volume 51, Issue 6 March 7, 2013
Walt whitman High school
7100 whittier boulevard
Bethesda, maryland 20817
theblackandwhite.net
Brighton Beach Memoirs delivers drama, laughs
By Nellie Vinograd and Chris Hodgman
“Brighton Beach Memoirs” impressed audiences with solid acting and professional-quality production. The show, a semi-autobiographical piece by legendary playwright Neil Simon, follows a somewhat-dysfunctional Jewish family as they try to survive the difficulties of Great Depression life in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York. In the steady hands of this ensemble, Simon’s rhythmic and vivid writing-style came to life with ease. The cast members skillfully balanced emotional maturity with comedic timing, and even attempted a variety of accurate New York accents. Sophomore Noah Franklin excelled as Eugene, a 15-year-old boy whose monologues, styled to sound like journal entries, provided a believable narration to the story. Some of the show’s most intimate – and hilarious – moments came from the conversations between Eugene and his “experienced” older brother Stanley, played expertly by junior Ryan Savage. Together, they discuss everything from puberty to their beautiful teenage cousin Nora (senior Michelle Huey) in the privacy of their shared bedroom. Raging hormones aside, most of the play’s tension comes from the strained interactions between Eugene’s mother Kate (senior Aliza Daniels) and her family. As the assertive matriarch, Daniels showed off her forceful nature through nagging her husband Jack (junior Nathan Liu,) nitpicking her spoiled niece, Laurie (junior Jessie Mann,) and fighting with her sister, Blanche (sophomore Hannah Chenok.) The believable confrontations made playgoers feel as if they were experiencing a real family’s day-to-day experiences. Some actors occasionally lapsed into exaggerated characterization, which overpowered the dialogue’s meaningful message, but overall the cast’s performance was convincing and charming. An intricate set created under the leadership of Technical Directors Nicholas Allen and Matthew Lewis enhanced the show’s familial atmosphere, and Scenic Designer Hailey LaRoe did not overlook any details in making the home look and feel as genuine as possible. The props team, led by junior Cera McAndrew and senior Evan Lund, also added to this authentic feel with their addition of period home furnishings. Producer and senior Daniel Levine said this sense of realism is what sets the play apart from past productions. “Nothing is too exaggerated or over-the-top,” Levine said. “It required a lot of research to understand the context of the show, so the details are very elaborate, but everything is still very realistic.” The 1930s-style music gave a cheeky edge to
Top: from left, senior Michelle Huey, junior Jessie Mann, senior Aliza Daniels, and sophomore Noah Franklin. Franklin starred as a 15-year-old Jewish boy coming of age during the Great Depression. Below: Franklin sits at the foot of his bed and speaks to the audience. The cast staged performances last Thursday through Saturday. some of the show’s apparent. humorous moments, but could be distracting when “Doing things like a New York accent is seriously playing over the characters’ heated conversations. difficult, but most of the actors pulled it off really Sound and lighting had no detectable technical well,” sophomore Becca Haven said. “Everyone in problems, which is no easy feat for a high school the cast was really talented and I was impressed by production. the challenges they took on.” Many in the audience was pleased and surprised Despite the fact that cast and crew were crunched by the professional quality of the play, especially for rehearsal time, their hard work was well worth considering its often-raunchy humor and mature it, director Christopher Gerken said. themes. The setting of the show posed a challenge “Everyone in the cast really holds their own, and for cast and crew, but their dedication was always the tech team always brings so much hard work to
Gallup poll publishes report card for students and faculty by Fionn Adamian
Walt Whitman teachers and students say they are “engaged” in their work more frequently than the county’s average, according to an Oct. 2012 Gallup poll of 14,370 employees and 66,890 students in MCPS. The poll, which measures a variety of factors ranging from recognition of good work to friendship, averaged the results of 12 questions for teachers and six for students. Gallup rated Whitman’s employee engagement at 3.99 out of 5, while student hope and engagement were 4.43 and 4.09 out of 5, respectively. The county’s employee engagement was 3.83 out 5 and student hope and engagement were 4.35 and 3.84 out of 5. Whitman also outstripped the MCPS average in student wellbeing, ranking 7.32
4 NEWS
b r av e Raises Over $21,000
out of 10 compared to MCPS’ mean of 7.08 out of 10. For each question, Gallup reporte only those students and teachers responding “strongly agree.” The four lowest-scoring categories for MCPS teachers, including those at Whitman, were as follows: 31 percent of teachers strongly agreed that their opinion seemed to count, 30 percent strongly agreed they had a best friend at work, 28 percent strongly agreed that they received recognition for doing good work and 26 percent strongly agreed that they had recently talked to someone about their progress. Only 30 percent of students strongly agreed that they received praise for doing good school work, which was the lowest scoring student category. MCPS commissioned the Gallup
6 OPINION
Rare Disease Day
poll so administrators could improve on their school’s weaknesses. After the results were released, principal Alan Goodwin held a meeting with teachers to discuss solutions to remedy these weaknesses. Teachers will discuss strategies to address the concerns raised by the poll within their course teams and set goals for improvement. As a method of improving, teachers could set goals with their PLC, and later see if they have accomplished them, staff development teacher Suzy Johnson said. Even though he is using the poll’s results to improve the school’s staff, Goodwin emphasized that the school shouldn’t place too much weight on the poll, noting its poorly worded questions. “For instance, when they asked if teachers had a best friend at work,
11FEATURE 12 ARTS VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTING: THE GREATEST COMMUNITY SERVICE
they didn’t give was an explanation of what ‘best friend’ was,” he said. “A best friend could just be a colleague who shares lesson plans with you. It’s not best drinking buddies.” Goodwin was mainly surprised by the number of students who didn’t feel that they would get a good job after high school, as only 37 percent strongly agreed that they would. The staff plans to address students’ engagement and recognition in the coming weeks, Johnson said. Junior Russell Grant hopes that students receive more positive feedback from teachers to improve their performance. “There are a lot of teachers that say literally nothing about your work; they just grade it,” he said. “Positive recognition is a good opportunity for encouragement especially for a student that is struggling in a class.”
Bethesda Blues
13 SPORTS
Spring sports preview
2
march 7, 2013
NEws
By Emily Harburg
Bethesda residents hoping to go green should start with a little red—the trademark red bicycles of Capital Bikeshare will be expanding into Montgomery County later this year. Capital Bikeshare currently operates over 175 D.C. and Northern Virginia stations from which pedestrians can rent bicycles. Users can pick up and return bicycles at any of the locations by purchasing memberships that last from 24 hours to one year. The first 30 minutes of each ride is free with increasing costs for each additional half hour, a system that encourages short, point-to-point rides. Bikeshare, which manages over 1,600 bicycles, launched in 2010. The program is a public-private partnership between the D.C. and Arlington County Departments of Transportation with Alta Bicycle Share, a company based in Portland, Oregon. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation plans to open 50 stations in Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Friendship Heights in the spring and summer of 2013, according to County Councilman Robert Berliner, who chairs the County Transportation Committee. Despite widespread support for the expansion of Capital Bikeshare into Montgomery County, Berliner said it was a challenge to find funding for the program. The $2.15 million project is being partially funded by a $1,008,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Transportation and a $250,000 bond from the Maryland Legislature.
“That was the last piece in the financing puzzle,” he said. “We’ve pieced together a creative financing package that includes money from the state, the County and the private sector.” Berliner sponsored two bills to make participation more appealing to the private sector, legislation that makes it easier to install Bikeshare station on private property and gives the County Department of Transportation more flexibility in the appropriation of funds for Bikeshare, he said. The program will be useful and popular throughout the county, said Bikeshare user Peter Gray, who is also a member of the Montgomery Bicycle Advocates and a board member of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association. Both organizations have supported the expansion, although they have also advocated for accompanying improvements of the road fabric in the area to prepare for the influx of bikers. The organizations jointly released recommendations detailing suggestions like establishing bike lanes and finishing incomplete bike trails in Bethesda and Silver Spring. Gray believes that bicycle friendly measures in Montgomery County will encourage the people considering using Bikeshare. “Right now there isn’t a lot of space carved out for them,” he said. “ My main involvement is trying to get the county to actually start thinking about how they can make more space for these people who are going to want to be on the streets.” Berliner has similar aspirations for Bikeshare’s expansion into Montgomery County—it has the
photo courtesy DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION DC
Capital Bikeshare to open in Montgomery County
Tourists renting two Capital Bikeshare bicycles ride past D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery. The sharing program will open with 50 stations in Montgomery County. potential to further connect the public to mass transportation systems already in place, he said. “All of a sudden, access to Metro and Ride On is opened up to a whole new set of residents whose only option previously might have been their cars,” he said. “I am very excited that Capital Bikeshare will be here soon.”
April Youth Summit to feature speakers addressing issues relevant to teens by raquel weinberg
With AP exams approaching and underclassmen scrambling to prepare for the SATs and ACTs, the Stressbusters committee is planning the ultimate mental health event: the Youth Summit. The goal of the Youth Summit is to teach kids the importance of living safely and taking care of themselves, principal Alan Goodwin wrote in a Whitnet e-mail. The Youth Summit occurred every other year from 1998 until 2006, when the Stressbusters committee canceled it because of the tedious preparation it required. Goodwin approached the parent committee to suggest reintroducing the event to Whitman as a response to students’ high stress levels. “The Youth Summit brings Whitman students together with professionals
and people who have first-hand experience with the issues affecting students’ lives today,” Goodwin wrote. “We are fortunate to have a wealth of resources in our community, and I appreciate any thought and time you can give to help make the Youth Summit a success.” The Apr. 4-5 event will bring more than 100 volunteer speakers into third period classrooms during two 50-minute sessions. The Stressbusters committee surveyed students on 12 topics, ranging from depression and suicide to peer relationships, to see which were most relevant to teenagers. The Youth Summit committee took this information into account when planning speakers for the event. Among other topics, sessions will cover depression, suicide and the new
personal resilience—ways for students to deal with stress. The most popularly chosen topic was safety and self defense, which more than 80 percent of students selected. To accommodate the high demand, Stressbuster committee co-chair Beth Moses and project manager Bekki Sims are planning two assemblies on the topic, each for half of the school population. The emphasis on safety and selfdefense marks a significant change in students’ concerns—only two of the 85 speakers in 2006 discussed the topic. “Students have grown up in a generation where they see a lot of violence,” Moses said. “It’ll be nice for students to feel like they’re going off to college with a little real life ammunition.”
