Navigating the Path to Student Speech: Tattler November-December Edition

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Tattler Staff Editors in Chief Andrew Cha Sophia Saidi Emily Schrader Managing Editors Paloma Delgado Lee Schwartz Aidan Smyth Art Editor Daniel Navratil Julia Mencher News Editors Josh Garber Sasha Frank-Stempel Callie Wilks Feature Editors Isabel Danzis Grace Harrington Opinion Editors Daniel Navratil Lee Schwartz Sports Editors Kevin McAuliffe Tom Merritt Julia Taylor Style Editors Lauren Gips Tina Siyoum Backpage Editor Maggie Hodge Business Manager Tommy Turi Supervisor David Lopilato Cover Daniel Navratil

From Peace to Hate 50 years of student free speech

BY THE TATTLER EDITORIAL STAFF Six months before Neil Armstrong took his giant step for mankind, Mary Beth Tinker of Des Moines, Iowa took a historic step forward for student rights. In February 1969, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tinker against her school’s decision to suspend Tinker and other students for wearing an armband in protest of the Vietnam War. At that moment, fifty years ago, student free speech must have seemed an inalienable right.

But, progress is rarely linear. For every step forward… you know the saying. In 1983, in Washington, Mathew Fraser delivered a sexual-innuendo-laden speech and got suspended. A month later, Cathy Kuhlmeier’s school paper in Missouri planned to run articles on divorce and teen pregnancy, but the principal ordered that the pages in question be withheld from publication. Both cases went all the way to the Supreme Court. In the Fraser case, the high court decided that obscenity is not protected. In the Hazelwood case, the court decided that a school can object to content that raises “legitimate pedagogical concerns.” Prior review became law of the land, and a school administration could demand to see a paper before it was printed.

Eventually, a handful of states passed counter-laws that allowed school papers to publish without prior administrative review. Maryland, with the passage of the “New Voices” Law, joined their ranks in 2016, thanks to Representative Jamie Raskin. Student free speech recently gained another victory; new this year, MCPS gave us three excused “protest” days. Tinker v. De Moines, looking good at 50!

A reporter from the Washington Post recently told the Tattler that we have to use our “new voices” for our sake and for the sake of all the student publications in states that must abide by prior review.

We define, and hold the line between free and hate speech. But with great power comes great responsibility.

Navigating the Path to Student Free Speech

By Sophia Saidi

Facing Down Homophobia: It Gets Tiring.

By Owen Bonk

The IB Program Is Not a Profile in Diversity

By Ella Goldblum

Freedom of Speech at All Costs

By Connor Dickinson

Where do we draw the line between free speech and hate speech? A conversation about student expression that began with Mary Beth Tinker continues fifty years later.

Opinion: Hateful speech is being normalized.

A student recounts his own recent experience with homophobic comments.

Opinion: B-CC is often thought of as an inclusive school. But the demographics in the IB program may be creating a different environment.

Opinion: Students are overlooking the importance of the First Amendment. Doing so could lead to an American tragedy.

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In This Edition 9 10 12 14 15 Here’s How We End Hate Speech: It’s Not What You Think

By Malaika Bhayana

Call in or call out? Our columnist argues that we should be more accepting towards people who have said insensitive things.

Afirmative Action: Not Simply a Black and White Issue

By Andrew Cha

Harvard has been in the national spotlight for its upcoming Affirmative Action case. Read how current and former Asian students at B-CC feel about the situation.

Cancel Culture is Canceled

By Monique Boateng and Semhal Negussie

On social media, tweets are permanent. Old or new, hateful posts have been ruining online icons and celebrities as their fans “cancel” them. Is this “cancel culture” justified?

Could You Pass a Citizenship Test? Most Americans Couldn’t.

By Alex Waterman

For immigrants, the naturalization test continues to be a barrier to full citizenship. Find out how the test is harder than it seems, even for Americans.

B-CC Athletics Responds to Damascus Rape Charges

By Josh Garber and Sasha Frank-Stempel

After the Damascus JV football team’s sexual abuse cases, The Tattler investigates the football culture in our own locker rooms, and the administration’s efforts to clean up sports team hazing.

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The Changing Landscape of Bethesda

By Emma Volkers, Grace Harrington, and Isabel Danzis

Bethesda is changing rapidly, right before our eyes. The Tattler investigates how the urbanization of Bethesda might affect our home.

Surviving in Bethesda: Why Local Businesses Can’t Last

By Paloma Delgado

Why is it so hard to survive in Bethesda? Hear the story of a B-CC family and their 8-year struggle to run their restaurants in Bethesda.

A Queen’s New Crown: Student Wins Miss Maryland Teen USA

By Cat Desouza and Camille Hall

A B-CC senior won Miss Maryland Teen USA. But there’s some controversy behind the crown.

B-CC Teacher Uncovers 19th Century Music Piece

By Lilly Behbehani and Rachel Auerbach

He uncovered a piece of music that has never been played before.

Find out how music teacher Mr. White discovered and transcribed a work by a 19th Century female composer.

Good Vibes: An Interview with Floyd Marley

By Aidan Smyth

You’ve seen him on Instagram, or maybe even live: B-CC music prodigy Joe Lostumbo discusses his inspiration and passion for music throughout his life.

In Sports

Barons Hockey on Thin Ice Hockey Girls Elijah Wood Is Back Repeating Soccer Cristiano Ronaldo Accused of Rape Sports Recruitment

By Andrew Cha

By Cat Desouza

By Bennett Schwartz and Dan Shapiro

By Dan Shapiro and Julia Taylor

By Pablo Lopez and Nathan Messer

By Kevin McAuliffe

ELEPHANT ILLUSTRATION BY LEE SCHWARTZ, XXXTENTACION PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL NAVRATIL, POLICE PHOTO BY SOPHIA SAIDI

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Navigating the Path to Student Free Speech Where do we draw the line between free speech and hate speech? A conversation about student expression that began with Mary Beth Tinker continues fifty years later.

By Sophia Saidi

FOREWORD In 1968 Mary Beth Tinker was suspended for wearing an armband protesting the Vietnam War. Today, Montgomery County students have the freedom to walk out of class in protest without even worrying about unexcused absences. In the fifty years in between, the conversation of student freedom of speech has changed drastically in the United States. How did we get to where we are now?

“When I was growing up in the fifties, there were less rights in school generally,” Tinker said.

“There was more discrimination against children and teenagers, and there was the idea that children should be seen and not heard.”

Until Tinker v. Des Moines, few legal precedents had been established to grant young people the constitutional rights automatically given to adults. Tinker’s court case, which protected first amendment rights within the school environment, was a major achievement in the students’ rights movement.

In the years following Tinker’s case, other court cases attempted to suppress student voice.

Bethel School District v. Fraser and Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, dictated specific limits to the types of speech protected in schools.

Despite these decisions, the influence of student voice has only grown.

In reaction to the 1989 Hazelwood decision, which gave school administrators the right to censor student newspapers, fourteen states have since passed legislation protecting student media, with the state of Maryland joining that list this year.

Now, student activism has reached new levels of success. The student movement for gun control dominated political discussions throughout 2018 and prompted Montgomery County to pass a resolution allowing students up to three excused absences for civil engagement.

“Students are speaking up so much about all of the issues that affect their lives,” Tinker said.

The more students continue to speak up, the more they continue to see increased support for the issues that affect them, Tinker explained, referencing a high school principal she met in Arizona who helped his students stage a walkout.

Though great strides have been made, there 4

is still a long way to go on the path to freedom of speech. While the scope of protected speech has expanded, as Tinker explains, that protection is not distributed equally among demographics.

“So much of it now has to do with racial differences and also economic differences, because there’s kind of a sliding scale… when it comes to students rights,” Tinker said. “Students that are at schools that are more white and have higher incomes, they tend to have more rights. Whereas when you then go to the schools that are more lower income, more kids of color… it’s much stricter in so many ways.” Tinker was told by the principle of a “failing school” in East Cleveland that their students could not afford to learn about their rights because they had to get their test scores up.

As we move into the future, the issue of free speech continues to be reevaluated in new and complex conversations. Whether it’s confronting the inequity of free speech among different demographics described by Tinker, or navigating between political protest, hateful opinions, and student expression, the intricacies of free speech are not as clear cut as they once seemed. ◆

“You can’t put someone else down, you can’t be demeaning, you can’t say something derogatory, you can’t say something hurtful,” Mr. Robinson, B-CC senior class administrator, said.

“You have to be able to come to school and feel safe, and when someone’s free speech infringes upon that, then that’s a problem.”

Still, instances of hateful speech are not rare occurrences among B-CC students, nor are they specific to any demographic, organization, or group of people. Derogatory words are tossed around as slang in conversations between friends, and heated arguments bring up offensive

slurs. In the days following the free speech controversy, Webb saw the same words from the screenshots directed towards himself.

“Afterwards I did get threatened. Once again it was over media so there’s no way to prove that it was real, but it was definitely weird,” Webb said. “That was my first time being called a fag and, I don’t know, it was just eye opening.”

Even the Young Republicans Club, which has been at the center of many conversations surrounding freedom of speech, has been the target of hateful comments. After airing an advertisement promoting the club on B-CC TV, club president Grayson Loudermilk said they received ten to fifteen death threats.

As an ideological minority in liberal Bethesda, many young republicans feel alienated or marginalized because of their political views. According to Loudermilk, the purpose of the club is to give its members a platform to “express their opinions on a greater scale” within a community of “like minded thinking people.”

“There’s a lot of Republicans out there, they’re fearful to be Republicans,” Loudermilk said. “I know they’re scared for backlash… so normally a lot of it goes to me or other members of the leadership; it kind of creates a safety net for them.”

Though she has been outspoken in the past about many political issues, Genana agrees that B-CC’s liberal environment makes it difficult for her to feel comfortable expressing her views.

“I think people don’t understand… since most people are raised by liberals and live in a very liberal place,” Genana said. “Every [conversation]

I get dominated, like really critically, and I think that’s really frustrating.” As a result, Genana said, she is less willing to speak up in conversations about political topics.

Genana believes this dissonance in understanding and others’ unwillingness to compromise is what has made Republicans at B-CC more hostile, leading to incidents involving hate speech. Generally, all sides seem to agree that the solution involves fostering an environment of tolerance and open communication. She says communication is the best approach.

This view is reflected to a certain extent among B-CC administrators. Mr. Robinson hopes that incidents of hateful or hurtful speech can be turned into a learning experience.

“We don’t want to just administer a consequence,” Mr. Robinson said. “Yes, students do receive consequences if they do say something or post something that’s hurtful, and that’s important. But what’s more important to us is not just giving someone a disciplinary consequence, it’s for them to learn. So we never give anyone a disciplinary consequence without having some type of learning involved.”

This is easier said than done. Especially now that many incidents of hateful speech occur on social media or in private online conversations, disciplinary action becomes more difficult. Apps like Snapchat allow posts and messages to disappear and photo editing software can alter the contents of an image or screenshot, which makes identifying instances of hate speech more complicated.

Beyond this, many students feel that, because social media is separate from school, it cannot be regulated so they are more free to say things they normally would not in the presence of teachers or classmates. Under the law, though, social media falls under administrative jurisdiction.

As the scope of student speech changes and broadens, the lessons of Mary Beth Tinker and her landmark case still hold true: Ultimately, it is up to the students to define their own boundaries between free speech and hate speech, between disciplinary action and rehabilitation.

The way to do this: “Teaching students to know their rights,” Tinker said. “You can’t stand up for your rights if you don’t know your rights.”

GRAPHICS BY SOPHIA SAIDI

AN INSTAGRAM POST was all it took.

The photo was posted by a student condemning those who refuse to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. Within minutes, the comments section erupted in debate. “[One student] said something about the Young Republicans Club being a very open and accepting place for everyone,” Elijah Webb, a B-CC senior, said. “I knew that to be false because I had seen the chat before. I knew I had to expose them for their hateful comments.”

That day, screenshots of a private group chat, allegedly attributed to B-CC’s Young Republicans Club, circulated around school. The pictures showed many members using derogatory words and homophobic slurs. While the legitimacy of the screenshots was never confirmed, the ensuing debate became a question of free speech.

Where is it appropriate to draw the line, within a school environment, between free speech and hate speech? And at what point does administration have the right to intervene?

Senior Tenudi Genana has one answer.

“I draw this clear line between a right and ethically wrong,” Genana says. “Personally, I think anyone has the right to say anything offensive. As long as physical threat is not involved, I think that it is still free speech. I still believe in the idea that someone’s emotion does not in any way reduce your first amendment rights.”

But where do others draw the line when it comes to freedom of expression?

“In these screenshots… three students were being targeted specifically, plus just a broad group of people were being targeted,” Webb said. “It was hateful speech, which in school would be considered bullying, which is grounds for administration to do something.”

This conversation surrounding protected speech comes exactly fifty years after the landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines.

In the case, Tinker took the Des Moines school district to trial after she was suspended for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. The judges presiding over the case decided that the armbands were considered symbolic speech, meaning the right to wear them was protected under the constitution. This case set the precedent that a student’s right to free speech is not stripped away within the confines of school walls.

But, the conversation at B-CC appears to be reshaping the Tinker case within a new context.

While Tinker called for the protection of peace, others now defend hate. Still, the point at which protected speech ends, and administrative action begins, is unclear.

“It’s always a balancing act of other people’s rights and your rights,” Mary Beth Tinker said.

“So all rights do have limits.”

Students are not completely free to say whatever they want. In schools, just like everywhere else, freedom of expression comes with conditions. According to the Tinker decision, any form of speech or student expression which “materially and substantially” interferes with the school environment is within grounds for administrative intervention.

So what constitutes material and substantial disruption? The vague language of this statement leaves it open to interpretation, giving school administrators room to decide what qualifies as disruptive speech.

For B-CC administrators, the answer is clear cut.

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Facing Down Homophobia: It Gets Tiring.

BY OWEN BONK Today, I am tired.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving break, I woke up to a text from a friend notifying me of an unthinkable event: screenshots from a conversation about me had been sent around the school.

