Vol. 48 » Issue 4

volume 48, issue 4 NON-PROFIT ORG. U. S. Postage PAID Permit #6754 Bethesda, MD

November 17, 2009

Walt whitman High school

7100 whittier boulevard

Bethesda, maryland 20817

Loss of credit policy reexamined

Inside Look

2 NEWS

Maryland lawmakers propose changing high school dropout age from

MCPS administrators propose eliminating loss of credit penalties for unexcused absences

16 to 18.

6 OPINION

“

bY James Dionne

Students can’t access the Wikipedia page for sex but can visit Sex and the City’s homepage.

7 IN-DEPTH

”

Technology and Communication

10 FEATURE Rachel Nussbaum’s climate guide says which rooms are hot and which rooms are not.

14 ARTS

The show must go on! Churchill puts on “Chicago” after censorship battle plagues production.

theblackandwhite.net

photo by

SARAH KLOTZ

Director Christopher Gerken and members of the tech crew put the finishing touches on the set for ‘Into the Woods’. This musical is one of the most difficult to perform and produce, according to producer Erin Pearson, a junior.

‘Into the Woods’ opens Nov. 19

by YASMEEN Abutaleb “Into the Woods,” the long-awaited fall musical, opens this Thursday with performances running Nov. 19, 20 and 21.

“Into the Woods” is a combination of fairytales that intertwine to form an entirely new story. Act One shows Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Bean Stalk and other fairytale favorites having their dreams come true, while Act Two follows the characters after their “happily-everafter.” The show stars seniors Molly

Bennett, Haruka Nakawaga, Mark Herschfeld, Noah Gavil, Tori Sharbaugh and junior Emily Madden.

An impressive set design, which includes paper mache trees made out of wood and chicken wire, creates the rest of the scene. Junior Erin Pearson, the producer of the show, says “Into the Woods” has one of the most complicated set designs a Whitman audience has seen.

Tickets cost $8 for students, $12 for adults and $20 for reserved seating and can be purchased at both lunches or at the door. 

Starting next year, sleeping in might not be a problem. A group of MCPS administrators, known as the Loss of Credit Project Team, is attempting to revise the loss of credit policy for the 2010-2011 school year.

The proposed policy would eliminate the loss of credit system. Currently, students lose credit for a class after five unexcused absences or 15 unexcused tardies. Instead, students could make up the work they miss with a 10 percent penalty.

“A big reason why the county is looking at throwing out the LC policy is because in the grading and reporting policy, misbehavior can’t influence a student’s grade,” assistant principal Jennifer Webster said. “The current LC policy is in conflict with this.”

The current policy disproportionately affects schools with students who have lower attendance rates than ones with more privileged students, Webster added.

“Some schools have such an issue with attendance that if they were to LC every student who missed five classes, they would have an astronomical number of students who would lose credit,” she said.

The team sent a preliminary memorandum May 28 to the BOE to encourage the creation of a policy that could work for both low- and highachieving schools. The group met to revise the submission Nov. 5 before sending a final draft to the BOE for official review.

BOE member Patricia O’Neill said that she will more than likely support a change to the LC policy.

“Over time it’s been something that principals, teachers and students say doesn’t work,” she said. “It’s a problem not matter where you are.”

The proposal will most likely come to a vote at the BOE meeting in January.

Some other aspects of the proposed policy include disciplinary action—like lunch detention—against students for see

POLICY page 2

Forensics expanding in the classroom, streets Both students and police benefit from new interest, new technology

by Nalini Tata Another frantic call. Another crime. The police pull up to the scene and begin dispersing the crowd of spectators, trying to reduce the chance of contamination. Lights flash as an officer snaps photos of almost everything. Another officer puts on gloves, removing a broken cigarette butt and a half-drunk glass of water for DNA analysis.

No, this isn’t last night’s episode of “CSI.” It’s a potential crime scene investigation for this year’s new forensics class.

In response to high demand from students and with enthusiasm from the faculty, science teacher AnneMarie O’Donoghue and science department director Donald DeMember added a forensics course to the science curriculum this year. O’Donoghue, who teaches the class two periods a day, says she was encouraged to start the program by other MCPS schools, which have integrated the class into their curricula in recent years.

Students in forensics have learned about finger printing and have studied identification methods through DNA analysis. In the third week of school, they even

participated in a mock investigation, exploring a “crime scene” for clues and testing results.

Senior Eileen Nalls thinks that such interactive labs make forensics more enjoyable and interesting than other science courses.

“It’s not like you’re just sitting in class and taking notes,” she says, “It’s new and happening.”

Nalls was initially drawn to the course because it combined her strong interest in science and her love of forensics shows like “CSI.” However, CSI may not have taught her as much as she thought. “[Students] only have a basic awareness, but they might think they know it all; we get a lot of that from people who watch CSI,” explains Montgomery County Police Department forensic specialist David McGill.

McGill notes that real life forensics has nothing to do with the investigations that are misrepresented in hit shows like “NCIS,” “CSI” and “Law and Order.”

In reality, forensics is more specialized, with teams of people performing different tasks, as opposed to one person undertaking 20 different jobs on the shows he calls “outrageously ridiculous.” see

FORENSICS page 12

Boys soccer advances to State Finals at UMBC Nov. 20.

See theblackandwhite.net for updates.

photo by

LOUIS WOLFF

2

news

November 17, 2009

Incidents of female students followed by white vehicles put community on alert

Students donate 55 pints of blood to area hospitals

by Alex Zimmermann Over 80 students lined up in the gym Nov. 5 to donate blood at the annual fall drive sponsored by the SGA and Inova Blood Donor Services. The 55 pints of blood Inova collected go to 15 area hospitals.

“The impact is great at the hospital level,” said Sandi Bourget, the Inova coordinator of the drive. “We would be hard pressed to find large places to go where the people are so willing and enthusiastic to participate like our high schools.”

The donation process took about one hour per donor. Inova staff were in the gym throughout the day asking donors questions and testing donors’ blood to ensure they were eligible.

Several students signed up to donate but were rejected as a result of medical conditions. Junior Sheeva Norooz said she was unable to donate blood because a test revealed her iron level was too low. Some students also decided not to donate at all after experiencing a bad reaction last year.

“When I donated blood last year, it made me sick,” senior Sarah Klotz said.

“I fainted. I would have done it again if it didn’t make me sick.”

“A lot of people didn’t do it because they said they felt too close to the

Police warn students to walk in groups, stay alert, report suspicious vehicle license plates

by Jessica Gelfarb photo by

SARA ALLEN

More than 80 students donated blood for 15 area hospitals during the biannual blood drive.

Inova Blood Donor Services collected 55 pints of blood from students, staff and parents.

weight line,” she said.

Although some students were rejected, Bourget says that for those who can donate, the drive is a great opportunity.

“Researchers are still trying to ‘create’ artificial blood to be used in severe shortages,” she said. “But, they have not succeeded yet. Until that time, we will need and depend on our community to donate what is needed.”

The SGA also started promoting parent participation last year, allowing them to cut the line of staff and students in the gym.

“A lot of parents have a less

flexible schedule,” SGA sponsor Sheryl Freedman said. “We typically encourage them to come earlier in the day before school starts so they can come before work.”

Inova has partnered with the SGA for the blood drive since November, 2003. They also conduct drives with 13 other schools in Montgomery County, Bourget said.

“They work with a lot of other Montgomery County schools,” assistant principal Jennifer Webster said. “They try to really play up this competition and school spirit and have a longstanding relationship with county schools.” 

County administrators want to replace LC policy continued from page

1

unexcused absences or tardies and the formation of attendance committees to monitor student attendance more closely.

Although the current policy is county-wide, problems with enforcement frequently occur.

“It’s supposed to be uniform, but of course it’s not,” physics teacher Kismet Talaat said. “Different teachers have different levels of tolerance or record-keeping.”

Courtney Osborne, the school’s union representative, feels that many provisions of the new plan diminish the importance of attendance.

“Though the current system is flawed, if you get rid

of the LC policy, you are essentially telling students that they don’t have to go to school anymore,” she said.

“The only thing worse than a broken policy is no policy at all.”

She opposes the provision in the policy that would require teachers to create new exams for students who skip class. She also believes that an incentive-based system, in which students receive rewards for faithful attendance, is nonsensical.

Osborne advocates for a policy that would automatically generate loss of credit notices, eliminate teachers’ discretion and make the policy more uniform. 

BOE attempts to raise dropout age from 16 to 18 Members hope new regulation will improve state, county graduation rates

by Rachel Lerner County Board of Education members voted Oct. 26 to encourage the state legislature to raise the high school dropout age from 16 to 18 in Maryland high schools.

Members hope increasing the age will combat the recent decline in graduation rates, particularly in schools with large minority populations, BOE president Shirley Brandman said.

The graduation rate fell from 93 percent in 2003 to 87 percent last spring, and more than a quarter of students who drop out of school are between 16 and 17, according to MCPS reports.

“Students may disengage from their learning earlier on because they know that when they turn 16, they can voluntarily withdraw themselves,” Brandman said.

“We’re trying to remove the ease with which they can do that.”

Only state lawmakers can legally increase the dropout age, and state-wide attempts two years ago to raise the age failed. Brandman said she believes that this effort will be more successful because the plan the BOE is advocating for doesn’t include any fiscal aspects, unlike previous plans.

“We hope that people will look at this with fresh eyes and recognize that we’re not suggesting that people do it simply because it’s going to solve the problem by itself, but because it’s one critical piece of

Dropout Ages and Dropout Rates

Dropout Rate

Georgia Maryland North Dakota Pennsylvania South Carolina DC Nevada Virginia

the puzzle,” she said.

Brandman acknowledges that raising the dropout age is only one way to fight the falling graduation rates.

“We need to both raise the age so we create the incentive for students to stay with us and find ways to engage students and provide them with the instruction and tools that will give them more opportunities when they leave,”

38.3 20.7 13.7 17.5 39.9 31.2 44.2 20.4

Dropout Age

16 16 16 17 17 18 18 18

she said.

Superintendent Jerry Weast said in a press release that making it illegal to drop out of school at 16 or 17 would help more students reach graduation.

The state general assembly will meet to discuss the issue in January of next year. Until then, the county BOE members will continue campaigning for the new policy. 

Within the first two months of school, the administration alerted residents to three reported instances of students being followed home by white vehicles, prompting action to improve neighborhood safety.

The first incident occurred back in September when a white van began following a student home from school as she walked down Clearwood Road. Her mother witnessed the scene while getting off a Ride-On bus and approached the vehicle, but the driver sped off before she could write down a license plate number.

Two students also reported being followed by a white vehicle in the last week of October. The first incident occurred near Wilson Lane Oct. 26, when a man driving a white car began to drive back and forth, repeatedly passing a student while she was walking home.

Then the man got out of his car, and the student ran home.

She later called the police to report the incident. Just two days later, the administration sent out a Whitnet message to inform the community that another student was followed by a white vehicle.

Reports of these potential predators elicited concerned responses from the community. Dot Lin, mother of senior Fiona, posted an e-mail message on the 20817 listserv asking if residents had an interest in expanding the community watch program.

Currently, the County program’s primary purpose is to educate people who live in the area about safety issues. Lin is potentially interested in expanding the program so that residents could patrol the streets and provide an extra set of eyes for the police, she said.

“I think there have been periodic problems in the community for a while,” Lin said. “Everyone needs to be vigilant.”

Each year, at least one or two students report instances of a suspicious vehicle following them home after school, principal Alan Goodwin said.

Young girls are typically the targets in these types of situations, said county police officer Gil Lee. Lee advised students to walk in groups and carry cell phones.

“Citizens shouldn’t approach the strangers but rather contact 911 immediately and let us go investigate,” Lee said. “That’s the bottom line.”

