The Black & White Vol. 55 Issue 2

FEATURET

SPORTS FEATURET

Alum Ben Barrett (‘16) dogsleds in Northwest Territories, Canada.

PAGE 20

Athlete of the Month: field hockey’s Claire Hisle PAGE 18

Walt Whitman High School

photo courtesy BEN BARRETT

IN-DEPTH

2016 election feature PAGES 10-11

CROSSWORD photo by JEFFERSON LUO

7100 Whittier Boulevard Bethesda, MD 20817

“The Nightmare on Beale Street” PAGE 19

Friday, November 11, 2016

Volume 55, Issue 2

Students honor Tommy Buarque de Macedo through Verizon app contest

by PEARL SUN

Student poker players are ‘all in’

by JENNIE YU For the average onlooker, poker is high-stakes entertainment where only the lucky succeed. But for one group of seniors, it’s all about strategy and socializing.

Justin Baker, Robert Isaac, Matthew Noenickx, Harry Papaioannou and Joseph Tseytlin created a poker group that meets weekly to play games— good-natured competition between friends who share a common hobby. Eventually, they realized that poker could potentially provide them with numerous real-world financial opportunities, but their love for the game is what encourages the group to keep playing.

Noenickx joined the group to enjoy challenging games with good friends while Isaac joined after watching Rounders, a movie about high-stakes underground poker.

“When Rounders introduced me to the game, I began looking for people to play with,” Isaac said.

“It’s very social. You’re not in the hand every time and can talk to friends, but our group has gotten better and therefore more competitive.”

Noenickx agreed, saying the competition was what made each game fun.

“I started playing because it was a good group of people that I enjoy hanging out with, and it was fun to see how well you could do and try to win games,” Noenickx said.

As an added bonus, the group also found that they could enjoy the many intellectual benefits that accompany the game.

“There’s so much psychology involved in poker,” Tseytlin said. “Naturally, your decisions have to be based upon the decisions of other people, so there’s a lot of probability included as well.”

In order to calculate the odds and improve their strategy, poker players need high-level, statistical math skills.

Greg Papaioannou (‘13), Harry’s brother and occasional guest at the Whitman group’s table, is also the co-president of the Penn Poker Club at the University of Pennsylvania. He agrees that poker and finance are closely related, especially in terms of investing.

“Poker players and investors alike fill in information gaps with assumptions formed from previous experiences,” Greg Papaioannou said.

“Ultimately, the quality of their skill set becomes easily apparent in the long term.”

As a junior majoring in finance, lessons he’s learned from poker will work in his favor as he enters the workforce, Greg Papaioannou said.

“Poker promotes quick analytical thinking, rewards those who are quantitatively inclined and teaches that an individual can make the correct decision and still lose, which is quite a valuable life lesson,” he said.

“

“

Photo by ANNABELLE GORDON

Political journalists and strategists speak at The Black & White’s “The Challenges of Covering the 2016 Election” event, held in the auditorium Oct. 27. The speakers discussed the candidates, media coverage and the implications of the election. From left: E.J. Dionne (Washington Post), John Feehery (The Hill), Ashley Parker (New York Times), Matt Bai (Yahoo! News) and Ruth Marcus (Washington Post). Full election coverage pages 10-11.

Calculus teacher Michelle Holloway was scrolling through her e-mails when she came across one that caught her eye: “Give your students the chance to invent their own app,” it read, bringing back memories of student Tommy Buarque de Macedo and the app that he never had the chance to put into effect. Buarque de Macedo and his parents died in a car crash earlier this year.

Holloway’s BC calculus classes will enter the Verizon Innovative App Challenge this fall using Buarque de Macedo’s original idea—an app that tracks the school bus routes throughout the county—as a springboard for their concept. The nationwide contest is held in partnership with the We Are Teachers organization and challenges middle and high school students to develop a mobile app concept that solves a problem in their community.

“I feel like when someone is gone, people just move on and forget them,” Holloway said. “I thought entering this contest could bring Tommy back in a way that celebrates his intelligence.”

After developing an app idea, teams of five to seven contestants must answer questions about their idea in an essay and make a short video on the concept.

The submission deadline is Nov. 18, and each state will select one middle school and one high school team to win Best in State, awarding mobile tablets to each team member and $5,000 to the school or nonprofit program.

I feel like when someone is gone, people just move on and forget them. I thought entering this contest could bring Tommy back in a way that celebrates his intelligence.

-math teacher Michelle Holloway

Twenty-four teams win at the Best in Region level, which allows them to proceed to compete for Best in Nation. The Fan Favorite team, chosen through public voting, and the final eight Best in Nation winners receive an additional $15,000, coding training from MIT experts and a fully paid trip to the National Technology Student Association Conference. The Fan Favorite winner will be announced Feb. 15, 2017.

But it’s not about winning, it’s about celebrating de Macedo, Holloway said.

“He started the app, so we’d like to finish it and even take it further,” she said. “And we’d like to give him credit for it.”

Students are grateful to enter a contest that benefits the community while also carrying on Buarque de Macedo’s legacy, juniors Rabhya Mehrotra and Kyra Du said .

“Entering the contest in honor of Tommy gives us some purpose other than winning a prize,” Du said. continued on page

2

Students ascend to new heights by joining ‘Earth Trek’ team

by AMY NANKIN

Beads of sweat drip down junior Hope Hilsenrath’s face as she desperately gazes up at the wall, searching for her next move. She reaches out and strategically places her fingers in the creases of the next rock, hoisting herself up, over and over, until she reaches the top of the wall.

Alongside Hilsenrath, Whitman juniors Alex Garner, Caroline Brody and freshman Matt Ryan practice these movements regularly at Earth Treks—an indoor rockwall facility in Rockville— as part of an advanced competitive team called Earth Treks (ET).

“On my team level, most of the kids have got the climbing aspect figured out, and they don’t

need much teaching,” Garner said. “While it is a team sport, it’s definitely more individual. The difficulty of the climbing we do requires a lot of strategic thinking.”

Being on an indoor team is a major time commitment for athletes as they practice three days a week for three hours. During practices, the coach leads the team in workouts or allows them to work individually on various skills.

As climbers become more advanced, the climbs they compete in consist of more difficult rock formations. For them to master these climbs, coaches provide them with strategies to tap into a more positive mindset and be able to maneuver themselves up the wall. continued on page

16

Photo courtesy KIAN MCKELLAR

Brody practices technique while scaling a wall at Earthtreks climbing facility.

Briefs Ignition interlock devices honor officer

by VALERIE AKINYOYENU Noah’s Law took effect in Maryland Oct. 1, expanding the use of ignition interlock devices after the Leotta family’s long-fought effort following the death of their son, Montgomery County police officer Noah Leotta.

Ignition interlock devices prevent driving under the influence of alcohol by connecting a breathalyzer to a vehicle’s ignition and temporarily locking it if the breathalyzer detects a blood alcohol content at or above .025 percent.

The devices display an image of Officer Noah Leotta who was killed by a drunk driver on Rockville Pike Dec. 3 of last year.

In accordance with Noah’s Law, all drivers who refuse a breathalyzer test or are convicted of driving under the influence can avoid license suspension by opting into the ignition interlock program for three months to one year, depending on the offense.

Leotta’s family joined county officials to present the stamp in the Rockville Circuit Courthouse Sept.

30.

“It’s going to take offenders off the road from driving drunk,” Noah Leotta’s father Rich Leotta said at the event. “It’s going to change their behavior. And it’s going to save lives.”

MCPS officials meet to discuss overcrowding

by ANDIE SILVERMAN Superintendent Jack Smith recommended a round table meeting with members of the Board of Education and the community to facilitate discussions addressing high school overcrowding.

This meeting is set to address overcrowding in Blair, Einstein, Walter Johnson, Kennedy and Northwood high schools.

Smith recommended reopening Woodward High School in Rockville as a possible solution. In 1987, Woodward closed when it combined with Walter Johnson; Tilden Middle School now uses Woodward as a holding school as it undergoes construction.

“Such high numbers in a high school makes things like soccer teams and newspaper too competitive,” Board of Education member Patricia O’Neill said. “I think the reopening of Woodward would be a good solution to this problem.”

Other alternatives include the use of commercial space, the construction of a new school and grade reorganization.

“We have had larger class sizes in recent years,” principal Alan Goodwin said. “With the increase of students, though, we have been able to hire more staff, but we still have large class sizes.”

Swiss radio interviews Speech and Debate team

by JULIE ROSENSTEIN The Swiss National Public Broadcasting company (SRF) interviewed students from Whitman’s speech and debate team Oct. 10 for a radio segment on high school debate teams.

SRF’s piece focused on how the national presidential debates have influenced more students to participate in their school debate programs.

Reporters contacted Eric Wenger, president of the speech and debate team’s parent board, about a week before they interviewed students during an afterschool practice session.

The questions covered a range of topics including what a typical event and practice are like, team president Xavier Roberts-Gaal said.

“They asked how the events are structured, what sort of skills we emphasize, how we prepare to compete, and what the events look like in competition,” Roberts-Gaal said.

The reporters also recorded segments of the speech and debate practices.

The podcast aired Oct.19 and can be found on theblackandwhite.net.

NEWS New airplane program causes turbulence among community Flight path disrupts local communities

by ANNA GRAY Lately, members of the Whitman community have had their heads up in the clouds.

Reagan National Airport recently implemented the aviation program Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), condensing flight paths which now cross some neighborhoods in the Whitman district in an effort to save fuel and time.

Since its introduction, residents in the Mohican and Sumner communities have complained about the frequent loud noise from the planes.

“Our neighborhood and those in the surrounding area have been greatly impacted,” Sumner resident and Whitman parent Joe Squeri said. “By my estimate, a plane comes over the affected neighborhoods every one-and-a-half to two minutes.”

The DCA Nighttime Noise Rule, which prevents loud air traffic between 10 p.m. and 6:59 a.m., has also been seemingly disregarded, Squeri said.

Mohican resident and junior Julia Warker agrees that the planes can be irritating.

“I’ll be sitting outside playing with my dog or reading and appreciating the silence and when I hear the loud airplane sounds, it does kind of dampen the mood,” Warker said.

In response to this backlash, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assembled a working group to collect public input.