Me? I couldn’t imagine what disturbance I could have caused—I consider myself a rather uncontroversial person. I later found out that not only had a classmate felt it necessary to critique my mannerisms, my voice, and my clothes, but he had also used homophobic slurs to describe me, setting me apart as a “faggy gay.”

As the messages were made public, friends reached out to me, offering their condolences, concerned for my well being. I thanked people, and told them I was hanging in there. Nonetheless, one thought lingered in the back of my mind for the rest of the day -- the realization that I didn’t feel destroyed. I knew I should be outraged, and that I should be angry, but I felt none of that.

Rage plays an important role in today’s discourse. My friends expect people to immediately take action and denounce any hateful act. Me, though? I am tired.

I am tired because I know that people will always think less of me because of the way I speak. Tired because people will always find a way to label the way I dress. Tired because I know that this is not the first nor the last time I will be called a faggot. Tired because, for all my efforts to make myself into a person who is so much more than my sexuality, my feminine traits will always impair me.

When I returned to school the next Monday, it was a normal day. No dramatic confrontations, no meetings with administration (even though my friends had reported the incident). I sat in the same classroom and walked the same halls as the aforementioned classmate. On that gloomy Monday, it was clear to me that we have normalized acts of aggressive and angry hate speech.

Is the author of this speech actually filled with hate? Does he care about the significance of the words he throws around nonchalantly? Does he just think it’s funny to spout slurs?

It doesn’t matter.

The people who disparage us are still loved. The people who disparage us are still laughed off. The people who disparage us are still appreciated as deserving of a platform because of the uniqueness of their views in this bubble. They continue with their careless and provocative ways. They paint those who object to their ideas as emotional “libtards,” dismissing in order to keep the cyclical and inconsequential nature of these events in place.

In reality though, anyone who is disgusted by my mere presence is just bigoted. Their views aren’t interesting, they aren’t controversial, and they aren’t original. They would love to consider themselves all three descriptors, but they’re just simple.

I am thankful for those who have stood up for me. My tiredness does not invalidate their anger. I believe that rage can be a seminal force for social change. Nonetheless, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the problem. It feels unquantifiable even though it has had an immense impact on my life. It’s difficult to feel that I can make a difference in dismantling these harmful societal constructs when rare instances of blatant homophobia pass from our collective consciousness after a day or two.

So, the deliberate and implicit shaming of queer people remains a cultural norm. While it is true that we have progressed in our acceptance of non-traditional orientation, it is incidents like these that perpetuate hesitance and shame in self expression in the LGBT community.

Today, I am allowing myself to be tired. This unthinkable event isn’t so unthinkable, after all. Tomorrow I will be well rested and ready to get to work.

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THE IB PROGRAM A PROFILE IN DIVE

HOW DIVERSE IS IB? HERE’S THE BREAKDO

DIVERSITY IN IB

5.20% OTHER

5.59% ASIAN 7.29% BLACK

DIVERSITY IN

5.80% MULTIRACIA

5.09% MULTIRACIAL 14.3% BLACK

7.89% HISPANIC

17.5% HISPANIC 74.13% WHITE 57.2% WHITE

GRAPHIC BY EMILY SCHRADER

IS NOT ERSITY

By Ella Goldblum

OWN.

N B-CC

AL

132 14 13 10 9

OUT OF 178 FULL DIPLOMA STUDENTS:

WHITE STUDENTS

HISPANIC STUDENTS

BLACK STUDENTS ASIAN STUDENTS

MULTIRACIAL STUDENTS

TEST FEE WAIVERS

325 17 2

STUDENTS TAKE IB EXAMS OF THOSE STUDENTS GET WAIVERS WAIVER RECIPIENTS ARE DIPLOMA CANDIDATES

IN THE LAST MONTH, a public show of homophobia on social media incited conversations about bigotry in every corner of our campus. It’s critical not to investigate hateful incidents in isolation, but to examine the culture that allows them to grow. The IB diploma program is not immune from that culture.

B-CC’s IB diploma program is predominantly white, more so than any other academic path at B-CC. The program has open enrollment, so no concrete criteria keep students of color out. The real reason for the program’s whiteness at our school may be less tangible.

IB diploma senior Gloria Karezeki, who identifies as African, says “there’s a systematic discouragement of minority students to take hard classes, because some people feel like they can’t do them.”

Senior Tenudi Genana says some of her friends associate IB with whiteness and view her as someone who “acts white” simply because she’s in the diploma program. Of course, IB educators are cognizant of this concern. Senior English and Theory of Knowledge teacher Daniel Engler says he wishes the program wasn’t so homogeneous, but he also adds that beyond opening enrollment up to all students, “We can’t engineer demographics.”

Although administrators are working on recruiting minority students to IB through summer enrichment programs, IB’s homogeneity inevitably affects its current classroom culture.

IB seniors most recently read Between The World and Me, a book by cultural commentator Ta-Nehisi Coates about the dynamics of race-based oppression in America and the black experience in the U.S. Students and teachers alike observed that classroom conversations about the book can put students of color on the spot, making them feel obligated to speak for their entire race.

Karekezi describes a classroom dynamic in which her classmates assume that she knows more about racial issues. “If you say something stupid, it’s because of your race, whereas if someone else says something stupid, it’s because they’re stupid,” Karekezi says. She speaks highly of her experiences in the IB program, describing her fellow students as open-minded and socially conscious. Yet, in her IB English class, she sometimes fears accidentally enforcing racial stereotypes in conversations about the book.

According to Engler, these conversations can create an atmosphere of defensiveness and tribalism. Genana expresses that some of her classmates did not read the assigned book and still escalated conflicts about race in class. She firmly believes that anyone can have an opinion on race, including white people, but she felt that some peers were not making an effort to understand perspectives outside the privileged IB bubble. “That was just not an okay moment,” she says.

In IB Diploma program coordinator Michelle Dean’s IB English 12 classes, she made a conscious effort to “acknowledge early on that our class lacked racial diversity,” and this open acknowledgment helped her class work through different perspectives on race. Still, Between The World and Me was the first book she has taught that led to obvious classroom discomfort. lB certificate senior Hermella Yohannis affirms how hard it it is to look out at a sea of desks in her IB English class and only see one other person who looks like her.

This is only a minor contrast from her AP classes, where she expects to encounter about two or three other black people. But even that can make a difference. Yohannis attempted to use her platform as one of the only black people in the class to build understanding with her classmates who had never experienced racial oppression. She feels she was successful, but notes that it’s much harder to share a vulnerable experience when she’s the only one in the class who can relate to it.

Demographically diverse classrooms that represent our societies promote a sense of community and solidarity. They also allow students to hold each other accountable for comments that display ignorance or privilege. Without this accountability in the IB program, we’re unintentionally enabling a toxic environment.

For a program that espouses values of internationalism and critical thinking, this is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, it is expected that similar demographic trends will continue at the colleges B-CC graduates attend. “If I want to go to an elite school, which I always wanted to, this is how life is always going to be.”

If we accept this lack of representation as a default in classrooms, we’re also accepting the status quo that enables hate speech. It’s a dangerous cycle, and one that no academic program in B-CC should be a part of. The question is: what are we going to do about it?

It’s a question that may require attention to the underlying culture of our classrooms, not just their demographic statistics. But it’s one we need to keep asking.

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America’s Dangerous Standard for Free Speech

BY AIDAN SMYTH The United States has “seen more and more examples on college campuses in recent years of shutting down free and open expression and debate around ideas,” according to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos at a CPAC event in 2018.

Indeed, the Trump administration, responding to demonstrations on many campuses against speakers that were deemed to be too controversial, has been widely critical of colleges and universities across the United States for not protecting free speech.

However, there are only some types of speech on college campuses worthy of protection. The Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Education announced this summer that they would be adopting a new definition of anti-Semitism when considering cases of discrimination against Jewish students, one that they claim will protect these students from hate speech. Under this new definition, however, merely questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel constitutes “anti-Semitic” speech.

The new definition can and will be used to stifle any speech that is dissident towards Israel; it is too broad and will disproportionately affect pro-Palestine groups. But the policy towards anti-Semitic speech should not come as a surprise.

The U.S. has long engaged in diplomacy with Israel that could only be considered hypocritical, supporting it in its unlawful occupation of Palestine and its human rights abuses of the Palestinian people while chastising other nations, such as China, for their own human rights abuses. It is the frequent nature of the United States government to turn a blind eye to its allies’ or to its own atrocities and still claim moral high ground at the international level regarding human rights.

Israel itself is also engaging in free speech suppression against Palestinians. In 2016, Facebook met with Israeli officials to discuss deleting Palestinian Facebook accounts. Since that meeting,

Facebook has done the Israeli government’s bidding, removing Palestinian accounts at its request on the grounds that they constituted “incitement.”

Now, Israel essentially has unchallenged control over the most important media platform for Palestinians, as it was found in 2015 that 96% of Palestinians use Facebook primarily for following the news. Interestingly enough, a study published by the Berl Katznelson Foundation asserted that “122,000 [Facebook] users directly called for violence with words like ‘murder,’ ‘kill,’ or ‘burn,’” with Arabs being the principal recipient of the hateful comments. Yet Facebook never met with Palestinian leaders to inquire about their concerns.

On November 28th, Marc Lamont Hill, a professor at Temple University and commentator for CNN, delivered a speech at the United Nations for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In his speech, Hill denounced Israel for its human rights abuses against Palestinians and advocated for a free Palestine. He was fired by CNN the next day, which cited the “controversial” remarks that Hill made in his speech. Hill was also blasted by pro-Israel groups for being “anti-Semitic.”

The Hill case is a pathetic display of the establishment media’s fear of challenging the status quo and the powers that be. It serves to further demonstrate the sick culture prevalent in the United States and other parts of the world in which any form of speech critical of Israel is deemed to be anti-Semitic, representing ignorance of or disinterest in the despicable acts being committed by Israel on a daily basis. When did it become anti-Semitic to be in favor of human rights?

The lack of a single standard for free speech is gross, inexcusable, and dangerous. The U.S. government is clearly unashamed of its complicity in the massacres of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government, and continues to espouse a violently hypocritical standard of what constitutes free speech.

Freedom of Speech At All Costs

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

BY CONNOR DICKINSON A few weeks ago, a heated debate broke out among members of The Tattler about whether or not a punishment should be given to a student over hate speech that occurred outside of school.

To my dismay, a bit more than half the class was adamant in their view that hate speech deserves a punishment under all circumstances.

I find it troubling that so many of my peers overlook the importance of the First Amendment. The Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court have explicitly stated that all speech, including hate speech, is a protected right in this country.

Creating limits on speech sets a precedent that you, as a person, are unable to express a view deemed inappropriate by the government.

By setting restrictions on speech, the United States would fall into a state of censorship, and, in my eyes, the America I love and cherish would no longer exist.

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Hate speech is open to interpretation and is practically impossible to define. If America were to adopt any laws restricting this type of speech, freedom of opinion would no longer be protected and we would lose our ability to speak freely. Yet, those who oppose free speech and demand legal changes are attempting to silence those they oppose with far more force than just the legal sys-

It’s sad that, in this day and age, forcefully shutting down someone’s speech you fundamentally disagree with is applauded and seen as activism. America should be, and has been, a nation where you have the freedom to express your views and opinions, no matter what they are. It confuses me how students at these schools consider themselves “progressives” and “tolerant

“America should be a nation where you have the freedom to express your views and opinions, no matter what they are.” tem.

Across college campuses, students have used violence and intimidation to shutdown speakers who they deemed “racist” or “offensive.”

High-profile speakers such as Ben Shapiro, Milo Yiannopoulos, Charles Murray, and Tommy Robinson were all chased off college campuses for espousing viewpoints that made liberal students uneasy and upset.

accepting liberals” when they cannot even tolerate an opposing viewpoint.

We cannot destroy the most important American value: free speech. To restrict the First Amendment would be an irreversible tragedy that would leave Americans at the mercy of the government for generations, a travesty we can’t afford to let happen.

Restore Sanity Through Restorative Justice

BY MALAIKA BHAYANA There is no one-size-fits-all way to approach how to treat people saying and doing horrible things in school. But, one thing is clear: the way that we deal with it now is an issue. The administration doles out slaps on the wrist, or creates a period-long presentation that solves nothing.

The only thing this serves to do is further alienate the perpetrators and create an environment where kids are afraid to speak up. The truth is that we are all still at a formative point in our lives—there is room to change and grow.

After the Kavanaugh hearings, there was discussion about whether or not we should fault people for the person that they were in high school. I think an even more important discussion that was missed is how to deal with these people while they’re still in high school. The way that we’re dealing with it now is not working. We could take the approach of harsher punishment, showing these kids that their behavior will not be

tolerated, but all this does is place a band-aid on the issue. These kids’ harmful thoughts and rhetoric will not go away; they’ll just get more careful as they grow up, and the code of silence will grow deeper.

In the age of technology, words are permanent, but people’s personalities are not. We also need to acknowledge the role of peer pressure.

We talk about peer pressure when it comes to drugs and alcohol, but we ignore the role that it plays in people’s rhetoric. B-CC senior Tenudi Genana says “I am not a bad person, but around certain individuals I feel pressured to say and do awful things.” There is a toxicity in how we think about people in and of themselves as opposed to a result of their influences.

So what’s the solution? We can’t just let people get away with saying offensive and terrible things. I think kindness comes from truly trying to understand others’ views. These kids are not going to change without knowing who they hurt and how. I think it comes in the form of restor-

ative justice, a thing that Montgomery County has a lot of funding for.

Montgomery County defines restorative justice as an approach to building community, selfcare, and conflict resolution. It’s a social justice platform that allows students to do the following: actively engage and problem-solve physical, psychological, social and disciplinary issues that affect themselves and the community; take responsibility for their actions; and work with those affected to restore and/or repair the members and community who were harmed as a result of those actions.