The police also urge students to try to note the license plate number, because a police report will typically not even get filed if the license plate number isn’t known, said officer Melanie Brenner.

Goodwin noted that these types of incidents can often be avoided altogether if students are aware of their surroundings while walking home.

“Students often listen to their iPods and then become oblivious to what’s around them,” he said. “A stranger could come up behind them, and they wouldn’t even know it.”

Officer Arnold Aubrey also pointed out that without the victim’s first hand observations, it’s extremely difficult for the police to track down a predator.

“An officer can’t help the victim if the victim isn’t willing to try and help themselves,” he said.

Even if students take precautions, predators are out there and dangerous situations will occur, Aubrey said.

“You need to keep your wits and stay calm,” he said. 

November 17, 2009

news

3

Westboro Baptist Church back protesting in DC

By Jamie Norwood They’re back. The Westboro Baptist Church, the radical protest group from Topeka, Kansas that picketed Whittier Boulevard this past May, is at it again.

Church leader Fred Phelps, who also runs the controversial websites “Priests rape boys,” “Jews killed Jesus” and “Antichrist Obama,” kicked off a new series of demonstrations at Sidwell Friends upper school in Washington, D.C. Nov. 9.

The group continued their protest tour, making stops at Wilson High school, Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School, the Marriott Hotel at Wardman Park, the Department of Education, the D.C. Field Office and the White House.

Their full picket schedule is prominently featured on their website, godhatesfags.com.

While Sidwell Friends upper school principal Ellis Turner said in an interview that he is appalled that WBC protested at his school, he’s not surprised.

“They’re hateful people,” he said. “We held a counter protest, standing there

with some signs. We didn’t give them all the attention they were looking for.”

Although multiple counter protests are being held, Turner believes there’s no stopping the group.

“They’re going to do what they’re looking for,” he said. “No matter what.”

Westboro Baptist Church members have mainly religious reasons for targeting Sidwell, according to their site.

“So, the Quakers are in favor of abortion, now?” their site boasts. “How is that nonviolent? Anything to keep the money rolling in, huh hypocrites?”

Sidwell junior Rachel Gray originally had no intentions of attending the counter-protest but changed her mind prior to the groups arrival.

“It was actually very productive,” she said. “They’re all so ridiculous. We can’t let them think they can get away with this kind of stuff.”

The church later protested at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School because its administrators allowed a Gay-Straight Alliance club.

Sidwell senior Shoshanna Erlich

photos by

SARAH KLOTZ

Protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church picketed at Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Wilson and Sidwell Friends schools Nov. 9.

made signs and organized part of her school’s counter protest.

“We definitely made an impact,” she said. “There ended up being about 150 of us. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance; it sent out a good message.”

Students from B-CC, on the other hand, showed their disapproval through a silent protest.

“We weren’t allowed to talk or be

FREE CHIPS AND QUESO!

less than five feet away from the fence that separated us from the church members,” Erlich said. “I found it a little ridiculous.”

The church group has many schools listed on their picket schedule.

A post from their website states: “WBC will be on hand to address your children on the fact that you adults have lied to them for all their young lives.”

See you at the Bethesda cal tort!

Just show your Whitman ID to the spunky cashier and the Bethesda California Tortilla will give you FREE Chips and Queso anytime you buy a burrito, quesadilla or 2 tacos.

YEE-HA! California Tortilla - Bethesda 4862 Cordell Avenue Bethesda, MD 20814 (301) 654-8226

4

opinion

November 17, 2009

Letter to the Editor: Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

Raising dropout age to 18 only part of solution Flexible schedules and career planning needed to support students

by Stewart Longsworth If the BOE gets its way, state law will require students to attend school until they turn 18. The Board has passed a resolution advising the Maryland General Assembly to raise the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 across the state. Montgomery County’s graduation rate is at its lowest since 1996, and school board members argue that forcing students to attend school until their senior year will lower the number of dropouts. But the resolution, though well-intentioned, only partially addresses the issue it wishes to solve.

Requiring students to stay in school longer is one part of a solution, but can’t entirely solve the issue of high school dropouts. County school board and General Assembly members need to research and create a comprehensive plan to keep students in school. Attendance laws should work alongside flexible attendance and course options so potential dropouts can stay on track to graduate.

High school graduation matters. On average, high school graduates make a thousand dollars a year more than dropouts, according to a 2001 study.

Seventy-five percent of inmates in state jails are high school dropouts, a 2003 national Bureau of Justice report found.

Dropouts are more likely to rely on government aid to survive.

The state and county can mix and match from a wide variety of programs that lower dropout rates. Some options are fairly easy to implement. For instance, flexible schedules and career planning with school counselors can lead to fewer dropouts because school becomes an attractive part of the student’s life plan.

Get Organized, an academic assistance program that acts as a first responder for students struggling in school, is another good starting point. Some proven reforms

graphic by

ELENA TOUMAYAN

would require more effort, but are well worth the time. Several states, such as Virginia, have successfully adopted a policy allowing upperclassmen to hold a job while attending school only part of the day, keeping students from leaving school for employment. These options would strengthen the positive effects a higher required attendance age would have.

Some studies show that raising the required attendance age can lower the number of high school dropouts.

Sophomores or juniors who want to leave school may change their mind by senior year, especially with graduation so close at hand. Yet despite potential pluses, various states have found mixed results when they focus on mandatory attendance laws.

To leave school legally, students have to have a parent’s permission. Raising the legal dropout age, then, may just make students run away, making them “truant” and not technically “dropouts.” This is exactly what happened when Illinois passed such legislation—students who couldn’t get permission from parents anymore instead just left, dropping out in everything but name. Even if all sophomores and juniors stay in school, about 75 percent of high school dropouts are seniors who can legally drop out when they turn 18.

The school board and other supporters of a higher attendance age are rushing the fight to stop student dropouts, using a method that doesn’t work consistently by itself. Their cause is worthy, but in the end, it lacks the core programs such an effort needs. When struggling students find it easier and more attractive to attend school, they will continue to learn until graduation. 

We’re confused about the Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s decision to award the prize to President Obama, and believe that members of both parties can see eye to eye on this issue.

While many political pundits say that the prize benefits not only the president but also the United States, it’s hard to see how a prize unfairly awarded can be to anyone’s advantage.

The Nobel Committee justifies its decision, saying it was rewarding the president’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” This is the first time that the Committee has ever awarded the prize to someone for merely “trying” to resolve conflicts. Compare President Obama’s “efforts” with those of the two other victorious American presidents: Theodore Roosevelt’s brokering of peace between Russia and Japan and Woodrow Wilson’s forming of the League of Nations. Additionally compare his efforts to those of past winners Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela.

“It seems to me that it is an embarrassment for the Nobel process,” Princeton University historian Fred Greenstein stated in a Bloomberg.com article. He called President Obama’s win a “premature canonization.” Since all nominations for the prize had to be submitted by Feb.1, this means President Obama was nominated less than two weeks after taking office.

Social Studies teacher Peter Kenah also expressed his surprise at such an early nomination. He adds that it was an “award for potential rather than achievement.”

Committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, announced, “We have in many occasions given it to try to enhance what many personalities were trying to do.”

Yet this potential-based criterion threatens to delegitimize the Nobel Peace Prize. Critics have newly-donned it a “Nobel Hope Prize” and compare Obama’s victory to a Nobel Prize for Literature for a book that has yet to be

written.

But beyond simply awarding potential rather than concrete action, the Nobel Committee’s decision should suggest a peaceful legacy of the president. However, thus far, this is not the case. Currently the Obama Administration is working towards deploying more troops to Afghanistan—hardly a “peaceful” mission. Many commentators suggest that the awarding of the prize to President Obama is a clear sign of European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration. But if so, then why would the Committee reward a president who continues the most controversial Bush Administration policies? President Obama has done nothing to change the U.S.’s practices of rendition, military tribunals, indefinite detention, and the denial of habeas corpus to some detainees.

Solutions to the Israeli-Palestine conflict are still as grim as ever.

Ironically, members from both opposing groups agree that President Obama has yet to achieve peace. Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas said that the only thing that distinguishes the Obama administration from its predecessors are “statements, promises, and hopes.” Israeli politics professor at Bar-Ilan University says that the Nobel Committee is incapable of differentiating “between words and deeds.”

We’re confused and honestly concerned that the Nobel Committee had so much trouble finding a single peacemaker and had to settle for a peacewisher. While we recognize the respect the world has for President Obama and his message of hope, we question whether he deserved this award. Are we alone in recognizing his inaction and lack of concrete accomplishment in comparison to past Peace Prize winners?

-Seniors Ellie Golightly and Beatriz Forster for The Young Republicans Club

Corrections “Students bring new life to greenhouse” from issue two incorrectly stated that faculty sponsor Melanie Hudock hoped that the greenhouse would become a place for students to eat lunch.

“Debate team rocks the Bronx” from issue three incorrectly stated that Sarah Houston and Rachel Umans were the first team of girls to win Public Forum debate at the Big Bronx Invitational. Girls have, in fact, won before.

48, Issue 4 Volume 2009-2010 The Black & White is published 10 times a year by the students of Walt Whitman High School, 7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20817. The Black & White is an open forum for student views. Subscriptions for the 2009-2010 school year include the Black & White and The Spectator. Pick-up subscriptions cost $20 and mail subscriptions cost $25. The newspaper aims to both inform and entertain. The editorial board establishes Black & White policy.

Unsigned editorials convey the opinion of the Black & White editorial board. Signed opinion pieces reflect the positions of the individual staff. Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Walt Whitman High School (WWHS) or Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

The Black & White encourages readers to submit opinions on relevant topics in the form of letters to the editor. Letters must be signed to be printed, though names will be withheld upon request. The Black & White reserves the right to edit letters for content and space. Letters to the editor may be placed in the Black & White mailbox in the main office or the editor’s mailbox in room B211, or may be emailed to 2010blackandwhiteprint@gmail.com.

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november 17, 2009

opinion

Clarification My mother just forwarded me the article in the recent Black & White about my fraternity. I am very upset. I was misquoted several times and feel that the article was inaccurate and unfairly paints my fraternity and me in a negative light.

For example the article states "but Mike Lee ('08), a member of ZBT at Wash U gives a starkly different account of Greek life. According to Lee, things haven't changed at the ZBT house, where he often parties all night, picking up beer bottles on his way to class the next morning."

That is not even close to what I said.

I was asked for an example of one of the most unusual things I had been asked to do and I said one time I had to wake in the morning and go to the fraternity to pick up beer bottles before I went to class. In one of the final quotes about pledging it says I said "Nothing. That's what I'm supposed to say." Again, that is not what I said. My answer was "Nothing.

That's all I'm going to tell you." We have a pledging program that does not include any hazing and it is all out in the open and is available online.

It was wrong to imply that we haze.

False statements about our fraternity can damage its good reputation and even possibly result in unwarranted school sanctions. My involvement in my fraternity has been one of the most positive and rewarding

experiences I have had at school and it is very important to me to fix the false impression this article leaves.

I would like to know what efforts will be made to correct this situation.

Thank you very much for considering this and please let me know if you need any other information.

Sincerely, Michael Lee The Black & White apologizes for any mischaracterization of Washington University’s Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. We discovered no evidence of hazing at ZBT, and that association was included inadvertently in the course of editing the story.

We spoke with both the writer and his editors about this story.

There is no sure way to determine exactly what was said during the interview because it was not recorded, but the quotes used in the story match the quotes written in the reporter’s notebook.

On behalf of the writer and editors we regret any mischaracterization of the ZBT fraternity and Mike Lee’s involvement in the fraternity.