Joan Kleinman, the district director for U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen told Bethesda Magazine that the FAA working group hasn’t been responsive to the community’s requests. Mont-

Sumner and Mohican Area

Reagan Airport

Graphic by EMMA DAVIS

Flight pathways after NextGEN gomery County representatives weren’t originally included in the group despite requests to participate.

Currently, the working group contains only one Bethesda-area representative, Ken Hartman, who works to voice concerns from local residents who live in the NextGen path.

Some residents say the FAA still lacks initiative. On Oct. 5 when the County Council met

to discuss NextGen separately from the working group, the FAA didn’t attend, according to a recent Bethesda Magazine article.

“There have been petitions to the FAA directly, so I have participated in this neighborhood campaign to hopefully ameliorate the noise,” Squeri said. “I’m hopeful that some compromise can be reached, but not optimistic.”

Joe Squeri is the father of sports writer Joey Squeri.

BC Calculus classes honor student by developing app ideas continued from page

1

While it was Holloway’s idea to enter the competition, students are spearheading the project; they have brief discussions about the app at the beginning of some classes, but the majority of the work is done on their own time. Students from all class periods brainstorm together.

When Holloway’s students fully develop the app concept, they’ll determine which students will represent the class in the contest.

So far, students have come up with a variety of expansions of de Macedo’s bus route idea from safety to carpooling.

“We could expand

the app to include safety,” Mehrotra said. “Girls can rate streets based on their encounters to make safe paths.”

“

Macedo’s original goal: he wanted to ensure parents knew where their students were and how far the bus ride was, his

“

2

I just know that someone will come up with a brilliant idea, and that will make me incredibly happy - math teacher Michelle Holloway

Another option, from junior Luxman Maheswaran, is to make an app that tracks which school bus routes are crowded and trafficheavy to predict delays in arriving home.

The app will aim to achieve Buarque de

sister Helena Buarque de Macedo said.

“I just know that someone will come up with a brilliant idea, and that will make me incredibly happy,” Holloway said.

Holloway hopes that by entering the contest

and brainstorming ways to help the community, students will learn to be more empathetic and compassionate towards one another, she said.

“I feel an obligation to help people,” Holloway said. “I’m hoping that celebrating Tommy will benefit my students and teach them to be kind.”

Students said they are pleased not only to honor Buarque de Macedo, but also to support Holloway.

“I think it’s a good idea to enter this contest in memory of Tommy because we know that Ms. Holloway was really close to him,” junior Johnna Lee said. “Using his idea is a good way to carry on his legacy.”

News

3

Teacher’s union offers new bell time proposals High schools would start later, elementary earlier

by LILY FRIEDMAN If county teachers have anything to say about it, students who dash into school at 7:43 every morning may be in luck next year.

In response to complaints from working elementary school parents, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), a countywide teacher union, hosted four town halls this fall to change the current start times so that high schools and middle schools start later and elementary schools start earlier. The proposal comes on the heels of a start time change last school year.

The meetings spanned all of October at various MCPS high schools including Clarksburg, Gaithersburg, Kennedy and Paint Branch.

MCEA created three plans, which attendees debated at the town hall meetings.

Under two of the three proposals, high schools’ bell schedules would start later, beginning at 8:35 a.m or 8:50 a.m. depending on the plan. Elementary schools would begin earlier than high schools, and middle schools would start the latest. In the other plan, middle schools would start earliest, followed by high schools and elementary schools.

According to the MCEA website, the ultimate goal was to draft one bell time proposal that represented families to send to the Board of Education (BOE) in December.

The plans differ slightly, but many Whitman students said they would appreciate any later bell schedule if the BOE approves the final proposal.

“It’s extremely important to have a consistent sleep schedule,”

junior Dana Gurland said. “High schools students go to bed so late on both weekends and weekdays, so if we could wake up later like we can on weekends, maybe we’d be less tired.”

Other students worry about elementary school kids walking to school alone in the dark.

“My parents leave for work early, so my siblings would have to go to school on their own,” freshman Howie Fishman said.

“Some kids might not know where to go, especially in the winter.”

Many teachers support the change despite the current difficulties working parents have getting kids to elementary school with late start times.

“At the last meeting, a parent and MCPS teacher shared her experiences with children in elementary schools that start after she needed to be at work,” Whitman MCEA representative Danielle Fus said. “I’d hope that the BOE would take our feedback and strongly consider it, but it’s a mystery about how they’ll respond.”

Even though the issue merits conversation and is pressing for some families, it isn’t likely that the bell times will change for this coming year, Student Member of the Board Eric Guerci said.

“Teacher feedback is very important, and I commend teachers for bringing this issue to the forefront,” Guerci said. “Given that we just implemented current bell times, I believe that staff and the community want more time to see how implementation has been going.”

Current Plan High School starts at 7:45 a.m.

Middle School starts at 8:15 a.m.

Elementary School starts at 9 a.m. or 9:15 a.m.

Plan One High School starts at 8:50 a.m.

Middle School starts at 9:30 a.m.

Elementary School starts at 7:45 a.m. or 8:15 a.m.

plan Plan two Two

High School starts at 7:55 a.m.

Middle School starts at 7:25 a.m.

Elementary School starts at 8:45 a.m. or 9:10 a.m.

“

I am hoping that we will get the waiver and be able to start the week before Labor Day. But it looks as though at this point that it will be hard for us to start the week after Labor Day.

“

The MCPS Board of Education (BOE) applied for a waiver to start school a week prior to Labor Day in response to Larry Hogan’s executive order which requires school to begin after Labor Day. The application requests that MCPS be exempt from the mandated start date in order to allow for more time in the school year.

Prior to Hogan’s executive order, the BOE announced they wanted the school year to start two weeks before Labor Day. Now, in an attempt to compromise with Hogan, the BOE only requested to start one week before Labor Day which is the current start date.

An earlier start date could allow for more instructional time before APs and prevent fall sports from continuing into the winter, principal Alan Goodwin said.

While some administrators may not agree with Hogan’s executive order, some students said they are looking forward to a longer summer.

“I was happy when I heard the start date could get pushed back,” junior Maddy Kostopulos said.

- principal Alan Goodwin Other students think that pushing the start date after Labor Day would cause fewer scheduling conflicts with school activities that begin before the school year.

“People who play fall sports need to come home from camp ear-

Montgomery County public libraries partnered with Gandhi Brigade Youth Media to expand a free video production and graphic design instructional program for high school students beginning this September.

Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, Gandhi Brigade is a nonprofit organization that empowers students to use media-based software and technology as a tool for activism. During the 12-week program, students create documentaries and public service announcements that highlight issues the students deem important.

“The skills our participants learn are easily applied to creating and understanding media and setting them up to be the content-creators of the future,” Gandhi Brigade executive director Evan Glass said.

The partnership added weekly classes at Rockville, Olney, White Oak, Gaithersburg and Silver Spring libraries. Gandhi Brigade hopes to bring the program to more libraries next spring, Glass said.

Students will have the opportunity to showcase their projects in the countywide Youth Media Festival at the American Film Institute in April 2017 which is open to all middle and high school students in the county.

MCPS offers free financial aid workshops

by PEARL SUN

Plan Three

High School starts at 8:35 a.m.

Middle School starts at 9:05 a.m.

Elementary School starts at 7:35 a.m. or 8 a.m.

Graphic by ANN MORGAN JACOBI

“We deserve more summer because of how hard we work during the school year.”

Free production courses offered at local libraries

by VALERIE AKINYOYENU

Board of Education applies to be exempt from new school calendar

by ANDIE SILVERMAN

Briefs

lier sometimes in order to tryout for sports,” senior Jack Feigin said.

“A later start date will move sports back a week so they don’t need to leave camp early.”

Goodwin said he doubts the waiver will pass because it’s unlikely the county will meet the state’s requirements for exemption.

Originally, Hogan said waiver applications must contain “compelling jurisdiction,” more recently clarifying this language by adding more restrictions; counties that have more than 10 snow days per school year may apply, but Montgomery County often doesn’t meet that quota.

Counties may also qualify for a waiver if they have charter, lowperforming or at-risk schools or schools with unusual schedules, like year-round school calendars.

However, MCPS is unlikely to qualify under any of those categories, Goodwin said.

“I am hoping that we will get the waiver and be able to start the week before Labor Day,” Goodwin said. “[But] it looks as though at this point that it will be hard for us to start the week before Labor Day.”

MCPS College and Career Center now offers free financial aid workshops to provide college preparation resources to students in need. The workshops rotate high schools each week to provide all MCPS families equal access to their services.

During each workshop, McDaniel College financial aid counselor Julie Weaver outlines the financial aid application process with screenshots of the application and highlights common mistakes like forgetting to check off the box that indicates the year of the applicant’s tax information.

“By doing this, I hope to take the anxiety from applying for aid and help students navigate the financial aid application,” Weaver said.

Weaver said she decided to pursue this career because it is incredibly fulfilling; every year, students, including some who were formerly homeless, return to thank her.

Previous workshops have offered Spanish translators and sign language interpreters in an attempt to accommodate all people who need the resource.

The next workshop is Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. at Clarksburg High School.

New bathrooms will promote acceptence

by SABRINA MARTIN Whitman will convert the first-floor staff bathrooms into single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms to accommodate students of all gender identities. The date of implementation remains undecided.

Whitman’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) has worked closely with principal Alan Goodwin and the SGA to promote school-wide inclusion and acceptance.

“It’s an important personal turning point for many transgender people to choose to use the ‘correct’ bathroom, and it can be really terrifying,” GSA president Calem Riggs said. “So I hope that access to a single-stall bathroom will help students through these personal challenges with less anxiety.”

Riggs also hopes the bathroom will raise awareness about Whitman’s transgender and nonbinary population.

“It’s very important at Whitman to be aware that you’re in a diverse community; people around you aren’t necessarily cisgender and heterosexual, and you need to consider how to interact with strangers under that condition,” Riggs said.

4

News

New Instagram feature allows users to report mental health warning signs

by PEARL SUN In response to the growing prevalence of mental illness awareness, Instagram updated its reporting policies in October: users can anonymously flag a post when they think someone is struggling with mental health.

The person whose post is flagged receives a message from Instagram that reads: “Someone saw one of your posts and thinks you might be going through a difficult time.

If you need support, we’d like to help.” The app then suggests the user talks to a friend or calls a local hotline and provides information on where to find support.

“It’s definitely a good way for students to support their peers, especially if they’re uncomfortable confronting them,” counselor Angela Fang said.

