on and off the court. However, over time they overlooked their differences and have brought the Wizards to three playoffs, making it to the conference semifinals every time. If Wall and Gortat can get over their ‘beef’, the Wizards may very well have a good playoff run to look forward to, as they are ranked 4th even without Wall.

Photo via Sports Illustrated had they been forced to put up big offers to compete with schools like UNC or Duke, or other big schools like Kentucky or Kansas? No, they wouldn’t, and the dominance of those schools would continue and become even worse.

These players are amateurs and they should be treated as such. Most big name players are already being given full scholarships to attend top universities with large tuitions for free. To put that into perspective, the average amount of debt a student leaves college is $28,540 (Institute for College Access and Success). As well as getting the free tuition, lots of star athletes that make the money for the universities go on to sign large contracts in the NBA or NFL. College should not be the source of your income, it should be where you go to get educated. If you don’t want to go to college, you should be able to go to the pros without going to college.

Let the collegiate game remain what it is, a showcase of the college students that happen to be top athletes, not a money game where big stars are actually getting payed to go to universities that may other people are forced to put up so much money to attend.

March 2018

Sports

Page 19

Maddy Pfaff On February 8th, Senior Maddy Pfaff won the Girls Diving Metros Championship with a final score of 485.50 points. Along the way she set the B-CC school record, making history in B-CC diving and finishing off the end of her swimming career at B-CC with a strong win.

Pfaff was able to stay consistent throughout the meet receiving around a score of seven from each judge on all of her dives. Pfaff’s most successful dive was a 1.5 inward pike which gave her a score of over 50 points. Going into this particular meet Maddy knew that she was going to have to be especially amazing because this meet included some of the best divers from all over the DMV, knowing “that there were going to be a lot of tough competitors meant there would be no room for error which was definitely an added stressor,” said Pfaff. Pfaff delivered breaking her personal record as well as a school record. Maddy’s final score was just over 20 points better than Hannah Montau who finished in second place and beating the third place finisher by just under 100 points.

When asked what she does to keep this consistency she responded with, “I focused on being well rested and I think the snow day really helped. During the meet I had to make sure I had enough energy to sustain myself so fueling was very important. I also like to listen to music as a distraction between my dives but when I am on the board I try to go on autopilot. I also visualize and model before every dive.” Her consistency and success has been a result of many years and hours of practice, yet she still remains cautious and not too confident so she doesn’t let her game down. She “was doing dives [she] had practiced hundreds of times” which also gave her a boost in confidence. However one of her dives she had learned recently and wasn’t completely confident about it but because of her experience as a senior she was able to pull it off. However there are always nerves before a big dive because, “there is always potential for an off dive despite how many times you practice.”

Pfaff is also committed to Duke for diving. When asked why she chose Duke her response was, “I chose Duke because of the rigor in both academics and athletics. I knew I wanted to continue my diving career at a high level but I also want a great education and Duke is the perfect combination.” The future is bright for the soon to be Blue Devil, Maddy Pfaff.

Boys Indoor Track The boys indoor track team had a great regular season as well as successful county and regional meets, placing sixth place in each one. Select runners competed in the state championship on Feb 20, and had a great showing. The boys were lead by Adam Nakasaka and Josh Fry who won the 2 mile and placed tenth in the mile, respectively. The boys 4x800 consisting of Aidan Smyth, Joe Viquera, Nick Bailey and Adam Nakasaka won the county championship but were then disqualified because of taunting at the finish line. They came back strong to win the state championship for the 4x800 and beat their time that was disqualified at the earlier meet, running a the fastest 4x800 all season by any team in Maryland. These boys had a very successful season and will be looking forward to outdoor track where they hope to repeat their success.

Girls Indoor Track The girls indoor track team had a strong season and successful postseason meets finishing seventh at counties and fifth at regionals. The girls had quite a few runners represented in the state championship that was held on Feb 20. The girls had a first year sprinter, Shelby Fountain place ninth in the 55 m as well as Sarah Haas returning in the 800 to place eighth. The girls 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams both qualified after impressive runs at regionals. They finished seventh and ninth place, respectively. Anaiah Little-Diop ran in the mile and two mile, after reaching states in the mile after outsprinting a competitor by one tenth of a second. She placed sixth in the mile and 11th in the two mile. The girls had Ananya Bernando compete in pole vaulting who finished in eighth place. After a successful season, the girls will look to improve even more, and put someone on the podium or in the top five in outdoor track.

Wrestling The wrestling team had a very successful season this year, finishing with a record of 9-3 in their conference matchups. Their season was highlighted by two big wins against Springbrook and Clarksburg in the regional semifinals. Wrestlers Gabriel McAndrew and Eli Guttentag reached 100 wins in their careers this season, a significant accomplishment for a high school wrestler.

Track photos via B-CC XCTF on Twitter, wrestling photo via Clarksburg Athletics on Twitter, Maddy Pfaff photo by Matt Cohen

BEST. SEASON. EVER.

The B-CC girls basketball team celebrate its first ever region title.

Photo taken by Matt Cohen

By Matt Cohen There was a certain fervor that ran through the air as basketball season neared its opening day for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons. The boys team had added talented transfers to a strong senior class, and the stars of the girls team were primed for one final run. The expectations were high, the excitement was tangible.