Sarah Craig, Editor-in-Chief

5

County policy should do more to protect student victims

by Molly Kaplowitz Earlier this year, two boys from Magruder High school were allowed to return to school after pleading guilty to raping another student. As of late October, no action was taken to protect the victim. Later, the victim moved to Nevada.

MCPS policy states that if a crime is committed off campus, administrators can’t bar the students involved in the crime from returning to campus. Because the rape occurred at an off-campus party, the two boys in the Magruder case were allowed to return to school.

County policy should be changed so that regardless of where the crime is committed administrators can determine whether a student convicted of a crime should return to campus.

The current policy doesn’t protect the victims of a crime, and it leaves other students in jeopardy.

Ann Kendall, a local psychologist who works primarily with adolescents, says that the return of a perpetrator not only could trigger traumatic responses, but could make it difficult for the victim to move past the trauma. If the crime was well-known, others might feel unsafe as well.

When a serious crime is committed, administrators have a say in whether the students involved can return only if part of the offense occurs on a school campus,.

During the decision process, the students charged with crimes are placed on “Home and Hospital” leave and a teacher comes to their home to tutor them. When the school makes its decision, the student is either transferred to another school or school district, or remains in his or her old school.

When a group of five Whitman students robbed a Bethesda Smoothie King and were arrested in 2006, they were placed on Home and Hospital for the duration of their trial. The students were later transferred to other schools to get a fresh start and avoid the crime’s negative publicity.

On the other hand, in the Magruder c a s e , a f a r m o re s e rio u s o f f e n s e was committed off campus, and the perpetrators pled guilty and were allowed to return to their school.

Schools should be able to decide on a student’s return, regardless of where the crime is committed. No student should have to sit next to his or her attacker in class or pass them in the halls, or have to transfer schools or leave the state to avoid the presence of his or her attacker.

To avoid psychological issues for crime victims and to ensure student safety, MCPS should change its district policy to allow school administrators to choose which offenders return to school.

Victims and their classmates deserve a learning environment where they feel safe from harm. 

Without TRIO funding, spending on Pell grants pointless

by Stewart Longsworth

For disadvantaged students, TRIO is the way to go.

TRIO Programs use federal funding to help low-income, first-generation students prepare for and graduate from college. By providing academic tutoring, counseling and financial aid, TRIO gives underprivileged students a better chance to become college graduates. TRIO Programs are closely linked to the federal Pell grant program; Pell grants help low-income students pay for college, while TRIO helps them complete college. If funding for Pell grants goes up, funding for TRIO should increase as well, so both can effectively get students into and then through college by working together.

A new bill in Congress is set to increase Pell grant funding by $40 billion. Yet the bill passes over TRIO completely. Congress should provide more funding for TRIO to help new college students make it to graduation; otherwise, some of the money used for Pell grants will be wasted on dropout students.

Programs with competitive grants from TRIO are highly effective in getting students into and through college. Participants in the TRIO-funded program Upward Bound are four times more likely to receive an undergraduate degree than similar students without assistance from TRIO, according to the Council for Opportunities in Education. Such effective programs

should have more funding so they can reach out to more students.

TRIO opens new doors to students, but it reaches fewer students now than it did six years ago, the Washington Post reported October 26.

This is because TRIO has seen only a one percent increase in funding since 2003—not even enough to account for inflation. The Pell grant program, on the other hand, is a multi-billion dollar operation that has more than doubled its funding in the last five years.

An investment in TRIO is a wiser choice over more spending on Pell grants. TRIO programs reach more students with less money than the Pell Grant program does. When Pell grants and support programs like those funded by TRIO work together, the graduation rate is 10 percentage points higher, according to the Council for Opportunity in Education. With more money invested in TRIO, a higher percentage of disadvantaged

Federal Funding (in billions)

TRIO programs, FY 2001 .691 TRIO programs, FY 2009 .848 Pell Grants, FY 2001 9.96 Pell Grants, FY 2009 18.8 students receiving Pell grants would graduate, making the program more efficient in helping students and saving the federal government money in the process.

College isn’t very useful to students if they can’t graduate. With this in mind, members of Congress should vote to spend more on TRIO Programs so students receiving Pell grants can succeed in college. 

Everyone needs to take responsibility for stories

ombudsman

by sarah houston

When Pulitzer prize-winner Alan C. Miller came to Pyle to talk to his daughter’s class about his experience as an L.A. Time reporter three years ago, he probably never thought the visit would spark an idea for the News Literacy Project.

Started and introduced to Whitman students in early 2008, the News Literacy Project brings professional journalists into middle and high schools to teach students how to evaluate news and information effectively.

Over 130 retired and active journalists from around the country have volunteered to come into classes and teach students to use, as Miller says, “tools to separate fact from fiction, enabling them to seek and prize unvarnished truth in whatever medium and on whatever platform they find it.”

The News Literacy Project brings up some important ideas, specifically for the Black & White staff. Many of the professional journalists who come into classrooms stress the importance of having a multitude of sources.

B&W reporters should not rely solely on one source for important information. Interviewing two people--or even more--about an event will lead to fewer instances of misquoting and provide a more balanced view of any situation.

Two issues ago, the B&W wrote a story about a fraternity at Wash U. The article focused on sophomore Mike Lee (‘08) and teacher Todd Michaels, who is an alum. Although I commend the writer or editor who thought of this idea (many people I talked to said they really enjoyed the

story), there were serious problems with it.

Soon after the story was published, Mike Lee contacted the staff to say he had been misquoted multiple times. The leaders of the paper took this very seriously, and checked the writer's notes during the interview to see if they matched up.

Most of the quotes were the same in the story as they were in the journalist's notebook. There is no way to know for certain if the problem occurred when the reporter was writing down Lee's answers or if it was just a product of miscommunication between the two.

The entire ordeal could have been avoided if the writer had used a tape recorder during the interview. B&W staff must make it a priority to use these recorders for each and every interview.

Equally serious, one transition in the story was changed because of an editing error, making it seem like Lee's fraternity is involved in hazing.

One of the editors changed the phrasing of the writer's original thought, and it made Lee's quote imply something that it wasn't supposed to.

Writers should always check the edits that the editors make, because no editor is perfect and they don't know exactly what the interviewee meant by a quote. Writers should treat their stories as their own possessions; they need to be in control of the process at all times (think of it as their own child).

Editors made this very clear right after the incident, and showed that they are highly committed to making sure these problems are avoided in future issues. They also decided to publish Lee's letter in this issue, which was necessary to portray Lee's fraternity experience accurately.

The News Literacy Project stresses that a successful journalist strives for an objective story.

I know, as a writer, that it is hard to set aside your vision of how a story will read. The writer and editors wanted to make the fraternity story much more lively and interesting for the student body, and in effect made a connection with hazing that wasn't valid. Unintentionally, the B&W printed a story that wasn't objective and presented an idea that was incorrect. 

6

opinion

november 17, 2009

Retake policies should be consistent

by Jessica Littman Each separate course team creates its own retake policy, presenting a problem for students trying to manage their classes and grades while having to ask all their different teachers what their requirements are.

Each department should create basic guidelines for a consistent quiz or test retake policy in all classes.

As of now, teachers within the same departments can require students to do anything from extra homework to attending re-teaching sessions to be eligible to take a reassessment. This can be troublesome for students who have to do extra work for one class and not for another, because it’s easy to get the policies mixed up.

For example, each course in the math department has a different retake policy, according resource teacher Russ Rushton. In some math classes quiz retakes are available, while in others a high test grade replaces a low quiz grade.

This is confusing from year to year as students graduate to higher classes within departments. It also presents a problem for students taking more than one class within a department, because they have multiple policies for similar classes.

Course teams for every class can change their reassessment policy at any point. If teachers decide to create a more lenient policy one year than the year before, it’s likely that students subject to the new policy will do better. This is unfair to students who took the class with the original policy, because they had less of a chance to do well.

MCPS policy requires all of the same classes to have the same retake policy. While this is a good step towards fairness, it isn’t enough. The regulation often isn’t enforced, and teachers sometimes ignore it. When asked,

Gray Areas graphic by

ELENA TOUMAYAN

some teachers could not outline their retake policy, and others had no idea what other teachers on their course teams do about reassessments.

Some teachers argue that department-wide rules would be too constrictive, because they want to create their own policy. However, this standard system would make grading fairer because students would not have more chances to reassess one year in a department and fewer the next. Having each department make separate adjustments to the rules would ensure that teachers can still tailor retake policies to the subject matter, while eliminating unfairness and confusion from the system. 

Computer blocking system’s net too wide

By Kevin Hoogstraten If you’re like most students, you’ve encountered a frustrating problem while using school computers: when trying to access certain sites, a familiar red stop sign pops up with the words “access to this page has been denied.” Federal law requires MCPS to shield students and teachers from material deemed obscene or harmful to minors, but the county’s current blocking system is too broad and sometimes prevents students from doing class-related work. MCPS should narrow the scope of its blocking system and instead rely more on the watchfulness of teachers and support staff to police students.

The Children’s Internet Protection Act requires schools that receive federal funding to limit access to inappropriate material. To comply, MCPS wrote its own set of regulations and subscribed to a software program, M86 Security, which blocks websites chosen by the district.

MCPS currently blocks a large variety of websites that fall under categories such as “adult/sexually explicit” and “obscene.” These broad terms inevitably catch many school-appropriate websites in their net.

For example, students are prevented from searching for any topic with the keyword “violence,” and aren’t even allowed to see the search results for “why violence is bad” on Google. The restrictions imposed on students are often arbitrary: students can’t access

the Wikipedia page for sex but can visit “Sex and the City’s” homepage.

The blocks also prohibit students from accessing websites needed for research. For example, health students can’t research the effect of marijuana for class projects because MCPS blocks all search results and websites related to marijuana. Even though their policy states that they only block “recipes, encouragement or instructions in the use of illegal drugs,” the actual system goes beyond its intended purpose.

The blocking system is more lenient for staff, blocking them only from websites that are sexually explicit or give how-to information about illegal acts.

Students should be similarly free from restrictions on sites dealing with violence, weapons and drugs. High school students are mature enough to view such content without being negatively influenced by it.

According to students, few people are going to spend class time accessing obviously inappropriate websites like pornographic sites. Alert teachers naturally prevent students from accessing such websites, and the new SynchronEyes technology also deters students. With these safeguards already in place, MCPS should feel safe in loosening their search restrictions.

The last thing that MCPS’s computer safety policies should do is interfere with schoolwork. The county needs to give students the privilege of less restricted Internet access if it expects them to make good use of the Internet. 

Read all over...

B

Toum a n e l E y:

ayan

A sock on the door = sleeping on the floor

by Zach Schloss In college, whether it’s a sock on the door, a “DO NOT DISTURB” sign, a text message with a winky-face or just loud noises emerging from behind a locked door, it all means the same thing: someone is having a good time.

If this is your dorm room and you see one of these signs, you’ve most likely been sexiled. The always reliable urbandictionary.com’s cleanest definition of sexiling is “to banish a roommate from the room/dorm/apartment for the purpose of engaging in intimate relations with one’s significant other.”

What’s a helpless roommate to do when he needs to study for an organic chemistry exam but can’t because another kind of chemistry is going on in the bedroom?

Well, one university has decided that it needs to look out for this overlooked roommate.

Tufts University has gotten down and dirty on the issue by claiming that “sexual activity within your assigned room should not ever deprive your roommate(s) of privacy, study or sleep time.”

Victor Luo, a writer for the University of Southern California’s newspaper, The Daily Trojan (a shockingly appropriate name given the topic, is it not?), recently commented: “Across the country, sexiling seems to have become an unspoken allowance — because, hey, what’s the harm of not being able to enter your room for an hour or so? Be cool, man.”

I’ll tell you the harm, Mr. Luo. It’s not “cool” for a college student to reserve his dorm room for himself for an extended period of time. There are other places to engage in hanky-panky. Libraries. Closets. Classrooms.

