NEWS
Q&A
SPORTS FEATURE
Students react to President Trump’s inaguration PAGE 2
Author Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton” PAGE 7
Corollary Sports: Bocce, Handball and Softball incorporate all students PAGE 15
CROSSWORD
‘Name a more iconic duo’ PAGE 12
photo by ANDIE SILVERMAN
Walt Whitman High School
7100 Whittier Boulevard Bethesda, MD 20817
Friday, February 3, 2017
Volume 55 Issue 4
The Women’s March
A
by JENNIE YU
woman in a black knee-length coat stood triumphantly on top of an upended trash can on the National Mall. Facing the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounded by a sea of people, she raised her fist and roared, “Show me what democracy looks like!”
The reply was loud, proud and instantaneous: “This is what democracy looks like!” On Jan. 21, the day following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, democracy looked like 1.2 million people of different ages, races and genders gathered in the nation’s capital to promote human, and specifically women’s, rights. The idea for the Women’s March on Washington began when Teresa Shook,
a retired attorney living in Hawaii, took to social media to express her discontent about the election and suggested a march in Washington D.C. The night of President Trump’s election, she posted the idea on Facebook; when she woke up the next morning, her post had over 10,000 responses, according to an article published Jan. 3 by the Washington Post. The march’s national organizing committee, based in D.C., started out with one person and quickly grew, said Tiffany Russo Audas, a Whitman parent who played a large role in coordinating marchers from across the state as part of the Maryland committee. “It’s become a very rich, diverse group of women from all different walks of life,” Russo Audas said before the march. “They’re coming together to coordinate efforts within their individual states as well, such as organizing travel or lodg-
ing for their sisters marching.” Protesters descended upon D.C. in droves, renting 1,200 charter buses and logging just over one million Metro trips, according to an article published Jan. 22 by the Washington Post. Marchers also made up a majority of some D.C.-bound flights, according to an article published by USA Today on Jan. 20. People carried signs bearing slogans ranging from, “if my uterus fired bullets, the GOP would fund it,” to “we are the granddaughters of the witches you were unable to burn.” Throughout the day, crowds cheered as full Metro cars pulled up to packed platforms, women took photos of each other’s signs and strangers from across the country exchanged travel stories. There didn’t seem to be an indication of anger or malicious intent as crowds streamed towards the rally point at the
Photos by SOPHIA KNAPPERTZ
An estimated 1.2 million people participated in the Women’s March on Washington Jan. 21.
intersection of 3rd Street and Independence Avenue; instead, it was the steely resolve of a united nation: hundreds of thousands of people coming together in one place, at one time, for one cause.
Continued on page 7
Driving high: students speak out by SAM SHIFFMAN It’s 11:30 p.m. Students emerge from the darkness of the Whitman parking lot and head toward their car. Less than an hour ago, everyone in the car, including the driver, took several hits from a bong. Despite their daze, the kids pile into the car, and the driver pulls out into the neighborhood. This isn’t an uncommon tale for Whitman students. Students admit to driving while high on marijuana— and a lot of them said they believe it poses almost no risk. “I didn’t really notice much of a difference,” a senior
said. “I was still able to concentrate, and I didn’t really notice it until I got home that I was that high.” Marijuana’s hallucinogenic effects come from Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which can distort a person’s mind and view of reality. According to the National Institutes of Health, THC impairs body movement, diminishes senses, alters perception and decreases reaction times—effects that directly hinder one’s driving abilities. While multiple studies have concluded that driving after smoking marijuana isn’t nearly as dangerous as drinking alcohol and driving, researchers say it still poses a risk.
“In some ways, drivers under the influence of cannabis are similar to distracted drivers in that they recognize that they are not giving the task of driving their full attention, so they have a tendency to slow down, react slower and be more cautious with the traffic around them,” said Gary Milavetz, a professor of medicine at the University of Iowa who studied the effects of marijuana and driving. “We saw drivers under the influence of cannabis exhibit slower driving and weaving more within the lane than the same drivers not under the influence of cannabis.”
Continued on page 10