Instagram worked with the National Eating Disorders Association and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to ensure they used the right language for the messages.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people of ages 15–24, according to the CDC. School psychologist Judith Amick confirms noticing more high school students affected by mental illness.

“I’m seeing many more high school kids with mental health issues, especially serious ones, that impact their education,” she said.

This is one of Instagram’s many attempts to address mental health. If someone

searches hashtags like self-harm, thigh gap or thinspiration, support options will pop up. Users can also filter comments containing keywords that are frequently flagged as offensive, or turn off the option to comment altogether.

Although the flag was implemented with good intentions, some students and staff doubt its effectiveness.

“If someone is going through a really difficult time, they probably won’t want to take advice from a random app,” junior Isabella Lorence said. “It’s a nice gesture, but I don’t think it’ll be that effective.”

There’s no way of knowing whether or not students will actually take one of the recommended support options, Fang said.

“It’s good that the person knows there’s someone looking out for them, but I don’t know how likely a person is to act on it,” she said. “There’s no accountability.”

Still, by simply acknowledging these issues and attempting to help, Instagram can be part of a culture shift that treats mental illness with empathy, Instagram chief operating officer Marne Levine said.

“We understand friends and family often want to offer support but don’t know how best to reach out,” Levine told Seventeen Magazine. “These tools are designed to let you know that you are surrounded by a community that cares about you at a moment when you might most need that reminder.”

Graphic by CHARLOTTE ALDEN

the

B&W

The Black & White is an open forum for student views from Walt Whitman High School, 7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda, MD, 20817.

The Black & White Online Edition can be found at www.theblackandwhite.net. The app can be downloaded by searching for “The WW Black and White” in the app store.

Signed opinion pieces reflect the positions of the individual staff and not necessarily the opinion of Walt Whitman High School or Montgomery County Public Schools. Unsigned editorial pieces reflect the opinion of the newspaper.

All content in the paper is reviewed to ensure that it meets the highest level of legal and ethical standards with respect to the material as libelous, obscene, or invasive of privacy.

The Black & White encourages readers to submit opinions on relevant topics in the form of letters to the editor, which must be signed to be printed. Anonymity can be granted on request. The Black & White reserves the right to edit letters for content and space. Letters to the editor may be emailed to theblackandwhitevol55@gmail.com.

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The Black & White volume 55 will publish six newspapers and one magazine. Annual mail subscriptions cost $35 ($120 for four-year subscription) and can be purchased through the online school store.

Volume 55, Issue 2 2016-2017

Print Editor-in-Chief Josh Millin Print Managing Editors Rachel Friedman Norell Sherman Online Editor-in-Chief Jason Grill Online Managing Editors Anna McGuire Avery Muir Print Copy Editors Sophia Knappertz Naomi Meron Online Copy Editor Celia Hoffman Headlines Editor Kelly Mema News Editors Mary Dimitrov Jennah Haque Feature & Arts Editors Justin Baker Camryn Dahl Allie Lerner Emily Schweitzer Opinion Editor Tanusha Mishra Blogs Editor Natachi Onwuamaegbu Sports Editor Carolyn Price Online Sports Editor Ezra Pine Multimedia Editors Noah Clement Natalie Welber Heads of Production Abby Singer Sebi Sola-Sole Production Manager Ann Morgan Jacobi Production Assistants Iris Berendes-Dean Emma Davis Meimei Greenstein Online Graphics Editor Charlotte Alden Business Managers Simi Gold Ali Misirci Photo Director Tomas Castro Print Photo Assistants Annabelle Gordon Valerie Myers Online Photo Assistant Rachel Hazan Social Media Director Matt Farr Calendar Manager Grace O’Leary Webmasters Caleb Hering Anthony Breder Senior Columnists Michael Gorman Luke Graves News Writers Valerie Akinyoyenu Lily Friedman Anna Gray Lily Jacobson Carmen Molina Julie Rosenstein Andie Silverman Pearl Sun Feature & Arts Writers Abbi Audas Hanna Chaudhry Ava Chenok Aiden Lesley Elea Levin Sabrina Martin Abby Snyder Aaron Titlebaum Jennie Yu Opinion Writers Tiger Björnlund Camille Caldera Elisa McCartin Michelle Silver Emma Sorkin Sports Writers Kyle Layman Ben Levin Amy Nankin Sam Shiffman Joey Squeri Daniel Weber Multimedia Writers Eli Saletan Adviser Nicholas Confino Assistant Adviser Louise Reynolds

OPINION

5

It’s time to immerse Staff more students into Editorial language programs More than 27,000 MCPS students take a foreign language in high school; however, only about 1,500 reach the AP level in languages and become fluent without attending a supplementary program. The best way to fix this fluency deficit is to implement immersion programs.

Immersion programs teach students traditional subjects in a foreign language. MCPS has immersion programs, but they’re currently offered at only seven elementary schools—three devoted to Spanish and two each for French and Chinese. Five of the seven schools are in the Silver Spring area, and two are near Rockville. None of the programs are in the Whitman district or even the Northern part of the county.

This limited availability isn’t meeting the demand for language immersion programs in the county—619 kids applied for entry into an immersion program in 2013 for only 286 possible spots.

MCPS should expand language immersion programs in elementary schools to cover a greater portion of the county. This would help satisfy the demand for authentic language-learning and enable more students to achieve fluency in foreign languages.

Learning a second language has numerous benefits: students who learn a second language in school exhibit better critical thinking skills, creativity and mental flexibility, according to a 2014 Harvard University study. Also, in both math and verbal tests in English, the students in this study who learned a second language consistently outscored their peers who

didn’t study a foreign language.

Young children, who especially benefit from learning a second language, according to the study, are also more capable of learning a second language than older children; young minds are more receptive to pronunciation and are more deeply affected by new vocabulary and linguistic concepts. Shifting the bulk of language education to elementary school would improve the effectiveness of MCPS language education.

Moreover, immersion education is consistently more effective for achieving fluency than classic learning techniques, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition found. This makes immersion programs even more valuable as they could enable far more MCPS students to graduate high school fluent in a second language.

Opponents say that it will be hard to transition schools into this bilingual system and may require additional funding. This actually isn’t the case: the curriculum is already written for these programs and would only need to be replicated in more elementary schools. Staff can be recruited and trained based on guidelines already set by a 2010 MCPS panel which recommended adding new immersion programs.

Additionally, while immersion schools have special grants, they don’t cost any more in total than a school without immersion.

MCPS has long praised the benefits of learning foreign languages. It’s time they acted to expand that opportunity.

Addition of gender-neutral bathroom will be positive first step

by MICHELLE SILVER Students walking by the firstfloor staff lounge will soon notice the staff bathroom signs have changed; instead of one male and one female bathroom, the signs for each bathroom will display both a female and a male icon.

Several students voiced concerns about wanting gender-neutral bathrooms in the school to provide a safe space where students can go regardless of their gender identity. Some Whitman students have been using the nurse’s singlestall bathroom because they felt uncomfortable using either the bathroom for the gender they identify with or the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, said sophomore Urban Seiberg, who identifies as non-binary, or not exclusively masculine or feminine.

By planning to convert two single-stall staff bathrooms on the first floor into gender-neutral bathrooms which both staff and students will be able to use, the SGA and administration have taken a step in the right direction, following the example of schools like B-CC. However, in order to further support gender-questioning students, the SGA and administration should install gender-neutral bathrooms on each floor.

Although the planned genderneutral bathrooms will offer students more freedom and comfort, the gender-neutral bathrooms are far away from many classrooms in the building. Students may not have time to go to them between classes without missing instruction.

Having more gender-neutral bathrooms around the school may

also increase awareness of the transgender population at Whitman. The bathrooms force students and staff to recognize and respect the needs of these students, Pride Alliance President Calem Riggs said.

Some people may question the importance of converting these bathrooms as many students feel comfortable with single-sex bathrooms. However, gender-neutral bathrooms ensure all students, regardless of their gender identity, are supported and guaranteed their rights to an environment “that is free of bullying, harassment and intimidation,” which is defined by the MCPS Nondiscrimination Policy.

Classrooms throughout the building are nurtured as safe, comfortable environments. It’s time that restrooms are, too.

6

Opinion

Homework on snow days? The cold, hard truth

by ELISA MCCARTIN If MCPS thought that last year’s snow was harsh, this year is expected to be even worse: the D.C. area can expect more snow storms than last year, Fox5 Weather reports.

To respond to the impending storms, MCPS should implement a policy requiring students to complete work assigned through Edline and Google Classroom during snow days only if there are more than four school day cancellations. In addition, the state government should reform its criteria for its 180-instructional-day requirement to include these work-filled snow days as official days of instruction.

Currently, the county calendar has 184 school days with four emergency weather days built in; additional cancellations force the county to add days at the end of the year, cutting into summer, or apply for a waiver from the state. As a result, teachers have less time to cover material and prepare students before RQAs and AP exams during the regular

school year.

While the state sometimes excuses counties from the 180-day requirement through a waiver system, other times it doesn’t. MCPS is considering turning professional days and spring break days into school days in order to add days before these tests, principal Alan Goodwin said. However, professional days are scarce enough already, Goodwin said,

and cutting even more will hurt teachers’ ability to prepare for future quarters.

Furthermore, when teachers have to tighten their curriculums, they’re often forced to cut enrichment activities that relate classes to the real world, AP biology teacher Melanie Toth said. In her biology class, these activities connect class content to scientific research, a rewarding experience for students.

Forcing MCPS to keep schools open into summer vacation also places severe financial burdens on MCPS. Three additional days of school can cost between $1.7 and $2 million, according to an MCPS newsletter. The county has to come up with these funds even though the money could be spent on other more pressing areas within MCPS. Some students argue that in the past the county has only added one or two days back to the calendar, so giving homework on snow days would force students to complete assignments when under the current system they wouldn’t have to. However, asking students to work on snow days would be a last resort; only after students get their four assignment-free snow days would they be assigned work at home—work days which are more helpful than summer school days after RQAs and AP exams.

After years of excessive snow days, MCPS should stop letting these days compromise classroom time, course content and education quality. Another Snowmageddon shouldn’t get in the way of education.