The back seat of a 1972 Chevrolet Camino.

When a college student returns to his dorm after a long night of partying, he should be allowed to plop down on that beer-stained sofa, break out the trail mix and watch the Karate Kid for the eleventh time. In other words, he should be allowed to live the college dream—a dream that is being destroyed by selfish, stunningly handsome roommates everywhere.

Sex may be great for the person having it (or so I hear), but it can be a painful experience for the lonely single. Indiana University’s newspaper, The Daily Student, quotes a freshman who claims that “her roommate proceeds to wake her up each night by having sex in the bunk above her,” causing her to have to skip her morning classes due to lack of sleep.

Yet Tufts’ sexiling ban has been getting a lot of negative press from news outlets lately, as people are saying it’s not a university’s place to interfere with the sexual activity of college students.

But it’s clearly their place to interfere, as currently roommates are faced with the choice to either be locked out of their dorm room for hours at a time or to stay in their room and try to ignore the grunts coming from the bedroom.

Most colleges acknowledge sexiling but simply encourage roommates to communicate and discuss the issue with one another. The Chronicle, Duke’s newspaper, says, “The solution to these types of situations is one of basic interpersonal communication, rather than official University policy.”

But “talking it out” hardly solves the problem and will just create awkward tension between sexiler and sexilee.

Tufts did a good thing for unloved students everywhere when they implemented this new policy, no matter how hard it may be to enforce. I think I speak for nerds everywhere when I say, Tufts, you da, you da best.

So unless you’re enrolled at Tufts, when you see that sock, that tie, or that hurriedly scrawled note hanging from the door, you better turn around and find a friend who can take you in. You’re not going to be sleeping in your bed tonight. 

november 17, 2009

In-Depth

7

TECHNOLOGY

&

COMMUNICATION

On

a

typical

afternoon,

sophomore Chandini Jha skims her Facebook Live Feed, reading status updates and wall posts. When it comes time to do her AP history reading, she’s easily distracted and finds it hard to focus on the pages and pages of text. by carolina milan-ronchetti As students spend increasing amounts of time on the Internet, their reading and learning habits seem to adapt based on the new technologies. While the Internet gives students access to a wide array of information, studies suggest that it may introduce new problems into education, from lower reading levels and a decreased attention span to complications in the research process.

A 2007 report by the National Endowment for the Arts found that reading for pleasure has decreased among teens. The percentage of 17-year-olds who don’t read for pleasure has doubled from nine to 19 percent in the past 20 years.

While some cite the Internet and technology like TV and cell phones as explanations for the decrease in teens’ reading, Jha says any decrease in her outside reading is more due to her heavy course load.

“I don’t read books as much, but that’s mainly because I don’t have time,” she says.

English teacher Susan Buckingham, who has taught at Whitman for 12 years, says she has yet to see a drastic change in students’ reading habits and doesn’t expect changes anytime soon.

“I think reading depends on motivation and the way you’ve been brought up in homes where people read,” she explains. “That makes a difference to whether people enjoy reading on their own, outside of what they’re assigned from school. We still have plenty of kids who love to read, and if that is modeled at home, they’re still going to love to read.”

Writer Caleb Crain discussed America’s increasing disinterest in reading in his 2007 article for the New Yorker, “Twilight of the Books.” The Internet contributes less to the decrease in reading than other technologies and may actually facilitate wider reading, Crain says.

“When I was writing my article I actually felt that the Internet had been scapegoated to a great extent and that the real bad guys were really television and videogames and that the Internet was a minor character; if anything, it might even be an ally,” he explains. “I still think that

question is open, but what concerns me is if the Internet is evolving to become more like television and less like magazines and newspapers.”

Freshman Pablo Ramirez spends most of his time on the Internet reading science fiction stories by amateur writers, he says.

“I can read that and enrich even more from what people, who may not be famous writers, put on the Internet,” Ramirez explains.

Ramirez seems to be an exception and Crain notes that while people may be reading more, they may be reading increasingly smaller amounts of text.

“It seems the direction is towards shorter and shorter pieces of information, and towards not caring so much whether you know what the source of the information is and how accurate it is,” he says. “It’s more about being entertained.”

Junior Jacob Trauberman prefers reading news articles and exploring links on his AOL homepage to reading books.

“The Internet makes me read more, just less books,” he says. “Current events, sports and pop culture are more entertaining to read.”

Jha notices that her attention span while reading is shorter, she says, probably because she’s become more accustomed to the format of writing on the Internet— usually very graphic oriented with smaller amounts of text. The NEA study confirms that when teenagers do read books, they simultaneously use other media, like the Internet and cell phones.

“If I’m reading a really long book, I just go to the end and read it because I just want to figure out what happens quickly,” Jha says. “If I want to read a book or I have to, I need to keep myself away from the Internet because I know that if I don’t, I’d go online and procrastinate.”

Senior Nicole Kroeger, who uses the Internet primarily to watch movies and TV shows, sees little impact on her attention span but feels it has negatively impacted her writing.

“On the Internet, you don’t actually write in full sentences,” she says. “You don’t capitalize, you don’t put periods. Your writing ends up like an e.e. Cummings

poem.”

Technological innovations like copying and pasting have aided the writing process by making editing easier and faster.

“Word processing has revolutionized writing,” she says. “When I was in college, we had to type on typewriters. If you made a mistake on a page, you had to start over.”

The accessibility of resources through the Internet gives students more options when writing research papers. However, the benefit of having such easy access to a wide array of resources comes with a caveat, English teachers Todd Michaels says.

“I don’t think many students are familiar with the library stacks, and I think that may be a problem when they get to college,” he explains.

Teachers also complain that the Internet has popularized the use of websites like Sparknotes.com that provide free plot summaries of famous literary works.

“Aside from experiencing great texts and novels, students are missing all the benefit of being challenged by a text,” Michaels says. “All the cognitive mental skills that require one to sit with a text, to read it and analyze it, are now being fed to all of them.”

Sophomore Nathalia Cibotti, however, says that the availability of information isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“It’s pointless to learn something that you can later access on the Internet,” Cibotti says. “I still have to learn the stuff because when you take a test you can’t exactly go on the Internet. But the point of school is to prepare you for the future, and in the future you will have access to the Internet, so you will have access to that information.”

The possibility of having more facts online means more time can be devoted to analysis rather than memorization. But do students have too much faith in the Internet?

“The Internet lets us down because we’re so used to getting everything in a second that we’re not taking the time to look things up,” Kroeger says. “We’re becoming a country of the minute, into the now and less into the future.”  SHINDUK SEO AND MEGAN DWYER COMPUTATIONAL VISUALIZATION CENTER, UTEXAS

graphic illustration by image courtesy

8

November 17, 2009

in-de

Technology and Communication

Textbooks Jump From Page to Screen Classroom learning goes digital with frequent updates for online textbooks by julia weingardt - Cached- Similar

W

hen she heard that the new textbooks for her AP Environmental Science class hadn’t arrived yet, junior Nikki Heimberg was thrilled. But instead of pushing back the assigned work until the books came, science teacher Kelly Garton just posted a link to the online textbook on Edline, crushing students’ hopes of having a homework-free night.

Around the country, online textbooks are growing in popularity. The digital books, whose subscription fees usually cost significantly less than print textbooks, allow students to read, review and print material with the click of a mouse. Textbooks that were current just two years ago are now considered outdated as online textbooks update material more frequently and more easily.

This year, students have access to online textbooks in several courses, the majority of which are math and science. Many teachers have already taken advantage of the new electronic tools, including Garton, who uses the online resource to help his students review lessons taught in class.

“It has the online PowerPoints and it has some good questions,” Garton says. “I think it’s been working out pretty well.”

While no history classes currently use online textbooks, social studies resource teacher Bob Mathis says that he’s optimistic about the future. The virtual books’ significantly lower costs could have monumental effects for the school system, he says.

“For the kids to have the most current stuff using textbooks is $30,000,” Mathis explains. “Our whole budget for the school is about $80,000, so we don’t replace books very often.”

While math and language books tend to be replaced less often, science and history books need to be replaced at least every five years, says Giles Benson,

MCPS director of materials management.

Online textbooks offer an affordable solution to the expensive, but necessary, need to keep materials current. Online updates are free and don’t require mass reprints.

“It’s so much easier to update the online books,” Mathis says. “We can have better, more current, more up-to-date resources for our kids.”

Some, however, argue that print textbooks provide a physicality that virtual textbooks cannot deliver.

“There’s something very visceral about having a book in your hands,” art teacher Jean Diamond says.

While most students use online resources and computer programs every day, several are reluctant to switch to the digital textbooks. At first glance, the web page formats appear scattered and more difficult to navigate than traditional textbooks.

“I think they’re kind of confusing,” junior Catherine Block says. “I’d rather have it right in front of me so that I can flip through the pages.”

Others are more hopeful that the online books will ease the annoyances that come with print textbooks.

“Textbooks are a hassle for kids to carry back and forth from school,” junior Nicholas Kaufman says. “If the kids accidentally lose them they have to pay an obligation, and some people don’t have the financial means to pay them.”

One way to give students access to digital textbooks is through the Kindle, a handheld wireless reading device that has been steadily growing in popularity since its release in 2007.

Junior Susan Ryan-Bond bought a Kindle because she can adjust the font size to make reading easier.

She uses it for both English class and for reading for pleasure, but believes that many of the Kindle functions can be useful in a variety of classes.

“ Y o u can actually highlight s t u f f , and you can add notes to whatever you want,” she says.

F o r individual retail, the Kindle costs $259. It’s a prospect that MCPS is currently considering, Benson says.

However, unlike beepers and watch calculators, digital textbooks are here to stay, Benson says. He believes the trend will likely grow until MCPS is entirely “textbook free,” but the shift isn’t expected to occur for a few years.

“It’s something that’s going to be happening,” he explains. “With a student population of 140,000, it will probably go slower than what we would like, but it’s obviously something we’ve got to look at because the prices of paper and textbooks are vastly going up.” 

Facebook stalking: an art

“Creepy. If you’re stalking someone who you’re good friends with, then it’s an art form. If it’s someone you don’t really know and you’re trying to find out more about them, then it’s creepy.”

“Creepy. If you’re stalking your close friends, it’s okay. That’s why people comment on pictures.

Everybody Facebook-stalks, but no one admits to it.”

Alex Purdy, Sophomore

Austin Tucker, Senior

November 17, 2009

epth

Texting vs. Talking: is Communication Getting Better?

9

The impersonal nature of texting may cause more distant relationships between parents and students. Though texting can allow students to check in with parents more easily and frequently, generating more trust between the two. by andrew wyner - Cached- Similar You need a ride, you need money for lunch, you’re staying after school for a make-up quiz. Whatever the situation, you need to let your parents know what your plans are. Instead of a quick phone call, many families communicate via text.

According to a Cingular Wireless survey, around 63 percent of parents nationwide find that communicating via text is quicker and more efficient.

However, texting can limit face-to-face communication within families.

Georgetown sociology professor Sarah Stiles says that while technology like texting increases the frequency of social communication, it can deemphasize personal relationships.

“Like everything, there are two sides of the issue,” she says. “On one hand, technology has estranged people from spending time face to face. On the other hand, people can maintain contact with a wider range of people.”

Texting is useful when senior Dena Goodman needs to send her parents little bits of information to coordinate her plans.

“We text if she wants me home at a certain time or I need to tell her

something about what I’m doing after school,” Goodman says.

Junior Michael Nguyen-Mason’s parents trust him more now that he texts them several times a day.

“They let me do more things now because with texting,” he says. “They are more easily informed,” he says.

Text messages have only had a positive impact on his family’s relationship.

