Vol. 53 » Issue 2

volume 53, Issue 2 October 16, 2014

Walt whitman High school

7100 whittier boulevard

Bethesda, maryland 20817

theblackandwhite.net

New drills for severe weather, suspicious activity

photo by KATE CURRIE

MCPS adds new evacuation drills for overall preparedness

Whitman Drumline, left, takes on the Damascus Hornets, right, in a friendly battle after the homecoming game Oct. 10. The spirited competition kept the Whitmaniacs cheering after suffering a 28-6 defeat.

Junior Val Katsman aspires to make U.S. national figure skating team in partner dance

By Arya Hodjat When you think of a high school sports star, images come to mind of a hulking football linebacker or a lanky basketball forward- not a graceful figure skater.

Junior Val Katsman is currently training for a USA national figure skating team audition, and ultimately, for a chance at making the 2022 Winter Olympics. Katsman moved to Bethesda from Colorado Springs this summer in order to practice with his skating partner and to have access to better coaching, he said.

Katsman’s passion for the sport began when he was three years old.

He started out skating solo freestyle events under the guidance of his mother, a former amateur skater.

“Originally, it was just kind of my mom pushing me to do it,” Katsman said. “I really liked it though and now I’m doing it because I want to.”

However, Katsman’s road to success wasn’t all smooth. When he was nine years old, he broke his leg while practicing a jump and landing incorrectly.

“I was worried that I may never be able to skate again,” Katsman said.

It took Katsman ten months to return to active competition, he said. After his return, he switched from freestyle to partner dance, a form of ice skating comparable to ballroom dancing. Katsman said his decision to change events was not because of his injury, but rather his desire to skate with a partner.

“It was very strange at first because I was used to skating alone,” Katsman said. “It felt like the other person was always in my space.”

Katsman improved significantly after the switch. He and his partner won four medals at the regional level and placed second at the U.S. National Championships in 2013.

However, when personal issues arose between Katsman’s coach and his original partner, Katsman began to look for a new match, he said.

As Katsman searched for partners online, 11-year-old Bethesda native Coco Becker’s small stature and dancing style caught his eye. A month after they connected, Katsman decided to move to Bethesda so that he and Becker could practice regularly.

The four-year age gap between himself and Becker has been a challenge for Katsman.

“All my previous partners have been closer in age to me so this is definitely a different experience,” Katsman said.

“It can be difficult to find the middle ground of talking to a little kid and a teenager.”

Katsman and Becker practice four days a week for two to three hours a day at the Rockville and Wheaton ice rinks. At an average practice, they work on choreography and on interpreting the music they dance to, which Katsman said is his biggest weakness as a skater.

While they occasionally

I n s i d eSchool L oshooting ok

Wood Acres undergoes another renovation Page 3

miss school for tournaments, both have said that their skating careers hasn’t impacted their academics.

“It gets stressful sometimes, but we manage,” Becker said.

Despite Katsman’s high aspirations, he doesn’t allow pressure to crush his love for skating, he said.

“What I’m doing feels great,” Katsman said. “There aren’t many young people who get the opportunity to achieve such big things like I have.”

By Sarina Hanfling This year, MCPS is implementing drills for severe weather events, earthquakes and threats that require evacuation or re-entering the building quickly.

Students and staff have never needed to evacuate because of suspicious activity, but it’s important to be prepared just in case, principal Alan Goodwin said.

He’s confident that the students will take the drills seriously.

“The thing about doing drills in this school that’s refreshing is that the kids cooperate,” he said. “They know we have to do them.”

MCPS didn’t add the evacuation drill for any particular reason, said MCPS security supervisor Douglas Steel.

“It’s not just from one event,” Steel said. “It’s a global approach to make us more prepared.”

The evacuation and reverse evacuation drills, in which students re-enter the building as a result of an outdoor threat, will either take place this month or later this semester. Security team leader Cherisse Milliner sent teachers a Powerpoint last week on how to manage their classrooms during the drills, but they will not receive formal training.

Students need to move 300 feet away from the building during an evacuation, compared to 50 feet during a fire. For the evacuation drill, teachers will bring their classes to the far side of the parking lot.

But if a real emergency were to occur, students would have to walk to the stadium field or be transported to Pyle or Landon, Milliner said.

Administration will run the evacuation, reverse evacuation and fire drills consecutively to save class time, Milliner said.

Severe weather drills are necessary in the event of a tornado or a hurricane. During weather drills, teachers will lead their classes to designated windowless areas. These places, which include the locker rooms, the hallway near the cafeteria and the wrestling room, are labeled with “Tornado Shelter” signs.

Milliner is not yet sure how all students and teachers will make it to these locations in an orderly fashion, but is confident that the drills will run smoothly, she said.

“We’re going to have to practice and see,” she said. “We will have to figure out if we can assess the problems and how to fix them.”

Although tornadoes don’t hit the Maryland area often, drills will increase overall preparedness.

“Is there going to be a tornado in Bethesda? That’s not as likely as in Kansas, but you just have to be on the forefront trying to figure things out,” Goodwin said.

Unlike the evacuation and reverse evacuation, MCPS added the mandatory earthquake drill as a direct result from the 5.8 earthquake in 2011, Steel said.

In an earthquake drill, students will stay in their classrooms and take cover under their desks in the fetal position.

“It’s a simple drop, cover and hold drill,” Milliner said.

If an earthquake strikes while students are outside, they will have to move away from the school building and from any objects that could possibly fall on them, Milliner said.

Administration hopes the new drills will make students feel safer about emergency preparedness in the building.

“I feel safer that we’re practicing [the drills],” freshman Caleigh Stenger said. “If something were to happen, I would know what to do.”

See related article on page 6

photo courtesy VAL KATSMAN

preparedness not up to par

Guide to editing college essays

David Dobkin (‘87) directs new film “The Judge”

Freshman skimboards to two national championships

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2

Briefs

Maryland Breakfast Challenge takes off

This year 18 school districts kicked off the Maryland Breakfast Challenge, a program created by the No Kid Hungry Campaign to promote healthy breakfast habits among elementary, middle and high school students.

Schools that enter the contest will work to encourage students to eat more school-provided breakfasts. There will be one first place winner in each district and a grand champion for all of Maryland.

Schools can earn prizes including celebrity visits, professional cooking lessons and financial grants. If breakfast participation rises to 70 percent of students, Maryland will receive almost 10 million dollars in federal grants and be able to serve an additional 38,000 students a free or reduced-price breakfast.

“We know breakfast helps students perform better in school,” contest spokesperson Matt Brown said. “For example, students who are getting a school breakfast every day score 17.5 percent higher on math tests. These effects add up and make it 20 percent more likely that a student who is getting breakfast will graduate from high school.”

While Maryland has made considerable progress on providing school breakfasts, only 57 percent of students who receive free or reduced-price lunches eat a nutritious breakfast, Brown said.

“One in five kids deal with hunger,” Brown said. “Connecting more students with a healthy breakfast each day makes a quick difference.”

Whooping cough infects MCPS staff and students

Whooping cough swept across MCPS this fall, infecting 27 students and two MCPS staff members.

Cases have been reported at WJ and Wootton, but none have been reported at Whitman.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an extremely contagious respiratory disease that inflicts its victims with bouts of severe and rapid coughing. It can be spread through close contact or by coughing or sneezing, according to the CDC website.

MCPS requires students to be vaccinated for pertussis before they enter kindergarten, but the vaccine is often unsuccessful. All of the students and staff members who contracted the illness were vaccinated, Montgomery County Health and Human Services spokeswoman Mary Anderson said.

Starting this year, there is a new mandatory booster vaccination against pertussis for students entering seventh grade, Anderson said.

Some of this year’s reported cases have been traced back to Capital Camps in Pennsylvania, a popular summer camp among MCPS students.

“Afterwards, I learned one of my friends from my program had it,” said junior Maddie Fick, who attended Capital Camps this summer. “He was coughing a lot but he didn’t think much of it. We all thought it was a cold or something simple.”

There has been a 30 percent increase in pertussis cases nationwide this year, according to the CDC website.

Sophomore starts charity walk for Children’s Hospital

OCTOBER 16, 2014

Political controversy erupts over new APUSH curriculum

by William Arnesen and Trevor Lystad “I think most people when they finish that course, they’d be ready to sign up for ISIS.” Rising Republican star Ben Carson isn’t talking about a terrorism class. He’s talking about AP US History.

Recent changes to the APUSH curriculum have sparked a political firestorm in some conservative circles, who charge that the new curriculum highlights America’s flaws and covers up its successes.

Apparently, insufficient patriotism in history classes breeds anti-Americanism and, according to one prominent politician prone to hyperbole, ISIS recruitment, they allege Nationwide, political influence in curricula has become a growing issue. Conservative or liberal, school material is criticized for leaning too far in one direction because of political oversight of education.

“As much as people like to think school curricula are a reflection of professional thinking, education is always political,” said University of Maryland education professor Ethan Hutt. “There’s never a moment when curriculum was not a product of the political process.”

The controversy reached a fever pitch in Jefferson County, Colorado, where school board leaders have removed from the APUSH curriculum material they find to be antiAmerican.

Julie Williams, member of the Jefferson County school board, wrote for a committee formed to examine the changes that “materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder [or] social strife.”

Ironically, the removal of material has caused just that. The changes have inflamed the student body and the staff, prompting walk-outs, protests and nationwide media coverage of the ongoing conflict.

D. Miles Pimentel, a Whitman

parent who works at a Colorado college, criticized the board’s intervention.

“It’s unfortunate when a school board gets involved at a curriculum level,” he said. “I believe that that’s a pretty blatant form of censorship.”

“Our biology teacher in ninth grade was specifically forbidden from teaching us about human evolution” -Chase Brady, junior at Ardrey Kell H.S. in North Carolina But the perennial clash over values in education extends far beyond the scraggly foothills of the mighty Rockies and the sheen of history textbook pages.