I don’t believe people should be ostracized for hateful comments. Even if the hateful words go away - the hateful thoughts won’t - they’ll keep breeding in the mind and ultimately end up being worse for everyone. We should be focusing instead on reforming ourselves and others and stop trying to force individuals to change.

Let’s Address the Elephant in the Room “Black Republican Female” might be a phrase that shocks many students that attend Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School. To this day, I don’t understand why. Why should there be an interdependence between one’s gender or the color of their skin and one’s political principles?

The gender of humans is determined based on what chromosomes the mother’s egg and the father’s sperm contain; our skin color is solely dependent on which side of the earth our ancestors lived thousands of years ago.

Liberals use skin color, gender, and other natural factors to create an illusion that people of color or women should hold political views that lean left. If the views they hold don’t align with the Democratic party, it is a preconceived belief that they are against their own people. That is preposterous.

Democrats for many years have been trying to create the illusion that the policies made by their administrations are beneficial to black people.

However, that has been proven wrong multiple times throughout American history.

Democratic politicians have not passed policies that can help black people in this country lift themselves from the poverty and years of pain caused by the Democratic Party itself, which has denied black people basic civil rights.

Instead, they created programs like welfare and food stamps that are mechanisms to keep the black community under control of their party.

These programs also increased the racial wealth gap and education.

Being one of the few Republicans and even fewer black female Republicans in a liberal school, I have received multiple disgusting comments describing me as “a wanna be white”, “racist,” “Uncle Tom,” and many more.

These comments are from the same people that protest and advocate for equality of race and gender. Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn’t the ability to think independently be an equal right for all?

In my years of attending high school at B-CC,

I have noticed that when the people that have political beliefs of the far-left advocate for equality and freedom for all, there is an “if” attached to it: Equality for all IF you support the typical liberal agenda.

This isn’t just students; the same goes on with administration. Once students enter the doors of B-CC, it’s as if freedom of speech changes to freedom of speech just for liberals. There is no room for conservative ideas.

Regardless of color or gender, everyone in this country deserves equal rights, which starts with the right to think independently. Just like how no human being has ever had control in choosing their skin color or gender, I didn’t get the choice of choosing mine. So why should these factors that are completely out of my control dictate my core beliefs and morals?

I end my perspective on the topic by saying that being woke and supporting equality doesn’t only mean staying within a bubble of opinions we support. It is also the idea that all opinions should be given a chance to be heard.

ILLUSTRATION BY LEE SCHWARTZ

BY TENUDI GENANA

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AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: NOT SIMPLY A BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE

Harvard’s admission policies are on trial.

With suspicions that the university holds Asian Americans to a higher standard than applicants of other races, many are framing the future of affirmative action in college admissions behind this case. But are Asian Americans really at the heart of the conflict, or are they being leveraged to fight for an issue in which their perspective is not heard?

BY ANDREW CHA 10

WHEN I WAS A FRESHMAN, I was told I would never be able to attend an elite college because of my race. But, much to my own surprise, I didn’t take too much issue with this claim. I didn’t take issue with being told my ambitions weren’t valid. I didn’t take issue with knowing that race and college admissions intertwined in the form of affirmative action policy. Instead, I felt discomfort, knowing I had been defined not only by my Asian American identity, but by some ambiguous and unspoken rule out of my control—as if my opinion didn’t matter.

I’ve always known Asian Americans and college admissions were inextricably linked. Whether it was reports of Asians “overflowing” the American college system or Asian students speaking out against the model minority stereotype, for many Asian Americans students, the prospect of attending college has always come with racial undertones. But this connection between racial identity and college admissions is in no way confined to just Asian Americans, nor is it anything new.

In the groundbreaking 1978 case Regents of University of California vs Bakke, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against racial quota systems in college admissions policies, but in favor of affirmative action, naming race as a legitimate factor for undergraduate institutions to consider in the application process. In the 2003 case Grutter vs Bollinger, the Supreme Court upheld its previous ruling on affirmative action, declaring that universities can adopt race as part of a holistic admissions process aimed at helping underrepresented minority groups and promoting the “compelling interest” of diversity. In both the aforementioned cases, the plaintiffs were white applicants who contended their status as nonminority individuals had unduly affected their admission into the respective institutions.

Initially, race was the distinction between previous affirmative action cases and the now-contentious lawsuit against Harvard University. For those unfamiliar with the case, the plaintiffs of the lawsuit against the elite university are Students for Fair Admissions, a group of Asian American students. Originally filed in 2014, the students’ lawsuit claims that Harvard has violated the Equal Protection Clause by holding Asian Americans to a higher standard than applicants of other races, while also manipulating nonacademic, subjective factors such as a “personality rating” to strike down Asian American applicants. Drawing an interesting contrast from previous cases, though, the plaintiffs argue that Harvard University’s admissions process discriminates against Asian American students to the benefit of not just other minorities, but white applicants as well.

For many Asian American communities, the notion that Asian Americans are the sole victim to a policy intended to benefit all minority races strikes a deep chord. As the so-called “model minority,” Asian Americans have been excluded

from the umbrella of minority and the label “person of color” for decades. To a certain extent, this distinction holds validity. In the United States, Asian Americans, historically, have maintained relatively high education rates and professional success without enduring the extreme persecution and racial targeting other minorities have been burdened with. But ultimately, separating Asian Americans from other minorities in this way inflicts great harm, especially as it has influenced some Asian Americans to advocate for themselves by adopting a complete anti-affirmative action perspective on the Harvard case.

It is precisely because Asian Americans have to navigate the definitions of “racial minority” that the Harvard affirmative action case has become such a large issue within the Asian American community. From conversing with family and Asian American peers, it has become clear that the Harvard case is widely seen as a battle over the future of affirmative action policy, mostly because of its centering around a minority, rather than white, plaintiff. While Students for Fair Admissions initiated the case, the group of Asian American students was recruited and organized by Edward Blum, a conservative activist who opposes the consideration of race in any facet of public life. Following previous failures in a University of Texas affirmative action case, Blum claimed that he “needed Asian plaintiffs,” and promptly formed Students for Fair Admissions to file the suit against Harvard with an initial complaint that demanded the court declare it illegal to use race as a factor in college admissions.

I am not assuming Blum’s motivations are to manipulate Asian Americans.

I am not implying that Blum is some type of monster for his set of beliefs on affirmative action. I am not minimizing the Harvard case because the plaintiffs are backed mostly by conservative coalitions.

I am simply uncomfortable with the lack of Asian American voices in a court case that is supposedly centered around Asian Americans. Why is it that I know none of the names of the Asian Americans leading Students for Free Admissions? Why is it that Edward Blum, an individual uninvolved with the actual events of case, is the most outspoken voice on either side?

Why do I feel as though Asian Americans, as a whole, are being leveraged to fight for a position not reflective of our varying perspectives? As the racial minority this case focuses most on, Asian Americans, regardless of our opinion on the case, cannot allow political agendas to formulate a dangerous narrative that pits Asian Americans against other racial minorities. If Asian Americans who support Students for Free Admissions truly support Edward Blum’s disdain for any consideration of race in college admissions, that is undoubtedly within their discretion. But to them, and all Asian Americans with opinions on the Harvard case: voice your opinion as if it matters—because it does.

Diverse perspectives: Asian American students weigh in on affirmative action “Most people would agree that the funding and backing of the lawsuit is suspect and that pretty transparently, non-Asian interests are driving the suit/using the Asian issue to attack affirmative action.”

-Adam Park, B-CC ‘18, Harvard ‘22 “People often forget the value of Asian Americans. It is true that affirmative action is necessary, however, we shouldn’t forget that affirmative action is for all minorities.”

-Peace Kim, B-CC ‘20 “When it comes to Asian Americans and the issue of affirmative action, I think it’s crucial that one is aware of the history of all the parties involved. It would be a mistake to say that Asian Americans did not face terrible discrimination, but nonetheless the current societal order is far harder for African Americans to succeed in, making affirmative action an imperfect but necessary course of action.”

-Arjun Akwei, B-CC ‘20 “As an Asian American, I empathize with those who think that affirmative action is unfair, as they are judged for skin color, a trait they have no control over. However, as a Chevy Chase resident, I also recognize the disparity of opportunity between economic classes. Affirmative action is a necessary process, but should really be based off of the most dividing factor for students: socioeconomic status.”

-Roland Kahn, B-CC ‘19 “I believe that as Asian Americans we need to defend affirmative action.While we still experience racism today, Asian Americans need to recognize that we still have more privilege than other people of color, so we need to use what power we have to help black and latinx students who have less opportunities than we do.”

-Eleanor McGrath, B-CC ‘19 11

Cancel Culture is Canceled

BY MONIQUE BOATENG AND SEMHAL NEGUSSIE

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIA SAIDI AND EMILY SCHRADER

In the social media age, one has to be more careful than ever about what they say. It only takes one mistake, old or new, to ruin a celebrity or online icon. As fans watch celebrities fall prey to the permanency of Tweets and social media posts, they are forced to “cancel” their so-loved icons. The Tattler investigates the “Cancel Culture” now raving online. What does it take to be “canceled”? Is it right to ruin an entire career from one offensive Tweet?

Second chances don’t apply to Twitter. Offensive tweets resurface from years ago to damage reputations. Entire fandoms turn against the celebrities they once worshipped. Dashboards overflow with angry tweets, and follower counts plummet. Followings that took years to build disappear within days. In an instant—cancelled.

The “cancel culture” phenomenon originated from Twitter, where social media users decide to “cancel” a person based on problematic tendencies or behavior. It has rapidly become an internet trend used to invalidate those who publicly make mistakes—or to disinvest them from something altogether.

How does it start? Controversial tweets spark an uproar that targets the reputation of a public figure. It usually results in the victim uploading an apology via their iPhone Notes app, and then being denied forgiveness. Cancel culture affects many individuals in some shape or form, regardless of craft or level of fame. Almost everyone has been canceled for something. In many cases, celebrities have felt the harsh effects of this new fad.

Sabrina Claudio, a white R&B singer, was cancelled for running an account which blatantly insulted women of color and included many anti-black racial slurs. Tweets like “F**k it, I’ll be a black girl for halloween,”and “it must suck to be a black girl with no booty...” enraged her fan base. After a Twitter user uncovered these tweets, Claudio released several apologies. But, in the end, they were not good enough to salvage her reputation among those affected.

Then there’s Laura Lee, a popular beauty guru who was also cancelled for hateful tweets.

The initial tweet she was exposed for reads: “Tip for all black people if you pull ur pants up you can run from the police faster… #yourwelcome.”

Once her old tweets were revealed, she immediately apologized for her ignorance on social media, citing her southern upbringing and young age. Despite the multiple apologies succeeded by fake crying, all her business partnerships and offers were dropped over this controversy.

Next is Brother Nature, who started to receive fame for his cute videos where he would tend to animals and share his love for wildlife.

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Recently, anti-semitic and misogynistic tweets of his resurfaced, such as: “Wanna hear a joke?

Women’s rights.” and “When I grow up I wanna be like Chris Brown. So if my girlfriend tried to look through my phone while driving I can choke and punch her :D.” Twitter was outraged, but fans expressed their anger only for him to be forgiven hours later. Some might question if the chaos taking place after exposing him was worth it, considering he was forgiven so quickly.

Granted, there are many who face this backlash, but how many of them truly deserve it? Is it fair to destroy someone’s life because of insensitive comments? All of this combined with the fact that none of us are innocent makes cancel culture that much more confusing.

Yasmine Kotb, a junior at BethesdaChevy Chase, believes cancel culture has reached a point of toxicity, despite having cancelled people herself.

“I cancelled Melanie Martinez after hearing that her best friend accused her of sexual abuse because that’s unforgivable and I wouldn’t want to support a rapist,” Kotb said.

But she continued to defend Shane Dawson (a popular Youtuber who remains problematic to most due to his offensive nature) saying he shouldn’t be cancelled because he has grown and learned from his mistakes. “If Shane continued with the wildly offensive skits then I surely would have cancelled him, it’s just that he stopped and I can tell that he apologized because he genuinely wanted to better himself and not just because he wanted clout.”

Kotb is in support of cancel culture to some extent, claiming those who get cancelled “bring

it onto themselves.” On the other hand, juniors Julmy Diaz and Keab Yilma think cancel culture never works. Both agreed that regardless of how much we complain, these “cancelled” artists are still thriving.

For instance, there’s Chris Brown, who lost countless opportunities after assaulting Rihanna back in 2009. Almost ten years later, many have still cancelled and refused to support him. But “even though so many people hate Chris Brown, he is still selling out shows and making tons of money, and that’s a pattern we can see with lots of people who have been cancelled,” said Yilma.

Diaz agreed and added that cancel culture is only effective when applied to a normal person as opposed to a celebrity.

“When it comes to regular or up and coming people, it’s much easier for the general public to cancel them. But when you have someone with a fandom like Jeffree Star (who has been cancelled by many due to his racist past), people don’t hold you accountable.

They’ll talk about it for a day but won’t stop supporting you.”

Cancel culture has become a key aspect of social media, resulting in endless controversies and “#___IsOverParty” hashtags.

People—especially celebrities—are held to a ridiculously high standard that is often unfair. Based on the amount of mistakes and cringeworthy moments we’ve all made in our lives, it’s safe to assume that before pointing fingers at attention-seekers with a newfound platform, we should make sure our records are cleaner than theirs. But then it gets to a point where words and actions become more than mistakes. They’re done with bad intentions and irreversible effects, only for the perpetrator to continue making these “mistakes” and receive pity from those unaffected by their actions. Satisfying everyone is impossible, and with a big platform, you’re bound to reach a larger audience. Regardless, cancelling people shouldn’t be a bandwagon effect that takes place every so often. If that were to remain the case, everyone would be cancelled. Throughout everything, it’s important that you keep your own morals in mind and “cancel” people for your own benefit. Not to show the world that you’re a saint.

Can You Separate the Art from the Artist?