In addition to the assemblies, speakers will talk about the other topics with students in smaller groups to encourage discussion and communication. “If you can place speakers in every classroom, I think that’s an optimal way to get kids engaged,” Sims said. Sims was recruited to organize Youth Summits at Sherwood and Magruder High Schools in 2004 and now is focusing on making an impact on the Whitman community. “This just brings everything out into the open and it makes people know that there’s people out there who care,” Sims said. “That there are other people who are going through it and that you can ask for help.”
march 7, 2013
News
3
Sequester may have drastic consequences for MoCo by Ben Zimmermann
The D.C., Maryland, Virginia area could be disproportionally hit with the impacts of Congress’ recent budget sequestration. The spending cuts, which went into effect Friday, are projected to hurt defense and other government programs and heavily damage the economy. “There’s going to be a lot of disruption,� said Stephen Fuller, director of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis. “Everything we depend on from the federal government—from airplanes to traffic and security—will be impacted.� Nationwide, 2.14 million jobs could be lost, including over 114,000 in Maryland alone, Fuller estimates in a study. The impacts would also include reducing the nation’s GDP by $215 billion and over $100 billion lost in personal wages. Roughly 60 percent of Maryland residents anticipate that the sequester will hurt their wages and pocketbooks, according to a recent Washington Post poll. The D.C. metro area has under 5 percent of the country’s population, but receives 21 percent of all federal payroll and procurement dollars in the U.S., according to Fuller, resulting in
the area being hit disproportionately hard. Bethesda also houses many federal agencies that could be hit hard. NIH, for example, could lose more than 5 percent of its budget—up to $1.6 billion, NIH director Francis Collins said in a phone call with reporters. “For NIH, this has some significant and serious consequences,� Collins said. The cuts would heavily impact education funding, Fuller said. Maryland will lose over $14 million in annual funding for primary and education funding, putting about 200 teacher and aid jobs at risk statewide, according to statistics released by the White House. The sequestration would most harm students with disabilities, whose programs have to endure large cuts, as well as low-income students who rely on federal money for meals. Federal grants that are not projected to be cut could also be harmed. “For some of the programs at the K-12 level, the people who administer money will be cut back,� Fuller said. “So federal grants may be delayed.� MCPS could also lose up to $6 million in annual funding, MCPS spokesperson Dana Tofig said. But these losses are small compared to
by Ben Zimmermann
Montgomery County police discovered vandalism on four residential properties in Bethesda Feb. 17, including three houses and a Montgomery County police K-9 vehicle, according to a police statement. The vandalism occurred in the 6700 block of Melody Lane and the 8200 block of Wahly Drive in the Woodhaven neighborhood just behind Pyle Middle School. “Generally speaking, this is a quiet neighborhood,� said police officer and spokesperson Britta Thomas. “So this is not a common occurrence.� Police are searching for suspects who could be involved in the crime, which occurred overnight Feb. 16, they said. Police responded to one report of vandalism on a rocking chair and a private vehicle with profanity and explicit images. They subsequently found a police vehicle with black spray print on all sides including anti-gay slurs, profanity, swastikas and explicit images, according to the statement. Later that morning, two other residents reported damage done on their property, including a spray painted light post and a vandalized landscaping rock with a swastika, Thomas said. There have been no recent developments in the investigation and there is no known motive, Thomas said. But the incident could be classified as a hate crime. “When we have graphic pictures, hate crime related items painted on a car or anti-gay comments, we wonder if perhaps that may be a motivation,� she said. “But we don’t know for sure yet if that was in fact the case or if this was just debauchery by some juveniles.� Police are asking for the public’s assistance with their investigation of the crimes. Anyone with information should contact the 2nd District Investigative Section at 301-657-0112 or email a tip to BISTips@montgomerycountymd.gov. A reward of $2,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest of individuals responsible for the crime. “We just ask that people keep their eyes open for any suspicious people, vehicles or situations and make sure they contact the police and let us know about it,� Thomas said.
sequestration.� Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett held a press conference Feb. 19 to urge Congress to act to avoid sequestration. “The impact on Montgomery County from the sequestration could undo the economic gains we’ve made as the county and our country have begun to emerge from the financial crisis,� Leggett said in a statement. Still, Congress can reduce some of the possible damage, even after the sequester goes into effect Friday. “The impacts aren’t immediate,� Fuller said. “Many of these reductions will be modified when the final budget is negotiated in March.� Fuller estimates that the reductions could be decreased to around $35 billion during budget negotiations. But damage will still be widespread. “Montgomery County has 47,000 federal workers and thousands of businesses that contract with the federal government—all of whom will be directly affected if Congress does not act,� Leggett said. “The loss to our county of millions of dollars in revenue could plunge us back into a severe slowdown causing budget shortfalls and a stagnant economy. We can’t let that happen.�
Enrollment in Math and Science Courses Number of Students
Vandalism prompts police investigation
their full budget and would not be put into place until next school year. The largest impact to MCPS, however, will be the long-term effects of lost wages in the area. “Our bigger concern is the impact it will have on the region,� Tofig said. The $85 billion in spending cuts would result in indirect harms, Fuller said in a phone interview. As wages decrease and some lose their jobs, they will have less money to spend or be taxed on, leading to what Fuller calls “spiral damage.� “If our residents have less income, that ultimately impacts the county and how it operates,� Tofig said. The D.C. area stands to be hit especially hard because of the economy’s high reliance on the federal government. Area firms that rely on government contracts could lose business. “We have one of the largest employers in the world in Lockheed Martin, located right in Bethesda, and they’re primarily government contracting,� said Jonathan Cohen, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. “Our region is in a position where our strong federal presence makes us more vulnerable to the effects of
Boys Girls
AP Physics B
Civil Engineering AP Environmental Science AP Chemistry AP Physics C Aerospace Engineering AP Biology
Courses
Source: Guidance Counselor Fran Landau
Math, science gender achievement gap worse in U.S. than in other developed nations, test results say by Nathaniel Sherman
A recent New York Times article analyzed student scores on a math and science test administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 65 developed countries. The findings were intriguing. Although on average, girls performed better on the test than boys, in the United States boys outperformed girls by an average of 14 points. In fact, of the 65 countries surveyed, only in Colombia did boys outperform girls by a larger margin. Christianne Corbett, the author of the book “Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics� points out that for every girl who scores a 700 or higher on a math SAT, there are about three boys who score the same. While that margin has been closing in recent years, it still represents a
significant gap in achievement. In the book, Corbett highlights the significant disparity in the number of males and females with upper-level science degrees. In the fields of physics, engineering and computer science, women comprise only 20 percent of those earning bachelor’s degrees. At University of Maryland’s engineering school, just 21 percent of students are female. While the causes of this trend are difficult to pinpoint, the pattern itself is both compelling and eyebrow-raising. Why do statistics in the U.S. seemingly contradict a worldwide trend? The Black & White took a look at enrollment by gender in Whitman’s upper level science courses: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics B and C, AP Environmental Science, Aerospace Engineering and Civil Engineering.
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march 7, 2013
news
4
bRAVE
Students seven-hour dance marathon to defeat cancer by Julia Medine
More than 800 students gathered in the large gym Feb. 23 to dance, raising $20,726.95 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Whitman’s most successful fundraiser. Doors opened at 6 p.m. for the seven-hour dance-a-thon. Local businesses donated money to pay for the DJ, while Nando’s Peri Peri, Bethesda Bagels and Georgetown Cupcake provided food free of charge. This year’s bRAVE drew 300 more participants and raised more than twice as much as last year’s event. SGA president Jacob Rosenblum attributed the success to a new advertising approach that emphasized social media and publicity concentrated in the last week before the event. “We didn’t advertise until Guy Auction ended, and then we went really crazy with it,”
Rosenblum said. “It gets into people’s minds that this is just something that you do.” The event feautred a rave theme and was shortened by five hours this year, helping to transform it from fundraiser into a school-wide celebration he said. Over of the course of night, bRAVE included performances from the Break Dancing Club, Poms and Drumline. Some students watched from the top of friends’ shoulders, while others crowd-surfed. At the beginning of the event, coordinator Andrea McDonald and junior class president Marcela Falck-Bados, a leukemia survivor, briefly paused the music to speak about LLS. “This is so important to the SGA because we know cancer survivors,” Falck-Bados said. “We’re doing this dance for Tim King, Ben Toth and myself.”
photos by BILLY BIRD
Event raises twice the money and attracts hundreds more students than first dance
There was an overflow of students after 400 people paid at the door for the event, which was only expected to draw 600. At times, the hallways and lobby were extremely crowded, junior Alex Kang said. “It was really hot. I was burning it on the dance floor,” Kang said. “My favorite part was meeting new people and
SGA “ ” SPEAKS
dancing with them.” Many students brought friends from other area schools, including Field School junior Jackie Prosky, who said she was impressed by the size and scale of the event. “The turnout and people’s spirit exceeded my expectations. People really got into it and that was awesome,” she said.
With the event coming to a close at 12:59 a.m., Rosenblum stood on the DJ platform in front of the crowd of 800 to count down the final 10 seconds. “It’s amazing that we’ve got this far,”he said. “Thank you for everything you’ve done -- your legs must be killing you.”
Clockwise from top: Senior Alex Deziel surfs the crowd with his arms in the air. Students lead the crowd from atop a row of blocks set in front of the DJ. Despite tired legs and close quarters, students enthusiastically danced for the entire seven hours.
Jacob Rosenblum PRESIDENT
Pablo Ramirez VICE-PRESIDENT
Emily Harburg TREASURER
the leaderSHIP never sinks
announcements:
Thank you all so much for donating and participating during LLS month! Everyone pitched in, and as a school we did an outstanding job. Keep your ears open for Whitman’s total on Friday! LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE FOR SGA NEWS: facebook.com/whitmansga
Ali Foreman SECRETARY
Class Officers:
‘13 ‘14 ‘15 ‘16
Andrea McDonald SECRETARY
Valerie Acker, Leslie Schwed, Marissa Hosker Jorge Richardson, Marcela Falck-Bados, Mark Norris Rachel Ordan, Mia Carmel, Jonny Rasch
Jacob Blitz, Selvi Ulusan, Carolyn Hoover
march 7, 2013
Boy Scouts are hypocritical in barring gays by Max Steinhorn The Boy Scouts of America’s mission statement says that scouting prepares “young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes” by instilling values such as kindness and trustworthiness. But does the organization also teach intolerance? Given the organization’s strict and ongoing policy of excluding gays, one would have to assume the answer is yes. The Boy Scouts is one of the few remaining national organizations that continues to bar gay participation and membership. Even the United States military, which for years prohibited gays from openly joining its ranks, has now embraced the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and now offers benefits to partners of gay service members. The Boy Scouts of America should take a lesson from the armed forces and end their ban on gays. An organization that takes pride in developing the “ethical character” of our youth shouldn’t be reinforcing prejudices. To justify its exclusion of gays, the Scouts say that the policy “reflects the beliefs and perspectives” of the organization. But a February Quinnipiac poll found that adults who were Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, or who have children in these organizations, favor the repeal of the ban by a 57-32 percent margin. The Scouts are also increasingly out of touch with the generation whose children they hope to attract. The HuffPost/ YouGov poll found overwhelming support from 18-29 year olds –– by more than a two-to-one margin –– for the inclusion of gays. Whitman Boy Scouts also support scrapping the ban. “If the Boy Scouts chooses to ignore the increasing pressure for change and continues to hold onto its outdated, outmatched, and often offensive policy regarding gays,” said Junior Boy Scout Russell Grant, “then I think they will struggle to retain the respect that they’ve earned over their many years in existence.” Senior Eagle Scout James Montfort agrees: Gays in the Scouts “would not be a detriment to my experience whatsoever,” he said. Given the highly charged nature of the issue, Boy Scout leaders are dancing around the subject and trying to avoid fueling the controversy. Although the exclusion of gays remains Boy Scout policy, a representative of the National Capital Area Council said that they “do not have a position on the issue locally.” The National Executive Board now says that the policy is undergoing a “deliberate review.” Hopefully this review will lead to a policy change. But in the meantime, the ban on gays is a policy built on stereotypes and assumptions about gay people. Outspoken advocates of maintaining the ban, such as Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Eagle Scout, says that including gays would “distract from the mission of Scouting: character building, not sex education.” Perry is not alone. Changing this policy, said the National Capital Area Council representative, “would make it difficult” for many in Scouting to teach their values. These values, spelled out in the Scout Oath, mandates that Boy Scouts, “keep physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” To me, and to others in our generation, morally straight isn’t the same as sexually straight – and it doesn’t include discrimination of any kind.
opinion
5
Seniors place too much emphasis on college rankings Jun. 2010 Tulane Law School adopts “grade reform” which raises the required average GPA to 3.2 and recommends that teachers give 35% As, 50% Bs, and only 15% Cs or below.
Jan. 2012 Claremont McKenna College president Pamela Gann admits that a senior administrator manipulated freshmen students’ SAT and ACT scores.