In Texas, state school board members and watchdog groups have come to loggerheads over the content of social studies textbooks, which interest groups like the Texas Freedom Network allege overstate the influence of Judeo-Christianity in America’s political development and gloss over the legacy of slavery and segregation in the South.

Similar constraints on material, especially in history and science classes, have been employed in some North Carolina public schools.

“There’s never a moment when curriculum was not a product of the political process.”

-Ethan Hutt, UMD education professor “Our biology teacher in ninth grade was specifically forbidden from teaching us about human evolution,” said Chase Brady, a junior from Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte. “There’s also definitely

some pro-American bias in our history classes.”

Brady said that the textbook and teacher papered over topics like Native American massacres that could make the U.S. look bad.

We heard similar stories from a student in Talbott, Tennessee, a sleepy town deep in the Appalachians.

“In history, things like the Trail of Tears and Vietnam have been censored,” said sophomore Ross Walker. “The part that is controversial is glossed over.”

Even in Maryland, the culture clash has percolated to the surface, culminating in spats over a liberal slant in textbooks in Frederick and Wicomico County Public Schools.

In MCPS, the situation appears to be different. World history teacher Wendy Eagan said that politics hasn’t interfered with AP curriculums in Maryland.

“In my experience in Montgomery County, there’s never been any political issue with the curriculum set by the College Board , or with the material I teach in my classroom,” Eagan said.

Part of the explanation may come from the different roles each level of government plays in reviewing the curriculum.

The state just sets “a framework that has basic ideas or concepts,” Maryland social studies curriculum developer Donna Olszewski said.

The county is responsible for reviewing “the books using guidelines to ensure the materials do not include misinformation, issues, reflect all cultures, [and] events are treated fairly,” said Tara Kelly, MCPS social studies content specialist.

“The way that our standards are written provides a lot of flexibility,” Maryland social studies curriculum specialist Graham Long said. “This grassroots approach helps quell some of the curriculum controversy.”

Whittier Woods to expand with new wing PTSA to review three possible plans for 2017 renovation

By Jacob Blitz In response to growing class sizes, county planners are preparing for a major addition to Whittier Woods. There are three options for the design and location of the addition.

The renovation likely won’t take place for another six to seven years, PTSA President Olivia Lai said in an email. This is because the county can’t fund the addition before fiscal year 2017, county planner Deborah Szyfer said.

Representatives from JK Architects and Associates, Inc. presented three options for the new segment of the building at public planning meetings Sept. 23 and Oct. 6.

The addition contains 18 new classrooms—12 to ease the strain on the main building and six to replace classrooms that will be demolished in the renovation. During construction some classes will be held in portables on the outdoor basketball courts to accommodate displaced students.

The addition will feature specialty classrooms, including two science labs and two engineering rooms. An arts suite will look out over the outdoor space that is currently the nursery school playground, and a student services office will host school psychologists and personnel workers who serve multiple high schools, Szyfer said.

MCPS’s limited resources and competition for funding are the project’s largest obstacles.

Whitman is one of over a dozen schools currently planning expansion, and schools with the least need will be put on hold, Szyfer said.

Architects and county officials will decide on a final concept to present to the superintendent after the PTSA views the three options at a meeting Oct. 21.

Graphic by Mikaela Fishman

This November, students will have the opportunity to “walk for those who can’t” in the six-hour Walk Away Cancer walk-a-thon, created by sophomore Jaiwen Hsu. Nov 6 from 3 PM to 9 PM, teams of Whitman students will walk the track. One person from each team must be walking at all times. All proceeds and donations will go to Children’s National Medical Center to support childhood cancer.

At age 11, Hsu was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and surgery to replace his left femur at Children’s Hospital.

“Children’s became my second home as the entire staff became family,” Hsu said. “Ever since, I have been looking for ways to give back to the hospital.”

Hsu started the Walk Away Cancer event in order to raise awareness for something close and personal to him, he said.

“I am hoping that Walk Away Cancer will reach the students, not just as another event, but as an opportunity to bring the community under one cause,” Hsu said. “I am also hoping for the entire student body and community to come out and support the children who are not as fortunate as we are.”

NEWS

News

october 16, 2014

3

Whitman Constitution: A powerful but overlooked document

graphic by SONIA CHEN

by Trevor Lystad You’re elected fourth period delegate, perhaps just because you want to get out of class or were the only kid interested enough to participate. Chances are, you don’t think that your job entails more than visiting the cafeteria once a month and listening to Whitman news.

In reality, you have more power than you might think.

Whitman has a constitution that sets guidelines for everything from SGA elections to club funding procedures. Most students don’t know about the Constitution, or the influence it could have. The last two SGA advisors, Sheryl Freedman and current Damascus principal Jenn Webster, don’t even know who wrote the Constitution or when they wrote it.

Article VI, Section C, for example, explains the process for impeachment and removal of office for any SGA member, from a fourth period delegate to the SGA President. An SGA or staff member must present a case for impeachment, and then the general assembly of fourth period delegates votes to convict or acquit the impeached officer. A two-thirds vote removes the SGA member from their position. If the president is impeached, the vice president assumes the position, but impeachment of any other member prompts another election for the successor.

Junior Madison Gestiehr, a fourth period delegate, was unaware of how much power the delegates hold, and was shocked that the general assembly can impeach a member of the SGA without the consensus of the rest of the student body, she said.

Rare as these circumstances may seem, SGA members have been impeached in the past. In 2001, the SGA president was impeached after a teacher caught him cheating on a history exam. The fourth period delegates acquitted him on a 51-19 vote, leaving him in office.

The Constitution does allow amend-

ments, although it specifies that amendment requests must come from the Constitution Revision Committee. SGA advisor Sheryl Freedman said she assumed the committee would be comprised of students in the leadership class, but was unsure about its specific membership requirements.

The Constitution has been amended a few times, most recently in March of 2012, when new regulations were added for club funding. The executive board (president, vice president, secretaries, and treasurer) introduced the Amendment, and the Constitution Revision Committee was never involved.

Despite the constitution’s potentially important rules and regulations, few people seem to know much about it, and fewer still have a copy. The constitution remains relatively behind-the-scenes, Freedman said.

On my hunt for a copy of the constitution, I discovered that Freedman is the only staff member who has a copy on hand. An assistant principal didn’t have it, while a main office secretary, a librarian and numerous students had never even heard of it.

Last year, sophomores Stefan Greenberg and Josh Feder tried to make copies of the Constitution available to everyone, but they gave up when they couldn’t even find a copy themselves. The Constitution is available if the right person (Freedman) is asked, but the pair was hoping to make it easier to find.

“We went to the main office and asked for a copy, but they were unable to provide us with one,” Greenberg said.

In the future, the role of the Constitution will remain the same, Freedman said.

It’ll stay potentially powerful, but relatively hidden away from most of Whitman’s population.

If you have any information on who wrote the Constitution or when it was written, contact The Black & White at blackandwhitevol53@ gmail.com

Wood Acres renovation to begin in January, will add 8 classrooms

By Margot Dionne In 2001, Wood Acres Elementary School was completely rebuilt to accommodate growing student enrollments. Just one year after reopening, Wood Acres outgrew its brand-new 4.78-acre school.

This January, Wood Acres will add eight additional classrooms to its relatively new building because of overcrowding. Students and teachers will be relocated to the Radnor Center after winter break and will remain there until June 2016, according to the Wood Acres PTA website.

The current classroom capacity is 550 students, but almost 800 are enrolled. The school added seven portables—some of which are built on the playground and infringe on recess space—to accommodate for the 250 extra students.

“We’re most excited that we will no longer have to use portables,” assistant principal Travis Wiebe said.

Overcrowding has caused problems inside the building, too. One fifth grade class is held in the music room, so the music teachers float from classroom to classroom on carts, said third grade teacher Terese Noenickx.

Blueprints of the new plans also include a bigger cafeteria, more storage space, a courtyard, student assistant room, staff offices and an instrumental music room.

There will also be more rooms for students with specific needs like special education and speech therapy, Wiebe said.

The PTA is largely responsible for the new renovations. Parents campaigned to the Board of Education, arguing that the addition is a necessity.

Parents at other elementary schools also advocated for Wood Acres to get the renovation because they understand the need for space. Everyone is excited to have more room, PTA president Jason Sartori said.

While the renovation will be helpful in the long term, staff and students worry first about adjusting to the temporary school. The Radnor Center is much smaller than Wood Acres, and can only hold all the students if they use at least 20 portables.

“No one is enthused about going to Radnor,” Sartori said.

In addition, all students have to be bussed to the holding school, because it is over a mile from each

Wood Acres neighborhood. The transportation staff is working to coordinate the additional buses. Noenickx speculated that they would need about 18 busses to transport students to and from school.

The media center staff will have to transport library books to Radnor, but may not be able to take all 10,000.

“I will talk to teachers to make sure we have the books necessary for instruction,” media specialist Jennifer Lauchlan said.

Teachers have one day at the beginning of winter break to pack their current classrooms and one day at the end to unpack their new ones at Radnor. Because they will be in Radnor for 18 months, teachers will need to pack everything they need for a full school year.

This will be the last semester in the Wood Acres building for current fourth and fifth graders who will graduate elementary school at Radnor.

“For my fifth grader,” Sartori said, “there’s a little disappointment that she won’t be able to finish her year at Wood Acres.”

Stage repaired after water damage from ‘Lord of the Flies’

by Julia Gilman After years of wear and tear, the stage in the auditorium is undergoing a long-awaited renovation, forcing the cast and crew of this year’s fall musical, “Catch Me If You Can,” to adjust their preparations.

“We're really overdue,” technical director Harry Cash said. “Over the years it had been getting progressively worse and last season pushed it over the edge.”

Rushing water on stage during the Lord of the Flies production last spring worsened the stage’s already depreciating condition, but minor repairs like the department has made in recent years are no longer sufficient.