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

John Lennon created a legacy for himself as an iconic musical don’t support something a business is doing, you boycott their goods and prodigy, co-founding one of the most famous and influential bands services so you don’t give them any more money. The same concept apin pop history and selling millions of records still widely respected to plies for art and artists: if you don’t support them and don’t support what this day. During this rise to worldwide fame, howthey are doing, the way you show that is by boycotting ever, John Lennon also admitted to brutally beating what they release,” says junior Juliana Blayney. This two of his wives and emotionally abusing his son. is a common viewpoint - that giving money, views, The “King Of Pop,” Michael Jackson, is recognized or attention to a person who seems to lack a moral as one of the greatest artists of all time, maintaining compass is another way of condoning their actions. a level of fame, respect, and popularity from the 80s However, the opposite opinion, that it is okay to to now that most can only dream of. At the peak of separate creator from creation, also carries a lot of his career, in 1993, Jackson also faced serious allesupport. “While I might condemn certain musicians gations of sexual assault against a 13-year old boy. for their actions, I think it’s fair to separate who they The idolization of musical artists with problematic are as an artist versus as a person..If they release personal lives is nothing new. Across musical generagood music, I’ll most likely listen to it even though I tions, this issue has risen at an increasingly frequent don’t support their behavior,” explains Alana Frankel. rate. From Chris Brown’s case of domestic abuse Ultimately, I think it’s fair to listen to an artagainst girlfriend Rihanna, to celebrities like Iggy ist’s music without supporting them as a person.

Azalea being exposed for culturally insensitive comDancing to a Chris Brown song at a party doesn’t ments, the public is left to wonder if they can still supequate to the condoning of domestic violence. Howport artists and celebrities without supporting their ever, once you start buying an artist’s songs, once

BY RACHEL AUERBACH personal misconduct. Despite this seemingly constant you start paying to see them in concert or buying flow of newly “cancelled” celebrities, the question their merch, that is when you are being compliant still remains: Is it possible to enjoy the artistic creations of celebrities with immoral actions. There are certain people who shouldn’t be put who have done terrible things without feeling like a terrible person? on a pedestal, and by giving them money and support to grow their Some claim that supporting an artist with a troublesome past gives careers, we are only perpetuating the idea that violence, prejudice or power and influence to an individual who doesn’t deserve it. “When you abuse is excusable as long as that individual is talented or popular.

Could You Pass a Citizenship Test?

Most Americans Couldn’t.

ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

BY ALEX WATERMAN Immigration has been a particularly controversial topic since the 2016 Presidential Election.

Our country has become divided over the deportations of illegal immigrants, as well as the decisions over whether to allow these refugees to come into our country in the first place. Recently, the media has been covering a migrant caravan traveling from Central America to the U.S. border. However, the hundreds of miles they are traveling on foot is only the beginning of their trek to gain citizenship.

One of the many elements involved in obtaining citizenship is the naturalization test administered by the U.S. government. The test is filled with one hundred questions that focus on how the U.S. government works and the country’s history. Some examples of questions include: “What did Susan B. Anthony do?” and “Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?” Although this may not seem difficult, a new poll shared by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation claimed that only one in three Americans could pass the test. In what way is this test fair for immigrants if 67% of Americans would fail? The easy answer: it’s not.

Additional surveys have also shown that many Americans would fail this test, answering even the most fundamental questions incorrectly. Twelve percent of respondents thought that former president Dwight Eisenhower, a World War II hero, was a general in the Civil War. Another study conducted by The Washington Times found that more people identified Benjamin Franklin as the inventor of the light bulb than as the key diplomat who helped the colonies recruit the French into the Revolutionary War. These type of answers show us that even the people living in this country don’t know our nation’s history.

After hearing about this poll, I decided to take a practice test and see how I would do. I didn’t know what type of questions to expect, but I ended up getting an 85% and was pretty proud. Soon after, I realized that without the intense history and government classes given at B-CC, I would not have been able to pass. B-CC is known for its rigorous and competitive classes, but other schools aren’t so lucky. Kids at schools without these classes likely would not have the same knowledge, which would most definitely affect their scores.

Although the media’s coverage of immigration often revolves around the southern border of the United States, the issue is much more local than most would think. Just 9.3 miles away from B-CC, the city of Rockville is known as a “sanctuary city,” meaning that it obstructs immigration enforcement. Cecilia Lorenzo, a mom of a B-CC student, immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 18 from El Salvador. For her, it took ten years to 14

attain the status of citizenship, and she studied hard to get where she is today. “I think for me the hardest thing was that English was not my first language, and since I didn’t go to high school in the U.S., knowing facts about a country you didn’t grow up in is difficult.” In the United States, applicants over the age of 65 have the choice to take the test in their native language, so the language barrier doesn’t affect them. For everyone else, though, it’s one of the hardest challenges. The advantage of taking the test in one’s native language can be seen by the fact that adults over the age of 65 scored the best - 74% passed - and those under the age of 45 scored the worst - 81% failed.

But, the U.S. does not declare English as its national language, so why should immigrants

taking the test be forced to take it in English?

The United States was built on the notion that all seeking a new life are welcome. Our roots come from the history of our ancestors, most of whom came as immigrants running from the oppression of their mother countries. We have the resources within the U.S. to help more refugees start new lives and keep them and their families safe from harm’s way. But how can we give them the opportunities they desire when the knowledge required to become a citizen is beyond what one third of American citizens know?

So I challenge you to go home, take the test, and don’t cheat. Test like the safety of you and your family are in jeopardy, because for some people, that is their reality.

B-CC Athletic Community Responds to Damascus Rape Charges

BY JOSH GARBER AND SASHA FRANK-STEMPEL On Halloween night, four sophomore members of the Junior Varsity football team from Damascus High School turned off the lights in the locker room and proceeded to pin down freshman players and sexually assault them with a broomstick.

The following months have been filled with preliminary charges, indictments, and bond releasings. The four students are being charged as adults in court, and could potentially face longterm sentences in prison. The students’ actions have provoked widespread outrage among Montgomery County families, and MCPS Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith has pledged to look into how pervasive such incidents are and take steps to address hazing and sexual assault.

Current and former B-CC football players, who requested that their names be kept anonymous, claim that, to their knowledge, there have never been any instances of hazing or sexual assault at B-CC like what occurred in Damascus. But, ac-

anything as extreme as the rapes in the Damascus locker room. In his experience, things haven’t crossed the line between roughhousing, such as players hitting each other, and sexual assault.

Sometimes, players will turn off the lights in the locker room and go around hitting players, but that is all.

A third player who spoke to The Tattler said that it isn’t a big issue, since “people would horse around, but nobody would touch people inappropriately.” Former and current players responded with conflicting answers as to what really goes on in the locker room, but a general trend of roughhousing is clear.

In response to the alleged sexual assaults by members of the Damascus JV football team, high schools county-wide held assemblies, separated by gender, for fall athletes to educate them about the dangers of hazing. Dr. Smith, the county superintendent, recorded a video that was shown during these assemblies, in which he discussed the events that occurred at Damascus. However, Aidan Smyth, a member of the Cross Country team, noted that the assembly was not taken se-

“This is something that happens in every football program I’ve seen because of the closeness everyone builds.”

cording to a current member of the football team, while there were no cases of rape, some players “would surround the person, give them a few hits, and touch them inappropriately.” He explained that, for the most part, no one complained and that it never reached serious assault. Generally, the actions were conducted by “friends doing it to friends and was never really taken seriously, but as a joke,” he said.

But, in his eyes, such actions have crossed the line in the past. In one instance, one player placed his genitals in front of a teammate’s face.

“This is something that happens in every football program I’ve seen because of the closeness everyone builds,” he said. While this may be a way to bring teammates together, events such as those that transpired in Damascus show the dangers of this type of team bonding turning into something worse.

This statement was confirmed by a former B-CC football player, who told the Tattler “It’s not just high school, it’s a college thing, too, but less excessive,” referring to the roughhousing and certain types of hazing on football teams.

Another player said that, while there may be some small incidents with hazing and roughhousing that may go too far, there has never been

riously by many, as the male athletes were joking around or were uninterested in the presentation.

Dr. Considine, the B-CC athletic director who ran the assembly, explained that there has been no change in policy regarding locker rooms following the events in Damascus. She believes that the policies in place are appropriate, but there has simply been a lack of enforcement in other county schools. She has not heard of any sort of incidents relatable to Damascus occurring at B-CC. “B-CC,” she said, “has done a good job” of ensuring students-athletes are safe and don’t engage in inappropriate activity.

We still don’t know for sure what goes on in the B-CC locker rooms, but we know what shouldn’t go on. What happened in Damascus says a lot about high school sports culture and hazing. It’s a toxic culture that, to some extent, may be present on our own sports teams.

In a letter addressed to the MCPS sports community, county officials highlighted their efforts at combating the issue of hazing. Through meeting with the athletic directors and the coaches of each individual team, county officials hope to impress upon the players the importance of a hazing and harassment-free athletic environment.

The Achievement Gap Is Getting Worse, Especially Among Latinos and Hispanics

BY DANIEL ROSENTOVER

Montgomery County Public Schools is one of the best and largest school districts in the country, with over 150,000 students.

Despite high test scores and graduation rates, there seems to be one group left behind: Hispanic and Latino students.

Once a nearly all-white school district, MCPS now is about 50 percent Hispanic/ Latino. However, Hispanic/Latino students have lower graduation rates than any other racial group. A recent report by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, titled The Promise of Latino Youth in Montgomery County, outlined the issues facing Latino students in MCPS. The report used MCPS and Maryland Department of Education data to show the challenges that Latino students, specifically, face in MCPS. Despite overall positive trends in graduation and dropout rates amongst other minority groups such as African Americans, rates have declined amongst Latinos.

In 2014, Latinos had a graduation rate of 80.03%, according to the University of Maryland report, but by 2017 that figure had declined to 78.54%.

The report also addressed the root causes of these issues, specifically focusing on amount of ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, within different groups of students. ACEs common to Latino students include parent separation/divorce, living with someone who has a drinking problem, and being discriminated against due to their race. Additionally, Latinos are more likely to be recent immigrants and have limited English proficiency. Less than ¼ of Latino students demonstrated “Kindergarten Readiness,” a figure significantly less than that of any other demographic group.

Additionally, on a national level, more Latino students are closer to, or right above, the poverty line than any other group.

Not only is the achievement gap between White and Latino students vast, but it is widening. The MCPS Latino Student Achievement Action Group, formed by parent volunteers, aims to work with Hispanic and Latino students to combat some of these issues in the near future.

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The Changing Landscape of Bethesda

By Emma Volkers

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The Bethesda Inn Hotel is now a 244 room Marriott International. Just down the street, a new luxury apartment known as the Artena, 17 stories high, is claiming its spot in the city. Regal Bethesda, a former movie theater is now home to an ongoing project to build The Wilson and The Elm, a 23-story office building as well as a location for the future Purple Line station. Most recently, our downtown center has been transformed into an Anthropologie, graduating to higher end retail from a book store we once knew as Barnes & Noble. With all of these changes comes the promise of a transformation, of a step forward in quality of life for the citizens of Bethesda. However this project is more of a double-edged sword than it lets on.

Downtown Bethesda hardly sleeps. With its extremely fast turnover rates of shops and restaurants, progress and development are tenfold. According to Bethesda Magazine, of the 13 overall restaurants that closed down in Montgomery County, five of them were in Bethesda. In early 2017, Bethesda lost Naples Ristorante, Shophouse, Quincy’s, and Noodles and Company. Bethesda carried this trend into 2018, when it saw the closure of many favorite shops and restaurants such as Bold Bite, Barnes & Noble, and TacoArepa. With the year wrapping up, the closure of many more Bethesda businesses is on the horizon. According to the Washington Post, The Tastee Diner, and Bethesda Farm Women’s Market also have a high possibility of going under soon.

But for many, this rapid urbanization isn’t necessarily a good thing. It almost seems impossible to escape that intensity when going home, or when sitting with a friend on the lawn for lunch during the school day. Many Bethesda citizens worry that their small moments of tranquility will soon be destroyed or amplified by the new additions to the city.

While companies like Bethesda UP- a locally run program that helps to inform citizens about the current events and plans in the city- claim that these new expansions will improve not only the quality of life but also the economy and popularity of Bethesda, others are less certain. Ava Viqueira, a sophomore at B-CC, lives right outside of the construction boom. “I honestly hate the construction,” she said. She misses the “classics” like the movie theater, and she is worried that the Marriott may try to take the location of the local Tastee Diner. “What they mean by improve the quality of life is more like bringing in a bunch of people and distracting from the classics that made Bethesda so unique,”

keep] a consistent brand and [introduce] new dishes, we feel that sticking to the traditional ways of the Italian culture of culinary arts and old-world flair, keeps our values to heart,” said Sergi. In terms of the changing business landscape, the new additions to Bethesda create more competition for businesses that have been in Bethesda for a long time, like Sorrento, “The more diverse variety of customers coming in [causes] competition [to continue] to rise” said Sergi. The idea of staying family-owned and not becoming commercial is a core value to them and to a lot of other family-owned businesses. According to Sergi, Sorrento being family-owned “allows [them] to share something different as opposed to to jumping on the bandwagon of modernization”. This is also well-received by Sorrento’s clientele, “customers tell us that they appreciate the family-owned ambiance and the non-corporate owned environment” said Sergi.

With restaurants such as Silver and the Terrain Cafe in Anthropologie coming in, local businesses like Trattoria Sorrento, are becoming harder to come by. Although many business owners credit their lack of success to the ongoing construction in Bethesda, the construction isn’t single-handedly to blame for so many businesses failing. According to Bethesda Magazine, at a town hall meeting in 2017, it was concluded that there would be more upward development in Bethesda with its 9 million square feet of space for potential development. Now that future buildings have the potential to reach greater heights, it’s prompted many citizens to advocate for the building of “communities not canyons” to try and counteract this change. Although the Montgomery County Planning Department has stated that the change in Bethesda won’t be as drastic as many citizens believe, it affects the overall atmosphere of Bethesda.