Aug. 2012 Emory University president Jim Wagner makes a statement conceding that his employees had submitted faulty test data for more than a decade.
by Sarah Barr Engel It’s hard for a senior applying to college to ignore college ranking lists; they’re straightforward and they show exactly how impressed others should be when he or she gets into Harvard. U.S. News and World Report’s annual college rankings seem to have joined GPAs, SAT scores and other statistics as critical indicators of where juniors and seniors want to spend the next four years, but considering the recent scandals by colleges, misreporting scores for rankings, students should be even more wary of the ranking lists. Each of the 30-plus different college ranking lists is put together differently. U.S. News’ rankings, for example, are based on factors like freshman retention, graduation rates and strength of the faculty, as well as the average test scores and GPAs of the incoming class as reported by the colleges. The Princeton Review’s rankings, another major list, are based primarily on student surveys. Schools have the opportunity to respond with corrections, comments and objections that are sometimes taken into account. Students gravitate towards college rankings for the perception of prestige and social comparison. People have a need to compare themselves to others to evaluate their self-worth and success, says psychology teacher, Sheryl Freedman. Rankings don’t have as much value as students give them, though, because they gloss over some factors that determine which colleges students should apply to, and because they can easily contain inaccurate and misreported data, due to the fact that the statistics that colleges self-report aren’t checked for accuracy. In the past year, George Washington University, Claremont McKenna, Emory, Tulane and Bucknell all announced they had misreported scores that caused their rankings to be higher. Claremont McKenna admission officials reported they had artificially inflated SAT scores for eight years. Emory reported overinflated SAT and ACT scores as well, leaving out the bottom 10 percent of scores. Selectivity data, used in rankings, take into
Aug. 2012 Baylor University faces a lawsuit from an applicant. The school’s policy of providing financial incentives to younger students to retake SATs is called into question.
Nov. 2012 George Washington University loses its No. 51 ranking on US News & World Report’s annual Best Colleges list for adjusting incoming students’ scores.
account how many applicants a school rejects, which is practically meaningless – schools try to get as many students as possible to apply, so they can reject more students and increase selectivity ratings, says Forrest Maltzman, the senior vice provost of academic affairs at George Washington. Rankings cause colleges to put too much emphasis on selectivity and admission rates, which has led to a vicious cycle, Maltzman says. If colleges aren’t high in the rankings, they won’t get the best application pool and thus they won’t get the best students. At GW, the formula used to estimate the proportion of students who were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes was inaccurate, Maltzman says. Statistics like these are likely to be inaccurate because many school districts, such as Montgomery County, don’t compare students to each other. Students put too much emphasis on college rankings, even being reluctant to apply to schools without a strong ranking or reputation, even if the school is very similar academically and socially to other ones to which they are applying, says counselor Kenneth Putt. Putt agrees that top-ranked schools are typically academically superior, but says the difference between the first-ranked school and the fifteenth-ranked school is not significant. Also, schools have to “play the game” to be high on the rankings – colleges have to agree to send data in order to be ranked. This means that there could be schools that have chosen not to play along to raise their rankings that are still excellent schools. Instead of relying on rankings, students should determine their own criteria for colleges based on the programs they want to major in and the atmosphere they prefer. Different students have different needs, and they should focus on what they want from the college experience, not what others think they want. The only person who can know what a student needs from college is the student herself.
Volume 51, Issue 6 2012-2013 The Black & White is published10 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. Students and staff can pick up the paper free of charge. Mail subscriptions cost $35. The newspaper aims to both inform and entertain. Signed opinion pieces reflect the positions of the individual staff. Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Walt Whitman High School or Montgomery County Public Schools. 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 wwhsblackandwhite2012@gmail.com. All content in the paper is reviewed to ensure that it meets the highest levels of legal and ethical standards with respect to material that is libelous, obscene, or invasive of privacy. Accuracy is of utmost importance to the Black & White staff. The address of the Black & White Online Edition is <www.theblackandwhite.net>. The online edition contact is theblackandwhiteonline@gmail.com. Recent awards include the 2012 Online Pacemaker, 2010 CSPA Silver Crown, 2010 Marylander Award, 2008, 2005, 2004 NSPA Pacemaker Online Award Finalist; 2002 NSPA Pacemaker Award; CSPA 2008 Silver Crown; CSPA 2005, 2008 Gold Medalist Award; Quill & Scroll George H. Gallup Award 2000-2008; 2005, 2004 NSPA All-American Award, 2004MSPA/Washington Post Advisor of the Year Award.
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opinion
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march 7, 2013
Gal Auction? Battle of the Bearded Ladies?
Gender double standards by Jacob Cutler
Just imagine: group after group of high school girls parade onto the auditorium stage to hoots and catcalls from the audience. A couple of Poms, followed by some girls advertised as “the Jewish Girl Package, ” stand front and center while a throng of fired-up junior and senior boys wave bids of hundreds of dollars for a date with some good-looking ladies. I know what you’re thinking—that sounds like prostitution. But swap the ladies with young men and you get the Guy Auction fundraiser that the SGA runs every February, with girls shelling out big money for a night with a few male hotties. Not to be a party pooper, but Guy Auction is indicative of a clear reality that now exists at Whitman and in American culture in general: a subtle double standard permeating life from basketball games to fundraising to Mr. Whitman. One need only try to swap girls into male roles to see the double standard at play. Whether it’s Battle of the Beards, Guy Poms, Guy Auction, it seems like we do an awful lot of poking fun at guys in a way that isn’t possible with the other gender. Take, for example, Mr. Whitman. Can you imagine an event where a panel of teachers would choose from (and yes, laugh at and with), 12 Whitman senior girls based on their talents and looks? Don’t hold your breath waiting for that disaster. It seems almost impossible to imagine a Miss Whitman competition, yet the same exact event with senior boys is an annual event. The double standard is also readily apparent at sporting events. At boys basketball games, it’s an expected part of fandom to cheer, taunt and scream. But those who attend girls basketball games can attest to a completely different atmosphere where taunting is rarely heard and noise-making during a free throw doesn’t reach the same fever pitch. Still not convinced? Take a look at pretty much every comedy that’s come out of Hollywood in the past decade. It seems like the male leads in movies like Dodgeball, Nacho Libre and Anchorman are immature shlubs who can’t do much for themselves. The female lead, in contrast, is always a gorgeous, pragmatic woman who rescues the man from disaster, in a way that subtlely pokes fun at the male gender’s stupidity. No matter how much we pride ourselves on gender equity, there’s still a lurking thought that “the gentler sex” shouldn’t be taunted, bid on in an auction or voted on by a panel of judges. Just as it isn’t considered okay to buy dates with Senior Girls, neither is it respectable in today’s society to subject female athletes to the same kind of harassment male athletes receive. Now, I’m not saying that we should have a Gal Auction or that spectators should pretend there aren’t differences between genders. Neither should we get rid of Guy Auction or Mr. Whitman, sit silently at boys’ basketball games, or expand Battle of the Beards into a co-ed event. But it’s important to recognize that for all of society’s emphasis on equality, there still seem to be different rules and different behaviors considered acceptable for different genders. By being conscious of the subtle double standard between the genders, we can at least take a first step towards bridging the gap.
O’Malley’s proposed assault weapons ban critical for Marylanders’ safety by Fionn Adamian
On Friday, July 20, James Eagan Holmes walked into a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado and unloaded ammunition from three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Nearly five months later, 20 year old Adam Lanza massacred 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School, also using an assault weapon. In the wake of two of the most shocking shootings in American history, Governor Martin O’Malley proposed a Maryland assault weapons ban in his State of the State speech on Jan. 30. The bill is the right move to ensure that a similar shooting doesn’t occur in Maryland. For the sake of safety for children and adults alike, Maryland’s legislature should push to pass it. The ban qualifies assault weapons as guns that are able to fire immediately after shooting one round and can accept magazines containing more than 10 bullets. The bill is sponsored by 19 state senators and the General Assembly is currently scheduling a time to vote on it. Since assault weapons can rapidly fire many rounds, criminals are more likely to use them in mass shootings, making a ban the common sense solution, said Takirra Winfield, the Governor’s press secretary. Bans on assault weapons have proven to be an effective measure to reduce gun violence. Although gun rights advocates, such as Wayne LaPierre, the Vice President of the NRA, argue that criminals would get around bans through the black market, such bans are proven to succeed in curbing illegal gun possession. Christopher Koper, professor of criminology at George Mason University and a leading expert on assault weapons notes that as the supply of legal assault weapons dwindles, the price of black market guns increases so that potential offenders are
unable or unwilling to pay for them. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004 demonstrates that these regulations work. After accounting for other factors such as murder trends, demographics and economic changes, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that the ban caused national murder rates to decline 6.7 percent below the predicted rate and prevented criminals from using assault weapons in 60,000 instances. Because criminals may try to obtain weapons outside of Maryland, a state ban may not generate as dramatic a decline in gun homicides. But the bill is a step in the right direction. No matter how marginal the effect is, if the bill minimizes the chance that a criminal can get his hands on a gun, it’s an indisputable benefit for Marylanders. Since the federal government has yet to enact meaningful legislation regulating assault weapons, it’s the states’ responsibility to curb the use of guns, and Maryland should do its part. LaPierre’s group argues that banning access to assault weapons is an infringement on personal freedom. But assault weapons are typically inaccurate, highly visible and bulky, rendering them nearly useless for hunting and personal protection, according to Jake Matthews of the Harvard Political Review. There are no legitimate grounds for a lawabiding citizen to own an assault weapon. Hunting rifles and handguns that are crucial for self-defense will remain untouched by the bill, Winfield said. Although Maryland hasn’t been rocked by a mass shooting, it doesn’t need an incident like those in Sandy Hook or Aurora to remind us why assault weapons are deadly. Passing O’Malley’s assault weapons ban is the right move to ensure that the next heartbreak doesn’t happen in Maryland.
International Rare Disease Day: a first person
perspective on an often overlooked issue by Pablo Ramirez
A year ago, on Feb. 29, International Rare Disease Day, I published a column on how I had finally come to terms with the rare illness I had been living with for 16 years. Today, after further introspection, I have come to another conclusion: I do not deserve this. I did not deserve to have been diagnosed with Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome Type 1 when I was two, while others with rare diseases, of whom 50 percent are children, never get an accurate diagnosis, or worse, get multiple incorrect diagnoses. I did not deserve to have had a catheter from my heart to my arm, feeding me a nutritional mix for the past three months, while other rare disease patients cannot afford a simple experimental treatment. I do not deserve to have to inject myself three times a day in the stomach to make sure my non-functioning endocrine system can get my body the calcium it needs, while other rare disease patients have to go through various incorrect treatments as doctors attempt to find the source of the discomfort. I do not deserve to have teachers give me extra time or forgive
me some assignments due to my 504 plan, while other kids around the world fail classes because their illnesses aren’t well known enough to be recognized. I did not deserve to get visited by teachers, friends, and family members during my month-long hospitalization this December, while people with undiagnosed rare diseases are labeled as hypochondriacs or shunned by the very people who should support them in their times of need. I do not deserve to live in a country where a federal law, a government organization, and a private group, the National Organization for Rare Diseases, all work to help rare disease patients like myself, while in other nations, including my own native Colombia, there is still so much to be done. On this 28th of February, Rare Disease Day, I ask not for donations. I ask not for sympathy. I ask only why I am more deserving of these opportunities than other rare disease patients. I ask why my situation is the exception, and not the norm. I ask that we all realize it is time to stand up and spread the word so that more people can be aware, and can understand why I do not deserve this.