“The old stage was just really warped, and then ‘Lord of the Flies,’ with the water and the stomping, put a nail in its coffin,” assistant producer Olivia Blanchard said. “It needed to be done."

Whitman Drama worked with ad-

ministration to have Weyer’s Floor Service take away the old stage and replace it.

“The performance might be marginally enhanced by having a better stage to work on,” Cash said. “But overall it's going to be just easier to work on for the actors.”

“Over the years it had been getting progressively worse and last season pushed it over the edge.”

-technical director Harry Cash Weyer’s removed the old, warped wood, replaced it, sanded it and finally painted it black.

While both the cast and crew are excited for the improvement, renovations have disrupted preparations for Catch

Me If You Can. Rehearsals have been relocated to the WAUD and the band room, creating challengers for choreography and blocking.

"There's less space [in the WAUD], so we have to condense all the dancers, but it really isn't that bad,” actor Sebi SolaSole said. “There's enough space for everyone, everything's just crunched.”

Tech crew also had to find new spaces to work, so they started building the set at a member’s house, but some preparations, like light-hanging, cannot take place outside of the auditorium and have been postponed until they are permitted back on stage in mid-October, Cash said.

“It's been pretty fun to figure out ways to stick to our schedule with the construction,” lighting director Julia Sienkiewicz said. “Finding new and different ways of doing things is what the tech side of this is all about to me.”

Cash said preparations for the pro-

ductions are still on track to be ready by opening night, Nov. 20.

The new stage will also diminish the risk of injuries, which have resulted from stage issues in the past.

“I've always been concerned if the stage isn't level [that] people are going to be tripping,” stage manager Joelle Besch said. “You can't have dancers working on a stage that's uneven or where there's wood coming up.”

Despite any inconveniences, the cast and crew said the new stage will be worth it.

“I appreciate that the school decided to upgrade when it did because it adds so much to this production and future productions,” Sienkiewicz said. “A-well maintained auditorium equals a happy cast, happy tech, and a happy audience.”

4

News

october 16, 2014

Pamela Harris (‘80) discusses her promotion to Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Nominated by Obama, Harris was confirmed by the Senate July 28

B&W: Why did you go into law?

Did you know you wanted to become a judge?

Pamela Harris: My mom went to law school while I was at Whitman, and I always say that my mother was my inspiration. The dedication, integrity and passion she brought to practicing law was really an inspiration for me. I have three younger siblings and all of them became lawyers. I think it’s more than a coincidence; my mother was a very good role model. In terms of becoming a judge, it was not something I dreamed of when I was starting out as a lawyer.

B&W: What made you want to become a judge?

PH: I practiced appellate law for a long time, and I admired the judges that heard my cases and the way they came to cases with an open mind.

Understanding how important it was to my clients that judges did the work well, came to cases with an open mind and wrote careful and reasoned opinions made me realize how important the job of a judge was and how I might enjoy doing it.

B&W: What was your path to becoming a judge?

PH: I just did what was important to me and what was rewarding to me in my career, and the judgeship kind of just came. I wish I could tell students, “here are the five things you should do,” but I really don’t think it works that way.

I think if people want to be judges, they should go out, find really satisfying and rewarding work in the legal career and cross their fingers.

“I just did what was important to me and what was rewarding to me in my career, and the judgeship kind of just came.”

-Judge Pamela Harris B&W: What is unique about the Fourth Circuit?

PH: I’ve only been here a few months, but I’m already finding that the Fourth Circuit is an extremely collaborative group of judges. They work really well together, enjoy each other’s company and are open to learning from each other. I know that the Fourth Circuit prides itself on doing really good work and doing it quickly.

B&W: What was the nomination process like for you?

PH: It’s a very rigorous process.

People take a close look at your entire professional background, which I think is appropriate. It’s a lifetime tenure job, so people want to be careful about who is nominated and who is confirmed.

It’s a lot of work pulling together all the information about everything you’ve done; I had a very long and varied career, which meant I had a lot of cases I had litigated and a lot of public statements I had made.

B&W: Is there a memorable moment from the process that stands out to you?

PH: One thing that stands out for me happened before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both of my senators, Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin, attended the hearing and introduced me to the committee, and they made such lovely statements. They talked about my background, my family, they talked about my mother, who obviously had a big influence on me, and all of that was extremely meaningful to me.

B&W: Have you encountered anything unexpected since you started as a judge?

PH: I clerked [for a judge] in D.C., and all the judges in D.C. are in one building so they see each other every day and they hear cases steadily rather than all at one time.

In the Fourth Circuit, because it is spread across many states, the judges don’t see each other every day, but when

they come to Richmond for a week they spend a lot of time together. I found it really enjoyable and it was nice way to get to know my new colleagues quickly.

B&W: What experiences did you have at Whitman that inspired your future career?

PH: I had wonderful history and government teachers when I was at Whitman. They all really helped me develop an early interest and passion for American government and American history. I think all of that fed into my interest in law and particularly constitutional law.

photo courtesy PAMELA HARRIS

By Julia Gilman This past July, the Senate confirmed Whitman alum Pamela Harris (‘80) to serve as a judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the circuit that includes Maryland.

The Black & White talked to Harris about her career leading up to her new position.

Judge Pamela Harris was appointed to the Fourth Circuit on July 28, 2014. She oversees the Maryland district for the court.

october 16, 2014

5

opinion

Summative Sadness Formative-summative distinction has to go

An ode to ambivalence

By Noah Franklin I’d like to begin with a word: moist. I’m sorry. I know I just made you read that in your head. It’s painfully disgusting. It’s a word dripping in toxic agony. It was probably the baby devil’s first utterance.

But remember back in sentence number two when I said I was sorry? Yeah, I’m not. Get over it.

I’m going to wage a war against opinions. Now, I know this is a strange thing to write in a piece that could very accurately be described as an opinion column. But I don’t just write about anything that pops into my head. I don’t have an opinion about everything.

Take m**** for example.

I have trouble wrapping my head around the nearly unanimous hate for this word. It’s impossible that this fateful syllable could actually induce such widespread cringing.

Honestly, it’s a pretty run-ofthe-mill word, and if anything, it should remind you of chocolate cake.

The whole country has

found a way to take sides over a single word—the smallest point of contention that I think is even possible. That is ridiculous. When we cannot accept ambivalence over this, how can we ever be content without an opinion on anything?

We can’t. Really, I’m not sure why we are unable to say, “I’m not sure.” Personally, I find it quite comfortable sitting on the fence for most of my life.

You should be cautious to hop off the fence too quickly, because people might not let you climb back up after picking a side.

But indifference just isn’t exciting. Debating is a blast, and so is agreeing with people.

What isn’t fun, apparently, is not being sure whether you agree or disagree. That just comes across as indecisive, flaky, and even brainless.

That is a stigma we need to dispose of. The fact that being unopinionated is equated with being unintelligent is such a shame. Maybe I can articulate exactly why I’m hesitant to take a side in a dispute better than you can summarize that one ar-

ticle you read that only argued one side.

Let me clear something up.

There’s nothing at all wrong with being passionate about an issue that you care about—or actually just having an opinion in general. Just don’t feel like you have to pass judgment until you’ve done your research.

So stop having a strong attitude about everything. Or don’t, whatever (get it?). If it helps, let the demon-word be a jumping-off point for you. Start by taking that word and telling it that it’s not so special. It doesn’t get to be the center of the universe. And from there, you can accept neutrality on more issues.

I’ll close the same way I began. I leave you with our little word of the day, in the hopes that you can read it without cringing at all. You don’t need to have an opinion about it. It can just exist peacefully in our dictionaries and in our vernacular without getting bullied every day. We’re taking small steps here. Are you ready?

Here we go: moist.

By WillIam Arnesen The absurdity of the formative-summative system reminds me of that Sphinxian question: Would you rather fight one hundred duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?

I’ve always thought the equine army would be tougher: when you add up lots of little things, sometimes they’re more formidable than one big thing.

And that, I believe, is the perfect analogy to the current grading regime we currently have in place. In many classes, teachers arbitrarily establish summative assessments (the duck) as more important than the legions of formatives (the horses), when often the formatives are more frequent and thus more indicative of one’s skills and knowledge than the occasional test.

What I propose is a system modeled on much of the math department and AP Literature: 10 percent of the grade determined by homework and 90 percent by a melting pot of everything else.

This system has two key benefits: First, it introduces a level of fairness into an often capricious grading regime. A class with two summatives, for example, should not have summatives determine 50% of the grade.

Likewise, a class with quizzes but rather frequent tests should see a greater weight placed on tests.

The second benefit is that abolishing the formative-summative divide gives students a chance at redemption should they bomb an assignment.

Let’s say a student consistently aces every quizlet and does all the classwork with perfection but is mysteriously struck with the bubonic plague for 24 hours and bombs a major test.

Should not her prior performance on dozens of other assignments give her a boost? Sure. But under the current system, that boost has a ceiling. No matter how well one does on thirty quizzes, often that it isn’t enough to offset one poor test.

The common counter is that formatives and summatives serve different purposes: one keeps track of progress and one assesses student’s strengths. Comparing classwork to essays, the -argument goes, is like comparing apples and oranges (or horses to ducks, for that matter).

But we can compare the two using the same metric the gradebook does: points. Bigger assignments like essays would still get the heft they deserve by virtue of their large number of points. But if there are scarce essays and a flood of quizzes, then those quizzes ought to get the upper hand because they’re more indicative of student achievement. Eliminating this distinction is makes the final grade more flexible and thus more reflective of student talent and mastery of material.

As for the ducks and horses, they’re as equal as a formative and a summative, aren’t they?

Volume 53, Issue 2 2014-2015 The Black & White is published 9 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 blackandwhitevol53@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.

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6

opinion

MCPS needs more effective procedure for armed shooter incidents

OCTOBER 16, 2014

If an armed intruder were in the building, would you feel protected by the Code Red/lockdown?