Additionally, the construction of the Purple Line by Metro has shut down a large portion of the coveted Bethesda trail that many B-CC students used to get to school and

navigate the city. When the announcement was first released, the gate surrounding the trail was covered in signs protesting the closing and paying tribute to the beloved path.

Again the message of development for the greater good and the promise for an improvement in the quality of life was reiterated to the protesters.

This idea of change and conformity to the high-end city image is not desired by some, but others, like Mareike Nebel, junior at B-CC, are hopeful for change. “I personally believe that the growth for Bethesda is a positive thing,” Nebel said. “I agree that there will be more traffic coming in and out of Bethesda, but I don’t mind.” The developers of some of the new construction were quick to state that many of the new hotels and offices will come with built-in parking lots, which would take away from some of the visible construction in the area. Additionally, Bethesda Up! has ensured that many of the new projects will double as places for people to relax and spend time. The Marriott will come with a public courtyard complete with small trees and plants, benches, and hanging lights. “I think the expansion will encourage more people to spend time in the city, which in turn will give it more spirit,” Nebel says. “The Purple Line in hindsight will be helpful,” admits Holland.

“Now I will be able to get into the parts of the city I used to have to Uber to.” The promise of a tighter knit and more engaged community is a big message from Bethesda Up! “The purpose of this expansion is to keep building on the success and development of our community,” they said.

With our school situated right in the city itself, these changes are more prevalent than ever for BCC students. Whether or not Bethesda’s rapid development will really improve the quality of life for citizens is still in question, and will only be answered by time and construction.

Grace Harrington and Isabel Danzis contributed to this story.

PHOTO BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

said Viqueira. The fact of the matter is that Bethesda is already congested. Trying to park on a Friday afternoon can be a nightmare, and the rush-hour traffic is reaching a new height.

Many are worried that additions of even more traffic and business will be too much for the small city. “It’s already expensive enough just to get food around here,” said junior Caroline Holland. With the addition of new real estate, the prices of goods and services in the area are bound to rise, as well as the price of living in general. Many small businesses are already hanging on by a thread with the rise of rent.

One local restaurant that has managed to survive Bethesda’s rapid urbanization is Trattoria Sorrento. Sorrento is a family-run Italian restaurant and has been in Bethesda since 1991. “We have noticed that many new and modernized restaurants have been introduced to the town,” said one of Sorrento’s current owners, Melinda Sergi. Despite these changes, Sorrento, unlike many restaurants that it’s similar to, has managed to stay in business for a long time. Sorrento has a lot of repeat and regular customers who help it stay in business, but it has also been able to adapt to changing times. “[We

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Surviving in Bethesda: Why Local Businesses Can’t Last

Why the Roche family shut down four of their restaurants on one day—and why that’s not uncommon in Bethesda. By Paloma Delgado Owning a small business in Bethesda is no easy feat. Take it from Alonso and Maria Roche, who opened Bold Bite, a fast-casual restaurant known for its hot dogs and hamburgers, eight years ago along with three other restaurants.

“It’s a huge risk to open a restaurant,” said Maria Roche.

It was four months ago, however, that all four of their restaurants closed their doors for good.

This included Bold Bite, R Family Kitchen & Bar (which had previously been home to TapaBar), 202 Donuts & Coffee and TacoArepa.

According to Maria, “due to a negotiating snafu, a technicality in one of the contracts,” one of their restaurant concepts failed and soon all the others fell through due to the fact that “they were all connected as one company.”

The original idea behind Bold Bite had been a hot dog oriented, fast food restaurant, a tribute to chef and co-founder Alonso Roche’s home country of Venezuela. In Caracas, it is typical for after-bar crowds to seek out a quick bite, commonly hot dog stands, before heading home for the night.

“That was the inspiration for being open late,” said Maria. “We had BlackFinn… [as] a neighbor, and we would catch a lot of the bar crowd came from BlackFinn.”

But when BlackFinn closed its doors permanently in 2014, Bold Bite’s hours of operation were severely impacted.

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“It was no longer a late night place,” said Maria. “So we had to adapt a little bit.”

And with that change began the evolution of Bold Bite and the creation of the surrounding Roche establishments.

Burgers and salads were soon introduced to Bold Bite’s menu in order to appeal to the different “palettes and preferences” of the Bethesda area.

But this brought its own set of challenges. The shop was relatively small for all of the different foods they were making. It wasn’t long though before Alonso decided to introduce doughnuts and coffee.

“It was crazy,” said Alonso Roche. “It was Bold Bite with salads, burgers, hot dogs, then doughnuts and then with coffee.”

And it was that broadness of choices, Alonso said, that forced them into splitting the concepts a bit more. With the opening of the BlackFinn space, they came up with the idea for a Spanish restaurant: TapaBar. The inspiration behind the restaurant came from his passion for Spanish food and his desire to create something more “intricate.” The Roche’s lived in Madrid for two years back in 2008.

But the creation of TapaBar presented its own set of issues. Maintaining a tapas restaurant while balancing the salads, hamburgers, and hot dogs of Bold Bite and the doughnuts and coffee of 202 was overwhelming.

“It was just really crazy trying to maintain TapaBar and Bold Bite and 202 in the same location and so we moved Bold Bite to the other side, two blocks down the road, on Cordell,” said Alonso. “And then we really developed the 202 brand and really kind of branded 202 as a doughnut shop and kept TapaBar on the other side.”

For a while, things seemed good. TapaBar was receiving great reviews, the doughnuts and coffee were a big hit, and Bold Bite had maintained a great base of customers. Things, however, began to slow down.

“It was tough to keep people coming back I guess,” said Alonso. “The quality was there, the reviews were there, people were super happy.”

But according to the Roche’s, “traffic was low.”

Alonso explained that one of the bigger problems of being a smaller, independently owned restaurant is not having the name recognition like larger chains do.

“You don’t have that power, you don’t have the name,” said Alonso. “Not a lot of small restaurants make it in Bethesda.”

And while the Roche’s love their lives in Bethesda, having lived here for 15 years, it has been tough to get by. And they are not the only ones who have begun to see Bethesda as less desirable.

“Bethesda used to be the spot where people like from northern parts of Montgomery County

would come to to not have to go all the way down to D.C.,” said Maria.

Bethesda is no longer that place.

“You go to Pike and Rose, you park, you’re there, and you’ve got everything you could possibly want. Families go there with that in mind, the way they used to come to Bethesda,” said Maria.

Bethesda has now become the hub of corporate franchises like William Sonoma, Paul, Kate Spade, Anthropologie, instead of a family-friendly restaurant scene.

“They’re the only ones that can afford the rent over there,” said Maria.

For a while, the street on which the Roche’s had many of their restaurants was faced with extreme amounts of construction. And as a result, fewer people were inclined to go to that area because they didn’t “...want to have to deal with the construction.”

When TacoArepa was finally introduced after the neighboring residential buildings had been completed, the Roche’s were hopeful that their restaurants would be frequented more by families living in the area. Instead, another challenge arose: noise.

“You’ve got these residents who have kids and are concerned about noise issues so until there’s that balance, this is a period of transition,” said Maria.

Alonso mentioned the lack of retail as another factor that might contribute to the lack of appeal in the older part of Bethesda.

“The only retail is like the Blue House, which is a great store, and the Comic Book store,” said Alonso.

Maria mentions the fact that retail is a high risk that “nobody wants to invest” in and that many landlords are afraid of having empty storefronts.

Meanwhile, the newer area of Bethesda has that mix of restaurants and retail but charges very large, prohibitive rents.

The Roche’s also elaborated on the new regulations that have been implemented, such as food allergy certifications, which Maria describes as “just another revenue making machine for the state organization.” That had never been the case before but now the process of meeting certain requirements has become much more strict.

There are also a number of other requirements regarding sick paid leave and minimum

really came through in the end,” said Alonso.

The Roche’s also ensured that their employees were taken care of with the closure of their four restaurants.

“We made the best effort possible to try to get people working, locating them and placing them in jobs,” Alonso said.

“We looked out for each other, which doesn’t always happen in a lot of companies,” said Maria.

It was that unique experience and community of people that really contributed to the atmosphere of the Roche restaurant experience.

“A lot of the customers would recognize these people because they’d been there for a long time,” said Alonso. “And it’s unusual for restaurants, because restaurants have so much turnover, but we didn’t, surprisingly.”

The Roche’s restaurant consortium brought a unique combination of Latin American flavors, Spanish concepts, fast-casual American dining and the charm of a local coffee shop.

“It had a good run,” said Maria in reference to Bold Bite. “It lasted eight years, which in Bethesda, doesn’t always happen.”

The Roche’s have seen how many local businesses in Bethesda have failed.

“I mean Bethesda’s a great town but it’s got to change,” said Alonso.

But it’s difficult for Bethesda to become more friendly to local, often out of the box restaurants and businesses.

“It’s not known as a culinary mecca or anything,” said Alonso. “D.C. is the place.”

According to Alonso, the “foodies” don’t go to Bethesda. They go to D.C. Maria hopes that “Bethesda will eventually come around” but she’s simply not sure if that’s the direction Bethesda is heading in.

There is no doubt, however, that the Roche’s brought some of that much needed feeling of community to Bethesda.

All that people can do now is continue to support small businesses and remember to frequent the stores they love to going to.

Next door to TacoArepa, the sign of Bold Bite—the original restaurant concept of brothers Alonso and Alvaro Roche—remains. Their storefronts were closed “due to a negotiating snafu.”

FIRST TWO PHOTOS BY PALOMA DELGADO, BOLD BITE PHOTO BY THEA HEGWOOD

The shuttered storefront of TacoArepa, a fast-casual taco eatery located in the Woodmont Triangle. It was one of four Roche family restaurants that closed this August.

wage that all contributes to a “domino effect.”

“New hires are paid at a higher rate than somebody who’s been there,” said Maria. As a a result, employees who have been there longer begin to demand a higher salary.

“As a small business that’s not sustainable,” said Maria.

But small businesses such as the Roche’s have the ability to create lasting relationships with employees unlike other larger corporations.

“We’re big believers in like hiring from within, like a lot of companies do,” said Alonso. “Giving people chances that other companies might not.”

Yet, it is also important to keep in mind that such a relationship has to be “mutually beneficial for the company and for the individual.” ‘“We have promoted people who’ve deserved it. Who’ve done the job,” said Alonso.

One example of this is César Rovaina and his family, who had been with the Roche’s ever since the creation of 202 Doughnuts & Coffee.

“With them it was a family kind of thing,” said Alonso.

Now, César is considering opening his own store, possibly even a coffee shop.

“We invested a lot in our employees and I think they invested a lot in us,” said Maria. “We would help them. I taught I don’t know how many of my employees how to drive. They’d use my car.”

Another employee, Aracely Rodríguez, had been with them since Bold Bite’s birth back in 2011. ““We had her sister, her cousin, a nephew,” said Alonso.

Alonso even spoke about how he gave Aracely away at her wedding.

And just like Alonso and Maria were there for their employees, their employees were there for them in the end as well. They came to the restaurants when they were closing, helping carry boxes and move things around.

“I mean it wasn’t the happiest times but they

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How Black Lives Matter Changed the MCPD Against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, the divide between police officers and the black community has never been more apparent. As people of color protest racial profiling and police brutality, applications to become a police officer are on the decline. In interviews with the Tattler, black male students reflect on their experiences with the Montgomery County Police.

And one anonymous police officer defends the integrity of his job.

BY EMILY SCHRADER It started when he tapped the brakes. Two, maybe three times. The Bethesda-area student cannot remember. But he will never forget the lights of the police car in his rearview mirror.

When the officer approached the car, he said, the questions started. What were you doing with the brakes? It smells like drugs in here. What’s in the car? Why is your friend so anxious? Why is he giving me so much attitude? I didn’t tell you to step out. Why are you undermining my authority?

The high school student is black. Unlike many high-profile incidents of police brutality, this encounter did not end in high drama. He was questioned, held up for an hour, then sent on his way.

But the psychological impact was lasting.

“I felt completely powerless,” the student said, speaking on the basis of anonymity. “He had a very hostile tone...I get scared every time I am on the road and I see a cop, if they are driving the same direction as me.”

Tensions with the black community have marred perceptions of law enforcement across the country. Montgomery County is not exempt.

Many members of the black community still live with the fear of racial profiling. Young black men interviewed for this article said they have learned to be constantly wary of police. Their experiences demonstrate that the county is still grappling with issues involving race and police relations.

For B-CC senior Josh Townes, traffic stops have become something of a routine. One Sunday night, he was pulled over twice on his way home from church.

The first officer claimed that his “car was too close to the ground, that the exhaust was illegal, that the window in the back was too big,” he said.

“Later that night, I got pulled over again. It was for the same reason—that I am a young, black male driving a nice car.”

Few incidents of police brutality have made headlines here. Montgomery County police officers are highly trained in the use of non-lethal methods—including pepper spray and tasers—to stabilize situations and avoid deadly force.

“Montgomery County is one of the few agencies in the state of Maryland where you actually need a college education to become a police officer,” one former officer said.

In recent years, videos of law enforcement using excessive force against people of color can 20

seem almost commonplace. But the officer, who wished to remain anonymous in accordance with police policies, said these situations are more complicated than they look on camera.

“Someone is very quick to turn in their cell phone to channel 4, 5, 7, 9—and make a few bucks off it,” he said. “They chop the video up... and they do not show the event that led up to the whole situation. Unfortunately, that gives the media and the general population a negative view of the police officers.”

The officer views public fears of law enforcement as generally unwarranted. “[Police officers] just want to go out there and do their job,” he said. “I can speak to just about every officer that I knew. Nobody cared what the color of a person’s skin was, or whatever ethnicity they were. Nobody cared. It was just a matter of what that person was doing, and whether they should be arrested for it.”

He retired in 2014—the same year that unrest broke out in Ferguson, Missouri, after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer. Protests against police brutality factored into his decision to leave the job, the officer said.

“Any time you went to arrest someone of a different race, you were always called racist or bigoted,” he said. “It definitely wore on you over time.”