march 7, 2013
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In-De
march 7, 2013
B e t h e s da :
From Mom and Pop shops to Mon Ami Gabi and Panas
by Raquel Weinberg On Saturdays and Sundays. downtown Bethesda appears more like a beehive than the mid-sized suburban town that it is. Especially when the weather is warm, patrons weave in and out of the stores and restaurants that line the streets, toting shopping bags that bear the North Face half-dome, the Apple apple, Barnes & Noble’s classic serif font. But Bethesda was not always this way. 19 years ago, downtown Bethesda thrived with small, independent retail. In 1994, Bethesda made its first step towards its current commitment to large-scale community building. That year, formed the Bethesda Urban Partnership, an organization that initially dealt with landscaping and has since expanded to organize community events like Taste of Bethesda. The food and music festival takes place on the streets of Bethesda in the early fall and fills the autumnal air with the wafting aroma of ethnic cuisine from some of Bethesda’s 191 eateries. That year, in a master plan titled “The Future of Bethesda,”
the Montgomery County Planning Board began developing its vision for a “bustling downtown ringed by quiet neighborhoods, where residents can watch a play or visit an artist’s studio, eat at an ethnic restaurant or sit in an outdoor cafe, meet friends while shopping on the main street or the farmers’ market, listen to a band concert in summer or ice skate in winter in the center of town.” During the same year, a large real estate conglomerate named Federal Realty purchased property in Bethesda and began development of Bethesda Row. The organization now owns 87 properties in the United States. Of the company’s 22 properties in Maryland, Bethesda Row is the largest, encompassing 531,000 square feet. The first major development in Bethesda occurred when Federal Realty leased out space to Barnes & Noble in 1997, which drew more customers to the downtown. Federal Realty added the Landmark Theatre in 2002. These two prominent additions shifted the atmosphere and culture of the area now known as Bethesda
Row. “Bethesda is now more of a community meeting place, and having Barnes & Noble there, having a movie theater there, having a larger selection of sitdown, table service restaurants, was effective in creating that personality,” said Ralph Ours, who directs Federal Realty’s leasing in the mid-Atlantic region. Between 1997 and 2008, Federal Realty began adding variety by leasing land out to more apparel stores and fewer restaurants. In 2008, an entirely new section of Bethesda was completed. Bethesda Lane, a shops-and-condos building with the hanging bulbs that criss-cross the pedestrian walk and evoke a European feel over a stucco and brick pathway, rose from the old Giant Food. Stores sell everything from makeup to yoga clothes to pricey pots and pans. During the summer, the lane is also home to Tuesday night classic movies, fashion shows, and families strolling about with gelato in hand. Today’s Bethesda strikes a balance between chain stores and local shops.
“Ten years ago, we were doing almost all local stores, and we’ve changed that philosophy a little bit because there’s certain stores that can come in and drive traffic from people coming farther away,” Ours said. “Apple, obviously draws in a lot of people.” The last 20 years saw Bethesda rise from small retail community to a much larger, thriving urban hot spot. Whether or not its exponential growth continues is the choice of Bethesda consumers: will frustration over excessive development drive a push towards downsizing? “Bethesda is now a destination spot for weekend dining,” said Gabby Rojchin, creative director at Bethesda’s Streetsense and a resident of Bethesda since 1999. “The amount of retail and the quality of retail keeps increasing as do the number of apartment buildings. It’s a real community that continues to grow.
Barnes & Noble Fountain
Mario’s Pizza & Booeymonger
Bethesda Row Cinema
Backed-up Bethesda: parking, parking, parking! by Rebecca Meron and Raquel Weinberg Businesses all over downtown Bethesda complain about parking. The problem is particularly severe on Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, where construction of parking lots 31 and 31A has eliminated 279 spaces. The development, which began when a portion of Woodmont Ave. was closed Sept. 7 and continues until 2015, is one of the biggest challenges for Bethesda merchants, exacerbating existing parking problems and increasing traffic congestion. “Parking is horrendous,” said North Face’s manager Bruce Robinson. “There aren’t enough spaces. You go in the garage across the street and it’ll be completely full. It’s a complete nightmare.” Robert Hall, general manager of Newton’s Table on Elm Street, offers valet parking on Fridays and Saturdays to ease the problem. “Rarely a day goes by that we don’t face a problem with parking,” he said. “People come in upset. They come in late for their reservations because they’ve spent 20 or 25 minutes driving around looking for parking. It causes a delay in the way that we want to smoothly execute an evening.” Other strategies have been added to alleviate parking, such as the Bethesda Urban
Partnership’s free Bethesda Circulator bus that runs every 10 to 15 minutes to 20 stops around the downtown. The Circulator’s purpose is to transport customers from one of the 16 public parking garages in Bethesda to their desired location, said Stephanie Coppula, director of marketing & communications for Bethesda Up. There are 6,600 spaces in public garages and 766 along the streets. In the Elm & Bethesda garage, one of the busiest public garages, Federal Realty added an electric sign that tells drivers how many spots are occupied, so they don’t waste time driving through a full garage. Business owners in Woodmont Triangle see a different and more advantageous side to Bethesda Row’s parking problems. “When you’re in a city that’s this small, the impact of co nstru ctio n is almost city-block by city-block,” said Creative Parties owner Tracy Bloom Schwartz. “Right now what’s hurting other people might actually be helping me a little bit. People are
more likely to come to this side of Bethesda because it’s easier to park and deal with.” Schwartz predicts she will benefit from two construction projects on her side of Bethesda, an office building and an apartment building, which will eventually bring more people into the community, she said. In addition to its scarcity, parking in Bethesda creates problems for owners and employees because of its cost. “A person who is working part time as a waiter and only makes $100 a night does not want to pay $10 a night to park,” said Thomas Smith, who owns Frame Avenue on Cordell Avenue. Bethesda’s parking rules allow parking in some areas for only one to three hours but parking in other areas all day. Owners have to resist the urge to park in front of their own stores so they can leave spots available for customers, Smith said. In some cases, traffic deters people from driving downtown at all, Hall said. “A lot of people say they’re not going to come down because it’s not worth the hassle,” he said. “At a time when Bethesda is booming so significantly, we as a community would like to see a greater ability for people to come and enjoy.”
March 7, 2013
epth
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An EvOLUTION Bethesda Row Cinema
Haagen-Dazs
Nando’s Peri-Peri
Stayin’ alive: Bethesda business edition by Rebecca Meron and Raquel Weinberg Bethesda shoppers see stores come and go faster than Taylor Swift’s boyfriends. Bethesda Row has 74 retail and restaurant locations, 31 of which are on Bethesda Avenue, the most popular street in the entire downtown area. Since 2009, at least 13 locations on this street have changed ownership. Maintaining retail space in this four-block retail community offers a commercial example of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection: if a store has what it takes to please the masses, it’s successful, but if it’s deemed overpriced or uncool, it can be gone in weeks. Such closures highlight those stores that the staying power to overcome the difficulties of keeping the location. Business owners attribute their success to a combination of characteristics, including being able to adjust to economic conditions and reflect the tastes and needs of the community. “The customer has the final say in how successful stores are,” said Federal Realty’s Ralph Ours. Federal Realty owns the Bethesda Row development and leases space to merchants and restaurant owners. “The stores that are the most successful are those that are particularly adept at modifying and changing,” Ours said. “Sometimes we’ll take a chance with a store that we think will be an interesting addition, and it doesn’t work out.” Federal Realty measures vacancy rates, or turnover by tenants that go out of business or leave. The national vacancy rate in a healthy economy is 5 percent, but Bethesda Row’s rate is just 1 percent because the space is in higher demand, Ours said. Sometimes store owners retire, like Pirjo Jaffe, who owned Pirjo, a high-end clothing store on Bethesda Ave., for 29 years. And sometimes the rent is just too high. A few blocks away from the Bethesda Row neighborhood is Bruce Variety, a store that for 60 years has sold everything from display boards to Mason
jars and Halloween costumes. A rent increase to $21,500 per month forced owner Richard Dimock to move from The Bradley shopping center to Woodmont Ave., where the rent is cheaper. “Rents are higher than they’ve ever been,” said Gabby Rojchin, principal & co-creative director of Streetsense, a Bethesda company that merges design, branding and real estate development throughout the D.C. Metro area and beyond. “With a greater demand comes a higher price.” Not only high rents, but construction has squeezed parking, making it difficult for some businesses. “Sit-down restaurants are continuing to do big business,” Ours said. “The fast-casual operators that rely heavily on the convenient parking of people jumping out of their car, grabbing something and getting back in are being the most impacted.” Long-term leases and reasonable rent costs contribute t o businesses’ staying power, like Woodmont Triangle’s Frame Avenue, a framing shop owned by Thomas and Meredith Smith for 11 years. The Triangle is home to a quaint row of old buildings that were homes in the 1960s and are now owned by individual l a n d l o r d s rather than by Federal Realty or another real estate company. Landlords began
Bethesda Lane converting properties into businesses in the 70’s, and rents are about half the amount per square foot than they are at Bethesda Row, Thomas Smith said. The ability to be flexible during economic downturns also helps a business endure. When people began buying more art online, the couple transitioned from frame shop and art gallery to solely a framing store, Smith said. Meanwhile, they’ve seen six Bethesda art galleries close since they’ve been in business, he said. Meredith Smith attributes some of the store’s staying power to the fact that she doesn’t have to keep inventory because she operates a service business, not a retail shop. Creative Parties on St. Elmo Street, another service-based business, is owned by Tracy Bloom Schwartz. She runs the party-planning business that her mother began 45 years ago. In some ways, retail stores have a harder time sticking around than service-based businesses, Schwartz said. She recalls two chic jean stores that opened nearby. “They were very hip and very cool, but both went out,” she said. “If you do something that’s too high fashion and you’re not in a place that’s going to support that, then it’s real hard to maintain that over time. It depends on how well the retailer keeps on top of style and fashion and whether they are located in a place where they can maintain the interest and awareness of the community.” Business owners recognize the necessity of connecting with the community. Robert Hall, general manager of Newton’s Table, a restaurant on Elm Street, values the sense of community between store owners and customers, who aren’t just diners, but also friends. “People who live in this area want to invest in this community,” Hall said. “If they feel that the businesses in the community want them to be there as well and value their presence, that’s a great relationship.”
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feature
march 7, 2013
by Michael Yang
apply for the SDB fellowship. The Center for Talented Youth educators review the applications and then select 10 to 15 teachers for recognition. Since Talaat just received the fellowship this year, this conference was her first. Now, every subsequent year she will attend the conference to welcome the new fellows and discuss topics concerning modern education. McClanahan found the fellowship while browsing online and decided to nominate Talaat because of the support and kindness that she had shown him as a teacher. He has taken both honors and AP Physics with Talaat and says that he has loved that challenge of her class. “Her class is renowned for being difficult and covers a lot of material in a short amount of time,” McClanahan said. “Although at times I have felt unprepared or confused in her class, she is always ready to drop everything and help any student of hers to understand the material. She is a wonderful person whom I adore immensely.”
Photo By ABIGAIL CUTLER
Last month Physics teacher Kismet Talaat traveled to Las Vegas to attend her first conference as a Sarah D. Barden fellow. The Sarah D. Barden fellowship recognizes excellence in teachers as identified by students, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Senior Danny McClanahan nominated Talaat for the award after he participated in a Johns Hopkins program for gifted students during summers starting in 7th grade up until last summer. “It means a lot for a talented student like Danny to recognize me,” Talaat said. “People evaluate you as a teacher all the time, but the most meaningful evaluation you can get is from a student.” Each year, students in grades three through twelve who live in California, Nevada, and Maryland and who attended a CTY summer program are invited to nominate a teacher for recognition as an outstanding educator. After the teachers are nominated they can
Physics teacher Kismet Talaat teaches circular motion to her AP Physics C class. Talaat, who teaches both the honors level and AP Physics C, was recently awarded the Sarah D. Barden fellowship.