“I feel like we’re pretty safe, and we know what we’re doing.

It’s not really something I think about, because we live in a pretty safe area.”

-junior Zachary Salem-Mackall

ALICE program provides safer alternative

By Grace Steinwurtzel Last week, the Black & White surveyed 194 students from all grades and English levels on their opinions of school shooting events. Sixty-one percent of students surveyed said that the threat of an armed intruder or shooter crosses their mind, and 79 percent wouldn’t feel protected by the current Code Red/ lockdown.

In the event of an armed intruder, the current MCPS crisis procedure requires students and staff to go into a Code Red or lockdown: lock the doors, draw the blinds, turn off the lights and await further instruction or a member from a safety agency.

The goal of this lockdown drill is to account for students and supervise them, allowing accountability to trump survivability. Yet fundamentally, preservation of life should dictate our responses.

In a Code Red, students and staff are waiting like sitting ducks for someone to come to them, whether it’s help or the armed intruder. In most cases, the armed intruder will reach the classroom first.

We need to learn how we can help ourselves instead of putting our lives in the hands of others; the federal government is in agreement.

MCPS needs to make their procedures more proactive. The ultimate goal in an event like this should be to get as many people out of the building as quickly as possible. One of the first steps to doing that is changing how people think. We need to learn how we can help ourselves instead of putting our lives in the hands of

others--the federal government is in agreement.

Last year, the Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the FBI released an updated version of the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) document for an active shooter situation.

They urged districts and individual schools to compare their existing programs with the revised document, as lockdowns are no longer deemed adequate measures of protection.

According to REMS, there are three basic options if a shooter is present: run, hide or fight.

REMS states that staff often has to “rely on their own judgement to decide which option will best protect lives.” Administrators and staff need more flexibility to make this judgment call, because each situation is different.

In the Virginia Tech massacre, the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, professor Liviu Librescu saved numerous students’ lives with his actions.

He barricaded the door with his body, allowing enough time for his students to open the windows and jump out. Librescu’s take-charge actions were why more lives weren’t taken on that day; he certainly didn’t sit silently in a corner in compliance with lockdown procedure.

The ALICE program, begun by former SWAT officer Greg Cane, complies and exceeds the updated regulations. Its aim is survivability and to inform communities about their possible options in the event of an armed intruder. According to Lisa Crane, who created the program with Cane, ALICE has trained four million K-12 students nationwide. These students are more aware of their options, and recognize not what they have to do, but what they can do to survive.

The ALICE approach empha-

sizes survival skills instead of the ability to sit quietly and wait for somebody to come help–or worse.

ALICE is an acronym for the five broad options that can be used: A for Alert as many people as possible of a life-threatening situation, L for Lockdown to barricade or secure the room, I for Inform the community of intruder’s location and direction, C for Counter to distract the intruder with noise, movement and distance and E for Evacuate from the danger zone.

“There’s definitely a weak point, but if you’re in class and the doors are locked, that’s fine. That’s a majority of the day. But when you’re not...

Well I just hope that wouldn’t happen.”

-senior Katie Sullivan

Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate Critics of ALICE claim that the “Counter” portion of the program is dangerous and puts students in unnecessary harm, but this is false. The goal of Counter is to distract the shooter for long enough to allow students to escape. Counter is a last-resort option and should only be used in middle and high schools if all other options have failed. If a shooter is already in the room, fighting back is the only option.

It works on strength in numbers; the more people you have distracting or “swarming” the shooter, the less accurate he or she will be.

It’s time to be proactive and prepare ourselves for the possibility of an armed intruder in our school.

“There have been a lot of school shootings, and it scares me, because our procedures are not adequate.”

-sophomore Emily Schweitzer

“I know that things like this happen on a daily basis.

When things happen at other schools, it’s not something they expected; it was something they prepared for and were ready for.”

-junior Nora McIntyre

“In the event of an actual Code Red occurrence with an armed intruder, we would not be able to appropriately respond. It’s definitely something I fear. It really could be anyone.”

-junior Jonny Schneider

photos by GRACE STEINWURTZEL

Homecoming: for the memories, not the mayhem

By Sebastian van Bastelaer Homecoming week should be one of excitement and school spirit. Recently, however, it’s become a five-day roller coaster ride from hell. Here’s what we can all do to have a drama-free, meaningful homecoming experience:

Urge teachers to give less work

It’s hard to feel spirited and enthusiastic about Homecoming festivities while you’re cursing the workload lying ahead.

On top of planning for the night itself, a plethora of tests, quizzes, and homework (not to mention the APES field trip) make for a veritable perfect storm of stress.

If leadership and the administration really want to increase attendance at events like Battle of the Classes and hallway decorating, then they need to urge teachers to hold off on big tests and projects until after Homecoming week. The dichotomy between school spirit and academic success is a delicate one, and a break from school work would make the week memorable and more enjoyable for both students and staff.

Take the drama out of asking your date

Unless you’re proposing marriage or filming a cheesy Lifetime movie, there’s no need to put too much stress on how you ask your date to Homecoming. Making it too flashy isn’t going to turn a “no” into a “yes” (if anything, the embarrassment will turn that “no” into an even bigger “no”). You generally know what the answer is before you pop the question, so find a sweet, private alternative.

Eventually, all the “holding-up-a-signwith-a-contrived-and-unnecessary-pun” proposals kinda blend together. The less pressure you put on coming up with a flashy way to ask somebody, the more comfortable you’ll both feel.

Additionally, all of this date drama makes Prom lose its luster. Guys: remember you’re going to have to top whatever you do now when Prom comes around.

Unless you’re prepared for a prom request with a private fireworks display, or having a plane write it in the sky, tone down the homecoming stuff. Save your best for last.

Also, did you know Whitman used to have Sadie Hawkins-style dances, where the girls ask the guys? That would be an interesting way to mix things up and make us rethink how Homecoming should work. On second thought, can you imagine all the drama? Probably a good thing that we nipped that one in the bud.

Unless you’re proposing marriage or filming a cheesy Lifetime movie, there’s no need to put too much stress on how you ask your date to Homecoming.

Schedule an easier homecoming game opponent

As a seventh grader in private school, I came to my first Whitman football game to see what it was like. It was the homecoming game against Blair, a dominant 34-12 victory for Whitman.

This year, Whitman, Pyle and essentially all other students mourned a 28-6 loss to Damascus, who was ranked sixth in the region by the Washington Post. Looking back, did anybody really think we’d win that one? To put the mismatch in context, Quince Orchard, a team that beat Whitman 45-14 a few weeks back, lost by eight to Damascus. For fans looking to see a game with loads of talented players, you’ve got it. Anybody looking for a Whitman win, or even a close game, was really let down, and it’s not all the players’ fault.

A winnable game against Walter Johnson or Springbrook would provide more entertainment. Heck, even a game against Wootton or Richard Montgomery, both teams that Whitman challenged in close games, would be better. Or why not B-CC? Wouldn’t that get more people come to the game, and practically guarantee a win? Until the schedule includes a Homecoming game against a team we can beat, get ready for a lot more blowout losses in front of the largest crowd of the year.

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“

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october 16, 2014

announcements:

Matt Banda PRESIDENT

Alex Hosker VICE-PRESIDENT

Maxime Zamba TREASURER

Walk Away Cancer on November 9, 2014 Thanks everyone for your participation in Homecoming Week.

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Class Officers:

‘15 ‘16 ‘17 ‘18

Jonny Rasch, Rachel Ordan, Katie Sullivan Carolyn Hoover, Trevor Lystad, Selvi Ulsan Jaiwen Hsu, Michael Choi, Keara Sullivan Pablo Rothschild, Arianne Banda, Clara Ryan

OCTOBER 16, 2014

8

in-de

University Report Ranking colleges by prestige is meaningless

By Spencer Adams s seniors send their applications to colleges, many have their sights set on that one elite school of their dreams. Imagining that Facebook status saying they are attending the fourth best college in the country could be a driving force behind many students’ decisions.

Yet U.S. News & World Report, whose rankings gave that fourth best school its status, factor selectivity and reputation into its algorithm, skewing the entire equation. These criteria reinforce a cycle that keeps the top colleges in their top spots. Instead, organizations should focus more on a school’s graduation rate and how well students are prepared for their future professions.

The annual U.S. News National University Rankings, released Sept. 9, is the most popular list. Selectivity determines 12.5 percent of a college’s rank on their list, and reputation determines 22.5 percent (reputation is two thirds peer review by other colleges and one third high school counselors ratings). Taken together, these

A

characteristics are circular. They don’t measure how well a college educates students, which is supposed to be the main objective of college.

The number of applicants a school denies doesn’t reflect how well the school teaches; it only reflects the current popularity of a school.

Highly-ranked schools like Tufts University or the University of Chicago have recently seen an increase in applicants, reducing their acceptance rates and helping them maintain their ranks.

The reputation portion of the algorithm is only a reflection of itself. People may base their idea of a college on its ranking, so the same elite colleges will remain at the top of the list. Movement within rankings is limited, even if it is warranted.

A school making an earnest effort to improve its educational offerings may not be rewarded with a higher rank because of its reputation as a subpar college with relatively few applicants.

Hopefully this will change. The Obama administration has spearheaded a new rating system, set to be released by the 2015-2016 school

year, that takes a more holistic approach. It will rank colleges by considering their graduation rate, average student debt, affordability and success of graduates.

U.S. News does factor in graduation rates, but as colleges become increasingly expensive, the Obama administration’s rankings may be more useful for families and students trying to get the best value for their college dollars. U.S. News’ top colleges are almost all private, expensive colleges because the ranking doesn’t factor in affordability.

If students really want to go to the “best college,” maybe they shouldn’t even look at college rankings at all. A school’s faculty availability or its resources in a desired area of study might be more important to consider than selectivity and reputation. But that would require a fundamental change in American college culture. In the meantime, students should do their own research and depend upon this more meaningful set of criteria.