Others who regularly spend time with police officers dispute the notion that racial profiling plays no role in police actions, asserting that subconscious biases continue to exist. Bethesda-Chevy Chase senior Jeri Jaller engages in these discussions firsthand as the first high school intern for the Maryland State Police.

“Some of the officers have admitted that there is a bit of racial profiling going on, though they will not admit that they are, in a way, discriminatory based on race,” Jaller said. “They just blame it on upbringing, because a lot of them are from rural parts of Maryland, or even Pennsylvania.

They just think it is a matter of perspective.”

Heightened media scrutiny of police made possible by technology and social media has contributed to a dramatic decrease in police officer applications. One Washington Post investigation found that the number of full-time sworn officers per 1,000 U.S. residents dropped from 2.42 in 1997 to 2.17 officers per 1,000 residents in 2016.

That nationwide trend holds true in Montgomery County, according to the anonymous officer.

“Applications to be a police officer have plum-

meted,” the officer said. “During Ferguson, and other times when police were portrayed negatively in the media, I know that even the Montgomery County applications for police officer candidates dropped 50 percent.”

As she rides along in police cars, Jaller noted that many officers are frustrated by constant scrutiny from body cameras and cell phones.

Some believe that camera recordings perpetuate tense interactions between civilians and police.

“It makes the dynamic more standoffish,” the former officer said. “Now that you are being recorded, it is a much more stringent thing.”

For many Montgomery County police officers, he said, body cameras also created a layer of risk.

In his opinion, cameras become an unnecessary distraction during complicated arrests.

“I might not react in a way to protect myself in an assault, because I’m more worried about

ters is not uncommon. Within black households across the country, parents giving ‘the talk’ about police brutality has become the new normal.

“My mom first talked to me about [the dangers of police brutality] when I was 12 or 13.

That’s when my voice started to change from a high-pitched to a deep voice,” Townes said. “Police determine your life. They determine whether you go to jail or not...I am not gonna say they are all bad cops. That’s not true. But I will admit that there are a few that are out there to get people.”

An officer’s decision to pull someone over “honestly just depends on their mood and what they feel like doing,” Jaller said. “It’s an unspoken rule. You are supposed to give out ten citations per day.”

This casual attitude toward traffic stops became apparent one day, when the officer she was riding with received a message that the corporal

would buy everyone free pizza if each officer gave out three more citations.

“We only had 15 more minutes left of the ride along, and he sped past everyone and started pulling over as many people as he could because he wanted pizza,” Jaller said. “It was sort of a game to him.”

That ‘game’ disproportionately targets people of color. There is always the chance that, driving through communities in a nice vehicle, black males will be pulled over based on a misplaced perception.

“They know that they carry a gun and you don’t,” Townes said. “Sometimes they feel that just because they have the power, that they can abuse it towards us.”

SOPHIA SAIDI CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY 21

PHOTO BY SOPHIA SAIDI

the cameras around me than dealing with the person,” the officer said. “If I’m gonna arrest this person and go hands-on with them, well, how is that going to look on the camera?”

But many people of color see video footage as added security during uncertain—and often legally ambiguous—police encounters. Others have adopted preventative strategies to reduce the likelihood of negative police interactions.

“In The Hate U Give, when the main character gets pulled over, she puts her hands on the dash. So when I got pulled over this week, I put my hands on the dash,” Townes said. “You say, Yes, sir. No, sir. Where are you coming from tonight? I’m coming from a friend’s house. What were you doing at your friend’s house? Studying. I always carry my backpack with me for that.”

His script for dealing with police encoun-

PHOTO BY CAT DESOUZA AND CAMILLE HALL, EDITED BY JULIA MENCHER

By Cat Desouza and Camille Hall

Amalia Sanches,

22

a senior at B-CC High School, was crowned Miss Maryland Teen USA 2019 on October 28th.

“The moment I won, I was shocked,” said Sanches. “First of all because the girl who was the first runner-up had done the pageant so many times, and she killed all of the on-stage questions, so I thought it was a good run or whatever. And then the second I won I paused because I was so happy.”

This was the first beauty pageant Sanches had competed in.

“The best part was that all of the girls came up to me and gave me hugs. Honestly, that was the best part of winning because of everyone’s support. I expected them all to be very negative or jealous and then they weren’t at all. They were very supportive and really nice.”

Amalia’s platform is focused on helping young girls become more confident with their darker skin color and curly hair. “I see girls that are younger than I am who are straightening their hair, which completely damages their curls,” said Sanches.

“I suffered myself with confidence about my own hair and what products work for me and what doesn’t work for me, but it took me awhile to figure that out. If I could help speed up that process with girls and help them not give up on their hair, that would make me feel great and hopefully make them feel great, too, about their uniqueness and differences.”

When it comes to her curly hair, Amalia has had more than her fair share of mixed experiences—the most striking experience coming from her childhood.

“One time I was at my friend’s house and we were at a sleepover,” said Sanches.

“This was in Brazil, so everyone had straight hair—you know, blowouts. I had my hair and my friend’s mom was braiding everyone’s hair but when she got to my turn she said, ‘I can’t do your hair, I can only do normal hair,’ which really affected me since I was like nine years old.”

“After that it really broke my spirit and I was really sad. I thought maybe I should straighten my hair from then on, but then I would scroll through pictures of girls with their curly hair and I was like ‘I don’t care what she says.’ I started researching what type of hair I have—3B curls—so that made a difference for me. Hopefully, I can teach other girls to find products that work best for them.”

At seventeen years old, Sanches has accomplished very much with her unique background. Originally born in Arlington, Virginia, she moved to Brazil when she was three years old with her brother and her father. Her dad then remarried in Brazil, and they later moved to Portugal when she was eleven. Soon after, Amalia moved to Spain by herself to improve her Spanish, and stayed there for a few months with friends. She moved back to Portugal, but then returned to the U.S. in the summer of 2018. She currently lives with her mom who is from Guinea—a country in West Africa.

The beauty pageant queen speaks five different languages: English, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and Fulani (the native language of Guinea). Part of the reason as to why she won this title was because of her diverse upbringing.

“For the interview, the judges were really impressed with the languages,” said Sanches. “From that, I could talk about how different cultures had affected me as a person. I wouldn’t act the same way in Brazil as I would in France— it’s completely different. In Brazil everyone’s relaxed and happy and screaming and dancing.

But in France, everyone is like reserved and judgy. For example, when I’m in France I wouldn’t be wearing flip-flops, but I would in Brazil. It’s my most favorite place in the world [Brazil].”

The titleholder also has a charity that she runs with her mom to donate items to countries in West Africa, such as Guinea and Senegal.

“Last year, my mom was dating this guy for a while who was from Ethiopia,” said Sanches. “He was depressed and he took his own life, unfortunately, and died of alcohol poisoning. So we decided to turn something bad into something good and we named an association after him that my mom and I created, named ‘SIMRET.’ We send things such as clothes and shoes and toys once every month because my mom has a bunch of African friends. We go to their houses and they give us stuff or I go to different schools and ask for items.”

Amalia is very excited to be competing in Nationals for the title of Miss Teen USA. She will be running against the rest of the winners from the 50 states across the country.

The Problem With Pageants

BY CAT DESOUZA AND CAMILLE HALL Amalia Sanches wasn’t the only girl from B-CC High School who competed in this pageant. There were two others: Keara Bencomo and Camille Rood— both of whom are seniors.

“The pageant was such a great experience,” said Bencomo. “It’s not just about winning or being the best, but it’s about meeting new people and learning new things. I have met so many people that I didn’t know before, and I’ve learned that you just have to be you and not try to be someone else.

You have to be true to yourself.”

However, there are large numbers of people who critique beauty pageants and view them in a variety of negative ways. Many view pageants as outdated and based on an old-fashioned concept of skin-deep beauty that just objectifies women. But the most controversial piece about women who participate in beauty pageants is that they are labeled as being “unintelligent.”

“That controversy I just think is really stupid,” said Sanches. “You can be beautiful and smart; it’s not like you pick one or the other, you know.

It’s just ignorance, that’s all. There are also misconceptions that people think you’re a girly girl, which is not true at all. Like I’m a total tomboy, and I

eants as a place for bubbly, airhead girls to compete to see who can be the most beautiful and carry themselves the best. That’s only partially correct,” said Rood. “Almost everyone who competed with me on pageant weekend will tell you that it’s an eye-opening experience and that you will make friends that will last you a lifetime. However, I won’t. Most of the girls cared only about themselves and winning. I can’t see into other people’s minds, but I can observe from my point of view.”

“Girls will paste a fake smile and get super jumpy before going on stage.

They may be bubbly people, but that’s not what I saw backstage. Many girls backstage would stress out about how they’ll look on stage or what to do while on stage. There was a lot of drama, as you can imagine, that caused girls to turn against each other,” said Rood.

Others view beauty pageants as being more beneficial than detrimental to its participants. “I think the pageant really helped with my self-confidence because everyone puts on their dresses and they look and feel so pretty,” said Sanches. “If you put on makeup, great, but if you don’t, that’s really fine

“Not everyone can fit into a mold, and no one should want to.” almost didn’t participate in the pageant.”

This is a stereotype that has plagued beauty pageant contestants for a number of reasons, but mainly because contestants in past competitions responded to questions from the judges with unclear answers.

The most infamous beauty pageant response came from Caitlin Upton, who was Miss South Carolina Teen USA in 2007. She was asked by the judges why she thinks a fifth of Americans cannot locate their country on a map. Upton responded with, “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhm, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as, uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.”

Upton’s video went viral after that response, strengthening the stereotype that women running in beauty pageants are just brain-dead beauties.

“Most people think of beauty pag-

as well—you do you. It was just really shocking to me how many compliments the people made. I want to try to help people forget about the prejudices that they have towards pageants and change how people think of them.

Everyone ‘cises’ each other up, and it’s a huge confidence booster for sure. I think pageants do empower women, and it empowered myself and a lot of my friends who were also in the pageant.”

But some people still feel that beauty pageants tear women down rather than boost their self-confidence. “The judges looked at the most classically beautiful people with symmetrical faces and hourglass bodies; the most ‘beautiful’ people in society,” said Rood. “What they don’t see is how each person is beautiful. They focus on a very cookie-cutter type of person with a lot of volunteer experience as well. I saw many, many beautiful, young women who shouldn’t have been torn down by not winning. Not everyone can fit into a mold, and no one should want to.”

By competing in the beauty pageant, each of these girls is strong and fearless for tackling the stereotypes that were presented towards them.

23

Barons Hockey on Thin Ice

BY ANDREW CHA AND TOM MERRITT Bruised knuckles. Broken bones. Countless hospitalizations, citations, and even arrests. For the past year, the Barons’ Ice Hockey team has been at the center of a controversy dealing with the outbreak of fights at their games. On three separate occasions, spanning from last season to this season, massive brawls have broken out between spectators at Barons’ hockey games against rival schools.

“It started last Halloween at the WJ game. We don’t really know how it started, but it happened again in the parking lot at the second WJ game and led into this year,” alternate captain Alex Macuch described.

While fighting on the ice has always been part of hockey culture, these fights are neither provoked nor supported by players on the team.

In actuality, the fights have only hurt the team’s reputation and livelihood. After the first fight between B-CC and Walter Johnson fans last year, Barons’ hockey was “banned from playing at Cabin John and forced to relocate to the Rockville Ice Arena,” according to senior Liam Griffin. Following the spectator brawl with Whitman fans this past October, the team’s schedule was postponed, games were nearly cancelled, and fans were prohibited from attending future games. “We’re the ones being punished,” Macuch said. “We were in jeopardy of almost not having a team and not having a season at all. That’s obviously not what we want.”

Although Barons’ Hockey is back on the ice practicing and playing games, fan attendance is still prohibited, with the Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL) planning to reevaluate this decision in early January. But, no matter the

final decision, crowd fighting at hockey games remains an important topic, speaking to a larger issue with the MCPS policy on club sports and its implications for sports teams that are not designated as such.

Barons’ Ice Hockey was never a club sport— technically. While teams like crew and ice hockey had previously been “club sports” at B-CC, MCPS issued a clarification notice in 2015 stating that such sports could not be affiliated with the school in any way due to financial and liability reasons.

However, while other MCPS schools, such as Walter Johnson, have allowed their ice hockey teams to adopt the school name, Barons Ice Hockey has not even been afforded this privilege.

“Technically we’re not affiliated with the school,” said senior Evan Charles. “We can’t put their [B-CC’s] name on our jerseys. It says Barons; it doesn’t say B-CC.” As a result, the only distinctly “B-CC” feature of the Barons’ Ice Hockey team are the players.

Though the hockey team has fared well scheduling their own games, practices, and ice time, the detachment of the team from the school has proven difficult in addressing the fights. Macuch notes that, although he understands the school isn’t in the position to make a drastic change in policy, “it would be a lot more controlled and easily solvable if they [administration] had more of a say in what was going on at our games and who was being allowed in.”

As the Barons’ Ice Hockey team is in no way associated with B-CC, lack of security at games has been one of the largest contributing factors to the outbreak of fan fights. Generally, at all MCPS-sponsored sports events, MCPS security is

October 31st, 2017

January 12th, 2018

B-CC and WJ fans fight in the stands of Cabin John Ice Rink during the game, in which WJ ultimately beats B-CC 4-1. The fight video is posted to @barstoolsports on Instagram, an account with 5.7 million followers. Both teams are banned from playing at Cabin John Ice Rink for the remainder of the year.

B-CC plays WJ for the second time of the year, this time at Rockville Ice Arena due to the ban. B-CC ties WJ 4-4, and fans decide to settle the game outside and fight in the parking lot. Despite the many injuries sustained by the brawl, no serious consequences are handed out to teams or fans.

24

required to be present, whether to prevent fights or ensure safety. But without school recognition, the team is required to hire its own security, which has proven problematic over the past year.

Commenting on the fights, Macuch emphasized this issue: “At the first WJ game there was no security. We’re supposed to have at least one officer in the stands, but he just wasn’t there at all.