MCPS: shorten P.E. requirement to allow for more class flexibility Current policy restricts students’ choices

by EMMA SORKIN

Stop texts, save lives: Apple should release lockout technology Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

by CAMILLE CALDERA It took just one glance at her iPhone for Ashley Kubiak to lose control of her truck and crash into another vehicle, killing two women and injuring a child. Kubiak, then 21, was convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to six months in jail.

Even at times when it’s unsafe to use cell phones, checking them has become irresistible, as Kubiak’s incident highlights. But the solution to this technological predicament? More technology.

In April 2014, Apple received a patent for inphone “lockout technology,” which would use an iPhone’s existing accelerometer, light sensors and camera to detect use of the device by a driver and shut off the phone’s texting capabilities, according to AppleInsider.

To take a landmark stand against texting while driving, Apple should manufacture and release this technology—both adding it to all of their devices and making it available to other phone providers. As the leader of the smartphone industry, Apple is uniquely positioned in the market to spark widespread change by setting new standards for safety.

“

Creating lockout technology would establish Apple as a leader in safety and may attract more customers, specifically parents of teenage drivers.

“

Driving fatalities are rising to their highest in 50 years, in part due to an increase in distracted driving, a September New York Times article reports. Phones are a proven distractor; they are the

second most common cause of distracted driving crashes involving teen drivers, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

But texting drivers aren’t the only ones taking the blame. In July 2015, Kim Meador and her son—the only survivor of Kubiak’s crash, now paralyzed from the waist down—filed an ongoing product liability suit against Apple, claiming the company is liable for the accident because the crash was caused by iPhone use, which the company made no attempt to prevent.

Apple recommends that drivers turn their phones off or to airplane mode while behind the wheel. But in the patent for lockout technology, the company recognizes that drivers have little incentive to obey safety recommendations, including their own. In the patent, Apple also doubts that law enforcement can have “any significant effect” on the prevalence of texting while driving. Recommendations and laws may never be enough, so the technology itself must change.

Yet, Apple and other companies fear customers will switch to a new phone maker if denied the ability to use their phones while driving, the New York Times wrote last month. However, creating lockout technology would establish Apple as a leader in safety and may attract more customers, specifically parents of teenage drivers.

Some commuters worry that the lockout technology could prevent texting while on buses or trains due to the similar motion, a fear shared by passengers in cars. But the technology could be refined, and Apple’s patented lockout system already contains guards against this, such as cameras to identify the inside of cars and the driver, AppleInsider explains.

Law enforcement has tried to stop drivers from texting behind the wheel, but it remains an issue. It’s time for Apple and other cellphone makers to take their turn. They’ve pioneered technology able to assist users in all aspects of life, from tracking sleep to protecting passwords; this time, the smartphones can protect users from themselves.

Year after year, Whitman students opt to enroll in arduous, double-period classes such as AP Biology and AP Chemistry or multiple chorus classes. Yet many students are unable to take these classes because of the county’s rigid P.E. and health requirements.

Currently, county graduation requirements force students to take half a year of health and an entire year of gym; however, the state only requires half a year of each course.

MCPS should adjust its graduation requirement to one semester of P.E. and maintain the single semester of health. This would diminish complicated scheduling concerns and give students more opportunities to take classes that enhance their interests while still meeting the state requirements.

If MCPS shortens the gym requirement, students could fulfill both of these requisites together in a single year, making scheduling classes easier, counselor Shalewa Hardaway said. Additionally, this change wouldn’t impact the health curriculum, as the classroom time remains the same.

If P.E. is changed to a one-half credit requirement, students can focus on classes that relate to their interests.

Classes like art and chorus, as well as new classes offered this year, like creative writing and AP art history, may be unavailable to students busy fulfilling the P.E. requirement. And for the students interested in physical education, they will still have the option to take additional P.E. classes.

Many argue that kids need exercise and shortening gym will eliminate breaks from an otherwise sedentary school day. However, at Whitman, 423 students—nearly one-fourth of the student body—play on a fall sports team and are already active outside of school.

Furthermore, P.E. has no major impact on overall physical activity. Two hundred six kids, ages 7 to 11, from three different schools with varying hours of P.E. per week—ranging from one hour to nine hours—were included in a study conducted by Peninsula Medical School.

The children wore ActiGraphs (Fitbit-esque devices) to track their physical activity. The findings showed that despite the number of hours of P.E. students received, by the end of the day, the kids from all three schools had about the same amount of activity per day at about the same intensity.

Whether students take a full or half-year P.E. course has little bearing on their physical well-being, but it does prevent them from taking classes that interest them most.

Let’s put course schedules back into the hands of those it affects the most—students.

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FEATURE

9

New museum showcases African American history

by ELEA LEVIN

M

ichael Jackson’s fedora, a shard of glass from the Birmingham church bombing, a slave’s shackles and an auction block.

These objects share a connection: they’re all featured at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

The NMAAHC, the most recent addition to the Smithsonian Institution, opened Sept. 24 on the National Mall in an effort to bring prominent pieces of African American culture to the public eye.

All of the museum’s features are designed to highlight the achievements of African Americans throughout history.

“The exhibits are a tribute to the African American experience of the U.S., from slavery on up,” an anonymous NMAAHC security guard said.

The museum is laid out to move

Photo by ELEA LEVIN

The museum opened in September to pay tribute to the achievements of African Americans.

chronologically from bottom to top: the first floor is devoted to slavery; the second focuses on segregation and the Civil Rights movement; and the top floors are dedicated to the achievements of African Americans in areas such as sports, entertainment, fashion and politics.

“The sheer magnitude of history covered, including artifacts and videos, makes it so powerful,” museum visitor Kristen Broady said. “You find African American history sprinkled into other museums, but it’s nothing like this.”

Because there are no other national museums devoted to African American history, the museum strives to educate visitors about a culture they may not know much about.

“Although African Americans are an integral part of American culture, this is the first time there’s been a collection specifically devoted to Black history all in one place,” Broady said.

Beyond educating visitors on African American history and culture, the museum encourages a deeper understanding of the racism the U.S. was founded upon and that still exists.

“There was a lot of information explaining things, and it went a lot more in depth than anything I knew about African American history from classes,” senior Jonah Eisenberg said.

Artifacts include a whip used to beat slaves, Jackie Robinson’s baseball bat and protest signs from the Black Lives Matter movement, offering visitors a glimpse into the racism that African Americans faced in the past and continue to face in the present.

A segregated railroad car, the dress Rosa Parks wore the day of her arrest and a wall with the names of over 2,200 lynching victims are among some of the most significant displays. The casket of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was shot and killed in Mississippi in 1955 for flirting with a white woman, is widely cited as the most powerful feature.

The museum also offers interactive

Photos by ELEA LEVIN

The exterior of the museum is designed to represent the ironwork crafted by enslaved African Americans in the south.

exhibits such as a room that allows African Americans to trace their family history and a video tutorial on traditional African dance.

Despite the many serious exhibits, the museum offers a positive and hopeful message by also focusing on the successes of African Americans.

The Black & White ‘Speaks’ with bestselling author

by CARMEN MOLINA Laurie Halse Anderson is an award-winning author known for shining a light on difficult, contemporary topics.

She’s written in varying genres for different age groups, but is best known for her young adult novels. One of her first novels, “Speak,” is about the rape and social isolation of a high school girl and is taught to freshmen at Whitman. She recently published the final installment to her “Seeds of America” trilogy, a historical fiction series revolving around the experiences of a young slave during the American Revolution. The Black & White sat down with Anderson during a stop on her book tour at Bethesda Public Library Oct. 17. The following interview has been edited for space and clarity.

The Black & White: Many of your contemporary young adult novels have been included in school English curriculums; what do you hope people take away from these books when they have the chance to read and analyze them as a class?

Laurie Halse Anderson: I have to admit, whenever I speak to English teachers at conferences, I try to ask them to ease off on beating you guys with symbolism and analysis because that’s not why I wrote the book. If I did my job as a writer, then whatever you’re meant to get out of that story is going to filter through to you at a conscious or unconscious level. I know so many kids who loved reading when they were in third or fourth grade, and then they get to middle school and they grow up thinking symbolism and analysis is all books

“It really allowed people to open their eyes and find out how the country was built from slavery and oppression,” museum visitor Sterling Gaines said.

“However, it also featured a lot of figures from my youth that helped show me that if you set your goals high, you can accomplish anything.”

Photo by ASHLEY JIANG

Author Laurie Halse Anderson visited Bethesda Library Oct. 17 to discuss and promote her new book “Ashes,” the third and final segment of her historical fiction “Seeds of America” trilogy. Her novel “Speak” is taught by some teachers in ninth grade.

are supposed be. And they don’t want to read that. So my most important job in the world is to write stories that will keep children reading.

Beyond that, though, for the books that I write for teenagers, the overarching thing I’m trying to do is to let people know that they’re not alone. Some kids do get to age 18 without having dealt with trauma. Not many.

Everybody has to deal with something by the time you’re 18, and you are surrounded by people who are dealing with something. When I look at a lot of adults who are not functioning in a healthy way, often the root of their pain goes back to things that happened to them in childhood and adolescence they just didn’t have support for. So they just kind of stuffed it all down, and that wound up harming them. When we tell stories about life the way it is, if you see a reflection of your experience, that’s giving you permission to go,“I’m not alone.’” And sometimes that leads readers to go and get help or talk to somebody about it. Sometimes I just get the letters and emails saying, “I’m not alone.” And that means the world to me.

B&W: A lot of the topics you write about are the unspoken issues that parents and schools don’t really talk about; how do you think we, as a nation, should be addressing those topics?

LHA: Acknowledging that it’s a hard topic is the first step to being able to have the conversation. I think that’s the role of the artist in society: to point out these immaturities in the culture at large. Some people are go-

ing to do it with a hammer over the head. Other people are going to do it with a gentle push in the back. Though that’s certainly not my mission by any long shot, I think by default some of my books do that. That’s being an artist: talking about the truth on the ground that many adults are struggling with and many kids are suffering from. The telling of those stories is what’s going to heal us and lead us forward.

B&W: Some people have been vocal about their opposition towards you tackling issues such as eating disorders, suicide and sexual assault in books geared towards teenagers. Your books have even been banned in schools before; why do you think people’s reactions are so volatile toward addressing these topics?