Application Myths Debunked

By Lindsay Wytkind

The counseling office and the CIC are bustling with activity as seniors frantically work to submit their applications before deadline. One look at the counselors’ sign-up boards and it’s clear that the office is a busy place. The counselors are constantly getting questions about the “how to’s” of the application process and notice that the desperate questions are riddled with misconceptions. Here, resource counselor Frances Landau debunks myths about the application process.

Myth Legacy is everything. If my relative attended my top choice I will definitely get in.

Myth

If I apply Early Decision then I have a huge advantage in admissions.

Debunked

Debunked

“Kids give legacy too much merit,” Landau said. “They think that knowing somebody and having them write a rec will help them get in and that usually doesn’t work.”

There is a slight advantage and there are some colleges that fill almost 50 percent of their class with Early Decision, so it helps to be aware if that’s on your list that it’s probably a little easier to get in Early Decision,” Landau said.

What works?

What works?

While legacy might not be the “holy grail” of college acceptance, the most important part is the transcript. This includes course rigor, grades and test scores.

The key to deciding whether to apply ED is researching the statistics for admissions to specific schools. One school where there is an obvious advantage for ED applicants is Duke University. In 2013 they accepted 25 percent of ED applicants while they accepted only 10 percent of regular applicants.

9,000 transcript requests for a class of approximately 470 students.

Last year the CIC processed over

OCTOBER 16, 2014

epth

Who should read your college essays?

By Caroline Schweitzer, Ben Titlebaum and Matt Yang

Fall is full of decisions. Should I go apple picking or pumpkin picking? Oh wait. I’m a senior. I have to do college applications, which leads to another important decision: who should read my college essays? The Black & White looked at the pros and cons of having college counselors, parents, friends or possibly no one read your essays.

College Counselors?

YES

Students who hire college counselors take advantage of the expert knowledge that many counselors gained as former admissions officers.

Because they have objective points of view, college counselors provide realistic advice and aren’t afraid to hurt a student’s feelings.

You might have thought that essay about your dog was super creative, but your college counselor may have seen one just like it, and chances are it doesn’t capture your individuality.

Whitman alums Kendall Wiss and Josie Schwartz said that if they could do it over, they would have only their college counselors read their essays. When parents and friends get involved, there are just too many cooks in the kitchen.

YES

Bottom line, college counselors are masters of the application process.

But they don’t know everything about you. While counselors can provide an objective perspective of your essay itself, they haven’t witnessed that one special sports game or your growth from childhood to adolescence like your parents and friends have.

Blindly following their advice can be dangerous; just because you’re paying them doesn’t mean they’re right.

College counselors also give the wealthy an additional leg up in the process. Costs are enormous--many times costing thousands of dollars--and those unwilling or unable to pay don’t have access to their knowledge.

Parents?

Parents have seen their children grow as individuals, and can help with the types of stories colleges want to hear: personal narratives about failures and progression.

After hundreds of essays about extracurriculars, sports and passions, a childhood story could be both a welcomed change and a telling account of a student’s long-term growth.

Parents can provide constructive feedback about whether the essay portrays you as a person, not just as a student, an athlete, a debater, an artist or a musician.

YES

NO

NO

Parents can be overbearing. Their advice can be helpful, but it starts to be an issue when that essay about your first soccer game starts sounding like the stories grandma tells her friends at Mahjong.

Essays are supposed to capture who you think you are, not who your parents think you are.

Friends?

Your friends are going through the same things that you are. They are with you every day, suffering through the pains of school, sports and extracurriculars, and they’ve been by your side during many of the events you probably want to discuss in your essay.

Sharing this most personal of statements can be helpful for gaining more insight about yourself. You speak most honestly with your peers, and they are familiar with your voice. Sharing ideas with friends can also help them improve their own essays, so it’s a winwin.

NO

Your friends know you well and want to help you succeed, but they also don’t want to hurt your feelings. Friends can be hesitant to critique your essay honestly; after all, they don’t have much more experience than you do.

While your friends are worrying about their own essays and applications, they may not have the time to analyze every word of yours. And with the competitive atmosphere surrounding college admissions, friends could feel self-conscious or stressed about their own essay after reading your stellar narrative.

Nobody? Probably not.

You know yourself better than anyone else, right? So why not make your essay a private affair. Your voice will definitely shine through, and colleges will get the real thing.

However, having nobody read your college essay is risky. Besides proofreading and reading for clarity, an additional perspective allows for suggestions and additional ideas.

While criticism of your work is sometimes hard to hear and you don’t want too much outside influence, someone else may catch that run-on you read over 200 times.

This criticism forces you to reconsider aspects of the essay before pressing that daunting submit button.

For one of the most important essays of your life, it’s important to get more than one pair of eyes on it.

Too many editors can be stressful “I let my college counselor read them but not my parents, and I would do it that way again just because I didn’t want to have too many options because I think that can be stressful.”

-University of Michigan freshman Kendall Wiss

Parents know you better than anyone else “I got my parents to read my essays because they know me better than anyone else so they could make sure that whoever was reading it would learn something about me as a person. I also had a writing tutor connected with my college counselor to read them because I wanted an outside perspective to make sure my sure my story made sense given that they knew nothing about me before.”

- senior Alison Poffley

Close friends know how you view the world “When I ask a friend to read [my essay], there is a brutal honesty that I get both because we’re close and understand that the intention is not to hurt feelings, but also we’re pouring ourselves into a story in less than 600 words in parallel. A close friend knows you and how you view the world or an experience and is really the only person that can constructively criticize that.”

- senior Harris Cram

You want to make sure your essays represent you “I let my parents read my college essays. I also let a few family friends read them. Ultimately, I wanted to ensure that my college essays were an accurate representation of who I am as a person, my aspirations, and how I’ve been involved in the community, so I found these people to be the best proofreaders.”

- senior Sarah Edwards

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feature

october 16, 2014

Teacher poms falls through due to lack of commitment, individual conflicts

There is still hope for their return at the winter pep rally and next year’s Homecoming

Former teacher poms Peyton Ford (left), Daniel Chen (center) and Tyler Wilkinson (right) show off their best dance moves to compensate for the cancellation of the teacher poms’ perfomance at the Homecoming pep rally. photos by MAXIME ZAMBA

think a lot of people just aren’t settled,” Fus said.

Some core members of teacher Poms were unable to participate this year because of various conflicts. Science teacher Jasen Gohn is out on paternity leave, science teacher Peyton Ford is injured, and tech teacher Rachel Stender is going to be out of town homecoming weekend, Fus said.

Stender said she was disappointed that she wasn’t able to participate this year because she had an overwhelmingly positive experience last year.

“It’s fun spending time with fellow teachers learning the dance outside of the educational setting,” Stender said.“I think it’s good for the students to see that their teachers can get into the homecoming spirit

as well.”

The poms squad juniors choreographed the dance and were prepared to teach it to the teacher poms when they realized that the squad was falling through.

“We were very disappointed,” junior pom Remy Fields said. “The dance was really funny and we spent a while coming up with choreography.”

Fus said she hopes that teacher poms will be able to reorganize and perform at the winter pep rally and next year’s homecoming pep rally despite this setback.

“We’re not giving up on teacher poms,” Fus said.

“We have T-shirts for crying out loud.”

courtsey of DOMINIQUE MEYER

By Elsa Bjornlund Seeing teachers relive their cheerleading days and break it down on the gym floor is always a highlight of the fall pep rally. But this year, teacher poms were noticeably absent from the pep rally lineup.

Even though many teachers initially showed interest in participating, teacher poms fell through because of low turnout at practices, junior pom Lia Pomerenk said.

English teacher Danielle Fus tried to work with the junior poms to organize and captain this year’s squad, but found many teachers weren’t able to commit enough time to practice, she said.

“Because [homecoming] is so early in the year, I

october 16, 2014

Feature

11

Bethesda street accordionist entertains pedestrians with eclectic music

By Sophia Higgins Whether it’s a small town in Tennessee, a cave in California or a DC street corner, Ike Milligan has been there, played that.

Milligan, 71, is a street performer who plays his accordion throughout the DC area. You might have seen him outside Barnes & Noble, entertaining passers-by with lively dance tunes of various genres.

“Bohemian and Czech music are my favorite,” Milligan says. “I play Celtic, French, Italian—any genre that they printed sheet music for, I can take it and get the feeling of it.”

“It’s just so interesting and challenging to me to play what other people wrote. In that sense I might be more of a musicologust than a musician “ -Ike Milligan Milligan says that while few people are as familiar with his favorite genres as he is, his music is well-received, earning him tips every time he performs.

He cites Bohemian polkas and Italian mazurkas as frequent crowd-pleasers.

But Milligan didn’t always perform music on the street.

He started out playing piano in

bars in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which he eventually left in search of more job opportunities. He even lived alone in a cave near Laguna Beach, California before becoming a street musician in 1976 at the age of 33.

Milligan continued practicing keyboard and accordion when he moved to DC in 1979 but also cycled through various professions to supplement his income. He worked in real estate, delivered pizzas and carried law documents around Capitol Hill on his bicycle. He also played accordion with a German band in Fairfax, Virginia.

Rather than writing his own music, Milligan exclusively plays foreign tunes arranged for keyboard.

“It’s just so interesting and challenging to me to play what other people wrote,” Milligan says. “In that sense I might be more of a musicologist than a musician.”

But if you asked Milligan to play Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” he wouldn’t know the tune.

“I didn’t own a radio for a lot of the time,” he says. “A lot of popular music just passed me by. I only like the Beatles. I’m not even sure what Led Zeppelin is.”

When the temperatures drop, Milligan plans to work solely on his private business, Ike’s Boxpital for Sick Accordions, in Silver Spring. The store offers tuning and repair services and sells instruments and rare sheet music collections.

In the meantime, Milligan savors the time he has serenading strangers on the sidewalks.

photo by SOPHIA HIGGINS

Ike Milligan, 71: bringing smiles to the faces of passers-by in the D.C. area since 1979

Street performer Ike Milligan plays his accordion for passers-by outside Barnes & Noble in downtown Bethesda.