Anybody and everybody can come in and just do whatever they want.”

According to Macuch, Griffin, and Charles, it is the lack of accountability students feel, combined with the school’s disinvolvement, that has encouraged the three brawls. “When kids go to a football game and they get cited, then they get suspended from school. But at a hockey game, it has nothing to do with the school because it’s not a school sport. So kids think they can do whatever they want and are more prone to do bad things like fight,” Griffin commented. Generally, those involved in the three fights received citations, which according to Griffin, is “not the same” as suspension or any other school-enforced punishment.

With the MSHL decision fast approaching, Barons’ Ice Hockey is hopeful that, if spectators are allowed back into games, they will be more wary of the consequences of fighting. As the MCPS policy on club sports is not likely to change anytime soon, the team is left to address the issue themselves, and Macuch emphasizes the need for responsibility among players and fans: “It’s such a serious issue now that people need to use sense and understand [that] fighting at our games, just because you want to, is not okay.”

October 26th, 2018 B-CC beats Whitman 5-0 at Rockville Ice Arena.

A brawl breaks out in the parking lot, and the league and rink come down hard on both teams, banning both schools from having games at Rockville Ice Arena and mandating that no B-CC and Whitman students are allowed to spectate at any games for the rest of the year.

Not Because I’m a Girl... Because I’m a Hockey Player “I joined the team because I like physical sports, and I was encouraged by other girls on the team to join,” said Tatiana Laguerre, a sophomore ice hockey player on the Junior Varsity (JV) team. “I like playing in a male-dominated sport because I like to be pushed around—it makes things much more interesting.”

Laguerre is one of four sophomore girls on the JV Ice Hockey team this year, and all of them are eager to start scoring some goals this winter season.

The Ice Hockey team is a club activity at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, even though the number of practices and games makes hockey greatly resemble an official team sport.

Hockey is a male-dominated activity. However, that doesn’t stop these girls from showing off their skills during the season. Women’s hockey has grown quite a bit over the years, and has shown people that men aren’t the only ones who are allowed to play the game.

Paula Ambit and Dorothy Knutson have been on the team since their freshman year at B-CC, while Raemi Charles and Tatiana Laguerre joined this year. Ambit, the newly initiated JV team captain, has been involved with hockey since she was eight years old.

“I joined my first team, Hockey Hielo Majadahonda, in Spain,” said Ambit. “It was a coed team, since in Spain you can’t join the girls team until you turn 14. I played on this team for 6 years, but the second year was a terrible year.

I had a very sexist coach, and me being a young 9-year-old made me want to quit the team. I would go home crying and complaining everyday. The coach would play everyone but me and my friend since we were the only two girls. I was very close to quitting, but the boys on the team told me not to quit. During one tournament, the boys stood up to the coach and said that they wanted me and my friend to play, too. They said that it was not fair that we were not getting ice time just because we were girls.”

When Ambit moved to the U.S. and started high school at B-CC, she was scared to play coed hockey again. “I was nervous to be one of the only two girls in my freshman year on the team,” she said.

“I didn’t even know Dorothy, but after last season we became really close—she was like my ‘brother.’ Now, my sophomore year, I would not

imagine not playing for B-CC. And this year, we have double the girls. That is great, but even if I [were] the only girl I would still do it. On the JV team, since we are such a small team, there are no cliques and everyone likes each other. That creates a great atmosphere and community. My future goals for hockey are to play for the Women’s Spanish National Team and to play college hockey,” said Ambit.

The other girls on the team also fell in love with hockey, but for different reasons. “My dad’s side of the family has always been hockey-oriented,” said Charles. “My grandpa was the practice goalie for the New York Rangers. My dad and his two brothers grew up playing ice hockey, and his sister figure skated because, at the time, hockey was only for males. My dad wanted to pass on the sport to his kids. All of my cousins on my dad’s side have grown up playing ice hockey, as well as my brother, Evan Charles, and I.” Charles is the only girl in her family who plays hockey, and says that her aunt and grandma are “jealous, but happy” for her.

“When I get the puck from a boy, I am so proud. Not because I am a girl, but because I am proving to my parents that I am a hockey player.

Not a female hockey player—just a hockey player.

That should be the case with all hockey players, no matter the gender. The boys on the team have been very welcoming to girls, but there are also moments that I share only with the girls.”

A typical week on the team is packed with training. Ambit and Knutson actually play for two hockey teams: B-CC’s JV Ice Hockey team and the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association (MYHA). They exercise twice a week per team, with practices often running late. They also have two games per weekend with the MYHA and one game a week with the B-CC team. Most of the sophomore girls on the JV team also volunteer Saturday mornings to coach kids with special needs.

The boys on the JV team have high opinions of skating with the girls. “Playing with the girls on the hockey team is cool,” said Jaan Brennan, a junior on the JV team. “Back in Canada, where I spent most of my free time playing hockey, there were many girls playing too. It’s nice to see that the team is not complete-

ly one-sided. As for on the ice, the girls are very hard working and do well as a part of the team.”

What most people don’t know about women who play ice hockey is that they can’t make a living for themselves by playing it professionally. In the National Hockey League (NHL), men who play hockey professionally are able to earn much more money than women. The average NHL salary per player was about $3 million for the 2017/18 season, compared to the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), whose players will make an average between $5k-$7k during that same season.

“I’ve done a lot of hockey camps and tournaments,” said Knutson, who had the privilege of meeting two NWHL players—one of whom is currently a coach at Harvard. “The other I met in Prague, and she coached a European all-star team that played against my team from North America,” she said.

“The Harvard coach especially made a point by saying that she had to have 1-2 other jobs aside from the NWHL because the pay wasn’t high enough. Of course, if you compare it to the NHL, the men get paid more obviously because there’s a way bigger audience and there is more commercial value to their game. I mean, I didn’t even know there was a NWHL until a few years ago, and I’m a female hockey player.”

Nevertheless, Knutson also wants to play a very high level of hockey, and thinks it would be “incredible to play my favorite sport as a job.”

“Professional women’s hockey is still fast and exciting to watch, and I hope that one day the NWHL grows and attracts the same crowds that pour in to see the men’s games. Playing for the hockey team at B-CC is a small step towards convincing communities to take women’s hockey seriously, and I am very proud to be on the team,” she said.

Even if the girls don’t want to pursue playing for a professional women’s ice hockey team, some of them would still like to be involved with the sport in other ways, such as coaching or playing hockey in college.

“I am interested in coaching girls so that I can pass on the sport to a new generation of female hockey players,” said Charles. “Growing up as a female in a male-dominated sport gave me new insights that I want the female youths to carry. I also think that when I was younger, it would have been encouraging to have a female role model that has had a hockey experience, so I would like to be that role model for other young girls.”

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

BY CAT DESOUZA AND CAMILLE HALL

25

The Return of Elijah Wood: B-CC Boys Basketball Preview

BY BENNETT SCHWARTZ AND DAN SHAPIRO After briefly transferring to the Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas for the first quarter of the 2018-2019 school year, B-CC basketball star Elijah Wood has returned to be “closer with family and play for a team that [he] knows.” His return is just in time for the start of the winter season where he and the Barons have big goals for the upcoming season.

Since transferring from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School to B-CC in his sophomore year, Wood has taken the Montgomery County basketball scene by storm. Playing on a team where he wasn’t the primary scoring option, Wood was able to adopt more of a floor general role: distributing the ball, running the offense, and making an impact on the defensive end.

Elijah, who already is ranked as the 2nd overall prospect in Maryland, 15th best point guard in the class of 2020, and 99th overall in class of 2020 for the country, wants to

build off of his achievements from last season, hoping to “make All-Met this year.”

With his skill, caliber, athleticism, and leadership skills, it is no wonder many elite D1 schools are heavily recruiting the 6’5’’ point guard. Wood currently has offers from 23 schools, including Georgia, Ohio State, Tulane, and Long Beach State, where he recently took an official visit. Additionally, Wood has garnered some interest from powerhouse basketball programs such as Xavier, Kentucky, and Georgetown.

B-CC basketball seniors Kevin McAuliffe and Tyler Groom hope to lead the team to an even stronger playoff run than last year.

After finishing with a 19-3 overall season record, 8-0 in their division, and advancing to the 4A West Title, the Barons are hungry to improve upon their already extremely impressive performance last year. While the loss of former senior stars such as Thomas Baer, Gordon Gibson, and Miles English will prove difficult to overcome, Elijah says that the Barons are motivated and “eyeing the state championship.”

Why It’s So Hard to Win Back-to-Back State Titles

PHOTO BY GEORGE SMITH

BY DAN SHAPIRO AND JULIA TAYLOR The 2017 Maryland 4A Boys’ Soccer State Championship: B-CC beat Severna Park in a night to remember. Cheers erupted from the stands, blue and gold smoke bombs filled the night sky, players hugged and rejoiced with one another while dedicated fans stormed the field; their electric energy ignited the stadium. Although their win was a success for us all, the team was not satisfied there.

One year later, the only thing on the team and fans’ minds was whether or not they could repeat. Sadly, the team fell short. Their season ended with a loss to Whitman in their second game of the playoffs.The boys finished the season with a record of 4-7-1, not the desired record for the former state champs.

As hard as it is to win one state championship, winning two back-to-back is a much harder task, based on simple probability. In addition to this, the Barons faced many additional struggles on their quest to repeat.

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Competing in one of the hardest sections in games against B-CC. The Barons lost and tied to the state is always a challenge. In the B-CC’s sevthem, respectively. en-team section, four teams—B-CC, Whitman, The Barons entered this season after losing WJ, and Churchill—continue to dominate year 11 seniors, six of whom were starters from the after year. In 2016, WJ won the section; in 2017, year before. According to Coach Melendez, this B-CC won the section; and in 2018, Whitman created “a loss of chemistry, which [they] had to won the section. It is interesting to note that each rebuild with a new group of kids in a short period of those teams went on to win the state title the of time.” year they won the section.

Their newly-formed roster faced a number of It is apparent that the team that wins the injuries, too. The most notable was star winger section can easily change any given year. This and captain Nathan Messer, who missed 4 games heightened local competition has led to the Bardue to a sprained ankle. In addition to Messer’s ons having a very hard schedule year after year sprain, injuries of other important players negaand contributed to their less-than-stellar record tively affected the team and made it hard at times for the season. to create the ideal lineup.

On top of this, every team in the state was Despite all of the problems that inhibited the gunning to beat the defending state champs. team this year, the Barons have their eyes on the Coach Guillermo Melendez believes that in a couprize for next season. The ‘Rons have eight startple of games, teams that were previouslyTo not many coners returning admissions next year, they have some great college officers, sidered to be very good “played lights out against kids moving up from JV, and, according to Coach nothing a number…

B-CC” because they were motivated to beatyou’re the Melendez, they but have “some players who did not reigning state champs. Teams such as Einstein get a lot of playing time this year who will step up and Paint Branch were “unrecognizable” in their for next year.”

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26

SPORTS RECRUITMENT

BY KEVIN MCAULIFFE

Sofia Rehrig

Travis Cann

Jenna Feinauer

Sofia is now the second Baron to commit to Kenyon College, joining Leo Cowie in Gambier, Ohio. Sofia will continue her soccer career in college after playing two years of BCC soccer and six years of club. Sofia had interest from a few different schools throughout the recruiting process, and took a couple official visits before ultimately deciding on Kenyon. Sofia says “Kenyon is an amazing school with great academics. Being able to play soccer there just made it that much m o r e appealing.”

A s u p e r b defender, Sofia plays both center back and outside back depending on what her team needs. She will look to contribute on defense for the Kenyon Lords next year. Sofia played for the Washington Spirit Academy alongside Air force commit Kate Wade during her junior year and is currently finishing out her high school career with the Potomac Soccer Club.

The man they call “Big Trav” announced his commitment to Oberlin College via instagram midway through October, and became the latest Baron to join the NCAC. Travis says “Oberlin is a great liberal arts education near Cleveland and it allows me to continue my baseball career.” Travis has been playing ball ever since he can remember and grew up playing rec baseball before moving to more serious travel ball during his middle and high school years.

His most recent club team was Elite Baseball. Travis spent two years on JV

Jenna will be taking her talents to Salisbury University, becoming the latest Feinauer committed to play college Volleyball.

After seeing her sister commit to St Mary’s and considering her options, Jenna decided to take her talents to the eastern shore and the join the Salisbury Sea Gulls. Jenna told us that “[She] committed to Salisbury because it pretty much had everything [she] was looking for including the size of the school, exceptional team chemistry, and how the coach treats the team like they are part of a D1 program.

[She] hopes to be a part of the Honors College at Salisbury.” Jenna played a vital role on this year’s extremely successful BCC Volleyball team. She had many key blocks and spikes at the net for the Barons and helped lead them to the Regional F i nals.

baseball at B-CC before joining the Varsity roster last year as a Pitcher. He will be looking forward to his senior season, where he should be part of a star studded pitching rotation that will also include Fordham commit James Springer and last year’s ace pitcher Brendan Hughes.

BY PABLO LOPEZ AND NATHAN MESSER Cristiano Ronaldo—one of the most renowned athletes in the world—has been accused of rape. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner and the UEFA Champions league all-time top goalscorer is being sued over an alleged rape that occurred in Las Vegas back in 2009. The woman, Kathryn Mayorga, claims Cristiano raped her in a hotel room as she repeatedly told him to stop. While this is in dispute, it has been confirmed that Mayorga received a $375,000 out of-court settlement in exchange for her to keep the allegations quiet.

However, she seeks to void the settlement and agreement on the terms that Ronaldo and his team took advantage of her fragile state in 2009 and forced her to sign it.

The two met inside the Rain nightclub inside Palms Hotel and Casino on June 13th, 2009. According to her lawsuit, Mayorga was pulled into a hotel room by Cristiano as he asked for oral sex.

She refused and he proceeded to rape her as she screamed begging him to stop. She reported the incident to the police and went to the hospital for

a sexual assault examination on the same day, but ultimately remained silent over the past nine years for fear of public humiliation.