LHA: I know why. Parents are afraid. They’re afraid of a culture they can’t control. And they don’t know how to talk to their kids about these subjects because their parents didn’t talk to them. When you look at it from that perspective, it’s much easier to understand. I can respect a parent wanting to protect their child, and I can honor their struggle and frustration. But I’ll tell you, I’ve raised four kids too, and I’ve talked to over a million at this point. You don’t do your kids any favor when you hide the truth from them. These parents think that they’re protecting their kids, when in fact, what they’re doing is raising their students in ignorance. And teenagers not really getting how the world works become very vulnerable.

10

election 2016

In-De

Media, Morals, millenials

When TV personality and real-estate tycoon Donald Trump first announced his candidacy for presidency in June 2015, few people took him seriously. But despite his often-controversial campaign, he rocketed to the Republican nomination, facing

Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton head on. Both campaigns were hard fought, but the votes are in; on Jan. 20, Trump will officially be sworn into office as our nation's 45th President.

Not only will he be our oldest president

to date, but his presidency is the product of one of the most unconventional elections so far. The Black&White spoke with students and experts about the most distinct aspects of this election.

Which political party, if any, do students most clo

of one of the ns so far. The students and nct aspects of

14.5% Republican pARTY 74.5% Democratic pARTY

8.89% 2.21%

Make America Whole Again?

Election season is supposed to be a time of lively discussion and debate, but with headlines about riots and fistfights at rallies, the nationwide discourse has been unusually heated.

People are angry and disheartened, but it’s important to identify and differentiate the root of frustrations on both sides of the aisle, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne said.

Dionne has identified at least four: right-end anger towards Obama; anger from small, rural or industrial towns over their decreased standard of living; anger from the African American community over criminal justice issues; and anger from young progressives directed toward Wall Street.

But the rancor isn’t just about policies; both candidates had their own scandals arise over the course of their campaigns, from Trump’s remarks about women to Clinton’s emails. Trump’s supporters were

accused of promoting bigotry, Clinton’s of supporting a powerhungry criminal.

“This election was definitely a lot more personal because a lot of the attacks are about character,” freshman Andrew Palim said. “If I support a candidate on a topic about issues, you’re just attacking my stance on the issues. But if the argument is about character, and I support this candidate, then that also calls my character into question.”

One certainty about Trump’s next four years is that one of his toughest jobs will be pulling together a divided nation.

“Politicians on the left and the right are just deluding themselves if they think that the unhappiness and anxiety about the country is going to dissipate after the election.” New York Times political reporter Ashley Parker said. “This anger is very real, and it’s not going away.”

Would Students’ respect for a peer change after learning his or her political affiliation?

No 53.33%

46.67% yES

73

hILLAR

11

epth by c An arme dj nm enn o i e y l i na u

Keeping up with the Kandidates

osely align with?

Independent OTHER

To vote or not to vote?

Which presidential candidate, if any, are STUDENTS supporting in this 2016 election?

3.33%

RY cLINTON

From CNN to Comedy Central, official debates to unmoderated Twitter wars, this election amassed a media following rivaling that of a reality TV show.

But as funny as Saturday Night Live’s renditions are, many citizens were concerned that the absurdity of the candidates’ name-calling and personal attacks were overshadowing their actual policies.

“I’m entertained, but I’m not sure that’s good in the long run,” junior Andrew Kim said. “When you’re voting for your country’s leader, it shouldn’t be so entertaining. It should be more serious in the sense that they’re talking about the future problems of our country and how they’re going to address those.”

Kim’s concerns are echoed by many students, especially in light of how they tend to get their news: the majority of students whom the Black&White polled cited social media and television coverage as their main source of news about national politics.

These forms of news, while instantaneous, may be costing the media its objectivity, according to The Hill columnist John Feehery.

“The fact is, with the internet and everything else, everybody kind of knows the basic storylines on most things,” Feehery said.

“Journalism has evolved to trying to get everyone’s analysis.”

The most important factor to identify is that there’s a difference between opinion writing and objective news coverage, Yahoo!

News columnist Matt Bai said. Without that distinction, you risk confusing biased and unbiased media.

“One thing we don’t teach here in America is how to consume media,” Bai said. “Media is complicated. Consuming it is your responsibility, and you have to think about how you want to get smarter, how you want to educate yourself and how you want to make sure you’re not misinformed.”

6.67%

dONALD TRUMP

3.33%

gARY jOHNSON

3.33% 13.33%

oTHER

nO PREFERENCE Graphics by IRIS BERENDES-DEAN

While the baby-boomer vote has been dominating the electorate for multiple election cycles, this election marked the first in which millennials had the potential to be an equally powerful political force.

Though our government teachers emphasize that the right to vote is also a responsibility, the turnout rates for youth voters are consistently low every election.

This election, students found themselves especially disillusioned by their first impressions of the election process itself, with its heated, controversial nature and media circus coverage.

“When you see the media being very biased, and when you start to feel that your vote or the candidates aren’t being represented accurately, you kind of lose faith in the process,” senior Bri Howell said. “You don’t want to participate.”

And while Americans have been hot-tempered about a lot of issues this election, the vast majority of millennials

were lukewarm when it came to the actual candidates. The young voters unsettled by the idea of being forced to choose between two unappealing candidates and uncommitted to either party just don’t see the point, Yahoo! news columnist Matt Bai said.

Some don’t see it as their duty, either.

“With these two candidates, and the third-party candidates not getting enough air time or coverage to actually be a potential winner, I do not think it’s a responsibility to vote,” junior Carlos Richardson said. “You don’t have to.”

The concern is that an aversion to voting in this election could negatively impact voters’ efficacy in future elections, Washington Post opinion writer Ruth Marcus said.

“I really worry that high schoolers will look at this election and find it normal.

Because it is not. It’s a ‘Kardashianification’ of it,” Marcus said. “Hopefully we can get back to a campaign where we’re just disliking each other, not reviling each other.”

12

Feature

Artist of the Month: Sophie Lieber blends techniques

by AVA CHENOK A month ago, as you walked into school, the dark powerful hand of Darth Vader reached towards you.

This Battle of the Classes masterpiece was senior artist Sophie Lieber’s creation.

The Vader exposition is one of Lieber’s many works that allow her to stand out as a Whitman artist with distinct technique and style.

“She’s this very quiet talent,” art teacher Jean Diamond said. “She’s thinking, but she doesn’t have to always broadcast. And then she produces these things that set her apart in terms of her intellectual ability to reinvent the world around her.”

Lieber has taken art classes since freshman year; however, her passion began well before high school. She started drawing at a young age, creating illustrations of princesses and animals, her mother Meredith Bowers said.

“I love that she has kept art a part of her life through the years,” Bowers said.

“She has found a way to keep producing beautiful work even when she has a lot of other demands on her time.”

Lieber has participated in Battle of the Classes hallway decorating since her sophomore year.

“She’s an insane artist,” homecoming chair Keara Sullivan said. “She’s helped out a lot in past years, but this year, she really took charge of organizing it.”

This year, Lieber hoped her Vader piece would bring the whole senior hallway together.

“I really liked it because of the perspective of Vader reaching out, looming over the hallway,” Lieber said. “My goal was to make it as eye-catching as possible but at the same time, not the sole focus.”

Out of the hallways and into art classroom C-237, Lieber’s work analyzes the quotidian—the everyday happenings around her.

“Last year, she did a piece that was quite phenomenal,” Diamond said. “It was a brain of noodles, and she had hands with chopsticks picking the brains. I thought it was really a metaphor for being able to pick out the important things.”

Lieber tries to approach all of her pieces with the same attention to detail, she said.

“I recently did a painting based off of a picture I took of my younger sister’s legs and feet in the bathtub,” she said. “It was a large painting relative to other stuff I’ve done, so I was really glad with how it came out.”

Lieber also enjoys doing pen and ink drawings using crosshatching, a technique of shading with intersecting parallel lines, because she can include a lot of detail, she said.

Her ability to understand which artistic methods–like crosshatching–she should use in Lieber pieces gives her an edge for a notable career in art, Diamond said.

“I see her being very successful because she sees the vision and goes after it,” Diamond said. “She could be working for a company or brand that she could do the illustrative work for, using some of her academic ability combined with her art.”

No matter where she ends up, Lieber hopes to pursue art in college and possibly as a profession.

“I know that this is something that I’ll be doing for the rest of my life,” Lieber said.

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

Lieber’s passion for art began at a young age. She has continued her work which ranges from skulls to flowers all four years of high school

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13

Feature

Album reviews: fall 2016

by MICHAEL GORMAN

Artwork by REPRISE RECORDS

‘Revolution Radio’ Rating 1.5 out of 5

Artwork by REMEMBER and WARNER BROS

‘The Divine Feminine’ Rating 4 out of 5

Green Day’s latest release is no ‘Revolution;’ tires out old sound The new Green Day album, “Revolution Radio,” is their worst release to date. The punk-pop sound that once put them on charts for its raw energy has now grown old and worn out.

The band hasn’t tried out any new concepts or had any lyrical advancement since their heyday, the era of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “American Idiot” in the early 2000s.

A perfect example of their run-down style is the track “Too Dumb To Die.” The song starts out quietly, with 30 seconds of a lullaby, but quickly punishes any listener who would dare to turn up the volume with an abrupt explosion of heavy metal guitar. While the sound is loud, it’s not full. It lacks any of the catchiness that Green Day captured in hits on previous albums.

The only good song on the album is “Revolution Radio.”

The title track shows that Green Day still has the ability to put out a catchy tune with a clear message promoting anti-media and anti-establishment themes that have become trademark of the band: “For the lost souls that were cheated/ We will be seen but not heard.”

This release leaves fans hoping this isn’t the new norm for the once-famous band because this album takes the listener down that “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

Artwork by ATLANTIC and 1017 RECORDS

‘Woptober’ Rating 2 out of 5

Artwork by MOSLEY and INTERSCOPE

‘Oh My My’ Rating 2 out of 5

Gucci Mane’s new album lacks ‘Bling,’ full of ‘Blaww’ and ‘Burr’ Fresh out of jail, Gucci Mane dropped an album in July, and he’s back with his second project of the year: “Woptober.” The album lacks the fresh feel listeners have come to expect of Mane as he recycles many of the same styles he’s used throughout his career without introducing anything thought-provoking.

Delving deep into the lyrics of the East Atlanta hip-hop legend is useless; Mane’s beats and fun ad-libs are much more of a focus for him.

On “Bling Blaww Burr,” which features up-and-coming rapper Young Dolph, Gucci raps about his jewelry. Throughout the song, he repeats the noises he created for the title, bragging about how his chains are colder than anyone else’s.