“I can reach him, and he can reach me more easily because of texting,” his mother, Doris Nguyen, says. “The texting only enhances the relationship.”

Parents like texting because it makes them feel that they are connected to the modern technology that their children use regularly.

“My mom seems to like it because I think she feels younger,” senior Christina Carnie says. “Sometimes she texts my cousin just because she can and she wants to practice her texting.”

But most students and parents say that this new method of communication is less personal. If kids need to have a real discussion with parents, calling is still the best method.

“It’s probably better to call because with a text you shorten what you’re saying

to them,” Carnie says. “My parents like to know what’s going on so they normally prefer for me to call them instead. If I have to ask a question or explain something to them, I call.”

Since texting conversations usually don’t involve extensive discussion, parents and children can’t express their emotions and true thoughts.

“I think it’s less personal because texts can imply different meanings,” Carnie says. “When you hear someone’s voice it’s easier to understand them and their thoughts” Vallejo says overall, she has a mixed reaction to texting. On one hand, it’s much more efficient, but on the other, it’s certainly less personal.

“I feel 50-50 about texting,” she says.

“Sometimes I prefer to hear from [my daughter], and I’d like her to call. But sometimes texts are quicker. For Cristina, text messages are much easier.”

Parents like Vallejo benefit from texting because the school building is known to have bad service for calls.

However, parents and children can easily communicate via text.

“Usually you don’t get good reception at Whitman, so while she’s on school

grounds she will text me,” Vallejo says.

She adds that the service problem made it difficult to reach her daughter by phone call. This was a major influence on her decision to text her children, she says.

Golen says texting was originally in the children’s territory, so children must be the teachers instead of the parents. But parents are trying to acquaint themselves with modern technology.

“It’s interesting because it’s a time where there’s a role reversal,” she explains. “With texting, the kids teach the parents how to do it.” 

Q&A with Vivian Schiller Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of National Public Radio (NPR) and mother of sophomore Elizabeth Frank, is one of the most powerful women in media today. Schiller brings a new, tech-savvy perspective to an organization that has grown from an exclusively radio-based news channel to a nationally renowned news organization with an average of 30 million listeners per week. Schiller took the time to talk with the Black & White about what it’s like to be at the top of a national media organization. by julia weingardt - Cached- Similar Black & White: What are you doing to bring NPR into the digital age?

Vivian Schiller: First of all, at NPR, we re-launched our website. We launched it over the summer, and there are a lot of things that we fixed. Before it was sort of a companion for the radio. Now we’re trying to turn it into a destination in its own right. The second thing we’ve done is launch the iPhone app, which has been really popular—we’ve had almost a million and a half downloads. It’s the first news app for the iPhone that’s both a listening and a reading experience.

BW: When did you start producing podcasts on iTunes?

VS: Podcasts we’ve been doing for many years. In fact, we were one of the first news

organizations to launch podcasts. We’re the most popular news and information podcast on iTunes, and the great thing about it is that younger people are listening to the podcasts or going on the web.

BW: Do you envision NPR ever replacing print media?

VS: I hope not. Because I hope that print media is around for a long time. I don’t want us to be the only news organization, I want there to be lots of news organizations.

have comments on our website—in fact some of our comments turn out to be reporting in their own right. Do you remember the story about the boy that was supposedly up in the balloon a couple of weeks ago? We reported on that story on our news blog (The TwoWay). Our online readers shared with each other various calculations, and they figured out before the balloon even landed that the boy could not possibly have been in that balloon because it could not have lifted his weight.

BW: In what ways can the public participate in NPR? VS: In many ways. First of all, they can share our content- we make it really easy because we’re on Facebook. We’re very popular on twitter and obviously email. We

BW: What is it about NPR that makes it more appealing than other radio programs?

VS: We report the news. Unfortunately many other radio services, talk radio services, feature people who are talking about the

news but not reporting the news—a lot of it has a political slant one way or another.

BW: In an age where the Internet dominates, do you think that radio can still survive?

VS: I used to be in TV, and I used to be in print, and now I’m in radio. I think of all of those three forms of media, radio is the most resilient because people can listen to radio when they can’t be doing other things because they’re driving or they’re getting ready to go to work or go to school in the morning. Radio is something that doesn’t replace the Internet—they complement each other. 

form or just plain creepy?

“It’s so creepy. I think people should stick to their own business and not try to see what other people are doing because it’s weird.”

Jake Wohl, Junior

“Creepy. Stalkers hang out on the computer for like ten hours, just looking at pictures of people that they don’t even know.”

Cary Beehler, Freshman

10

feature

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Climate Guide forecasts which rooms are hot, which are not

By Rachel Nussbaum

Students zip, button and fasten coats in desperate attempts to ward off the chill. And then, 46 minutes later, those same students shed their layers as they enter a room hotter than the Land Down Under.

To most students, this situation is no surprise.

Temperatures inside Whitman fluctuate daily and seem to depend mostly on what they didn’t wear that day.

Students complain about frosty lows on the first floor, boiling heat on the third and general fickleness on the second.

Some may say that temperatures and class anxiety correlate. From the fear and nervousness radiating from math and language classes on the third floor to the creepiness emanating from the sketchy back hallway near the cafeteria, the theory is certainly plausible.

But until students figure out how to regulate their

Chorus Room: Beware: the chorus room is deceptive. Upon first entering, it’ll be chilly and jacket-worthy. But after a while, the classroom must enter one of “The Twilight Zone’s” alternate universes, because at the end of the period it’s hot. So just be ready to drop the layers as the clock ticks.

panic, which doesn’t seem very likely, it’s up to the actual heating and cooling system to put students out of their misery. And with the MCPS administration clinging onto thermostat control like it’s Halloween’s last dark chocolate Reese’s, the Black & White has decided to investigate and relay some helpful tips.

Here’s a guide to the school’s extreme climate, because everyone deserves the right to dress for success and distress. 

C337, Ms. Toth, Biology: At times, this room is unbelievably hot. Maybe it’s the angered spirits of the preserved creatures finally getting revenge. Maybe it’s not. It doesn’t matter. Either way, this room is like a furnace.

C335, Mr. Logun, Physics: This classroom is 1960’s India-era trippy, and under the extreme heat, proved to be around 75 degrees, it’s even possible that the Beatles theory of Transcendental Meditation will start seeming plausible. It’s that intense. But there’s no fighting it, so just sit back, relax and wait for round eye glasses to start seeming cool.

W104, Ms. Frank, Science: In an odd respite from the wintry cold in Whittier Woods, this science lab is hot. So although you might want a Unabomber-style ski mask and sweatshirt to keep you warm outside of this room, inside, prepare to lose those layers.

A309, Mr. Kuhn, Calculus: It’s normal to have trouble concentrating in math class. But in here, anticipate double the difficulty.

Cause if you’re not lucky enough to have grabbed a seat by the radiator on the first day, then you’ll be too busy shivering to pay attention to proofs and cosines.

W122, Mr. O’Brien, NSL: In this back-Woods classroom, the unimaginable happened: MCPS gave Mr. O’Brien his own thermostat. If you thought this place was too isolated for comfort, you were right.

But it’s totally worth it. This place is a temperature nirvana.

C124, Mr. Jacobson, NSL: At least in the summer and spring some ventilation would warm this arctic atmosphere. For the moment, definitely pack a coat.

And hand-warmers wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

A209, Ms. Buckingham, English: When you first walk into this room, it might not seem too extreme. But keep walking, all the way to the back wall, and you’ll be singing a different tune. Towards the windows, it’s actually freezing. So take my advice: the only way to avoid frostbite in this room is by sitting near the door. Plus, then it’s easier to run for help when your classmates start turning

Media Center: The media center is usually chilly, probably due to the massive windows on one side. While this window structure looks pretty neat, it isn’t ideal for keeping students warm or focused on studying. It’s also kind of painful for the students inside to watch their classmates frolicking in the courtyard. Windows: overall, a bad idea. graphic by

RALEIGH ROBERTSON

Area author publishes first book at ripe old age of 18

By Hailey SIller How many people can say they’ve written 14 manuscripts and published a book by the age of 18?

At least one can. Silver Spring native Hannah Moskowitz published her first book, “Break,” this past August with the company Simon Pulse.

“Break” tells the story of a teenage boy on a mission to break every bone in his body in order to gain emotional strength and cope with his problems at home.

Moskowitz says she is pleased with the public’s response to “Break.”

“It was weird getting used to people talking about me online at first!” she says. “But since then, there haven’t been any major surprises.”

Aslera, a customer who reviewed “Break” on Amazon, recommends the book to any teenager who likes young adult literature.

She describes Moskowitz’s work as, “Overall, an excellent, complex novel from a young, promising author.”

Eager to continue her career as a published author, Moskowitz is in the process of finalizing her latest story, “Invincible Summer,” while studying at Brown University. The book follows the main character, Chase and his relationship with his family during their annual summer beach trips. “Invincible Summer” will be released in Spring of 2011.

Her own summer experiences during high school inspired this book, Moskowitz says.

“I think that might be why it’s the closest to my heart of anything that I’ve written,” she says.

The hardest part about being an author, Moskowitz finds, is the writing itself. The first manuscript took her about a year to write.

“It was very hard,” she says. “The ending took me forever, even though I knew how I wanted it to go. I figured it out in one day and wrote the whole thing at once. My God, it was bad.”

Moskowitz has written about teenage boys, same-sex relationships, chronic illness, interfaith relationships and brothers.

“I think once you write a theme once, it’s finished,” she says. “Writing the same theme more than once would feel like writing the same book twice.”

Moskowitz describes her current project, “All Together With Feeling,” as a dark version of the hit Fox TV show “Glee.” “[It’s] about a high school chorus, told from the point of view of a soprano, an alto, a tenor and a bass,” she says.

Moskowitz names writers such as S.E. Hinton, Joyce Sweeney, John Green and Ned Vizzini as her inspirations.

“They’re unbelievable, and they all started young,” she says.

To fellow writers, Moskowitz gives some advice: “Never believe you aren’t good enough.

Never believe you can’t get better. Market your manuscript like it’s the best thing on this earth, and do it while you’re writing something ten times better. Keep going, keep going, keep going.”

When asked if she thinks of herself as an accomplished writer, Moskowitz responds, “Oh God, no, not yet. I feel like I have the potential to be, but so far? No, I have one book out. I have a long way to go.” 

Hannah Moskowitz from Silver Spring (right) published her first book, “Break” (above) by the age of 18. She is now working on her latest story, “Invincible Summer.” Visit her website at: www.untilhannah.com

photos courtesy

UNTILHANNAH.COM

November 17, 2009

feature

Sophomore Ketan Jha runs own business repairing computers

by Sahil Ansari A cell phone rings, breaking the relative quiet of the classroom. Students frantically reach for their backpacks, but after realizing the ringtone isn’t theirs, glance around nervously for the culprit. Sophomore Ketan Jha, who, along with some of his teachers, has become all too familiar with clients calling during the day, quietly excuses himself to go take the call.

Jha runs a one-man business, Jha Management Consulting, a company that builds and repairs computers.

It all started the summer after eighth grade. Ketan’s father, Satish Jha, is the CEO of One Laptop per Child, an organization that works to give laptops to underprivileged children across the world. Satish, who wanted Ketan to become involved in the business, had been sending him emails about the latest 12-year-old who got Microsoft-certified. No stranger to computers, Ketan decided to join the industry by getting himself certified, an indicator of his proficiency with Microsoft software.

“I said to myself, ‘I should do something with my life,’” he says.

After developing adequate computer repair skills, Ketan decided to offer his expertise to the people around him in his free time. He started by helping family and friends who were technologically inept.

As his work progressed, Ketan realized that he could even build his own computers.