Ronaldo has responded to the recent allegations through social media. On Friday September 28th, he responded to a question regarding the incident stating, “What they said today, fake -fake news. They want to promote by my name.

It’s normal. They want to be famous -- to say my name. Yeah but it’s part of the job. I’m (a) happy man and all, all good.”

He also tweeted out on October 3rd, stating “I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense.” His lawyers have also denied the allegations.

With the severity of these allegations, many fear the significant impact it could have on Ronaldo’s many endorsement deals with companies such as Nike and EA Sports. Ronaldo is one of, if not the most, influential athletes in all of sports,

and many of his fans and others within the soccer community have given their support for the soccer star amidst the lawsuit. His current soccer club, Juventus, has also backed the player, stating he has shown “professionalism and dedication” as both an athlete and an individual.

However, on November 3oth, Der Spiegel, the German newspaper which originally broke news of Ronaldo’s alleged misconduct back in September, released an article claiming they had recently obtained “hundreds of additional documents” regarding Ronaldo’s case. Among these confidential documents, they claim, is a 27 page questionnaire developed by Ronaldo’s lawyers, in which Ronaldo confesses to raping Mayorga. The documents are yet to be released, but the Las Vegas police have opened up an investigation and are looking into the matter. The legal battle between Ronaldo and Mayorga is expected to be lengthy and possibly take a few months to be resolved, but these recent developments do not bode well for the soccer superstar.

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VOLLEYBALL PHOTO BY JERRY FRISHMAN

Cristiano Ronaldo Accused of Rape

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MCPS Rating Report Cards Released; B-CC Receives 4/5 Stars

BY JOSH GARBER Report cards arrived in Maryland early on December 4th, but they were not the typical report cards students receive once a quarter; these were state-issued report cards assessing the qualities of each public school in Maryland.

According to the Maryland Department of Education (DOE) website, “the State Board of Education, MSDE staff, superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, community leaders, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders around the State worked together to create an accountability system that measured relevant, actionable aspects of school performance.”

These report cards were published by the Maryland DOE in response to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act signed into law in 2015, succeeding the No Child Left Behind Act. The Maryland plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Education in early 2018.

The reports differ from previous report cards that did not maintain a star-based system, did not score a school on the same categories, and were not easily accessible for parents and students.

The new report cards rate elementary, middle, and high schools in Maryland on a scale of

one to five. There are 90 total points a school can receive and the percentage of total points earned determines whether you receive one, two, three, four, or five stars. If a school receives a 75 percent or above, they receive a five-star rating.

The reports take into account five categories: academic achievement, graduation rate, progress in achieving English language proficiency, readiness for post-secondary success, and school quality and student success.

A total of 35 out of Maryland’s 1,319 schools received one star. 145 received two stars, 356 received three, 564 got a four, and 219 were awarded with the highest rating. With 50 fivestar schools, Montgomery County contains the largest number of schools that received the top score.

But, despite MCPS receiving the most fivestars, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School received just four; with a score of 66.4 out of 90, a 73%. While B-CC received a four-star rating, rival schools Winston Churchill and Walter Johnson both received five stars, scoring percentages of 79% and 76%, respectively.

Dr. Jones, however, is not concerned with these statistics, saying “any feedback we can get is good feedback.” She further believes that

B-CC’s School Performance Academic Achievement

Graduation Rate

these scores are a motivator for future success.

“Ultimately, it’s supposed to be designed as a growth model, and [the Maryland DOE] would like to see growth in our scores over time.”

B-CC received 19.1 out of 30 points for Academic Achievement, 14.2 out of 15.0 for Graduation Rate, 7.1 out of 10 for Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency, 8.5 out of 10 for Readiness for Post-Secondary Success, and 17.5 out of 25 in School Quality and Student Success.

Dr. Jones views these scores as an opportunity to address areas that she hopes to develop. She intends “to make sure that all students are achieving at the highest level possible, and that students are attending school, and that students are continuously improving.”

These improvements can only be achieved through various actions. The first thing we have to do, according to Dr. Jones, “is [talk] to staff about it because staff really have the best information in terms of student performance.” Including staff in the conversation about student performance may be helpful in the upcoming years, as the Maryland DOE will further record school morale, which B-CC has struggled with in the past few years.

Overall Star Ratings of Every MCPS High School

19.1 / 30

14.2 / 15

Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency

Readiness for Post-Secondary Success

School Quality and Student Success

7.1 / 10

8.5 / 10

17.5 / 25 8 out of 25 high schools scored a 3

Total Earned Points

66.4 / 90

13 out of 25 schools scored a 4 4 out of 25 high schools scored a 5

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te r

Jo hn W so in n st on 5 Ch Th ur om ch ill as S. 5 Po W ol oo es tto vi n lle W 5 5 al tW hi tm M an on tg 4 om er Be y th Bl es ai r da 4 -C Cl he ar vy ks bu Ch rg as Pa e 4 in 4 tB ra n Ri ch ch 4 ar d M on Q ui tg nc om e er O rc y G h ai 4 ar th d er 4 sb ur Jo g hn 3 F. Ke nn Al be ed rt y Ei 3 ns Co te in l. Z ad 3 ok M ag ru de r 3

Star Ratings of 15 MCPS Schools

GRAPHIC BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

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Orchestrated Perfectly: B-CC Teacher Uncovers 19th Century Music Piece

BY LILLY BEHBEHANI AND RACHEL AUERBACH Wedged between the chorus and orchestra rooms lies a comfortably lit office belonging to teachers of the music department. During first period, Mr. Marshall White, B-CC’s resource teacher for Physical Education and the Arts, sits in this room surrounded by pieces of sheet music from wall to wall. Around this time last year, Mr. White discovered the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), an initiative aimed at promoting the music of 19th century female composers. In his research, Mr. White found something that would change the presence of female composers in the classical music industry: a scanned, handwritten manuscript of an overture

by Emilie Mayer. According to Mr. White’s research, Mayer was a 19th century German composer of Romantic style music who had never before been transcribed or electronically recorded.

In fact, the song Mr. White had discovered might have not even been played for 150 years.

Over the course of a year, Mr. White worked

diligently to transcribe the 32 page original handwritten script to an electronic version. Although this process was extremely time-consuming and the messy, handwritten notes were difficult to decipher, Mr. White devoted hours to the piece and completed the task for the 2018 B-CC Winter Concert.

Mr. White described the piece as “coming alive” whilst he transcribed it. Although he could have chosen a piece that did not require as much attention, he was inspired by the similarities between B-CC’s and Overture No. 2’s instrumentation. Specifically, Mr. White recognized how the layout of B-CC’s orchestra resembled early Romantic periods in its abundance of wind instruments and only one percussion instrument.

Upon discovering the overlap between BCC and Overture No. 2’s instrumentation, Mr. White said he was “really excited that [it] might be something we could explore.”

Mr. White’s work in transcribing this manuscript also revealed an interesting issue within the music industry: a lack of female compos-

Photos of the first four pages of the manuscript that arts resource teacher Mr. White discovered.

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ers from the 19th century. Prior to his research on Emilie Mayer, Mr. White knew of only two fairly-well known female composers who lived during that time: Fanny Mendelssohn and Claire Schumann. “Claire Schumann was the wife of famous composer Robert Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn was the sister of famous composer Felix Mendelssohn,” Mr. White said. “Some of their works may have been published under their male counterparts, and we have discovered they probably have other things out there that were published erroneously.”

Luckily, pieces written by 19th century female composers are slowly becoming recognized by the public due to the Internet and the increased accessibility of old music documents.

“It still takes time to get the word out,” Mr. White commented on the newly discovered musical pieces. “But, there are more and more recordings of female composers from that time period that are coming out.”

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL NAVRATIL

“I’m going to be the next Jimmy Page,” declared 9-year old Joe Lostumbo, referring to the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist the day after he got his first guitar. Now known to many as Floyd Marley, his Instagram name, Lostumbo’s life up to this point - and into the foreseeable future - has been shaped by music.

Envious of his older sister Eva, who began playing guitar before Joe showed any interest, Joe had his dad “secretly teach me when my sister was away so that she wouldn’t see that I had a guitar.” The secret lessons quickly blossomed into a passion for the instrument. Though he took lessons for four years, he says that “a lot of my progress in those middle years were by myself.”

Despite his oldest sister Lucia being a talented musician, currently making a living as a violin player, Joe never felt that she had much of an impact on his own desire to be a musician. “I see my sister and I as very different when it comes to music. When I was younger I never really thought about it as the same thing. She was taking violin super seriously...learning to read music and I wasn’t learning any of that.”

When Joe started guitar, he was learning the same things that most beginners learn, like simple chords and scales. As he improved, though, he began to become more interested in better guitarists and tried imitating their styles.

Led Zeppelin and the Beatles had early impacts on Lostumbo. But, when asked about his biggest influence, Joe did not hesitate. “John Mayer...When you listen to his playing, you can hear a lot of his influences. And then when you listen to my playing, you can hear the John Mayer influence, but then in that, you hear those other guitarists.”

Charlie Oakes, a senior at B-CC and accomplished drummer who began playing with Joe after Joe’s former drummer passed away in a bizarre gardening accident, speaks very highly of Lostumbo. “If Joe could play hot cross buns, I bet he could play it really well. He can also play loud and quiet.”

One of Joe’s fondest memories in music comes from New York City this past summer in Washington Square Park. There were tons of street performers in the park, and Joe was not get- ting much attention for his guitar playing. He was listening to a group of five doo-wop singers when one of the singers noticed his guitar and asked him if he knew an F-chord and invited Joe to join the quintet. “I played with them for a good two hours.

People I’d never met before.”

Unfortunately for the B-CC community, Floyd Marley will be graduating early to embark on an 80-day backpacking and mountaineering trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). In the fall, Joe hopes to attend a school for music and pursue songwriting, which he believes to be “one of the most valuable things in music.” After college, he hopes to be his own performing musician, or ghostwrite for other musicians. His advice for other musicians and listeners? “Let the music flow through you.

Don’t listen, feel. As the Grateful Dead once said: ‘People join hand in hand while the music played the band. Lord, they’re setting us on fire.’” Keep an eye on Floyd Marley; he is sure to do incredible things in music.

Boujee or Budget: Best Juice in Bethesda $7

$11 $2.65 Cava

Joe & the Juice

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CUCUMBER LIMEADE INGREDIENTS: CUCUMBER; LIME; MINT

‘PRINCE OF GREEN’ JUICE INGREDIENTS: CUCUMBER; LEMON; PINEAPPLE

BEET LEMONADE INGREDIENTS: BEETS; LEMON; CHIA SEEDS

Final Verdict

BY LAUREN GIPS AND MAGGIE HODGE bright green liquid topped with the same color foam. Already we were happier with its appearance.

At first glance, this already seemed more like juice than the Cava drink. But after trying it, our reactions varied. We were both equally disgusted and intrigued. The foam was less than appetizing to drink and the flavor was subpar. Once the foam was gone, however, the juice became more enjoyable but was still nothing special.

The last drink we tried was the Beet Lemonade from Purée Juice Bar, which cost a whopping $11. The drink came in a large glass jar, about 6 or 7 inches tall, much nicer than the plastic cups we had been previously sipping from. The drink was bright purple and filled with chia seeds.

After the first taste, we disagreed. Lauren thought the drink was delicious and tasted like a dull lemonade. While Lauren hated the flecks in the Cava drink, she didn’t mind the chia seeds.

They were unnecessary, as you couldn’t even feel them in your mouth while you drank.

Maggie, on the other hand, said it “tasted like dirt.” To be fair, Maggie claims beets themselves taste like dirt, but she was hoping this drink would change her mind. It didn’t. The chia seeds were also a dealbreaker for her, and she described them as: “Disgusting and with an uncomfortable mouth feel.” Maggie decided this was the worst of the three drinks, while Lauren thought it was the best.

MAGGIE: JOE AND THE JUICE “For only seven dollars, this drink was far superior to any of the others. The flavor was really fresh. You could actually taste the individual ingredients that the employees take care to juice right in front of you. I also like that Joe and The Juice’s menu has a variety of flavors, and can even vary into shakes and smoothies. The juice that we got tasted surprisingly good for a green juice, which can normally be stifled by powerful flavors like kale and spinach, but instead tasted sweet, with a nice hint of cucumber.”

Rating:

LAUREN: PUREE “Don’t get me wrong, it is crazy expensive, but it was the only drink that I didn’t hate for at least a part of drinking it. The flavor was mild but still present and the chia seeds probably added some sort of vitamins without me hating them. Yes, it was $11, but you get so much more juice and a reusable container and, to me, it is worth it, only if you get it once.”

Rating:

PHOTOS BY MAGGIE HODGE, GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA SAIDI

Have you ever wondered where you can find the best juice in all of Bethesda? We went to three juice places in Bethesda—one on the cheaper side, one averagely priced, and one expensive—to see which one is worth it at its price.

At the beginning of our adventure, we realized we didn’t have a cheap juice stop due to Bethesda’s increasing cost of living. Luckily, we ran into Ms. Legum who suggested Cava, known partially for its homemade teas and juices. They switch their menu seasonally, and right now the juice selection is very limited.

We tried the cucumber, lime, and mint juice.

For our cheapest juice of the day, the total came out to $2.65. At first glance, the juice looked unappealing. It was clear with a greenish tint, filled with what looked like chunks of mint and cucumber. Neither of us enjoy drinks with solid pieces, and after tasting the juice, we both had similar reactions. It tasted more like flavored water or limeade than a juice. The taste of the juice itself was bearable, the chunks of fruit were not. Overall, we would drink it again, after it was strained of course.

Our mid-priced juice came from a recent addition to Bethesda Row: Joe and the Juice. The second eatery is supposed to be an average price, but in Bethesda, this is hard to come by. A small juice— the ‘Prince of Green’ made of cucumber, lemon, and pineapple—cost $7. The cup, smaller than Cava’s, was generously overfilled with a