Though no one could have predicted how historic the 2017-18 winter would be for the Barons on the hardwood.

The boys and girls basketball team reached new levels of success this season, a year that will go down as the best in B-CC’s history.

Boys head coach Sean Tracy didn’t even know that Elijah Wood announced his decision to transfer to B-CC until he received texts from other coaches around Montgomery County. At the time, Wood was an emerging name on the AAU circuit, and he was rising up the national ranks. The sophomore, ranked as a four star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals, figured to be a solution to the hole the boys had at point guard. Wood had gained attention from his highlight reel dunks, and as he was plugged into a lineup with a talented senior class, the school waited with held breath for the season to get underway.

The lineup for the girls didn’t have many new faces, the core of the team, Caitlyn Clendenin and Charlotte Lowndes, had played together for four years, and effortlessly

fit together as teammates. This season looked to be the year the girls finally made a run.

Though both teams started the year slowly. The girls opened the season with a loss at Paint Branch, while the boys lost two of their first four games, including a blowout 76-55 loss to Gaithersburg.

Though after working through the early season kinks and gelling together as a team, both the girls and boys began to blow through their opponents. After losing to Gaithersburg on December 15, the boys did not lose a single game to a Montgomery County opponent during the remainder of the regular season. Their only loss came against Shawnee (NJ) during a winter break tournament. B-CC had an 18 game in-County win streak during the regular season, and a 16 game overall streak.

While the girls didn’t amass the same lengthy win streaks, they completely dominated the County. B-CC won by 20 or more points 11 times during the 2017-18 season. They won the CKA Holiday Tournament in dominant fashion, scoring a tournament record 92 points in a 92-27 win over Northwood, before blowing out Kennedy in the championship game. The girls amassed an impressive regular season resume with wins over Bullis, Walter Johnson and Churchill before closing out the regular season with a victory over the previously undefeated Richard Montgomery Rockets.

The 2017-18 season featured first after first for both the boys and girls team. The

boys and girls team each captured a number one seed in their respective sections, the only school in Montgomery County to do so. The boys finished the regular season a with a 19-3 overall record, the best regular season mark in school history. They won the 4A South division for the first time under Tracy, going a perfect 8-0 in the division.

The girls captured a division title for the first time under Ingalls, going 6-2 in the 4A South. In addition, the girls defeated Whitman for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

Though the real history for the girls was still yet to come.

The Whitman girls had won the region in each of the past three years. In each of those seasons, the Vikings eliminated the Barons from the playoffs. After Whitman won its first round game, they came to B-CC to face the Barons in the section semifinals. The Vikings hung around in the early stages of the game, before B-CC pulled away in the second half.

Lowndes was fantastic for the Barons on that night, scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds.

B-CC advanced to play Walter Johnson in the section finals. After a poor first half, B-CC caught fire in the second half behind Lowndes and Clendenin, and pulled away to beat WJ. With the win, B-CC won the section for the first time since 2004, when Ingalls was a player at B-CC. “We have such a special team; it means tons to me, but also for the girls to show what they can do.

It’s awesome to be back there, we’re really excited,” Ingalls

said after the win over WJ. Never before in school history had the B-CC girls basketball team won a region championship. The opponent standing in the way of history: RM. The same Rockets team who had only lost one game all year. Throughout much of the first half, the Rockets dominated the Barons. RM started the game on an 11-0 run, and the Barons looked dead in the water. “Especially ‘cause it was the first quarter, we knew the game wasn’t done. It’s wasn’t even close to over,” Clendenin said.

Though the momentum shifted just before the half, with consecutive and-ones from Clendenin and Lowndes respectively. B-CC stormed back, and took the lead in the second half. The Barons pulled ahead, and pulled away in the second half, beating RM for the second time and winning the region championship, the first such title in school history.

“It’s awesome, we’ve worked so hard. This was our goal at the beginning of the season. We knew this was what we wanted to do. It feels good to finally do it,” Clendenin said after the win.

“I think maybe like a day after we won the region,” Ingalls said of when she realized how historic this season was. “I think then it kind of hit me like, ‘Wow, we’re going to states.’”

In the first state semifinals appearance in program history, B-CC faced defending the 4A state champion, Catonsville. The Barons were excel-

lent in the first half against the Comets, but ultimately lost as Catonsville’s Jasmine Dickey took over in the second half, and led the Comets to a comeback win. The historic season, with the deepest playoff run in program history, had come to a close.

“It means the world,” Ingalls said of coaching B-CC to the historic win at the school where she played, “I love this school and I love the basketball program here...It makes me extra proud that we were able to do it.”

Throughout the whole season, Ingalls and the girls preached how much fun they had together, and how close they all were with each other.

The chemistry they had built over the years was clearly evident as they made history.

The boys defeated Whitman in front of a raucous atmosphere at B-CC to win the section. It was the second time in four years that B-CC won the section. In the region final, B-CC faced Gaithersburg with a chance for revenge. B-CC controlled much of the game, and led by 10 in the third quarter. Though a second region title in four years wasn’t to be for the Barons, as Gaithersburg came back in the fourth quarter, and advanced to the state semifinals.

Never before had B-CC seen the level of success achieved by both its girls and boys basketball teams, let alone in the same season. 2017-18 will certainly go down as the best basketball season in school history.