11

where do YOU work?

by JAMIE NORWOOD

Junior Matea Dikovic: Rio Grande Junior Matea Dikovic decided it was time to find a job this past September and applied to Rio Grande.

After a face-to-face interview, Dikovic got a call saying she was hired.

When she’s done working her shifts, covering for her co-workers or hitting the books, Dikovic finds herself with little time.

“I tend to pull all-nighters more often than I would like,” she says. “But I’m getting used to it.”

Today, a year-and-a-half later, he works anywhere from 20 to 45 hours a week and has about 100 steady clients–a number, he says, that’s constantly increasing.

His work involves building, selling and repairing computers, photo by SARAH KLOTZ though he says he tries to ensure less of the latter.

Jha, who runs his own computer repair “I try to build them so they business, has about 100 steady clients. S e n i o r J C G w i l l i a m : won’t screw up,” he explains.

Georgetown Cupcake His computers differ from choices he’s made over the past Senior JC Gwilliam has been commercial Dells and Macs few years. working the cash register at the in that they run on Open “Personally, I’m proud of original Georgetown Cupcake Source software, which is most what I’ve done,” he says. “It’s since last year, when his sister commonly used on an operating sort of a different lifestyle; rather helped get him the job. system known as Linux. Open than getting good grades, I’m “I figured it’s a good place Source software provides free, working.” to work,” he says. “The people more inclusive formats for word Understandably, a student are all really nice, and it’s a processing, video and music attending meetings and taking good way to make some extra programs. business calls during the day money.”

A f t e r a s s e m b l i n g h i s comes as a surprise to some of computers Ketan sells them for his friends and teachers.

Junior Katie Gordon: Le Pain Quotidien anywhere from $800 to $1000.

Junior Katie Gordon applied to be a hostess Bethesda Row’s Many of his friends had He also finds time to work on their doubts about his work, at French café this August. Gordon smaller projects of his own, for least until he brought a video hostesses, cleans and occasionally fun. For example, after his Xbox back from the conference he takes orders.

360 overheated, he opened it up, spoke at.

Gordon has worked weekends and designed and installed his for the past two months and has “One of the most gratifying own cooling system. He is now things is disproving the disbelief,” already had plenty of interesting the proud owner of a console he he says. “That’s always a kick.” days. claims is even faster than it was “It’s always entertaining In the free time he has before. when someone tries to dine and outside of the technological B u t b e i n g a y o u n g world, Jha also enjoys music; dash,” she says. “The waiters will entrepreneur who works six he plays guitar, bass and tuba in chase them down the road until days a week takes its toll on the different bands. they pay.” life of a high school student. On For Jha, the horizon holds many days, Ketan comes home, much more than just building Senior Grant Horton: works until 10, then starts his computers. He hopes to attend Bethesda Co-op homework, even if this means the Wharton School of Business Senior Grant Horton was getting as little as two hours of at the University of Pennsylvania, hired to work at the Co-op two sleep a night. earn an MBA and eventually years ago. He works the register “I do find that it interferes land a job in the entertainment and bags nuts and seeds. with school a whole lot,” he says. industry.

“Getting all of the expired “One does have to find a balance “Technology will always be food for free is definitely my of things.” my passion,” he says. “But I want favorite part of the job,” Horton Still, Ketan doesn’t regret the to experience other things.”  photos by JAMIE NORWOOD says. 

better scores. better choices.

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ACT or SAT: Options are good, making a choice is better A front-page article by Daniel de Vise of The Washington Post recounted what many in schools and the tutoring world have been observing for a number of years now: the ACT is on the

by Ned Johnson, march. The number of Founder and President ACT test-takers in the DC of PrepMatters, Inc metro area has doubled in the last three years - a veritable sea change as many students find that the ACT is simply a better test for them.

Now that students and parents have embraced the ACT, they are delighted to have options; but, be warned: when it comes to choosing a test, “All of the above” is not the best approach.

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On YouTube: SAT vs ACT and erroneous. A curious study the Road Less Traveled

by Harvard psychologist Consider not only which Daniel Gilbert revealed that score is higher but also Dec 17: Understanding the PSAT keeping your options open which test seems better Score Report won't necessarily make you suited to you. Your teachhappier. If you obsess about ers, tutor, counselor or Registration is free. both the SAT and ACT, as you parents can help Visit prepmatters.com for are preparing for one, you'll you analyze the tests, registration information. constantly be questioning your performance, whether you would be better off taking the and your ability to improve one score more other. Pick one, prepare for it, and go for it! than the other.

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12

feature

november 17, 2009

Morgan Mullins works the Suburban ER desk

by Hailey Siller The waiting room door swings open, letting in the wail of sirens, as EMTs usher a wounded patient toward the emergency room. A schizophrenic man looks up from his chair and flits his eyes nervously at the stretcher as it rushes past, muttering to himself. A harried mother sinks into the chair next to him, too preoccupied with her own grief to notice that her purse is undone.

All of this happens within 30 seconds.

Multiply that by 480, and you have the senior Morgan Mullins’ job.

Mullins spends four hours on Tuesdays and Fridays after school volunteering in the Emergency Department at Suburban Hospital.

She spends most of her time in triage, the ER’s waiting room, where she signs in and calms down patients.

She also offers support to patients’ loved ones, answering questions about visiting policies and making sure they’re comfortable.

Mullins says she wanted to volunteer to help prepare her for a future nursing career.

“I wanted to get some kind of experience and volunteering at Suburban seemed like the best way to do that.”

Her first day volunteering in the ER

proved being a nurse isn’t easy.

“I was pretty intimidated at first by all of the nurses and doctors rushing around and all of the sick patients being brought in by EMTs, but one nurse was immediately really friendly and welcoming,” she says.

The nurse let Mullins shadow him while taking care of his two Level 2 trauma patients and even let her watch the patients get CT scans.

Mullins notes that the disturbing experiences she had that first day showed her that nursing requires a different kind of mind set.

“It was definitely upsetting to see so many people who were so sick or hurt, but if you think about it too much and let it get to you, it would be impossible to be in the ER,” she says.

In order to be a volunteer, covolunteer Mort Greenberg says applicants must be people-friendly and agree to keep everything they hear in the hospital confidential. He notes that volunteers in the ER are supposed to be at least 18, but that volunteer services make many exceptions.

“It’s people skills and being courteous and helping them feel at ease—that’s what’s very important,” he says.

Mullins adds that in addition to helping patients feel relaxed, workers

photo courtesy

MORGAN MULLINS

Senior Morgan Mullins works as an emergency room volunteer at Suburban Hospital.

themselves have to feel comfortable.

“I found on my first day that you have to be optimistic about what will happen to all these people or you just have to accept that everyone will die, and with most of the older people, it’s really just their time to go,” she says.

Mullins’ co-worker, ER residence nurse Stephen Smith, says he believes

she excites the older population by showing an enthusiasm in younger generations for medicine and helping others.

“People come from all over the hospital just to come say hi to her,” he says. “The best part is she’s always got a smiling face and is always willing to help. 

Forensics class draws cues from real life CSI technology continued from page

1

Though ridden with inaccuracies, such shows garner interest in forensics and technology. Director Ray Wickenhieser of the MCPD crime lab emphasizes the importance of students studying forensics early on—even if their interest stems from such over dramatization.

“Solving crime using science teaches valuable skills: applying technology and objective facts, using data to prove or disprove something to solve a problem,” he says.

O’Donoghue agrees that one of the main skills gained through studying forensics is deductive reasoning. Students in her

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class have been learning about forensics technology used at the professional level.

Recent technological developments include the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, a mobile finger printing device that MCPD is currently piloting, MCPD forensics specialist David McGill says. The Urban Area Security grant provided by the government shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attack funded purchase of the AFIS devices. The funds also paid for the development of a database that is used to centralize information about arrests in North Virginia, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County, says Cunningham.

The AFIS mobile units allow police officers to swipe prints from unknown suspects and wirelessly get a “hit,” a fingerprint match from the database.

“You can get a positive identification on who they are in the street without having to take them back to the station,” says a police officer with some experience using the device.

There are about 15 in circulation in Montgomery County out of roughly 50 to 60 in the DC area. Already seven or eight arrests in this area have been made solely through AFIS, says Cunningham.

Mcgill, who has been doing crime scene work since 1995, marvels at the changes he has seen in the closely related field of DNA analysis. Unlike fingerprinting, DNA analysts can use samples of bodily fluid, like blood or urine to identify criminals.

“Back then, DNA was a new technology—you needed a whole droplet of blood for any kind of testing,” he says “Now you have saliva and smears. Today, we can even get DNA from simple skin cells with touch DNA analysis.”

O’Donoghue realizes that many students in her class will not go on to become forensics specialists but a general knowledge of forensic principles is useful— and, in many cases— necessary.

“A lot of people in this class will become lawyers, and they will come across something like this in their professional careers,” she says, “Even in the field of medicine, at some point people will have to have some knowledge of criminal investigations.” 

Schools in the area have started offering forensics classes in recent years.

November 17, 2009

Yale Spizzwinks(?) serenade chorus classes

Feature

13

by Kirstin Baglien Eighteen Yalies sing “No Regrets” until one of them boldly approaches a girl in the audience. Getting down on one knee, he serenades her while the other girls in the audience watch and giggle. Andy Berry (’09) distracts the suitor with a pretend phone call -- “Hey Jamie,” he says. “Your mom’s on the phone. She wants you to stop trying so hard.”

These men, the Spizzwinks(?), make up one of Yale University’s oldest, most prestigious a capella groups. They performed for seventh and eighth period chorus classes at Whitman on Nov. 6 because Berry, an alumnus who participated in musicals and chorus, joined the group this fall. The group also performed a full concert at the Church of the Redeemer in Bethesda the following night, where Berry used to perform.

The Spizzwinks(?) performed every kind of song from the oldie “Build Me Up Buttercup” to the original “The Future Soon,” written by Spizzwink(?) Jonathan Coulton.

Berry, after much anticipation, sang the bass solo in “Ol’ Man River,” his rich, soulful voice capturing the tone of the song perfectly.

But the Spizzwinks(?) also livened up their performance with jokes and skits, using ridiculous accents and earning laughs from the audience.

Berry joined the group much like a pledge would rush a fraternity; he attended social events with the members of the group and attended concerts so that

photo courtesy

GREENREPORT.COM

UMD wins ‘Greenest Campus’ Climate Culture recognizes sustainability efforts, students pledge to lower carbon footprints

By Alex Zimmerman

Yale Spizzwinks (?) perform at school in honor of one of their new members, Andy Berry (‘09).

he could learn what the Spizzwinks(?) were like.

At the end of “rush,” Berry lined up with all of the other freshmen vying for a spot in one of the a capella groups. The different a capella groups had to race toward the person they wanted and serenade their new potential group members.

“The groups sing to you and you can say yes or no,” Berry explains. “It’s a really crazy evening.”

Berry says that his favorite part of being a Spizzwink(?) is bonding with the other members of the group.

“You join this group and suddenly you have 17 best friends magically,” Berry says.

The (?) was added in 1913 after Yale’s newspaper printed an article about the group. Not knowing how to spell the name, the paper added the question mark - and the rest is history. 

photos courtesyKIRSTiN

BAGLIEN

Wi th “ g o i ng g reen” b e c o m in g increasingly trendy on college campuses, the University of Maryland is doing more than just promoting recycling and reusing water bottles. The school recently won the title of one of America’s Greenest College Campuses Oct. 14 because the most students pledged to decrease their carbon footprints.

Climate Culture, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainability efforts, recognized the improved environmental friendliness on campus.

The only other school that received this award was Rio Salado College in Arizona.