Milligan grew up playing piano in Tennesse but has since moved all around the country.

“I love the audience, I really do,” he says. “When I used to practice the piano as a teenager I would imagine an audience just because I really like to entertain people.”

On a bright Sunday afternoon, Milligan is stationed on

a chair outside Barnes & Noble, his accordion on his knee and his bag overflowing with sheet music beside him. He begins to play a lively Slovenian piece, drawing attention and smiles from pedestrians.

A few stop to watch, and a

little girl looks over her shoulder, waving to the musician as she skips by.

As the song comes to a cheerful close, Milligan beams, gives a theatrical shout of “thank you!” and continues his musical journey.

Review: “The Judge,” directed by David Dobkin (‘87) The movie, from the same director as “Wedding Crashers,” came out Oct. 10 his stubborn father, Judge “Joe” Palmer (Duvall). Their relationship is put to the test when Hank must defend his father in court after being accused of murdering a convicted felon.

“I saw the courtroom as a place that always had a lot of drama because my father was a litigator,” Dobkin said in a press Q&A following last week’s screening. “There were times when I got in trouble and ‘I was like I better tell the truth about everything right now because he’s going to get it out of me one way or another.’”

Dobkin was born in Washington, D.C. and lived in Bethesda throughout

Photo courtesy WARNER BROS. PICTURES

by Rose Pagano Murder. No one would expect a judge to commit this felony, but in David Dobkin’s latest movie a judge is the main suspect for a hit and run.

Whitman alum David Dobkin (‘87), director of the Hollywood blockbuster “Wedding Crashers,” directed, co-wrote and co-produced the film “The Judge,” which debuted Oct. 10. The star-studded movie includes actors Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Duvall, Vincent D’Onofrio and Leighton Meester.

The drama focuses on the strained relationship between the arrogant protagonist, Hank Palmer (Downey), and

Robert Downey, Jr. portrays lawyer Hank Palmer in “The Judge,” which hit theaters Oct. 10. The film was director David Dobkin’s (‘87) second major movie, following “Wedding Crashers.”

all of high school. He then studied film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.He now lives in Los Angeles.

Growing up in the Bethesda area with liberal parents, Dobkin was exposed to a variety of art forms that developed his creativity.

“They took me to movies that were R-Rated when I was underaged, and that seemed really normal,” Dobkin said.

“Somehow all of it had an artistic sensibility, and it all influenced me.”

Dobkin’s big break came in 2005 when he directed the movie “Wedding Crashers,” starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.

The film is set in Washington, D.C., but he incorporated other aspects of his life into the film as well, he said in a phone interview.

“Wedding Crashers was based on my relationship with my best friend since the first grade,” Dobkin explained.

“We went to Whitman together and we were kind of each other’s wingmen.”

Nine years later, Dobkin drew from his experience caring for ill family members for “The Judge.”

“Needing to fulfill the role of parenting a parent is something I felt completely unprepared for and surprised by at the time,” Dobkin said. “The week after my mother passed, I was trying to organize

my thoughts and this story was brought to us about this mother dying and a family of men who didn’t know how to be with each other and the vacuum that is created when she’s gone. They try to put the pieces back together.”

The Palmers struggle with life after their mother dies. But it gets worse when their father, a small-town Indiana judge, is prosecuted for the murder of a convict he sent to prison.

The 141-minute movie keeps the audience engaged with witty banter between Chicago lawyer Hank Palmer and Judge Palmer, and unexpected plot twists in the courtroom. Although this movie is more serious than Dobkin’s previous work, he and fellow writers Bill Dubuque and Nick Schenk managed to incorporate humorous anecdotes.

Dobkin shed light on the changing movie industry and the opportunities that come with it.

“It’s a different day and age,” Dobkin said. “You have a chance to pick up the camera, shoot stuff, edit it on your home computer, and really start to learn what the craft is. It’s incredibly valuable.”

“The Judge” is currently screening at various local theaters, including Regal Bethesda 10 and AMC Tysons Corner 16.

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october 16, 2014

photo courtesy TERRI POUS

Bethesda Writer’s Center offers workshops and discussion

Alum Terri Pous competed in three rounds of Jeopardy, which aired the week of Oct. 6. Despite her impressive earnings, she chose to compete for the sense of validation and the chance to meet host Alex Trebek, she said.

Terri Pous (‘08) wins $38,801 on Jeopardy

by gabe kahan To get on Jeopardy, you must score higher than 80 percent on a challenging trivia test, participate in an over-the-phone interview, take part in a mock game and finally, if you’re lucky, pass an inperson audition.

Twenty-four-year-old Whitman alumna and former Black & White staff member Terri Pous (‘08) did just that and more. Pous walked away with $38,801 in winnings the week of Oct. 6 after lasting three episodes, competing against six different contestants.

“As dorky as it sounds, if this was a show I did for free I would have done it with equal presto and excitement.”

-Jeopardy winner Terri Pous (‘08) Now a social media editor at Brides Magazine, Pous has been watching Jeopardy since she was five years old. She has always had an easy time retaining information and memorizing trivia. In high school, Black & White classmates would quiz her on their friends’ birthdays, she said. Now, she enjoys bar trivia in New York City, where she lives.

Pous was exposed to history at an early age. Growing up, her parents would take her to historical monuments like Mt. Vernon or Monticello. They had always encouraged her to give Jeopardy a try, but it wasn’t until members of her sorority house at Northwestern University suggested the idea that she seriously considered it.

“I’ve always liked history and trivia,” Pous said. “It wasn’t until my peers—people who weren’t my parents—told me I would be good at it that I realized maybe something would percolate.”

Pous began the Jeopardy admissions process in January of this year and was called back in April for her final interview. After the final interview, applicants can wait up to 18 months for their chance to be on the show. Pous was contacted in three weeks.

“You get there the morning of, and you’re wearing your outfit,” she said. “They do a couple questions to warm you up, and then they pick names out of a hat and tell you the order you’re going in.

Then you just go out there.”

Anyone who has watched Jeopardy before is familiar with the tension on stage when the competition increases. Yet according to Pous, many people have to cope with stagefright while responding to questions. She remembers per-

forming in plays at Pyle as a middle schooler and never being nervous about public speaking, but as she stepped on stage with the other contestants that all changed.

“Being tested on knowledge in front of people is an entirely different matter and a lot more nervewracking,” she said. “Everyone knows that George Washington was the first president, but with a time limit, TV cameras, lights and family members in the audience, you can forget.”

Pous handled the pressure by picturing herself answering the questions in her sister’s apartment.

From there, the Hollywood-esque madness would fade away and the only thing that mattered was if she knew the answer well enough to buzz in, she said.

“I never looked at the score, I never looked at the money,” she said. “You have to keep your eyes on the prize.”

The production staff and show host, Alex Trebek, also seemed to tune into the contestants’ stagefright. Trebek, who interacts with on average 12 contestants a day, was especially kindhearted and provided a calming presence to relax people unaccustomed to being on camera, she said.

“He’s really doing the best he can and I gained a lot more respect for what he does,” Pous said.

“He’s got to steer the ship.”

On average, the show runs 30 minutes with commercial interruptions. However, filming each episode takes no longer than 20 minutes, so the production staff fit five in per day. This means all cast members change into a new outfit for each episode to give the illusion that a day passes between each one.

“It’s incredibly exhausting and anyone who says it’s not is lying,” Pous said. “There’s a reason why very few people last more than four or five episodes—it drains you completely.”

In preparation for being on the show, she watched past Jeopardy episodes and looked for patterns in the questions, taking notes and quizzing herself on recurring topics like opera, history and science.

Despite her large cash prize, Pous was never in it for the money. Her prize didn’t enter her mind until she was asked to sign papers expressing how much she had won and the tax deduction—which was high, she said.

But there was a sense of validation from being on stage with Trebek and competing with other sharp minds, she said.

“As dorky as it sounds,” she said, “if this was a show I did for free I would have done it with equal presto and excitement.”

By Jesse Cao Jesse Cao is the founder of creative writer’s group “troubadours & smiths.” He recently had the opportunity to sit in on Mary McCarthy’s “How To Be A Funnier Writer” workshop at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda.

In the southeast corner of Bethesda’s Arts and Entertainment district, near the Trader Joe’s on Wisconsin, a one-story building crafted in perfect 50’s style sits between two office buildings with the same nostalgic construction.

It has studio space, classrooms and a small theater. Inside, someone lies on a couch in the corner, typing on a laptop. Coffee, tea and books are sold in the lobby.

The Writer’s Center is an independent non-profit literary center on Walsh Street in Bethesda that offers workshops, readings, and outreach in creative writing.

Down a flight of stairs and past offices and vending machines, in a windowless basement room, three women sit at a table, discussing inconvenient commutes and a recent osteoporosis diagnosis.

More people shuffle in—mostly strangers. But one exclaims, “Hey! I recognize you from that dialogue class!” across the table—a missed connection found and formed. Our workshop leader takes her seat at the front of the room and introduces

herself.

Mary McCarthy, a longtime humor writer, is a senior editor of SpliceToday, and recently published her first novel. We go around the room and introduce ourselves.

Personalities find their ways to faces. We discover we come from all walks of life—among the twelve of us are a children’s book writer, a sociologist, and me, a student journalist. But one common trait has brought us together at 6:30 p.m. on a Thursday-we are all writers.

McCarthy starts her lecture, her expression soothingly young. She reminds me a bit of Lena Dunham.

She explains the quote that’s projected on the wall: “The funny writers were the most serious sort under their skins.” The tone is set, and we’re on our way.

McCarthy says that upbringing, knowledge, and genetics affect a person’s sense of humor.

“I think you can inherit a sense of humor in the same way you can inherit a musical ability,” she explains.