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Physics teacher Kismet Talaat recognized for excellence
REAL MAN’S Guide:
What’s in a macho music library?
by Billy Lee
Over the years, it’s become increasingly difficult for the real man to find manly music. Flooded by “hits” from Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, men can no longer take showers without at least one stanza of annoying lyrics piercing the sanctity of their thoughts. And judging by the inspired youth movement to “Free Chief Keef,” the music industry looks bleak for real men in the coming decade. Of course, music, like any art, is largely a matter of taste. I’m not going to sit on my high horse and dictate what you can and can’t listen to. Well, I sort of am, but let it be known at least I am unbiased. I will admit that even Bieber cranked out a man masterpiece in “Boyfriend.” The manliest of men are scholars of Beethoven and Mozart, blasting the classics in their private libraries, but few men ever achieve this nirvana of manly musical taste. I admit that I myself am many decades away from achieving a state of enlightenment of this nature. So for now, the rest of us will just have to sift through the music of mortals. It’s hard to go wrong with rock & roll from the 60s and 70s or rap from the 90s from a manliness standpoint. These genres include artists like AC/DC and A Tribe Called Quest. More important, they exclude bothersome boy bands, the Disco movement and Nickelback. But it’s not enough just to listen to the right stuff; you have to listen to the right stuff right. That means no “Beats” headphones in the hall in between classes, especially if you’re cranking Soulja Boy to the displeasure of everyone within a 20-foot radius. Earphones are dull, but at least they’re subtle and generally less noise polluting. The real man carries a boom box around on his shoulder. Being masculine when it comes to music is all about attention to setting. The car, for example, is the perfect place to turn it up loud. In summertime, country music with the windows down should be a no-brainer. Hardcore rap and rock songs are suitable when it’s time to get pumped up for the manly tasks. Dubstep is always good when you’re—just kidding, keep that stuff to yourself. All good music, however, doesn’t necessarily fall into the stereotypical “manly” category. Jack Johnson, for example, is the perfect example of an artist in this gray area that is still acceptable for men to listen to. Learn to have a good ear for a variety of types of music—as a general rule, quality music from any genre is manly music.
feature
march 7, 2013
D.C. residents victims of two-year snow drought
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photo by ABIGAIL CUTLER
by Jacob Cutler
As any dedicated snow lover knows, it’s been over 760 days since a whiteout in the D.C. area. Yep, more than two years, 45,000 minutes, or 2.5 million seconds since we last saw over two inches of snow in one storm in the D.C. area. D.C. is in the midst of its worst snow drought on record. With this winter in its final days, it looks like we can add another 200 or so days to the tally before we have another chance at a white winter wonderland. “For us to go two or three years in a row without a three or a four or a five inch snowstorm, this seems to be extremely unusual,” former meteorologist Adam Zeren said. “One year fine, you know, it happens, second year, it does seem to be a little strange.” The present snow drought is even more evident because it comes on the heels of record setting winters that dropped close to 70 inches of snow from 2009-2011. Yet the last two years have seen only 3.5 inches of snow—the least snowy two-year period on record, according to The Washington Post. What, meteorologically speaking, could be keeping D.C. in the proverbial “snow hole”? Last year’s weak winter can be attributed to a La Niña, a cooling trend in the Pacific Ocean that correlates with low snowfall on the east coast, Zeren said. This year La Niña isn’t occuring, yet the winter has seemed to follow the same trend. “There’s just been times when there’s been cold air and not been an active storm track, and when there’s been an active storm track there hasn’t been cold air,” Zeren said. But it’s not as though the clouds haven’t been trying. In fact, the D.C. region has already reached its average of six accumulating snowstorms per winter, according to The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. But the snow “events” haven’t really been events at all, instead leaving dustings averaging .6 inches—not even enough to cause a 2-hour delay. The lack of snow is not just a bummer for students and teachers who want a relaxing day off—it’s also sparking concerns that climate change is behind the snow drought. “I think that when we get into spans like this, that people automatically attribute it to climate change,” AP Environmental Science teacher Kelly Garton said. “I think those fears are warranted, but that they get peaked when it doesn’t snow for so long.” Instead of no snow winter after winter, Garton anticipates climate change will bring more extreme variation because of stronger El Niños and La Niñas that cause changes in ocean temperatures.
During the 2009-2010 winter season, the years of the Snowmaggedon and Snowpocalypse, D.C. received 56 inches of snow. Yet it’s been over 760 days since a whiteout in the D.C. area—and climate change is expected to bring greater variations. Even if this winter doesn’t hold any more snow in store, there’s always the chance next year brings an abundance of snow. In 2008-2009, the year before Snowmaggedon and Snowpocalypse, D.C. got 4.5 inches of snow according to the National Weather Service. The next year? 56 inches.
Students volunteer at fire stations by Annie Ludewig
When students envision the heroic and courageous duties of emergency responders, cleaning toilets usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But for juniors Sydney Pimentel and James Dobson and senior Charlie Black, chores are simply part of the job of being a volunteer firefighter. Some Whitman students have decided to take simple volunteer work to the next level, signing up to spend at least four hours per week at a local fire station doing chores, running through drills and even responding to emergency calls. A volunteer’s level of experience determines his or her responsibilities, but the captains treat all volunteers as adults, regardless of age or experience level. For the past year, Pimentel has been volunteering at the BethesdaChevy Chase rescue squad. Every Thursday, she works from 7 p.m. to 11 with responsibilities ranging from manning an ambulance to manning an extrication unit for car crashes, depending on the call. Every six weeks, she must sleep over at the station on a weekend as a requirement. During time off between emergency calls, sometimes Pimentel and other volunteers must perform house chores (like bathroom cleaning) around the station. Since Pimentel is not a certifiedEMT (emergency medical technician), her responsibilities are limited to preparing patients for the hospital by taking blood pressure, helping to transport patients and checking pupil dilation, among other things. Despite the fact that Pimentel is not officially trained, she still engages in fieldwork. “When the tones go off in the building, ambulances and volunteers’ names will be called and I always get really nervous because we don’t know what the call is about until we get there,” Pimentel said. “One call at 3 a.m. was for a Personal Injury Collision (car crash) and I remember shaking the entire way there.” Depending on the type of emergency response certification, training typically ranges from 250-
500 hours of lessons, drills and coaching, according to Division Chief of Volunteer Services Alan Hinde. Junior James Dobson has gone through firefighter and EMT-certification and works at the Cabin John Station. Dobson decided that he wanted to get fully involved as an emergency responder after his mother collapsed and started convulsing two years ago. Thanks to a quick response from the ambulance crew, Dobson’s mother made a full recovery. Dobson’s duties range from putting out fires to giving patients emergency care. “It took a ridiculous amount of time to train but it’s cool to feel really responsible and putting out fires is a fun bonus,” Dobson said. D o b so n must co pe wi th the possibility of patients’ deaths and potential colleagues’ injuries. “In a recent fire truck crash in Prince George’s County, one of the officers injured was one that I had driven with just a week before the accident,” Dobson said. “He lost his arm in the crash. Staying calm and focused is probably the hardest part of the job, knowing such life-changing things can happen so fast.” Charlie Black has been working at the Cabin John station for the past two years and said he enjoys the adrenaline rush of responding to emergency calls. He is currently working to become EMT-certified. “Cabin John has been pretty quiet for my unit recently,” Black said. “I mostly respond to calls about old people being old. I’ve definitely learned a lot about safety and health during my work.” Pimentel, Dobson and Black had nothing but positive feedback regarding their volunteer work. All of them hope to stay involved at the fire station for the rest of high school and possibly beyond. “It feels great to be involved and take part in the safety of our area,” Pimentel said. “Seeing crashes and emergencies firsthand has definitely changed my perspective and some of the experiences I’ve had will stick with me for the rest of my life.”
Nobody knows how much snow next year will bring. Maybe this time next year we’ll be digging out from the blizzard of the century, or at least shoveling a few inches of slush. So don’t worry about the snowless streets and sidewalks. Chin up. It’s almost spring.
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arts
March 7, 2013
by Alexa Brodsky
partners Yuval Becherano and Ramiro Baez, owns the rights to the franchise in the metro area and plans to open ten new locations in D.C., Maryland and Virginia within the next four years. “The concept was very appealing to me because of the business nature of coffee,” Benaim said. “Aroma coffee is the best I have ever had and I thought it would be good to open locations in the tri-state area.” There are currently 140 locations in Israel, and in the past six years, restaurant owners have opened locations in New Jersey, New York and Florida. All of the baked goods and pastries are imported from Israel before being proofed and cooked on site. The coffee is roasted in Israel and is imported as well. The restaurant is located on the lower level of the mall near Old Navy, in a section of the mall soon to be transformed into a restaurant row. “The concept is driven by traffic and volume; we need the traffic to support the store so the mall was the best place to open up,” Benaim said. “We’re the first restaurant there and it will be good for us when the others open up.” Still, even without other restaurants in its wing of the mall, Aroma hopes to succeed because of its original concept. Aroma isn’t simply another coffee shop forced to compete with Starbucks; it has a different feel to it, which is what makes it appealing and popular. “Coffee shops are typically in-andout. They’re very rushed, but Aroma is different,” junior Caroline Sacks said. “There, you sit and talk and enjoy your mealtime. It’s got the best of both worlds: coffee shop and restaurant.”
photo by EMILY ROGERS
Say shalom to Aroma because there is a new bean on the scene. Aroma Espresso Bar, Israel’s largest restaurant franchise, opened a location in Westfield Montgomery Mall in mid-February and it’s already thriving. Within hours of its opening, eager coffee connoisseurs filled Twitter and Instagram with excited posts about Aroma’s classic drink, the Iced Aroma. Those who have been to the shop in Israel were particularly excited about the opening. “My friends and I were counting down the days until it opened,” senior Jenna Kress said. “When I was in Israel, I had Aroma about five times a week.” Kress went to Aroma the day it opened and was impressed by the shop’s similarity to those she went to in Israel. The shop was scheduled to open in mid-November, but construction setbacks delayed its debut to mid-February. The restaurant serves coffee, soups, sandwiches, salads and pastries, some with an international twist, like the Bulgarian Bureka—a pastry filled with consumer’s choice of potato, spinach or feta. Because of its international appeal, Aroma attracts diverse crowds. “It appears to be the go-to spot for local Israelis,” senior Ryan Sherman said. “There were a lot of people speaking Hebrew there.” But even those who haven’t been to an Israel location are fans of the food and facility. With a dark red color scheme, rich wooden floors and walls, café themed seating and wraparound coffee bar, the atmosphere is calm and welcoming. “When you walk in, you forget you’re in the mall,” junior Annabelle Scully said. “The environment is really cool.” Local owner Eddie Benaim, along with
Aroma, a well-known Israeli coffee bar, now brings its specialty coffee and pastries to Montgomery Mall. The shop’s relaxed ambiance and international appeal have made it an instant success.
photo courtesy BETHESDA NOW
Popular Israeli coffee bar opens in Montgomery Mall
Music club brings jazz, blues to Bethesda by Julia Maman
For the perfect meal, add the soothing sounds of saxophone music, a few trumpet solos, some shrimp and chicken jambalaya, and the historic setting of the Bethesda Theater. The old Bethesda Theater near the Chevy Chase Acura dealership has been resurrected to become the area’s first soulful hang-out spot: the Jazz and Blues Supper Club, opening March 1. Attendees can unwind to the sounds of live smooth jazz while enjoying a sweet and savory meal. “Bethesda is the ideal setting for Bethesda Blues & Jazz because there is nothing else quite like it in the area,” said Gillian Moloney, Office and Social Media Manager for the new club. “We have gotten so much positive feedback from people in the area who are thrilled to have a venue like this coming to their neighborhood.” The Bethesda Theatre, originally a classic 1938 Art Deco movie palace, was restored and reopened in October 2007 as a new venue for live theatrical events. The 700-seat modern theater presented Off-Broadwaystyle performances, but was unsuccessful and closed in June 2010. Owner Rick Brown attended movies at what was then the Bethesda Theater in the 1950s and started the club to revive the building’s purpose. Brown sensed a need in the community for a place where people could come to listen to live music and be entertained in an intimate and acoustically relaxing setting. The building’s boldly defined geometric shapes and rich colors lend itself well to the jazzy atmosphere.