“The point was to encourage people to think about what impact their daily life has on the environment and small steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint,” said UMD senior and SGA environmental affairs director Joanna Calabrese, a senior, Students participated in an online survey pledging to reduce their personal carbon footprint. Although there is no way to determine whether students followed through with their pledges, students feel it’s a step in the right direction.

“It’s stupid to pledge for something you wouldn’t do because no one is holding you accountable,” Calabrese said. “The point was really more to get people thinking about how their life impacts the

environment.”

The university will receive a reward of $5,000 for on-campus green initiatives.

In addition to online pledges, UMD staff and students instituted several new programs designed to promote sustainability on campus. Student organizations often sit down with university staff members to discuss plans for future sustainability efforts, Calabrese said. In fact, the number of organizations designed to promote green initiatives on and off-campus has tripled in the last three years.

The Energywise UM program launched in September will award a pizza party with a DJ to the fraternity or sorority that consumes the least amount of energy from September to November as part of a program called the Green Greek Challenge.

In the second phase of the program starting the week of Oct. 26, plan to monitor energy consumption in 18 campus buildings, including 15 fraternity and sorority buildings and provide occupants with detailed reports and energy-reduction strategies.

“Environmental movements have gained a lot of momentum nationally and locally,” Calabrese said. “Students of our generation are especially interested because of the impact the environment will have on us. We’ve seen exponentially growing involvement in these movements.

I hope it only keeps growing.” 

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14

The show must go on!

Churchill’s ‘Chicago’ cast prevails in censorship debate

By Rachel Lerner

Booze. Hail Mary. Mormon. These words almost got “Chicago” thrown off the stage of Winston Churchill High School.

After “Chicago” was abruptly canceled Oct. 26 because of a dispute over dialogue, Churchill theatre students joined together to re-establish it as their fall musical.

Principal Joan Benz canceled the show after Samuel French, the licensing company that owns the rights to “Chicago,” informed the school that it couldn’t use the administration’s edited version of “Chicago” for their fall musical.

The edited version of the script eliminated all alcohol references, including words like “booze” and “flask,” all swear words and many religious references – anything from “god damn” to “Hail Mary” to the word “Mormon.”

Sexual references like “copulated” and “screwing” were changed to “been with” and “seeing.”

“We were all pretty upset with these cuts but decided to stay quiet because we knew that if we complained, it would come down on our director, Mrs. Speck,” Churchill senior Thalia Ertman, Mr. Ertman’s daughter, says.

Despite their attempt to avoid conflict,

arts

while the students were getting ready for rehearsal Oct. 26, director Jessica Speck announced that the show had been canceled due to the licensing issue.

“We were all in a state of shock for a couple of minutes,” Ertman recounts. “We looked at each other, not believing that everything we’d been working for the past five weeks was being thrown away.”

A teacher came in and explained to the students how the language of the original script of “Chicago” was detrimental to the school’s credibility and reputation, Churchill junior Ryan Kanfer says.

As soon as the shock wore away, the students decided that they were going to fight the administration’s decision to forbid them to put on the unedited play.

“If the school wouldn’t let us put on our show, we were willing to find another venue and do whatever it took to perform it,” Ertman says.

The students and their parents attended a BOE meeting that night to air their grievances with the administration.

They contacted news agencies, like ABC 7 and the Washington Post.

The next afternoon, Benz reversed her decision. She says she decided to reauthorize the performance of “Chicago” after she and another teacher were

photo by

RACHEL LERNER

Churchill cast members lobbied the school board to allow ‘Chicago’ to run with minimal edits.

able to compromise with the licensing company.

“Another staff member and I called New York and were told that the publisher often worked with high schools to edit the play so that it would be appropriate to present on a high school stage,” she says.

“Chicago” will premiere Nov. 13 with a new, slightly edited script. Ertman

Students host paint-a-thon for war veterans

says that the struggle united the cast and crew.

“I actually think that this experience brought us all closer together as a cast, crew and band,” Ertman explains. “We all worked together to get our show back and we all were the only ones who understood the hurt that came with the decision to cancel the show. ‘Chicago’ is going to be wicked!” 

Does Bethesda have the hottest guys?

Totalbeauty.com thinks so

by Rachel Nussbaum

BY ADAM GLAZER Fueled by home-baked chocolate chip cookies, pizza and soda, students and teachers paint side-by side to make artwork in the span of four hours that will brighten up the walls of the homes of soldiers and their families.

The National Art Honors Society held a paint-athon Nov. 6 to raise money for the Fisher House, a program that serves about 10,000 military families annually since its creation in 1990. The students and art teacher Jean Diamond, who hosted the event in her room, raised $150 that will go towards supplies to make the 75 paintings that will be donated to the organization.

“There is at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment,” the House’s official magazine states. There are over 30 Fisher Houses in the U.S. and Germany.

Families residing in the Fisher Houses have family members who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and will have long stays at the hospitals for rehabilitation and care. The houses are maintained entirely by volunteers.

The nearest locations are at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. and National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. These houses are in the process of merging into five houses on a new campus, which will have plenty of space for art.

Jan Papirmeister, mother of senior Sarah, arranged for the painting donation. She worked with Becky Wood of the Fisher House and Diamond to pull this event together. After Papirmeister’s son Matt was deployed to Iraq and the family moved to Bethesda, she knew she wanted to get involved with both the military and the community.

“When we settled down in Bethesda, I wanted to really connect with the military,” Papirmeister says. “I went to hospitals and expressed interest in volunteering.”

Papirmeister has been a nurse for over 20 years and is also an artist. These factors, combined with the strong support for her son and the troops, have made the donations and the Paint-

November 17, 2009

Art students painted for hours after school Nov. 6 to make paintings for display in family houses for injured vets.

a-thon a perfect project for her to start and support.

“For you to be creating this healing art, which will be placed in the houses, is so special,” Papirmeister tells the students as they work on their pieces.

Research has shown that “healing art” can help reduce blood pressure and stress anxiety, which is important in the rehabilitation process.

Many of the students that attended the fundraiser take AP art classes, but some had little to no prior experience with painting.

“I just thought, hey why not, it’s for a good cause,” says sophomore Chandini Jah, who was trying her hand at painting a picture of a flower vase with consultation from some of her more skilled friends.

Students, as well as teachers, were excited to be a part of this donation.

“I can only imagine what it must be like to be coming back from war,” says geometry teacher Meg Thatcher as she paints a tropical seascape. “It’s also great that these students get the chance to contribute because many people tend to forget what’s going on over there.”

Diamond was equally proud.

“It’s doing such a great deed,” Diamond says. “It’s creative, and it’s going to serve a function.”

Not all pieces go on the walls of the homes though, since regulations are very strict. Paintings can be landscapes, seascapes and other restful subjects, and artists must use only soft colors- no reds or darks and nothing abstract.

Since the paintings are meant to be calming and far from the desert or harsh terrains that may remind the veterans of their war experiences Students talked of holding another Paintathon soon for the same cause.

“It’s not just about being artists,” Diamond says to the students. “It’s about being contributors in the community.”  photos by

ADAM GLAZER

Boys, take a bow. As if Bethesda needed another reason for being the Greatest Place On Earth (move over, Orlando), it’s official that we’ve got the hottest guys.

Yes, Totalbeauty.com has just declared Bethesda the top-ranking City With the Hottest Men. And with a domain name that carries the weight and importance of the journalistic tradition, it’s clear that this title is coming from an illustrious and completely credible source.

Just to be clear, I’m being sarcastic. Really, take a look at their reasons.

“Book smarts? Check. Healthy bank accounts?

Check. Good physiques? Check. Few bad habits?

Check,” reads Totalbeauty.com’s accompanying blurb. “The mix of military and government serves the men of Bethesda well.”

Huh? Well, to be honest, the only place I’ve ever seen a military man in this city is when the National Mapping Institute changes guard shifts.

And while they certainly do have nice physiques, sadly, I’m not so sure that the same holds true for Whitman’s guy population. Need proof? Visit any freshman gym class. I doubt that Totalbeauty. com dared to venture near there, let alone down the locker-room hallway. The gas mask costs were probably too high.

Still, the undisputedly wise Lifetime channel has taught me that a guy is only truly attractive if his mind is as hot as his body. And judging by the nonchalant eye roll that follows mention of “The Overachievers” and AP class sizes, in terms of book smarts, Whitman guys are hotter than Ryan Reynolds. Repeated for emphasis, in terms of book smarts.

So with bodies and brains balancing out (generally poor and 44th Best Public High School in the Nation, respectively), that leaves few bad habits and bankability as Bethesda’s claim to hot guy fame.

As longtime/two-month readers of this blog know, saying that guys have “few” bad habits is debatable. Between chair rattling, overusing “that’s what she said” and drawing out the word “wow” for far more syllables than it was ever intended, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that their lack of bad habits qualifies Whitman’s guys as the hottest.

What they’re missing in manners, most of Whitman’s boys (dads) make up for in bank account size. But weren’t we taught, way back when things like ethics mattered that there was more to a man than his wallet? And, call me crazy, but wouldn’t someone dating a guy solely for his money warrant “Gold Digger” to be hummed as she approached?

But who knows, maybe I just haven’t been watching “Real Housewives of New Jersey” enough.

Ultimately, taking all of these factors into consideration, I’m a little bit frightened. Because if Bethesda has the hottest guys in the nation, then what does this mean for the rest of the U.S.? 

November 17, 2009

arts

Q&A with David Dobkin (‘87)

15

1-2-3-4, LET’S GET BUSY! Facebook club drums up support for the spirited drumline

by zach schloss

Movie director David Dobkin (‘87) is the comical genius behind such blockbuster hits as ‘Wedding Crashers,’ ‘Shanghai Knights’ and ‘Fred Claus.’ He is currently scheduled to direct an upcoming sequel to the National Lampoon films.

Black & White: How do you incorporate the Bethesda area into your films?

David Dobkin: It gets mentioned here and there.

I know in Fred Claus they mention Bethesda at one point. It always ends up sneaking back in somehow. I try to give it a shout-out when I can.

BW: Was there a moment when you knew you wanted to go into directing or was it a gradual thing?

DD: I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with movies. I just had a sense of liking and understanding all the different aspects of creating the experience. I had some really great writing classes at Whitman.

Storytelling is really what it’s about, so that’s something that can be tracked back to those early days.

BW: Did you work on movies or films at all as a kid?

DD: When I was in sixth or seventh grade, I made a couple little movies. I shot the shots in order one take at a time and then you just run them, strip the film, and it’s a movie. They were really crude and didn’t come out very well, but I had a good sense of editing and camera back then because doing it that way forced you to make your decisions very cleanly.

BW: In what ways has growing up in Bethesda influenced the movies that you’ve made?

DD: When I got the script, Wedding Crashers was set in Boston and I reset it to D.C. [Coming back to shoot in my hometown] was the most rewarding experience I’ve had behind the camera.

BW: How often do you come back?

DD: Probably once every couple of years, although I’ll try to be back more regularly. I have a two-year old now, so I’d like him to check out Washington and see Bethesda.

BW: Is any one of your movies that you’ve created your personal favorite?

DD: ‘Wedding Crashers’ is the most personal to me. When I was in high school, I wasn’t a very cool

David Dobkin (‘87) has directed many popular films and attributes his interest in filmmaking to earlier experiences.

kid. I might have been called a bit of a geek. I was the kid that, a couple of years before, was still playing Dungeons and Dragons, playing videogames, and pirating software on my Apple 2 Plus.

For me the story was about how close you are with your friends and how when you get older, at some point or another, you rely on your guy friends to be your support system.

Eventually a girl will find her way into someone’s heart, and then everybody has to grow and change because the dynamic changes. You either lose those friends that you’re close to or you grow.

When I got the script that wasn’t all in there, but it was very easy to get it to work that way.

BW: What goals do you have for your future as far as your career goes?