It’s not new, but it’s always fun to bounce to a song like this.

The best track on “Woptober” is “Money Machine.” In this song, Gucci raps about various machines he has come in contact with including sewing machines, washing machines, slot machines and vending machines. He also raps about how his new car is so futuristic that other people need a time machine to see it. It’s classic Gucci—nothing groundbreaking, but full of energy.

Gucci’s music is once again mostly useful for his bassheavy beats and comical ad-libs. Don’t listen to this album expecting much.

‘Oh My My’ piles on pop, lacks cohesion among relatable lyrics Mac Miller reveals new maturity, mellows for ‘Divine Feminine’ He’s back and he’s sober. “The Divine Feminine” is Mac Miller’s most conceptual album to date, as the Pittsburgh rapper explores topics such as love and the universe.

He’s come a long way from his childish hit single “Donald Trump,” released when he was 19. The matured Miller raps seasoned verses about how humans need to start “Treating the world how you’re supposed to treat a female,” as he said in an interview with Complex while explaining the title and concept of this new release.

“The Divine Feminine” marks a serious career change for Miller, and while it lacks the fun and creativity of his last album, “GO:OD AM,” the feeling he creates is quite pleasant.

Though surprising, Miller’s transition to singing enables him to further explore slower-tempo tunes,

creating one of his most accomplished projects.

The album is still full of fantastic songs. The best is “Dang!,” featuring Anderson .Paak. It’s driven by a mellow, jazzy beat which is complemented well by mixture of singing and rapping verses from the two artists. It was released as a single July 28 and continues to command listeners’ attention.

A song to skip over is “Soulmate.” Miller floats through his verses with little passion. Thankfully, he recovers, closing the album with more guest musicians and more strong tracks.

“My Favorite Part” and “God is Fair, Sexy, Nasty” are the last two songs on the album. With features from Ariana Grande and Kendrick Lamar, respectively, the pair of tracks end the album smoothly, and truly reveal a rapper who is growing up and mellowing out.

With “Oh My My,” released Oct. 7, OneRepublic reinforces their identity as a serious pop band. This doesn’t mean they’re putting out great music, but the new album has enough catchy lyrics and production to keep a listener’s attention.

The themes and concepts presented throughout the album range from the typical to the outlandish, with songs about love, dreams and refugees.

On “Dream,” the fifth track, lead singer Ryan Tedder shows off his ability to lyricize simply while still speaking to listeners. He sings about how even though people tell him he’s “not quite right,” he is just “trying to search for a light.” The lyrics aren’t incredibly deep, but the catchy nature of the music provides appeal.

A song that didn’t quite fit on the album was “NbHD.” The stylized title is short for neighborhood, and although the message of the song regarding refugees is timely and powerful, it doesn’t flow with the rest of the album. It seems out of place on a pop record with songs about love and dreams.

Even though the album has its share of pop singles, it’s too disjointed to earn a regular spot on the playlist.

Musical presents modern take on ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Black Lives Matter, Wall Street corruption among incorpated themes

by SABRINA MARTIN Whitman’s drama department will present the fall musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” with a modern interpretation that highlights various political and social issues in today’s culture.

Originally produced in 1970 as a revolutionary rock opera, “Jesus Christ Superstar” will premiere Nov. 17-20, incorporating both traditional and contemporary concepts. Director Christopher Gerken set the show in first-century Jerusalem and added hip-hop infused choreography.

“A lot of people misunderstand what Jesus Christ Superstar is; they think it’s a religious play, they think it’s a version of

the Passion Play if you’re Christian—but it’s not,” Gerken said.

Gerken emphasized that his interpretation of the musical is secular. Rather than focusing on religious meaning, it aims to cover a range of worldwide issues, such as the Black Lives Matter movement or Wall Street corruption, he said.

“The political and cultural divide that’s going on right now fits in with first-century Jerusalem, too,” Gerken said. “My take on it is not a religious piece but more of a political and socioeconomic statement and relating the two.”

While the production isn’t meant to promote religious values, it does prompt “thought- provoking” ideas that seek to

challenge how the community perceives societal problems.

“It’ll be a bit controversial for people that are religious-minded, and I hope that they can open up their mind and see the parallels we’re making; I’m not slamming Christianity or Judaism at all, but I’m pointing out similarities between that time and this time,” Gerken said.

“What I try to promote in this piece is a lot of personal thinking and enlightenment from the individual perspective and what it means.”

Student director Delaney Corcoran interpreted the musical as a social commentary that explores how people view themselves and each other.

“I think it shows a man who wanted to do good—Jesus—who was kind of

taken over by the people who loved him, his fans, and his image was manipulated by them,” Corcoran said. “So it’s kind of about how public image and public opinion becomes more important than the celebrity themselves.”

Cast member Sean Silva agreed that the musical is primarily based on the human condition and real-world application.

“We talked about humanizing that experience and connecting it to whatever movements people might personally identify with,” Silva said. “An example we use frequently is Black Lives Matter or the Arab Spring; any movement that is modern that people may feel connected to, and we’re trying to invoke that.”

14

Feature

BOB DYLAN ‘THE TIMES THEY ARE A- CHANGIN’

F

BY LILY FRIEDMAN

Dylan wins Nobel Prize

rom 1970–1993, five Americans won Nobel Prizes in literature.

In the 23 subsequent years, no one from the United States received a literary Nobel Prize. But “the times they are a changin’.”

Bob Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature Oct. 12, making him the first American to win a literature Nobel Prize since Toni Morrison in 1993.

Dylan set himself apart from other nominees by “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” the Nobel committee said in an Oct. 13 press release.

While most artists of the time period stayed within the confines of their own genre, Dylan created a distinct mix of many genres. His defiance of musical limitations makes his music versatile enough to relate to a wide variety of people, senior and Dylanenthusiast Dawson Mackay said.

“Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time,” Mackay said. “He changed music by showing that you can do what you want with a genre without being constricted by labels.”

Most of Dylan’s songs, which range from folk to blues to pop, refer to societal issues; most famously, he championed civil rights and condemned U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. English teacher Prudence Crewdson, a longtime Dylan fan, admires not only his meaningful lyrics but also the subtlety of his music.

“Earlier protest songs were much more pointed and heavy-handed, but Dylan’s were cryptic,” Crewdson said.

“They expressed things that people felt even if they didn’t know that they felt them.”

Now 75 years old, Dylan recorded many of his most famous songs half a century ago. But despite Dylan’s focus on historical events such as the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, his lyrics and instrumentals are still popular with some young people.

“Dylan’s music is timeless,” Mackay said. “His songs are amazing in all settings, and their messages still shine through to today’s society.”

Although music isn’t usually considered literature, Dy lan’s messages largely parallel those of famous authors, Crewdson said.

“Dylan soaked up everything around him—blues and early folk music—and made it his own like Shakespeare did,” Crewdson said. “Walt Whitman also expressed a universal longing for unity combined with an appreciation for being alone, and Dylan captured that in the modern day.”

The Nobel Prize committee’s assessment of musical literature has prompted a conversation in English classes about presenting music as literature.

While literature uses words to create meaning, music combines words and sounds, which makes it worth studying, junior April Ginns said.

“Analyzing music is especially valuable because lyrics are crafted specifically to fit with instrumentation,” Ginns said. “The lyrics and literature can be equally powerful.”

Regardless of whether music becomes a part of English curricula, many Dylan fans still argue that the poetic nature of his music justifies it as literature.

“Poetry has its roots in song,” Crewdson said. “Dylan fashioned himself as the voice of the people, just not through the written word.”

Whitman grandfather reflects on Dylan friendship, recalls collaborations

W

hile Dylan is widely known as the voice of his generation, only a few people can say they truly know America’s most vocal introvert.

Folk singer and Whitman grandfather Tom Paxton is one of the few. When Paxton met Dylan, they were both living in New York City, he said.

“There used to be a Monday night open mic at a neighborhood bar called Gerdes’ Folk City,” Paxton said. “This skinny kid in a black corduroy cap got up and sang three Woody Guthrie songs.”

The two, along with Paxton’s friend Dave Van Ronk, became friends and eventually recorded music together.

Paxton supports Dylan’s Nobel Prize win not only because of his relationship

with Dylan but also because it recognizes the folk movement in the 1960s.

“It sheds a little reflected glory on the whole group of young people who came to New York, Cambridge, Berkeley, etc. in the ‘60s and made the music they felt was theirs to make,” he said.

“I’m proud to have been a part of it.”

Paxton recalls many memories from their time working together including advising Dylan on songs and playing poker; however, the common element between each experience is that Dylan always followed his own intuition without worrying about popular opinion, Paxton said.

“It was always fun working with him because you never knew what was coming next,” Paxton said. “You just knew it was worth hanging around to see.”

Graphic by ABBY SINGER

Feature

15

DC restaurant balances eerie theme and modernity From padded walls to steel bars, eatery modeled after insane asylum teel bars block the walls while padded rooms line the hallway.

Iron pillars and steel beams support the windows while ominous artwork fills the corridors.

Though these features may seem to be part of a Halloween exhibition, they actually belong to a new, upscale restaurant: Dirty Habit.

Dirty Habit, located inside Hotel Monaco in Penn Quarter, D.C., is taking an unusual approach to dining by embracing a more avant-garde theme, partially modeled after an insane asylum. Dirty Habit’s layout and decor showcase sinister features, offering an alternate reality for a distinctive restaurant experience.

“The design and décor are a playful, artistic nod that speaks to a twisted reality, inclusive of all aspects of human nature,” hotel and restaurant director Bonnary Lek said. “When you combine all the elements of Dirty Habit— including the food, cocktails, music, design, service, uniforms and lighting— it’s meant to provide guests with an edgy and theatrical experience that evokes the senses.”

The theme is carried through the restaurant as Dirty Habit showcases many unconventional features, including eclectic art work like a sculpture tittled “The Crouching Man,” that’s made from recycled equipment parts.

Dirty Habit balances this eerie theme with elegance and modernity. Combining an industrial style with haunting modern decor, the restaurant transforms its look of an asylum into something contemporary and chic, employee Joe-Jo Jennings said.

Every piece of the restaurant, including

the decor, silverware and food, was personally selected by the manager and chef in order to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience. These aspects include vintage cigar boxes that serve as bread baskets, tiled dessert trays and even the personalized soundtracks that blast through the restaurant.