She reviews the concepts of parody, spoof, and satire, then segues into her “Do’s and Don’ts of Humor Writing.” Among the do’s: use the hard “k” and “g” sounds often, use cliches intelligently; don’t expect never to offend anyone, and don’t try too hard.

It’s been about an hour, and I’ve just noticed that something seems to be missing from this congregation of wordsmiths. Not a single laptop has made an appearance— we all sit with nothing but pen and paper. In such good company, perhaps that’s all we really need.

McCarthy gives us a writing prompt: “think of a humor scene, perhaps from a funny story in your own life, and write the first paragraph of it.”

A single laptop comes out. Conversation gives way to a perfectly rhythmic chorus of pens tapping, swift hands gliding across pages, and a keyboard clicking.

“How’d the scene-writing go?” McCarthy asks 15 minutes later.

“It’s horrible, but at least there are words!” someone responds.

Though we don’t share our writing, we discuss the exercise.

McCarthy stresses the importance of conciseness in writing. “The readers aren’t stupid… conciseness is acknowledging your reader for being intelligent,” she says.

The workshop wraps up with a quote from William James: “a sense of humor is just common sense dancing.”

We exchange contact information, pack our things, and re-enter the world.

Make Meaning comes to Bethesda, inspires creativity through crafts

By Sophia Higgins It’s as if All Fired Up, Bath & Body Works and Fancy Cakes by Leslie combined to create an artistic supercenter.

Make Meaning is a New York-based chain focused on inspiring creativity in adults and children through crafts. The store opened on Bethesda Ave. in early June, and it has already become a popular destination for birthday parties and arts and crafts workshops.

Employees encourage customers to unleash their creativity with activities ranging from cookie and cake decorating to soap making. The store even has a glitter tattoo station (but don’t worry—they’re temporary).

Make Meaning’s customers all go through a unique creative journey with their artwork.

Customers can walk in and start individual projects or participate in group workshops.

Employees said they enjoy running the workshops, especially when they see outstanding customer creations.

“I liked how it’s very bachelorette-party-esque, but there’s kid stuff too. I made man-scented soap.

It was the bomb diggity.”

-Junior Kaycie Goral “This girl today made a cheese plate, which I thought was cool,” employee Heather Hurst said. “I asked her why she had this huge plate, and she said, ‘It’s for my parmesan cheese,’ and I thought, ‘Okay, I don’t know anybody who has that much cheese, but go for it.’”

Employee Emma Garfinkel was particularly impressed with a twelve-year-old girl who had recently decorated a cookie with an intricate blue floral pattern, and manager Mary Hayes recalled two women who deco-

rated cakes inspired by the movies “Despicable Me” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Out of Make Meaning’s six U.S. stores and one location in Kuwait, Hayes said Bethesda hosts the most parties. They also offer special events and classes for children and adults.

“We have open studio nights and Cork and Canvas classes, so adults can come in, drink together and paint,” Hurst said.

In addition to adult classes, “Mini Mornings,” geared toward children under five years old, have grown popular.

“We read them a story, and then they get to make a craft that relates to the story,” Hayes said. “We had one story that was about turtles, and they made little soaps with little turtle shapes in them.”

Hayes said cookies and candles have been the most popular crafts recently. Her favorite activity is soap making, she said, naming the sweet flowery scent “plumeria” as the best.

While the store was crawling with customers in the summer, Hayes said, business has slowed somewhat this fall.

“It’s still busy on the weekends, but during the week it’s slowed down since everybody’s back in school,” Hayes said. “We have more parties than ever, so that’s our main business at the moment, which is fantastic.”

Junior Kaycie Goral said she enjoyed the playful dynamic when she visited the store, nodding to the “pick up line” where customers collect their finished items and the winky faces on employees’ nametags.

“I liked how it’s very bachelorette-partyesque, but there’s kid stuff too,” she said. “I made man-scented soap. It was the bomb diggity.”

Regardless of artistic experience, the employees of Make Meaning encourage creators of all ages to stop by. With the limitless possibilities at this store, the next artistic Renaissance could be just around the corner.

sports

october 16, 2014

13

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH

Cross Country Runners: Alex Roederer, Evan Woods, and Amir Khaghani since their sophomore year.

Notably, Khaghani improved his position on the team from 7th to 3rd runner in the previous season.

“It's extremely beneficial for us to have three runners who finish before most teams even get one,” junior runner Ben Gersh said.

The boys have had an impressive season so far, with big wins at the Great Meadows Invitational, and the senior race

at the DCXC Invitational. They also led the boys team to their first Division I win.

At the most recent invitational, Woods, Roederer, and Khaghani all shaved thirty seconds off their 5K times, and now have current record times of 15:20, 15:51, and 15:56 respectively.

Coming up, the trio hopes to win the county championship on October 18th and move on to regionals and states. photo by MICHELLE JARCHO

By Anna Marcus The odds seem to be in the favor of the boys Cross Country team with seniors Evan Woods, Alex Roederer, and Amir Khaghani as first, third, and fifth in the county respectively.

These three boys have been on cross country since their freshmen year, and are now the leaders of the team. Woods and Roederer have been first and second varsity runners

Montgomery Gold Division

Girls Tennis

Varsity Football

Montgomery Division 1 TEAM

Montgomery 4A South Division OVERALL

DIVISION

Churchill

3-2

3-0

4-1

Wootton

4-1

2-1

9-2

3-2

8-3-1

2-3

Richard Montgomery

2-3

2-0

7-4

1-4

Whitman

2-3

1-2

B-CC

0-3

6-5-1

0-5

0-5

Walter Johnson

0-5

0-3

OVERALL

DIVISION

TEAM

OVERALL

Churchill

9-0

5-0

Wootton

12-0

4-1

B-CC

6-4

5-0

Churchill

9-1-2

Whitman

4-5

3-2

B-CC

Walter Johnson

3-7

3-2

Quince Orchard

4-5

1-4

Richard Montgomery

2-9

0-5

Sherwood

Wheaton

DIVISION

Whitman

TEAM

Next Game: 10/17: 4:30 p.m. home against Blair

Outside hitters Claire Nagelhout and Jessica McManus gear up for a game against Winston Churchill Oct. 6, which they lost 3-0.

Varsity Girls Soccer Montgomery 4A South Division TEAM

OVERALL

Whitman

10-0

4-0

Churchill

10-0-1

3-0

9-2

Kennedy

DIVISION

photo by JONAH ROSEN

photo by JONAH ROSEN

Next Game: 10/16: 6:30 p.m. home against Springbrook

The boys soccer team gets pumped before their senior night Wed. Oct. 1. They beat Kennedy 6-1 with goals from midfielder George Xourias and forward Tomas Valenzuela among others.

Varsity Boys Soccer Montgomery 4A South Division

photo by JONAH ROSEN

Girls Volleyball

Center Alec Spear focuses on the ball before the snap at Whitman’s homecoming game versus Damascus. The football team fought hard but ended up losing 28-6.

Varsity Girls Field Hockey Montgomery 4A West Division

TEAM

OVERALL

DIVISION

Wootton

10-1

6-0

B-CC

6-2-3

5-0

Churchill

6-4

3-3

Whitman

7-3

3-3

Walter Johnson

4-5-1

3-3

TEAM

OVERALL

DIVISION

2-1

Whitman

3-1

8-2-1

1-7-1

0-3

Richard Montgomery

Churchill

2-0-1

6-1-3

3-4-1

0-2

B-CC

2-1

4-4-2

Walter Johnson

6-3

0-3

Walter Johnson

1-2

5-3-1

Richard Montgomery

6-4

2-4

Kennedy

0-2-1

2-6-1

Kennedy

2-6

0-4

0-2

5-4

Blair

2-5-1

0-5

B-CC

Next Game: 10/18: 10 a.m. @ Good Counsel

Richard Montgomery

Next Game: 10/18: 7p.m. @ St. Benedict

*Stats as of October 13, 2014

Next Game: 10/17: 3:30 p.m. home against Poolesville

14

sports

october 16, 2014

Whitman-B-CC rivalry explodes into fighting, vandalism

By Ben Katz There are the Yankees and Red Sox, the Lakers and Celtics, the Redskins and Cowboys. All sports have great team rivalries; in MCPS, it’s the Vikings and Barons.

Specific incidents, such as fights and property damages, have taken this once friendly school rivalry between Whitman and B-CC to new extremes.

When these crosstown rivals square off, games draw large and spirited crowds with heated emotions on and off the playing field, calling for extra security on standby.

During Whitman’s 21-3 football victory Sept. 19 at B-CC, an in-game brawl broke out, in which three Vikings and two Barons were ejected and suspended for the next game. Tensions continued after the clock reached double zeros with a post-game fight at a nearby Chipotle, which was quickly resolved.

“It seemed like the atmosphere had people a little too excited and [they] lost control of their emotions which caused a

little scuffle on the field,” said Whitman linebacker Austin Deramus, who was suspended for one game. “Obviously both teams were trying their hardest to win because of bragging rights, but we were confident that we could handle them as we normally do.”

Whitman running back Jacob Pitsenberger, who was ejected and suspended after the B-CC game, said the entire game was more physical than normal, with pushing and shoving every play, and trash talking starting from the game’s first possession.

“With adrenaline built up, all it took was for one person to shove someone on the other team for everyone to crack,” Pitsenberger said. “I'd say we hate [BCC] at least ten times more than [we did] going into that game.”

The recent football showdown was the first night game between the two schools since Jan. 2010. Administration chose to move all games between the rivals to the day time following parking lot fights after a basketball game that re-

sulted in 11 arrests.

However, B-CC’s request to play this year’s football game on a Friday night was granted after fewer incidents in the last outings, Whitman athletic director Andy Wetzel said.

Principal Alan Goodwin said that he was relieved that the night game was a success, aside from the in-game fight, but will consider moving future football games back to the afternoon.

“Overall, the rivalry is harmless, except for a few kids who get riled up,” he said. “It’s the nature of schools to have rivalries.”