DD: Just trying to continue to make movies that are fun and entertaining and actually have some sort of a good learning curve or a message in them. I’m not very preachy as a director but I do like there to be something that teaches people about life and change and how difficult it is and that we’re always in some version of a moment that is transforming us into the next chapter.

When I went into art at NYU from high school, I knew that I wanted to make movies but I didn’t think it was very important. As the years went by and as certain movies succeeded, I saw what it was as an experience for people for an hour-and-a-half to go into a theatre and have an experience together and forget about their lives and be transported. That was really what made me drawn to movies in the first place.

BW: Any recommendations to high school students who are interested in the movie business?

DD: I would say the most important thing to do is to create. Make some short movies if you can. Do some stuff on your own. When you go to college, you should get a real education, not just a film school education. If I had just gone to film school I would have missed a lot. As an artist, you should go for it, but I also think you should have a back-up. 

Danny Parris: ‘Cool and Composed’

By Parissa Jaseb

Police men on horses stand by as the school bell signals the end of the day. Frenzied students stream from the school doors, many wearing blue t-shirts printed with the image of the poet Walt Whitman. As students strain against the yellow caution tape and shout retaliatory chants at protesters across the street, junior Danny Parris runs around shooting footage and interviews.

“Cool and Composed,” Parris’ documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church anti-protest, beat out hundreds of submissions to win him a $2,000 scholarship for film camp from the Burke Festival in May and a $500 award last month from the After Hours Film Society Festival.

Parris believes the documentary appealed to many because they sympathized with students having to deal with the Church’s protesting.

“It got attention because Westboro Baptist Church was being so ruthless,” he says. “It got a lot of emotions stirring through people as they watched it.”

Parris says he first became interested in filmmaking after watching a “Top 100 Greatest Movies” TV special in seventh grade.

“I vowed to watch every movie on that list,” Parris says. “I never did, but I got hooked on filmmaking from then on.”

Parris filmed his first short film, “Rejected,” with a group of students in his film class at Imagination Stage.

He also won first place for this film at the Burke Festival. “Rejected” centers around two boys who receive admission offers from a college on the

Parris’ film features clips from the Westboro protesters, news casts and students.

condition that they present a script by the end of the month. The film follows the two friends as they struggle to compose a script.

“I wrote it and co-directed it, and then I starred in it,” Parris explains. “I don’t like performing in my own work, though. I’m not a very good actor.”

Parris says the two boys’ effort to write a script mirrors his own difficulties during the writing process.

“It’s hard to come up with story plots off the top of my head,” he says.

“I have to give it time, and once I figure it out, a lot of planning goes into it.”

Parris’ latest project, “Greedy,” covers four teenage boys and the fights, backstabbing and stealing that follow their discovery of a box filled with money. The film features Nick Nazmi (’09), Bennett Clarkson (’09) and seniors Mark Herschfeld and Noah Gavil.

“Over the summer I worked on this

photo by

STEPHANIE HAVEN

by Stephanie Haven While most students chat with friends, take new Facebook pictures and snack on concession food at home football games, a certain section of the stadium becomes visibly animated. People strain their necks trying to catch a glimpse of the disturbance.

As the 15 members of drumline march to the front of the stadium, students shout in unison with the line, “One, two, three, four—let’s get busy!”

Some people complain that there isn’t enough school spirit. But, what students lack in sports-oriented spirit, the drumline attempts to make up for in awkward dance moves, catchy slogans and shoulder-shaking rhythm.

The drumline, designed to pump up crowds for the football games, now has their own cheering section.

Junior Mariana Robertson created the Whitman Drumline Fan Club group on Facebook Oct. 24 which, as of Nov. 10, boasts 285 members and is still growing.

“We didn’t expect drumline to be this big of a phenomenon,” says junior Jonny Schear, drumline captain. “We have a very active school fan base because not many people remember a time in Whitman history where we have had a real drumline before.”

Robertson created the club after talking to friends about the high level of enthusiasm that many students have for drumline. Club members attended the drumline competition at Northwood High School Nov. 14 and will learn the basic drumline chants—called audibles—so they can cheer with the band at sports events. Future plans for the club include selling t-shirts, holding fundraisers and creating dances to go with the drumline songs.

“I knew people loved drumline, but I didn’t know they loved it this much,” Robertson says. “I want to get enough people together so we can intimidate the other teams.”

Though the fan club isn’t a school-sponsored club yet, members are serious about holding meetings and raising necessary funds for the drumline.

“Last year was our first year, and we didn’t know what to expect at the competition,” Schear explains.

“There was only one kid from Whitman there supporting us. Hopefully this will help us to have a bigger showing this year. We’re trying to play some more complex music and improve our overall score.”

The third annual Northwood Drumline Competition is open to all schools in Maryland. So far, seven other schools have signed up: Northwood, Watkins Mill, Bethesda Chevy Chase, John F. Kennedy, Wooton, Wilson and Old Mill. The competition will feature performances from the Washington Redskins drumline and the Montgomery County Firefighters Pipes and Drums.

“The competition started as a dream of the [Northwood] band director,” Northwood music booster Debbie Frew says. “He wanted to bring drumline to the attention of the community and make it so there’s camaraderie among drummers.” 

HARRIET BRODER & ASSOCIATES CRITICAL READING AND WRITING TUTORIAL PROGRAMS

film for about four days, six hours each,” Parris says. “I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Parris also attended the U.S. HARRIET BRODER’S TEST PREP Performing Arts Camp at UCLA this METHOD HAS: past summer.

“I got to work with all of their -helped all levels of students from an equipment and learn from actual Ivy-League bound former President’s professors who taught there,” he

daughter to the struggling student says. “It was an amazing learning

seeking to improve his reading skills experience for me.”

Parris says daily varsity football practices have kept him busy this - boosted students test scores 50-120 school year, but he plans to start on points (SAT, per section), 5-12 points, his next film after football season

(ACT, per section) ends.

To see Parris’ films online anyone can go to http://vimeo.com, where he -been the area’s #1 TEST PREP downloads all his recent pieces.

program sought by serious students for The festivals can feature anywhere over 30 years! from 120 to 300 submissions, which makes it a very competitive scene to be a part of.

“It’s a lot of fun to go and see what 301.299.4380 other people my age are thinking,”

hbatestprep.com Parris says. 

16

Q&A:

Arts

November 17, 2009

‘Gentlemen Broncos’

director Jared Hess by ryan hauck Black & White: What do you think it says about you that there are no “normal” characters in any of your films?

Jared Hess: Yeah. You know, to me they’re normal because a lot of them are based on people that I know. To me it’s normal, but to other people maybe not. Maybe their lives are perfect. Maybe everybody is really cutting edge.

BW: You’ve said that the character of Benjamin in your upcoming movie is based after a cousin, but there are so many similarities between the character and you.

Surely there must be some aspects of you in there?

JH: Even though I didn’t really write any science fiction as a kid, I tried to make little science fiction movies, so I can definitely relate to him in that aspect.

A lot of things that happened to him, including his relationship with his mom and his dad having died, are details that are very related to my life as a teenager.

BW: When you were making these movies as a kid, at which point did you think, “hey, I could make money doing this?”

JH: It started off as a hobby, and I just thought if I could turn this hobby into a career that would be great.

I think all along, you hope to make money doing what you love.

BW: In terms of success, how do you think this film will compare to “Napoleon Dynamite?”

JH: You make a movie, cross your fingers and hope that there are people out there that share the same comedic sensibility and love for characters like you, and ‘Napoleon’ showed me that there are. This film, I think, should totally be that way. I think it appeals to the same audience without a doubt, and will pull a few new people in as well.

BW: Why do you think there’s a lot more gross-out humor in this film than in your previous two?

JH: Maybe I’ve got it out on my sister now. My wife and I were talking about it. A lot of it has to do with the fact that she comes from a family of boys, like seven boys, and she was the only girl. I had five brothers, so there were six boys in my family. I think silly body humor is just inherent when there’s a lot of testosterone in a house full of brothers.

BW: With all the anatomical humor in the film were you ever afraid of getting an R-rating?

JH: We tried to deal with it from a very cloning, scientific point of view. We tried to use the scientific

names for things. It’s all very cartoon-y and half-wit.

You just got to deal with certain parts of the anatomy when you’re dealing with effective cloning. We really couldn’t get around it: cloning humor.

BW: Videos of Ronald Chevalier went viral over a year ago. How much an effect do you think these early efforts will have on the film’s success?

JH: It’s fun getting awareness out there for the film.

It’s fun when people discover it. The internet has really opened up a whole new way of marketing films, which is a lot of fun because it can be accessed multiple times.

BW: Where’d you get the title “Gentlemen Broncos?”

JH: My mom had a weird parenting book called ‘So You Want to Raise a Boy?’ It was just this really weird ’50’s parenting guide, and the author said there was a phase of a boy’s life between the ages of 15 and 17 called the Gentlemen Bronco Phase, where young men apparently like to take their shirts off and mow the lawn.

photos courtesy google images

BW: Halley Feiffer is one of the lesser known actresses in the cast. Do you see her career taking off in the same way Jon Heder’s did after “Napoleon Dynamite?”

JH: I hope so, man. She is super talented. I hope the best for her. She’s really, really funny. She’s played some very serious roles. She’s so versatile, and did such a good job playing the crazy, confused high school girl.

BW: Of all the actors in this film, who do you think did the best job of pulling off “weird?”

JH: Probably Edgar Oliver, the guy who plays Lord Daysius. He is the most unique man I have ever met because he is not putting on a voice. When you hear him say [imitating voice] ‘We’re very sorry Bronco, but we had to borrow one of your gonads,’ that’s how he talks in real life. He’s an American original. A whole movie could be made about that guy.

BW: About Lord Daysius or Oliver?

JH: About Edgar. His life story. A biopic about Edgar Oliver, and he needs to play himself. He is unbelievable.

That guy is a walking piece of art. A renaissance man.

BW: Your wife suggested in an interview that the character Ol’ Big Sis could get her own spin-off. Is such a project actually likely?

JH: [Laughs] She was just kidding when she said that. She loves that part of the film-the soap opera trailer.

BW: In 2005, the Idaho Legislature honored you for

SGA “ ” SPEAKS

Aaron Schifrin PRESIDENT

involving their state in “Napoleon Dynamite.” Are you expecting any sort of honors from Utah?

JH: I don’t know. I don’t think they want to claim it.

BW: You’ve now had a movie that takes place in Idaho, where you graduated high school, and a movie that takes place in Utah, where you currently live. You also lived in Kansas. Do they have a Hess movie on the way?

JH: A Kansas movie. Dude, maybe that’s it. Maybe I’ve got an amazing movie in each place that I’ve lived.

Maybe that’s what I should do, and you’re setting me on a career trajectory. I have to make a Texas movie, an Arizona movie and an England movie.

BW: What’s your pitch to get people to see “Gentlemen Broncos?”

JH: Come see a couple of battle stags. Come jump on a stag. I don’t know. Come get your yeast on. I don’t know, maybe that’s not the best way to get people to see the movie. 

Luke Rozansky VICE-PRESIDENT

Will Brownlee TREASURER

the leaderSHIP never sinks

announcements:

•Whitman Idol is Dec. 10.

Lily Durston SECRETARY

•Recycle! Help the school go green.

• Get info about upcoming events from the SGA website @ whitmansga.com.

•Riddle me this: Why did the pie crust go to the den tist?

Julia Weingardt SECRETARY

Class Officers:

‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘13

Mel Schwed, Nina Slesinger, Brandt Silver-Korn Zach Schloss, Hannah Sherman, Rachel Norris

Ari Kapner, Danny Milzman, Melissa Kantor Leslie Schwed, Valerie Acker, Lindsey Herschfeld