“

Our industrial-chic theme and hard architectural lines compared to our warm and inviting hospitality creates a beautiful juxtaposition of dark and light.

-manager William Smith

“

S

by ELEA LEVIN

Though the theme of the restaurant is grim, Dirty Habit offers friendly service and encourages conversation between guests.

“We want people to have a social, shareable experience and be interacting with each other,” manager William Smith said. “Our industrial-chic theme and hard architectural lines compared to our warm and inviting hospitality creates a beautiful juxtaposition of dark and light.”

With an ominous yet cutting-edge motif, carefully tailored details, decor and topnotch food, Dirty Habit’s service aims to stand out among other eateries in the D.C. area.

“We take a very different approach to dining,” Smith said. “We want to push the envelope and stress that we give the DMV public something new.”

Photo by ELEA LEVIN

The Dirty Habit opens in Washington, D.C., featuring an eerie theme with mysterious artwork and steel bars. The sinister atmosphere provides an edgy dining experience.

Alumni parents experience Whitman all over again Students, parents discuss different high school experiences

by ABBY SNYDER Imagine a high school full of students with big hair, neon clothes, leg-warmers, and not a single iPhone in sight. No, it’s not 80s spirit day. It’s Whitman 30 years ago, and for many parents, it’s where they went to high school.

Over the past three decades, Whitman has changed in a variety of ways from a new school building to evolving technology use; however, some parents and students can still see similarities in their educational experiences.

“The biggest difference is the physical building itself,” parent Jennifer Snow (‘85) said. “We had an awesome field house called the Dome where we had the best pep rallies.”

The new school building, which was built in 1992, was just one step in the process of becoming the Whitman we know today. Originally, Whitman didn’t include a ninth grade class.

When the extra grade was added, high school felt a lot bigger and less personal, parent Margaret Warker (‘82) said.

But for all that’s changed, there’s a lot that’s stayed the same. The high-stress environment and excellent faculty that many characterize Whitman as today have been a constant over the years.

“It was a stress factory back then, and obviously that hasn’t changed much,” Snow said.

“The teachers and administrators are just as intelligent and driven as they were when I was there.”

Students today relate to that struggle with similar worries about classes and colleges. The general consensus among students is that sleep is often a lower priority than homework or grades, junior Julia Warker said.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, Jennifer Snow said, adding that when she left Whitman, she was well prepared for college. She said the advanced level of writing taught in Whitman English classes helped them tackle college assignments more easily than their non-Whitman peers.

“My freshman seminar class at Wooster had about 10 kids in it, and our first paper that was assigned had to be 20 pages,” Jennifer Snow said. “They all freaked out, but I was already used to writing like that.”

Jennifer Snow added that she ended up majoring in and teaching English, in part due to some of the influential teachers she had at Whitman.

Many students with parent alums said they appreciate having a parent who can provide perspective, not just on high school, but specifically on the Whitman high school experience.

“Because my dad went to Whitman, it gives me an interesting perspective as to how Whitman was many years ago,” junior Jamie Skilling said. “It’s really cool to hear about all of the changes and similarities from when my dad went here.”

Photos courtesy TRACY FARRELL

Football players (top) cheer during the 1980 junior versus senior girls powderpuff football game (bottom).

SPORTS

16

English teacher carries teaching Rock climbers improve technique from classroom to weight room

by DANIEL WEBER and mindset Continued from page 1 To improve their technique and mindset, climbers spend additional time training outside of practice.

“To be a good rock climber, you need to just practice as much as you can,” Hilsenrath said. “Working out upper body and core muscles definitely helps, but a lot of it is technique.”

Once competitions like Divisionals begin, the extra practice pays off. Indoor competitions are based on distance rather than time, and the climbers’ goal is to make it as far up the wall as they can rather than try to move as quickly as they can.

In rope-climbing competitions, where climbers are supported by a rope, athletes compete in three climbs, and for bouldering competitions, where climbers aren’t attached to ropes, they compete six times. Judges score each climb based on the highest “hold”—how far up the wall they can make it—then average the points to determine an overall score.

Local competitions are based in the Rockville area, but higher level competitions are held across the country.

“There are local, regional, divisional, national and world competitions. I’ve made it to the divisional level for both rope climbing and bouldering,” Garner said.

“Local competitions don’t matter as much as the bigger ones; you get credit for local ones, and they’re necessary to compete at regionals.”

While most of their training occurs indoors, climbers also enjoy a challenging recreational climb outside of the gym.

“Indoor and outdoor climbing are entirely different,” Hilsenrath said. “In indoor, you have a specific path laid out for you, and the conditions are always stable. In outdoors, you have to make your own climb.

It is much more difficult, and weather has a huge factor on climbing.”

Whether it’s inside a climbing facility or outdoors on the rocks, climbers are adamant about their love for the sport.

“Rock climbing is a really unique sport,” Garner said. “It’s really rewarding to piece together a rock climb I’ve struggled on and see training pay off.”

In 2012, as English teacher Omari James was visiting Europe, he had a life-threatening asthma attack.

Alone and unfamiliar with the area, James’ life was on the line—until a bystander found him and helped him to a hospital where he recovered. After the harrowing encounter, James started to focus more on his health to avoid future life-threatening incidents.

Since then, James has been training to meet his personal fitness goals and decided recently to become a personal trainer.

“I’ve found working with people that it feels a lot like the classroom instruction that I really love,” James said. “I was actually hoping and dreaming about having a part time job as a personal trainer, so when this came up, it was like a dream come true.”

Recently, when James was helping a friend do some basic exercises at the gym, the manager approached him, he said. The man told James that he either had to stop teaching exercises to people, which isn’t permitted at the gym, or he could accept a job offer to be a trainer at the gym. James’ friend and fellow fitness enthusiast Corey Graeves was with him when he received the offer.

“Omari threw his hands together with the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face, becoming giddy with joy,” Graeves said. “It was a pretty beautiful moment.”

James accepted the manager’s proposal and began preparing for the National Council on Strength and Fitness test, an exam he must pass in order to receive his personal trainer certification. This evaluation requires him to know about the body’s systems and how to work well with clients of different ages, athletic abilities and medical histories. Between studying for the test, working out and teaching, James has to follow a rigorous schedule.

“Most days out of the school week, I’ll get up at 4:30 a.m. to go to the gym and work out. Then I’ll come to the school and I’ll teach, I’ll get off work and go tutor, and go to the gym again,” James said. “Then I’ll study the materials for the exam for two-and-ahalf hours and then spend the next couple hours writing and grading papers. I’ll fall asleep around midnight; then, I’ll get up and do it again.”

It’s not only his schedule that has intensified.

Since he began exercising last year, James has competed in 5Ks and an obstacle race called Tough Mud-

FREE!

der. He plans to take his fitness level to new heights by participating in additional events this upcoming year including a 10K, a CrossFit tournament, and a Spartan Race.

Since he was able to improve his overall health condition, James hopes his journey will inspire others to live healthier lifestyles.

“I started working out for the first time in October 2015, and I’ve been offered a job as a personal trainer one year later,” James said. “If I can do it, anyone can do it, and I want to help people recognize that.”

Photo courtesy OMARI JAMES

English teacher Omari James started to take interest in physical fitness in October 2015. He is studying to become a trainer for Gold’s Gym in Olney where he works out.

Sports

17

Teaching here, coaching there: what it’s like coaching at other schools

by KYLE LAYMAN When social studies teacher Andrew Sonnabend shows up at Whitman basketball games, it’s not always to cheer on his students—sometimes it’s to coach the

“

“

I do have a lot of pride at Montgomery Blair and I really like the achievements of my golf team, so I can be proud of that, but I also like to support the sports here at this school as well.

-social studies teacher Jacob East

rival team.

Sonnabend and social studies teacher Jacob East both work as coaches at other high schools around the county. Sonnabend has coached the B-CC boys JV basketball team for two years, while East began coaching golf at Blair this fall.

Teaching at one school and coaching at another gives East and Sonnabend distinctive, and sometimes challenging, experiences as both educators and coaches.

Since they are only there for practices and games, it’s

harder for them to understand the environment of the schools where they coach.

“I don’t really know the students that well there—all I know is my golf team,” East said. “All I get to witness and learn about the school is through eight golfers.”

Though they spend more time at Whitman, East and Sonnabend feel connected to both schools, they said.

The coaches support the Vikings as long as a Whitman victory won’t negatively impact their own team.

“It’s really interesting because I have to have school spirit for two schools,” East said. “I do have a lot of pride at Montgomery Blair and I really like the achievements of my golf team, so I can be proud of that, but I also like to support the sports here at this school as well.”

Because the coaches aren’t around their athletes during the school day, it can be difficult to monitor how players are keeping up with classes.

“The most obvious challenge is not being in the building with the athletes—it makes staying on top of things like academics a lot more difficult,” Sonnabend said.

Coaching at other schools can also cause scheduling problems, since the teachers have to move between the schools while still finding time to grade and create lesson plans, Sonnabend said.

Though many students are impressed that their teachers coach at another school, some are surprised to hear that Sonnabend would coach at a rival school like

Athletic trainer provides long-term treatment to athletes

by SAM SHIFFMAN As upperclassmen hussle out of the building to beat the line of cars in the parking lot, athletes rush to the locker rooms. Why? For a spot in line for athletic trainer Jennie Maybry’s advice.

Maybry took over as athletic trainer this year, providing professional medical care to injured athletes and helping them through the recovery process. Maybry also assists athletes in outlining a recovery plan. “[Maybry] helps out with my injuries, makes it clear and simple what the steps are for recovery and provides treatment for my injuries,” football player Mason Robinson said. “I can text her to let her know how my symptoms are, so her treatment is as relevant and up to date as possible.”

All 26 MCPS high schools are required to have a certified athletic trainer on site for home athletic events and practices. These trainers work 20–30 hours a week and are hired through health care providers such as MedStar Sports Medicine and Adventist Healthcare.

Because she isn’t a full time employee, Maybry arrives at Whitman every day at 2 p.m. after completing her work at local doctors’ offices. She stays until athletic events are completed. At games, she provides medical attention to both Whitman’s and the opposing team’s athletes. If games overlap, Maybry attends the one with greater injury risk but helps injured athletes at both events.