The club will showcase both local and international performers recognized in a variety of genres extending beyond jazz and blues, like country, salsa, Motown and Celtic. Music teacher Terry Alvey is enthusiastic about a jazz club being close to home and hopes to become involved. “I hope at some point we can incorporate some jazz club kids going down and having an open mic night, or having some of the kids play or open for someone,” Alvey said. Stephanie Coppula, the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Bethesda Urban Partnership that manages the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, feels that it will help bring the community together to enjoy culturally enriching music. “The theatre has been vacant for a couple of years now, so we are really looking forward to a new and cultural venue to occupy it,” Coppula said. With all the social media hype about the club, many Bethesdians are feeling the blues, including Whitman’s number one jazz aficionado, vice-principal Jerome Easton. “I love listening to jazz, particularly live jazz,” he said. “There isn’t really a jazz place in this area other than DC, so in terms of proximity it is closer rather than traveling all the way to DC to listen to jazz.” When first told about the opening of the jazz and blues club, Easton confirmed that he would be sure to check out the scene. “Where is Mr. Easton? He is at the jazz club,” he said.
by Emily Baker and Julia Maman
The walls of the National Gallery of Art are decorated with works by some of the greatest artists of all time: Michelangelo, Matisse, Monet. But on March 2, the museum’s collection will also include photographs by junior Rachel Bird. Bird is part of the National Gallery of Art’s High School Seminar, a year-long program for advanced high school artists from D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Participants spend four hours one Saturday a month learning about art history and the museum business. Seminar students are assigned to research and speak about various artists and to assemble a final project. “The program is almost like taking an eighth class,” said photography teacher Mike Seymour, who wrote a letter of recommendation for Bird’s applicants the program. “It’s very intense and very high level.” Bird’s found her love of photography in her freshman year, when she took Photography 1 class to fulfill her art credit. When Bird broke her arm last year and couldn’t play sports, a family friend suggested she apply for the program. Bird had to assemble a portfolio, write two essays and get a teacher recommendation to apply for the seminar. “We want a really strong group dynamic in the seminar and Rachel seemed like she has a lot to bring
to the table,” said Elisa Patterson, who manages the high school programs at the museum. At the Mar. 2 seminar reception, each student will present on recurring themes in art, as well as two artists who emulate that theme. The final projects are based on the themes that they researched all year, Patterson said. “The theme I chose was identity,” Bird said. “I wanted to express how my identity has been shaped by art.” Bird said. Bird’s final project for the seminar is a series 16 self-portraits that emulate the styles of various famous artists, from Jackson Pollack to Frida Kahlo. The photos feature elaborate backgrounds and makeup. For her photo emulating Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” Bird used a stand-in model to make sure that the light mirrored the original painting perfectly, she said. What makes Bird’s photography unique is her strong artistic vision and her painstaking attention to detail. Her ability to work hard sets her apart from other students in the advanced photo class, Seymour said. “Rachel dares to be different in the way that she shoots and she’s willing to take risks,” he said. “She is an extremely creative thinker and that’s what it’s all about.”
photo courtesy RACHEL BIRD
National Gallery student seminar showcases junior’s photography
Bird’s final project for the student seminar is a series of 16 self-portraits emulating the work of famous artists.
march 7, 2013
sports
13
Sophomore wins mile state championship, balances running with competitive soccer
Sophomore Clare Severe (far right) won the mile event at the indoor track state championships with a time of 5:10, a few seconds shy of her personal best. Severe has competed in both track and field and soccer since her freshman year. just has something inside of her where she can turn a switch and hates to lose. She gives it everything she has until the end of the race.” Looking to the future, Severe hopes to continue running in high school and play collegiate soccer, having just begun the recruitment process. “I think I’ve become a more relaxed athlete,”
photo courtesy CLARE SEVERE
by Della Turque
Clare Severe’s journey to become the 2013 state champion in the mile began when she was running circles around a different field: the soccer pitch. Severe is a member of the 2012 US Youth Soccer National championship team. She joined track and field as a freshman, motivated by her passion for soccer to stay fit through the winter months. “When I first started indoor as a freshman I just thought it was a good way to keep in top shape for soccer,” Severe said. “But then I realized it was fun so I kept running.” Running all the way to states is no easy feat; individual events and relays have to meet an elite qualifying standard. The qualifying time for the mile for states is 5:27; Severe ran a 5:06 at Regionals and then a 5:10 at States. Last outdoor season she qualified for states with the best time but was unable to compete because she was at a soccer tournament, a setback to being involved in both soccer and track. Severe also competed in the 5x800 meter relay and the 800 meter race at the state level, placing sixth in both. Balancing two high commitment sports gets harder in the spring with soccer and track practices and meets. But according to varsity girls’ soccer coach Gregory Herbert, Severe handles the academic and athletic pressure with grace and dedication. “She puts in the time to be just as successful in the classroom as on the field of play,” Herbert said. “She is the total package.” For training, Severe sticks to the workouts that Whitman distance runners receive at practice, but her drive sets her apart from the typical runner. “I think it’s her competitiveness,” Hays said. “She
Severe said, reflecting upon how she has grown in the past year. “Freshman year, especially with track, I would get really nervous all the time and be so on edge. I’ve learned you have to let the little things go and compete to the best of your ability.”
Spring sports previews Baseball looks to Girls Lacrosse improve on last prepares for year’s playoff run first season Track and Field hopes for rununder new derful season head coach by Daniel Lowet
The track and field team is looking to chase another state championship run this spring. After losing two huge contributors last year in Anna Ryba and Caroline Guiot, both of whom are running in college, the team will need other runners to step up. Coach Stephen Hays is looking for sophomores Clare Severe and Lela Walter to continue their success from last year, as well as junior Ed Smith and senior Caroline Elmendorf to be strong members of the team. After a productive indoor track season, Hays believes the success will carry over into the spring. “Indoor is kind of our preparation phase for outdoor,” he said. “I thought everything went really well in indoor. We had some really good success at the state championship meet which means we’re right on track for having another good meet in the outdoor season.” Typically, Whitman excels in distance running, and should be strong in those events this season, led by Severe in the mile event. The addition of two new sprintingfocused coaches, Tyler Wilkinson and David Entwistle, should help the team build their sprinting times, Hays said. Senior Caroline Elmendorf has taken on a leadership role with the team during the off-season. Along with the other seniors, she has organized various events like team banquets and laser tag to help build team spirit, something that she thinks builds team camaraderie and morale for practices and races. “Everybody on the team is so motivated to be there,” she said. “It’s a hard sport, but the fact that you’re doing it for your teammates and they’re doing it for you makes it much easier. It’s all worth it; during the races it pays off.”
by Emily Harburg
Girls lacrosse is gearing up for its season with new energy and a new head coach. Katie Bitonti replaces Julie Frank, joined by her sister and new assistant coach Lindsay Bitoni. Katie Bitonti, who played high school lacrosse and collegiately at Catholic University, is looking forward to joining the Whitman athletics program. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Whitman community,” she said. “ I’m really excited to meet this ambitious, driven group of girls, and see how well they gel on and off the field.” The girls kick off the season with a scrimmage against Bullis Mar. 6, leading up to their first game against Magruder on Mar. 21. “We’re hoping to get right back into the swing of things,” junior defender Katie Choppin said. “The scrimmages are a great way to build our team and find our strengths.” The team finished last year with a 6-8 record, reaching the second round of playoffs before suffering a tough loss to Sherwood. This winter, the girls began meeting twice a week for off-season workouts, and many joined a winter league that plays games on Sundays. The team is looking forward to seeing its hard work pay off this season. Head coach Bitonti is excited to be working with her sister as well as her new hard-working team. “We both love the game, love coaching it and passing on our knowledge and our skills to the next generation,” she said. “ And I’m sure the girls will have a lot to teach us as well.”
Boys Tennis plays on despite personell losses
by John Sullivan
After last year’s successful 9-3 season and third place ranking in the county, coach Jasen Gohn is eager to see who is hungry for a starting spot. Additionally, four of the team’s members won individual state championships last year out of the possible eight players in the state. Last year’s strongest players, juniors Aries Wong and Sean Ngo, are departing the team to play in individual tournaments, leaving a void for new players to step up and take starting spots. The team only has one returning senior. Gohn is looking for contributions from juniors Lucas Schoch and David Block and is excited to see play from sophomores Matt Yang, Tyler Jacobson, Paul Lee and Nick Henning. Gohn says that the starting lineup is undetermined and open to anybody who earns it. “Who’s been training, who wants it more?” Gohn said. “Because come March 1, I don’t know what they’ve been doing since last May. Did they play a lot this summer or did they screw around?” Schoch, who Gohn says could be there most important player this year, said that although the team is losing its two best players, strong senior leadership from Joe Davis and overall team chemistry will make them a successful team.
photos by ZACH FUCHS
by Ben Zimmermann
After one of its most successful seasons in years, the baseball team looks to rebound and put together another successful season this spring. The Vikes made it all the way to the regional finals last season, losing to Northwest. But they have lost two of their biggest contributors from last year, in shortstop/pitcher Michael Flack and first baseman/pitcher Ryan McGill, who accounted for 13 of the team’s 17 wins last season, due to graduation. Still, head coach Joe Cassidy thinks the team can bounce back and remain a contender in the division. “I think we’ll have another strong year,” he said. “Even though we lost four seniors, we have lots of guys with experience to fill their shoes.” Seniors Gabe Steinberg and Patrick Hisle, along with junior Alex Cladouhus, will anchor the pitching staff. Junior Max Steinhorn will also pitch after an injury sidelined him the entire season last year. Junior center fielder and threeyear starter Drew Aherne will pace the offensive charge, after leading the team with a .386 batting average last year. Seniors Michael Yang and Andrew Castagnetti, along with junior Max Sessions, will also offer offensive firepower. “We were number one in our region last year, and our offense has definitely improved,” junior catcher Max Vogel said. During the offseason, the team has had weekly workouts and worked on strength and conditioning. Looking ahead, the Vikings open the season Mar. 21 at home in a key matchup against Poolesville. The team is also looking forward to hosting Veteran’s Night April 30 against Northwest. The event will honor U.S. servicemen by collecting donations for the Wounded Warrior Project. “We are encouraging students and the community to attend the event so that we can draw attention and give thanks to those who have served our country,” Steinberg said.