Although Wetzel believes the rivalry is healthy for both schools, he says that excessive fighting has put a burden on the competition. He noted that if there are anymore altercations between the schools, there is a chance they will not play against each other in the future because of Montgomery County policy.

“Fighting, whether it be in the stands, on the field or in Bethesda, does nothing to promote the rivalry or good

photo courtesy CHRIS HANESSIAN

An in-game fight at a football game Sept. 19 epitomized the rivalry between Whitman and the nearby B-CC Barons. Three Vikings and two Barons were ejected from the game. After the game, a disturbance between students arose at a nearby Chipotle.

photo courtesy of KATE MORRISON

This past summer, B-CC students vandalized the large rock, a symbol of the girls’ varsity soccer team’s spirit, at the entrance of Whitman’s stadium field.

sportsmanship or citizenship,” he said.

“We share the same community and it makes both schools look bad.”

Although most of the issues between the schools happen at football and basketball games, the hatred on the field isn’t limited to just these sports.

This past summer, B-CC students vandalized the large rock, a symbol of the girls’ varsity soccer team’s spirit, at the entrance of Whitman’s stadium field. This was not the first time the act had occurred—in Dec. 2010, B-CC students damaged Whitman’s football field the day before their homecoming game matchup.

“I think that students get caught up in the fact that B-CC is our crosstown rival and they sometimes take this rivalry to the extreme,” soccer midfielder Kate Morrison said. “I thought it was extremely disrespectful, coming to our school and messing with our rock.”

The Whitman-B-CC rivalry will continue to be a fixture in Bethesda, as the schools battle in school sports throughout the rest of the year.

october 16, 2014

15

Sports

The Report

Photo courtesy Erika Ritzer.

An all-too-familiar tale for D.C. sports

Ritzer rides a wave at Exile Skimboarding’s Oktoberfest competition in San Clemente, CA Oct. 4-5 where he came in second place in the semi-pro division. He won skimboarding world championships when he was 11 and 13.

Catch a wave–and a trophy Freshman Casey Ritzer skimboards his way to two world championships and four sponsorship deals

by Caleb Friedman It’s not often that you can say you know someone who’s the best in the world at what they do.

But at Whitman, you’ve probably been walking past one of those people every day in the hallway.

Freshman Casey Ritzer is a two-time world champion skim boarder and has four sponsorship deals, including Zapp Skimboards and Alley Oop Apparel.

Skimboarding, which is done on a thin, oval shaped board, involves riding toward an oncoming wave and trying to ride it back into the shore. Ritzer has been doing it since he was eight years old.

“It feels natural to be in the water, I’ve spent my whole life there,” Ritzer said. “It doesn’t feel right when I’m not.”

Ritzer’s biggest competitions have been in California, where he won the Victoria World Championships for his age in Laguna Beach when he was 11 and 13.

He also placed second in a competition Oct. 4-5 in San Clemente, CA, where he competed in the semi-pro division against people up to 30 years old.

In competitions, skimboarders can ride any number of waves, with five judges scoring that athlete based on the tricks they do on their five best waves.

Ritzer’s dad originally introduced him to skimboarding, and he immediately fell in love with the sport.

“It feels natural to be in the water; I’ve spent my whole life there... It doesn’t feel right when I’m not there.”

-Freshman Casey Ritzer “Casey and I started skimboarding together on a little wooden board in Delaware,” Casey’s dad, David, said. “He soon got really good and I didn’t.

He has always been good at anything that takes good balance.”

Ritzer has spent his summers at the beach in Delaware, where he either skims or surfs every day with his friends.

One of his sponsors, Alley Oop Skim, noticed his talent when he attended their summer camp about five years ago, owner Jason Wilson said.

“He’s a focused athlete, he’s always had the eye of a competitor,” Wilson said. “He was always a step ahead of kids his age. With some kids, you can just tell.”

Alley Oop provides Ritzer with discounts and free clothing, and helps him “make connections” with bigger sponsors, Wilson said.

In addition to his sponsorships, skimboarding has allowed Casey to meet new people all around the world, his dad said.

“Skimboarding is a pretty small sport, but Casey loves it,” he said. “He can go to any skimboarding spot in the world and find people who share a similar passion.”

Ritzer wants to continue competing, and hopes to attend several competitions around the world.

“I just want to have fun and travel,” he said. “I’m hoping I can make it out to contests in Brazil and Portugal this year.”

by Sam Berson Pitcher Aaron Barrett came to set in the bottom of the seventh inning, trying to clean up the bases-loaded mess he found himself in. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval stood before him, looking to break open the 2-2 tie just like he did in game two, but this time Sandoval wouldn’t even need his bat.

And following D.C. tradition, the Nationals shot themselves in the foot one more time, ending a series riddled with questionable decisions and a lack of hitting.

Nerves overcame Barrett as he proceeded to spike the 2-1 pitch, bringing home second baseman Joe Panik on a passed ball and putting the Giants ahead 3-2, sending them on their way to an NLCS showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The series in general, however, was just another typical meltdown for an oh-so-promising Washington team falling short when it mattered most.

The Nats entered the playoffs with the sport’s hottest pitcher. Jordan Zimmermann followed up his no-hitter in the final game of the regular season with another gem in game two of the playoffs. He allowed no runs on three walks and three hits in 8 2/3 innings.

But the problem is that it was only 8 2/3 and not 9. After a two-out walk, manager Matt Williams decided he had seen enough and decided to go to his closer Drew Storen, instead of letting his number one pitcher finish his secondstraight shutout.

And the decision would come back to haunt him as the wounds of Storen’s meltdown from two seasons ago were ripped open as soon as he entered the game, blowing the slim one-run lead the team was clinging to.

The game ended up going on for another nine innings, and the Nats were unable to jumpstart their dead offense before Giants first baseman Brandon Belt hit his 18th inning game winning home run.

But it’s hard to blame Storen and the pitching staff for a series in which the Nationals posted a cool 1.23 ERA, and only allowed six earned runs in four games.

That being said, the Giants still shut down the powerful Nationals offense, and held them to an abysmal 2-23 with runners in scoring position. The heart of the order, Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, and Ian Desmond, combined for a disappointing 5-53, and the team wasn’t able to push runs across when they needed them the most.

If any bright spot could be found, however, it would have to be the combination of youngsters Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper, who together contributed almost half of the team’s hits. Harper also hit three huge home runs to keep the dreadful offense somewhat afloat in each game.

And so the disappointing series loss to the Giants was just that. The Giants came up clutch when they needed to while the Nats didn’t.

So for the Nationals, a once World Series favorite, is sent home packing early, joining the likes of the Capitals and Redskins, whose saviors and superstars fall short when it matters most.

Montgomery College sports teams give high school athletes a viable option to compete at the college level

by Josh Feder Montgomery College is usually thought of as a place for students to get a meaningful yet affordable education. But not to be forgotten, MC is also home to a rarely talked about athletic program that is not only large but successful.

MC is part of Division III in the NJCAA, the National Junior College Athletic Association, which organizes athletic competition between various two-year colleges. MC offers five men’s and six women’s sports, including soccer, volleyball, tennis, baseball, softball and track.

The teams have had a great deal of success, with soccer, volleyball and girls basketball teams competing in national tournaments in recent years. Players have also had individual accomplishments at MC, with two baseball players receiving All-American honors and several athletes winning track and field championships in the past year.

Although the two-year setting is different than a traditional college, playing at a junior college doesn’t come without its advantages, MC athletic director Derek Carter said.

“It allows you to advance your athletic career, it allows you to grow as a student, and it gives you a chance at a four year school you may not have had an opportunity to attend,” he said.

Marvin Martinez, a midfielder for the MC boys soccer team, hopes to take a route most MC athletes don’t pursue, by using the experience he has gained playing at MC to transfer to a four-year college to continue his career. He attributes his development as a player to the experience gained playing at MC. “As a player I have greatly improved.

I always want to improve my game and the coaches have seen that I am willing to work hard,” he said.

The boys soccer team is one of the best teams at MC and is ranked fourth in

the country. This fall, they are hoping to make their third straight national championship game, and take home their second national title in four years.

Martinez, like many MC athletes originally came to the school because of his passion for his sport.

“I wanted to play for Montgomery College mainly because I wanted to keep my interest in soccer going,” Martinez said. “Playing so long I don’t think it was not possible for me to quit after high school.”

Though they share the same competitive and professional environment as traditional college sports, the NJCAA has many key differences from its counterparts. The biggest difference is how much more money is put into the fouryear programs, said Mark Krug, the Assistant Executive Director of the NJCAA. However, according to Krug, this discrepancy hasn’t led to any problems.

Coaches are well versed in the two-year

environment, and the absence of money in the system doesn’t hinder coaches ability to nurture athletes at a personal level.

Additionally, Krug said that the recruiting process can be just as rigorous as that in the NCAA but in different ways.

Budgetary restrictions change how scouting and enrollment is carried out, so instead of offering scholarship money, junior college coaches take a more grassroots approach.

Krug believes all student athletes should seriously consider attending a junior college, because those who can’t afford attending a four year school can both continue to play their sport and save money at the same time.

“If you feel like you have the ability to play the sport you love at the next level,” he said, “give community college a serious look.”

october 16, 2014

16

photo by HANNAH JACOBS

Congratulations to senior Abby Gross for winning the photo contest and a $20 Chipotle gift card!

photo by JONAH ROSEN

photo by JONAH ROSEN

photo by NICK ANDERSON

photo by JONAH ROSEN

For this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s superhero-themed Homecoming, students shed their mortal clothing in favor of capes and tights. They left their homework to decorate hallways and fight their enemies at BOTC. The leadership team saved the citizens of Walt Whitmanland with a week full of fun.

photo by CATHERINE CZAJKA

photo by JONAH ROSEN

photo by JONAH ROSEN

photo by NICK ANDERSON

photo by NICK ANDERSON