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march 7, 2013
by Shannon Dawe
Senior Caroline Crawford and junior Ali Bell competed in the World Indoor Rowing Competition at Boston University Feb. 17, placing 9th and 14th in their respective events. Known in the rowing world as “CRASH-B’s,” the competition involved racing on ergometers, or rowing machines, and operated under an open sign-up, meaning anyone who felt capable could compete. “CRASH-B’s is the biggest erg race in the world,” girls coach Kirk Shipley said. “I raced there when I was in high school and at that point there were about 1,000 people. Now it’s more like 8,000.” Crawford and Bell drove up to Boston the day before the event with Shipley and stayed two nights in Boston before driving back. Crawford competed in the women’s lightweight division, which was won by Christine Cavallo, a member of the Ukranian National Team who broke her own world record and finished 18 seconds ahead of the closest competitor. Based on the times of last year’s competition, Crawford was expecting a top-five finish, but was ousted by Cavallo and seven others. “It was a pretty good race, but not my best time ever,” Crawford said. “It’s pretty motivating going to this and seeing all the speed out there.” Bell competed in the men’s lightweight division
and was happy with his 14th place finish, as he fulfilled his goal of a top-20 finish and a personal record. He ended up beating that goal by five seconds. “I thought if I went under the pressure of championships I might perform better, which I did,” he said. Racing on ergometers, or erging, is a good measure of rowing skill because it parallels the motion of rowing on the water and demands the resolve needed to push through difficult races. It’s also a good workout for arm and especially leg muscles, Crawford said. “If you’re not good at the erg, it generally means that you’re not tough or that there’s something that breaks down when it gets hard,” Shipley added. The winner of the event gets a hammer for his or her efforts, while second and third place receive medals. The hammer traditionally signifies brutal toughness, Bell said, and is also a tribute to one of the founders of the event whose nickname was “The Hammer.” Spectators of the events included prospective college coaches and former Olympic athletes. Bell went to the CRASH-B’s in part for the recruitment opportunities offered there, he said. The races simulate a distance of 2000 meters, which is essentially an all out sprint. “You don’t really have time to think about
Photo courtesy CAROLINE CRAWFORD
Crew teammates excel at international erging contest
Senior Caroline Crawford and junior Ali Bell competed in the international erging competition “Crash-B’s” in Boston Feb. 17. anything else; you’re just going at a crazy time for every stroke,” Crawford said The event inspired Bell, who will have one more year to impress college recruiters, to try even harder in the future. “I’ll definitely go back,” he said. “I want to see if I can get top five next year.”
by Shannon Dawe
With the football season now over, fans have to get ready for weekends without their favorite college and professional teams. But while there are no games scheduled in the near future, Whitman alum Eve Rosenbaum (‘08) will have the next best thing: working for the National Football League. Rosenbaum is in the first phase of the NFL’s Junior Rotational Program, a twoyear course that allows college graduates to work four six-month rotations in various NFL departments. Currently, she works in the Club and Labor Finance department to help NFL teams analyze their revenue and calculate salary cap space. Before working for the NFL, Rosenbaum interned for the MLB and the Boston Red Sox. She applied for the NFL job during her senior year at Harvard, and has loved it so far. “I can’t imagine doing anything else after college,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like work. Every day, I’m excited to come in because I’m surrounded by sports, which is something I love.” Future departments she may work for include Corporate Development, Marketing and Fan Entertainment, Broadcasting, Public Relations and Events, but she won’t know which she’ll join until her current term in Club and Labor Finance ends. Regardless of her department, Rosenbaum considers herself lucky to be starting a career working for the NFL. “Something that most people consider a hobby, which is following football and watching football, is part of my job,” she said. Rosenbaum has traveled to Green Bay, Baltimore and Cleveland to work with teams. With the Ravens and Browns, she helped coordinate events for Play60, the NFL’s initiative to encourage kids to get
more physically active. She attributes much of her early career success to lessons learned at Whitman, particularly ones from participating in the SGA and from playing softball throughout high school and college. The skills Rosenbaum learned from being an athlete, such as working together on a team with competing personalities, are valuable to any career, she said. Rosenbaum came back to Whitman last semester to talk to WALT and Global Issues classes about her career and to give advice for starting a career in sports. She advised students to start the search early and emphasized that it’s okay to start small. “As long as you get your foot in the door in the sports world, then you can go from there,” she said. Even taking tickets or working as a mascot can lead to a better job, and working your connections in the job market can be the key to getting where you want to go, she added. Students in the classes were impressed with Rosenbaum’s career and with her success so far in it. “It was cool to see a Whitman grad go and work for a major sports league,” WALT student Alec Szparaga said. “It shows that no matter what your interests are, you can find a job in that field if you work for it.” WALT teacher Joe Cassidy has been familiar with Rosenbaum since coaching her middle school softball team. “She was always very poised and mature and had a lot of knowledge about sports,” Cassidy said. No matter where she goes in the future, Rosenbaum has already achieved what many kids can only dream of. Her hope is for a long-term career in sports business, which she may achieve by going to law or business school.
photo courtesy Parent’s Coalition of Montgomery County
Alum Rosenbaum (‘08) kickstarts career coordinating NFL finances and events MCPS lack of athletic trainers endangers students by Michael Greenwood
Most Maryland school systems hire athletic trainers to attend sporting events and treat student athletes in the case of injury. MCPS isn’t one of them. Athletic trainers are professionals who have graduated from a four-year college program and are trained to treat sports injuries—like concussions and muscle tears—and oversee prevention, immediate treatment, diagnosis and rehabilitation. Trainers bring expertise to serious injuries, but they also understand what is required with small injuries far better than coaches do. Tom Hearn, a Whitman parent who has lobbied the MCPS Board of Education for increasing concussion awareness and hiring athletic trainers, has researched the use of athletic trainers throughout the region. According to Hearn, 16 of the 24 counties in Maryland already have contracts with private health care vendors who attend most games and practices in all or some of their schools. Fairfax County, which is similar to MCPS in size, has employed two athletic trainers per school full-time for the last 30 years, Hearn said. The only people with health training on hand at MCPS games are the coaches, whose rudimentary training includes CPR and Defibrillator use, a 10-day first aid course, and a 30-minute online concussion awareness outline. The football Vikes have an orthopedist on the sideline during games, but he has no official position and is not paid for helping at games. Coaches aren’t sufficiently trained to deal with a medical emergency, and it’s unfair to put them in a position that they’re not properly trained for, girls basketball coach Pete Kenah says. “A coach is asked to wear so many hats. All of it has nothing to do with coaching,” Kenah said. “Injuries are really serious. If
MCPS is all about safety, what’s the hold-up?” The county’s choice not to pay for athletic trainers sacrifices player safety to save money in the budget. Hearn said he was disappointed when he spoke to the head of athletics in MCPS, who gave him the impression that staff at MCPS’ central office seemed to lack the proper appreciation for the value of athletic trainers. For MCPS athletes, not having a trainer on hand is frustrating, and it can quickly become dangerous. Some athletes might get lucky if a medically-trained parent is present when they’re injured, but the county’s lax attitude toward this problem is threatening the well-being of those players who aren’t so fortunate. Girls basketball player Marie Hatch injured her shoulder at a tournament over winter break. Kenah said that not having an athletic trainer present at the game made the situation extremely difficult to handle. Hatch didn’t return to play, but Kenah said that without a trainer, the risk of making the wrong decision was much greater. According to a memorandum from Superintendent Starr to the Board of Education, if MCPS were to hire full-time athletic trainers, it would cost the district approximately $1.5 million per year. To contract with private health care providers as other Maryland counties do would cost approximately $500,000, the same as installing 16 Promethean Boards in each school. While these numbers look daunting, they seem smaller when put in the context of MCPS’ $2 billion budget and the pressing issue of athletes’ safety. At the end of the day, MCPS has a flimsy excuse for a growing problem. In order to protect student athletes in the county, it’s essential that MCPS reorganizes its budget to allow for trainers in each school.
march 7, 2013
sports
15
New sister coaches bring experience to girls’ lacrosse team
Photo Courtesy KATIE BITONTI
by Sarah Barr Engel The girls’ lacrosse team can re-lax knowing they will have a strong new head coach, Katie Bitonti, leading their team this year, taking over from Julie Frank. Bitonti has been playing lacrosse for 12 years, from playing during her freshman year at Our Lady of Good Counsel HS, to Catholic University and beyond. Bitonti decided to coach the Vikes because she enjoyed coaching at Next Level and watching her teams improve and excel. “I really love the game and love having an opportunity to pass on my knowledge and skills of the game to younger girls who share the same passion,” Bitonti said. The players are already impressed with Bitonti’s dedication to the team and are excited to have a coach with a strong background in lacrosse, center Kit Philleo said. Katie is excited to share the coaching experience with her younger sister, Lindsay, who will be the assistant coach. “It’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said. “We are best friends and although we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, when it comes to lacrosse we’re always on the same page. I played offense and she played defense so it will be a good balance for the team.” Although Bitonti was first introduced to the team at a meeting in February, she didn’t get a chance to work with the players until tryouts started March 1. She believes unfamiliarity with the girls will be the hardest thing about coaching this year. “We will have to dedicate a good portion of the beginning of the season just to getting to know each other and figuring out the best ways for us all to work together to have a successful season,”
From left: Sisters Lindsay and Katie Bitonti played at Good Counsel HS and Catholic University before moving on to coach at Next Level Athletics. Katie signed on to replace former head coach Julie Frank this year, and Lindsay will be assistant coach. she said. Despite this, Bitonti is looking forward to starting the season with a blank slate because there’s much that the players and coaches can teach each other. The team’s goals for the season include making sure the girls are working hard and improving while still having fun. The team hopes to ultimately end the season with a winning record, Bitonti said.
The players are looking forward to a strong season with their new coach. “She is super enthusiastic and all of us really like her already,” midfielder Kendall Wiss said. “Her sister is also going to help out and she seems really nice too. All of us are really excited to get to work with them,” she said.
Wong and Ngo to leave tennis team for solo tournament by Michael Greenwood This season, tennis players Aries Wong and Sean Ngo will take a swing at playing solo instead of with the Vikes—a change that may be right up their alley. Wong and Ngo, both juniors who were ranked first and second on Whitman’s roster respectively, are leaving high school tennis to focus on solo play in tournaments. Solo tournaments allow them to be ranked nationally, and college tennis coaches generally look at national rankings over high school play. Currently, Wong is ranked ninth in the mid-Atlantic, while Ngo is ranked 41st. Wong and Ngo train with Sport Star tennis every week day at the same time the tennis team practices, and they would have to miss five to six solo tournaments if they were to play at all of Whitman’s matches, Wong said. Both players practice with Coach Steve Miguel individually for around
three hours, so they get more coaching than they would from Whitman coach Jason Gohn, who has to coach the entire Whitman team in less time. Wong, who’s been playing at Sports Star for six years, said he’s focusing on practicing there because of the higher level of play. “The guys I train with have been playing for even longer than I have, and Whitman practices aren’t as serious,” he said. “Players on Whitman are good, but the coaches at Sports Star can motivate me more and they can help me with my fitness.” Gohn agreed that the practices with Sports Star would be much more beneficial. He said that no one could keep pace with Wong at Whitman practices, but at his other practices he’ll to have a much more intense setting and be able to focus on specific strokes and in-game strategies. All high school athletes serious about competing at a high level college
team need to have experience playing in national solo tournaments and be individually ranked. “It’s about challenge level,” Wong said. “High school isn’t nationwide so there’s not a lot of variety. For all of the coaches I’ve talked to so far, high school to them is like a recreational level.” The national solo tournaments are organized into three different levels, divided by skill level. The highest levels of tournament can have upwards of 100 participants, Wong said. Wong said he’s generally fairly successful in the highest level of the tournament, typically making it to the quarterfinals of tournaments. He’s also won a high level tournament as a doubles player. Ngo said he usually makes it through the first one to three rounds, and can make it to the semi-finals or finals of lower level tournaments. When he played at the number one slot on the Whitman, often times even
the best players from other schools couldn’t keep up with Wong. Gohn said that the competition in high school for Wong had become too easy. “Aries is kind of in a different league,” he said. “He would get some fun competition, but he would go undefeated if he played high school tennis.” Gohn said that the tennis team would be hurt by Wong and Ngo’s departure, but that he thought they’d still be able to win most of their matches. Ngo said that he was confident in the ability of his teammates to step up and keep the Whitman team competitive. “I don’t think me and Aries leaving the tennis team will hurt them too much,” Ngo said. “We still have a lot of good players like Lucas Schoch, David Bloch and Joey Gumataotao who can compete with most of the other top three schools in the county.”
Security guard Paul Marshall umpires baseball in free time by Michael Greenwood When he’s not calling out late students in Whitman hallways, security guard Paul Marshall is calling balls and strikes. Marshall umpires for several different baseball leagues in the D.C. area Mar. — Oct., including the WCAC, a league of area private schools, the MCBA, a Montgomery county league, and other leagues during the summer. Marshall’s baseball season keeps him constantly busy: last year he umpired five or more games a week. Marshall umpires almost only high school and college level players, he said. “It’s more enjoyable to do a game where players know what they’re doing,” Marshall said. “There’s nothing worse than watching a kid take three strikes right down the middle. You want action, and you want players who will swing the bat.” For Marshall, the entire atmosphere of the game is what makes it fun. Marshall, who himself played baseball in high school, says umpiring is his greatest passion. Interacting with kids is a constant source of enjoyment in both Marshall’s work at Whitman and as an umpire. He has a great time talking and working with the players, often trying to defuse stressful games just by chatting with
player and keeping a light atmosphere, so the players can focus on having fun. “Sometimes the games can get really intense and I try to relax the kids,” Marshall said. “They play a lot better game when they relax.” Marshall emphasized that the most important part of umpiring is actually moving to see a play in order to make the correct call. If you watch good umpires at a game, they’ll do a lot more moving than people think, he said. If an umpire doesn’t move, he’s not making good calls. “It’s not ‘I’m gonna go out in the middle of the field and stand wherever I want’,” Marshall said. “There’s specific mechanics on where you go.” Marshall rattled off several specific ways an umpire should react to various plays. When a grounders is hit to shortstop an umpire has to move 20 feet in order to have a 90 degree view of the throw to first. If there’s a play at second and an umpire just stands behind plate, he won’t be able to make a good call, but if an umpire moves out in front of plate, it will put him in a position to make a better one. Marshall has taught young umpires how to refine their game calling for ten years and he currently teaches MCBA umpires. He teaches the various rules for high school and how to
position yourself to make the right call. Umpires even have to move their heads in a specific way, which Marshall compares to a speed camera, with your head immobile like a camera box, and your eyes tracking the ball like the lens of a camera. “I tell younger umpires to be definitive. When you make a call, stick with the call,” Marshall said. “Also, you’ve got to hustle. That’s the number one thing I tell my young umpires, you have to move.” Boys baseball coach Joe Cassidy coaches an MCBA team and has Marshall in a game once or twice a year. Cassidy respects Marshall’s ability as an umpire, remarking that his calls are very consistent, he’s honest, his strike zone doesn’t fluctuate during a game, a flaw Cassidy sees with less experienced umpires. On close calls he’s always open to discussing a call with a coach. Umpiring is a mental game, Marshall said—many umpires do second-guess themselves and certain calls can stay on an umpire’s mind for a while. “You’ll go out, you’ll make the call, and three or four innings later you’ll go to your partner and say, ‘what did you think about that call?’ because you wonder about it,” Marshall said. “You have to try and forget when you make the call, but you’ll go back home, and
you’ll be sitting there going, man did I get that right or not?” The most difficult part of umpiring is the physical drain, Marshall said. Each game, umpires watch 400-500 pitches go by, each time standing up to make the call then squatting back down to get in position, in addition to running to make calls. Cassidy said that knowing Marshall from Whitman makes having him umpire games more fun. “I usually tease him at the first call of the game and shout something like ‘oh you’ve got to be kidding me!’ but he knows I’m being sarcastic,” Cassidy said. Boys baseball team player Dan Duffy also plays on an MCBA team that Marshall has umpired for. He said that he can be more conversational with Marshall than other umpires because he knows him from school, and at school he’s talked to Marshall about games they’ve seen each other and he can joke about tight calls Marshall made. Marshall said that although he likes his job with security, umpiring is what he’s always loved. “Umpire’s my passion, this place is my job,” he said. “I get paid to umpire, but I don’t feel like it’s a job. It’s what I like to do for fun and it’s a stress reliever.”
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march 7, 2013
Q&A
by Nathaniel Sherman Congressman Waxman represents California’s 33rd Congressional District, which covers parts of Los Angeles including Santa Monica, Malibu, El Segundo, Westwood, and Marina Del Ray. Since 2011 Waxman has served as a ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1974. Recently, Waxman and other House Democrats formed the Safe Climate Caucus, an organization committed to bringing climate change to Congress’s attention. The Black & White: What prompted you to form the Safe Climate Caucus? Henry Waxman: Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. President Obama has said that we must respond to climate change because to do otherwise would “betray our children and future generations.” He has called on Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change. Unfortunately, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives refuses to acknowledge that climate change is occurring. We formed the Safe Climate Caucus to end the silence in the House of Representatives about the dangers of climate change. Although the Republicans control what hearings are held and what bills are considered, we won’t sit quietly by while those who run the House deny the science and ignore the greatest challenge we face. B&W: What recent environmental trends are most worrying to you? HW: The extreme weather events caused by climate change are a great concern. The impacts are already beginning. The seas are rising faster than expected; the Arctic is melting faster; and the weather is growing more extreme. The bad weather we had last year was almost biblical in its intensity. These extreme weather events have all come at a huge cost, both to our economy and our environment. We cannot afford to wait to take action. The events we have experienced to date are mild compared to what we can expect in the future. B&W: Given the polarized nature of Congress, what degree of success do you anticipate having? HW: The current Republican position is untenable and increasingly so. They are out of
photo courtesy HENRY WAXMAN
California congressman Henry Waxman speaks about the battle for green reforms on Capital Hill, challenges yet to be faced
step with science—a position that is hard to sustain. Increasingly, they are out of step with public opinion. As the economy improves, public support for action on climate is going to build. The Republicans are out of touch with business leaders that are looking for long term certainty. This isolation will grow more stark as the Obama administration starts to act. Because of these forces—the science, public opinion, business pressure, and the administration—pressure will grow on the Republicans to change course on climate. We haven’t seen what direction this will take, but I am certain there will be a shift. I am hopeful that the Safe Climate Caucus will play an important role in raising awareness of the issues and drive Congress to act. B&W: How will you work around opposition
to climate change and environmental legislation? HW: Climate change should not be a partisan problem. The challenge ahead of us goes beyond party ideology, geographic boundaries, and district lines. Harm from climate impacts, such as extreme weather and sea level rise, affects Democrats and Republicans alike. I think members of Congress will have to act as they realize they are out of step with the American people. B&W: What is the caucus’s first priority in the upcoming months? HW: The caucus is committed to communicating about climate change every day on the House Floor. Our main priority is to ensure that members of the House hear about the risks and effects of climate change and are spurred to act to change these dangerous trends. B&W: Are you encouraged with what you have seen in the caucus’s early stages? HW: I have been incredibly impressed by the enthusiasm of our members and their passion for communicating to their colleagues, constituents, and the country about climate change. We are looking forward to continuing our efforts on the House floor, and hope other members will join us in communicating about climate change. B&W: What reforms do you think will be the toughest sell in Congress? HW: I’m hopeful that the President’s recent focus on climate change will mean Congress is ready to act. I know I am open to any ideas. Reform will not be easy, but it is necessary. B&W: What are some examples of reform do you plan to pursue? HW: For now, we’re focused on communicating about climate change and collecting ideas for action. I’m encouraged by initiatives in both the House and Senate to act on climate change, and I want to work with leaders on these issues in Congress to make sure we’re taking the best approach moving forward. B&W: What role do you think the federal government should play in environmental reform? HW: It is important that the federal government set the standards for environmental reform, to spur action from all the states. But I am always encouraged by individual states that choose to go above and beyond.
may 3, 2013
sports
photo couresy CHARLES HEMSLEY
A select few students enjoy participating in competitive sports in high school, and even fewer decide to make the jump to divisional athletics in college. Ex-Whitman athletes Charles Hemsley and Anna Ryba provide some insight into what it means to be a college athlete.
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Greetings. For those of you who don’t know me or forgot my existence as soon as I left you I’m Anna Ryba, Williams College freshman, sometimes runner, and apparent college athlete. I was always uneasy around that last term. It has power. It can conjure such admiration and such disparagement. I was vaguely terrified that Williams chose me because I can run. But then I got here. I ran cross country, I got swamped in work, I realized my love for cottage cheese and kale (I’m sure all dining halls have their own invariant delicacies). Life took over, and the idea of the college athlete faded into the background. Apart from trading suburban pavement for dirt roads with a constant view of the mountains, running remained what it has always been for me. Then I got injured, and I stopped running. All winter. The distinction of college athlete seems even more ridiculous now, as I’m just getting back to moderate running. But I think I may have found the difference between college and high school. Apart from a special hatred for the smell of our stationary bike gym I’m none the worse for wear. In high school, injuries basically destroyed my life because running was, well, my life. It doesn’t seem to be that way anymore. I guess that’s what being a college athlete has meant so far, and it’s much different from the idea that scared me for so long. Anna Ryba Runner for Williams College
I know that it is all too easy to get swept away by dramatic coaches demanding a decision, or baiting you with the specter of a full recruiting roster – never forget that they’re salesmen whose job is, first and foremost, to build a team. Playing a D1 sport is a job. For up to 40 hours a week – we routinely hit a little over 30 – your time will be governed by your coach, as will your daily schedule. I can only speak for Brown, but I would be lying if I said that this does not limit their choice of majors and hurt their GPAs. You do, however, have a ready-made group of friends with whom you will become ever closer, and until you experience it, it’s hard to imagine. For many athletes, their teammates become by far the most defining feature of Brown, and without them Brown would become unimaginably dimmer. I cannot urge you enough to stop for a moment before you commit anywhere and to imagine yourself at each school and being part of each team before you commit yourself to any one school. In your final decision, when deciding between the last few schools, go to the one that wants you more – they’ll appreciate you more than the others. Charles Hemsley Rower for Brown University
photo couresy ANNA RYBA
Hemsley, far left, enjoys a moment of downtime with his teamates on the Brown University crew team. His decision to play a D1 sport has governed his time in college.
Anna Ryba, far right, celebrates an award with college teammates. Since becoming a college athlete, she has new perspective on running’s place in her life.
Patrick Hisle signs on with the Terps to play D-I
photo courtesy PATRICK HISLE
by Michael Greenwood
Senior Patrick Hisle makes a play in the field. Hisle has led the baseball team to a 12-2 record going into Tuesday’s senior night game against Northwest.
Whitman shortstop Patrick Hisle has loved playing baseball since he was two years old, and this fall he’ll take a swing at playing Division I college ball for the University of Maryland. Hisle committed to play for the University of Maryland baseball team Feb. 24, putting an end to a year and a half long search for a Division I team. Hisle’s recruitment was about being recognized by coaches. Hisle said the collegiate baseball recruitment process is extremely competitive, and the field is so large that his communication with coaches was almost as important as his skill. Hisle said he worked hard to be able to play at a high level, but was still surprised at the competitiveness of the selection process. “[My expectations] shifted a lot,” Hisle said. “It was about June when I knew I really wanted to go D-1, and I really started dedicating myself. I flipped the switch and everything started to click for me.” When he saw the competition he was up against, Hisle made the decision to work harder than all the other recruits. His jump in play since his sophomore and junior year has been remarkable, Hisle said. “As soon as he got to varsity as a junior you could see he was working to get to college,” former head coach Joe Cassidy said. “He’s earned everything he’s gotten. He’s one of those kids who won’t let someone dismiss him just because he’s 5’8”. Hisle said he committed himself to a weight routine, spent as much time as he could at the gym
and started a speed training routine. Since making these changes, Hisle hits with more power, throws faster, runs faster and can hit farther. The amount of time Hisle committed to baseball increased to a point where baseball was the total focus of his life outside of school and he played 1825 hours a week. “Most of it was self-motivated,” Hisle said. “It all came from within because I really wanted to get there.” Hisle got into the process somewhat late, so coaches didn’t get into contact with him until later, which added even more stress. “There’s a lot of waiting,” Hisle said. “I didn’t get my first recruiting calls until October. A lot of my friends I played with in the showcase events were already committing or were committed already and I knew I was as good or better than most of them. And it was just frustrating because I was doing everything I could, but I still wasn’t getting phone calls.” Hisle said that he thinks he has a lot of potential for his baseball future, but that he’s focused on the present and improving his game. “I’m just going to keep working on it every day because I want to play baseball for as long as possible at the highest level that I can,” Hisle said. “This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was two years old. Right now I’m just going to take it one day at a time and do something each day to get better than I was the last day.”