Having a certified athletic trainer on staff gives coaches the opportunity to focus on the game instead of providing care to injured players, improving the quality of care for athletes.

Due to the easy access to free medical attention, athletes have become reliant on Maybry for daily care and medical advice. Maybry’s advice has helped numerous athletes including wrestler Clark Boinis, who dislocated his kneecap last year.

“I was having a lot pain in my knees, so I went to the trainer to see

Photo courtesy JACOB EAST

Montgomery Blair’s golf coach Jacob East with his team after the district tournament. East is a social studies teacher at Whitman and a golf coach at Blair.

B-CC. “It was kind of a shock to see a Whitman teacher coaching B-CC,” former JV basketball player Evan deCastro said. “It’s okay he coaches at another school. I was just surprised that he would coach at BCC because of the rivalry.”

While teaching and coaching at different schools has its challenges, it still provides East and Sonnabend with the opportunity to be involved in high school athletics.

“I just like youth sports in general, and I like supporting them, and I like to participate and coach.” East said. “I like the drive. I like the competitiveness between youth, as long as it’s fun, safe and sportsmanlike.”

Fall Standings Girls Tennis 12 - 0 - 0 Handball 2-4-0 Field Hockey 7-6-0 Football 5-3-0

photo by TOMAS CASTRO

Certified athletic trainer Jenny Maybry tapes football player Elliot Kelly’s ankle before a practice. Athletes rely on Maybry for daily and long term medical care.

if she could help,” Boinis said. “The trainer advised me on what to do and how to treat my issue, and within a week, my issue was solved. Without the help of the trainer, I wouldn’t be as successful in my sport.”

As a trainer, the recovery process can be difficult to watch sometimes, Maybry said.

“My least favorite part is when people are struggling to get back or they aren’t getting back as fast as they want to and then seeing the disappointment on their faces,” she said.

Even so, Maybry enjoys working in high school athletics because the job provides challenging aspects, she said.

“I like getting to know people, helping athletes get back to 100 percent and watching games,” Maybry said. “I just like the atmosphere and people I’m working with. I plan to be back next year.”

Volleyball 6-9-0 Boys Soccer 14 - 3 - 0 Girls Soccer 8-3-3

Sports

18

Athlete of the Month:

Golf wins county tournament for first time ever, finishes second at State competition

Claire Hisle sprints to top MCPS scorer

Pho

to by

JEF

FER

SON

by JOEY SQUERI At the start of this season, the field hockey team hadn’t beaten B-CC in 15 years. That streak came to an end Oct. 14 when forward Claire Hisle carried the Vikes to a 3–2 victory over the Barons.

Hisle, the team’s leading scorer, has excelled during the month of October, scoring five of her total 11 goals in five games. She finished the regular season as the team’s and Montgomery County’s leading scorer. She also leads the team with three multi-goal games.

The forward’s most recent multi-goal game was against B-CC; her second goal broke a late 2–2 tie and secured the victory for the Vikes.

“It meant so much to everybody since it’s been 15 years,” Hisle said. “It was great to finally beat them.”

Hisle’s scoring streak began in an early October game versus Blair when she scored the game-sealing goal in a 2–0 victory. Since then, her offense has helped lead the Vikes to a 3–2 month and a second-place finish in the 4A South division.

Hisle’s success has been a result of her awareness and tenacious playing style, forward Zara Memon said.

“Claire is really aggressive on the field which allows her to get in front of her defender to tip it in the goal,” Memon said. “She and I kind of tag-team, where I will hit from the top of the circle, and then she deflects it past the goalie.”

Although she’s a prolific scorer, Hisle’s hustle and team-first mindset are what head coach Allie Skiest praises more than anything else.

“Claire Hisle is the definition of a fearless player,” Skiest said. “She sprints to every ball, gets back to mark up and most importantly, she supports her teammates. She is willing to do whatever is needed to take the field against any opponent.”

Photo courtesy JOE SQUERI

The golf team poses for a photo with their second place medals. Pictured are (left to right) Dugan McCabe, Joey Squeri, Chandler Kuhn, Amanda Levy, Coach Karl O’Donoghue, and Elliot Snow

by EZRA PINE The golf team finished second overall on Oct. 26 at the Maryland State Tournament at the University of Maryland golf course. This strong end to the season came two weeks after the Vikes won the County Scrambler tournament for the first time ever.

The road to States this year was much harder for the squad as they lost Graham Hutchinson, who moved to Texas for his final year of high school.

Hutchinson finished first and second in the State tournament the previous two years.

“After losing Graham, one of the best golfers in the state, I wasn’t really sure how the season would go,” coach Karl O’Donoghue said, now in his 13th season as the head golf coach. “But the veterans really stepped up, and our new players added a lot of talent to the team.”

The Vikings competed in a state semifinal round of 12 teams Oct. 24, of which only four could advance to the finals. The team finished fourth with a combined score of 332, edging out Stephen Decatur High School by only one stroke.

In the final round on Wednesday, the team shot a significantly better score of 318, which earned them a second-place finish. Churchill came in first place, beating out the Vikings by 18 strokes.

The Vikes had five golfers compete at States: freshmen Chandler Kuhn and Dugan McCabe, sophomore Amanda Levy, junior Joey Squeri and senior Elliot Snow. Individually, Levy came in 4th place and McCabe came in 6th.

The Vikings ended up placing better this year than last year, when they tied Wootton for third place with a score of 621.

This was also the first season the team has ever won the County Scrambler tournament.

“We have had plenty of qualified Scrambler teams in the past—even teams that have won States—but it was this year that we finally won,” senior Jordan Johnson said.

Despite losing talent from last season, the team stepped up to complete a successful season.

“It has been so fun watching the team come together and perform well, especially at high levels,” Snow said.

“Our second place finish at States was an excellent way to cap off a great sea-

Coaches and players Hudl’ to analyze game footage Teams have been using film to improve their game strategy since the technology’s inception. But today’s film sessions extend beyond studying the footage; many high school athletes return to the tape to create their own highlight reel on Hudl to send to college coaches.

Founded in 2006 by graduates of University of Nebraska, Hudl is an online company that allows student athletes and coaches to analyze game videos, scout other teams’ videos and share clips with college scouts. Now, over 100,000 teams internationally, including the Whitman basketball, football, soccer and lacrosse teams, use the company’s services.

After launching its high school pilot with football teams in Texas in 2009, Hudl grew exponentially, picking up 2,000 teams by 2010. Whitman students and coaches began using Hudl’s services in 2011.

“We’ve been using Hudl for about five years,” basketball coach Christopher Lun said. “I have shared several clips with college coaches using Hudl, and the exchange is instantaneous.”

Senior basketball player Max Oppenheim is one of 3.5 million athletes on Hudl who edit and upload their high-

light reel to send to college scouts.

“I love Hudl,” Oppenheim said. “Not only have I used it to organize my individual highlights to distribute to coaches, but the basketball team frequently uses it to review our games and watch film in order to improve. It’s definitely made my life a lot simpler.”

“

It is an invaluable teaching tool. You can slow the tape down, you can replay it and you can correct all of the little mistakes we make during games.

“

by BEN LEVIN

-football coach Jim Kuhn Alumnus Davey Mason (‘16) used Hudl in the beginning of his high school career to attract recruiters and now plays soccer for Georgetown University.

“Hudl is very attractive for athletes because it allows you to easily make your own highlights,” Mason said. “While it

Photo courtesy MAX OPPENEIM

Athletes like Oppenheim and Mason use online company, Hudl, to compile highlight tapes to send to college scouts for recruitment.

helps you get recruited, I would still recommend to approach coaches personally as well.”

While athletes have been using Hudl individually for college recruitment, teams can also use Hudl to watch clips of their opponents and review their own plays.

“It is an invaluable teaching tool,” football coach Jim Kuhn said. “You can slow the tape down, you can replay it

and you can correct all of the little mistakes we make during games.”

While Hudl has revolutionized college scouting, Lun believes that catching the eye of college scouts requires more than just a highlight reel, he said.

“If you are a good player, colleges will find you regardless,” Lun said.

“Having highlight tapes and game film is great, but it isn’t a substitute for working hard on your individual skills.”

CROSSWORD C

W R O S R D

19

S

J2 Presents: Nightmare on Beale Street

by JUSTIN BAKER and JOEY SQUERI

ACROSS

Cartoon

1. What a ghost says 4. Best starting hand in Texas hold ‘em 8. Lingering pain or soreness 12. What Grim does 13. Come here for 24/7 pancakes 14. One of these started the Red Sox’s curse of the Bambino 16. Redskins conference NFC ___ 17. Whitman students’ business club 18. Wayne Gretzky was one of these 19. Cassius Clay’s chosen surname 20. “I was born in the desert— Raised in lion’s ___” 21. 50 cent song: “I’m the ___” 23. Method of moving natural gas without pipe lines, abbr.

24. Viscous substance produced by plants and trees 26. Best supporting actor winner in “Dallas Buyer’s Club” 28. Unfriendly sight in a restaurant 30. A tennis serve they don’t return 32. NFL teams have eight of these games per year 35. What you have under your eyes the night before a test 38. Author of When Harry Met Sally: ____ Ephron 40. Fiddled while Rome burned 41. He “Ketch”es them all 42. What the witches have alongside their troubles 44. Flotsam and Jetsam from “The Little Mermaid” are based on this creature 45. Baltimore experienced one of these after the killing of Freddie Gray 47. Ingredient collected by scraping a rind or peel 48. “Do ___ others as you would have them do ____ you”

49. Award for the winner of a beauty pageant 50. Used to keep hair in place 51. Ideal response after a proposal 53. You can pitch it 55. Leader of a marching band 59. Will Ferrell’s beloved Christmas film 61. Vampire Diaries star ___ Somerhalder 63. Not an amateur 65. To Jaromir Jagr, it’s just a number 66. Savage insult 68. Nymph who loses her voice in Greek mythology 70. Self-governing island in the Irish Sea 71. IndyCar driver 72. Old Mets ballpark 73. Fingers of the feet 74. Invoice; memorandum, abbr.

75. Jack Skellington’s home: “Halloween ____” 76. Finale

DOWN

1. Voted most iconic street in America by USA Today 2. “Wonderwall” band 3. Make a choice 4. Assistant or adviser 5. AP physics C teacher 6. CDC buildings for emergency response, abbr.

7. Junk mail 8. Make amends for 9. Communications resource inc., abbr.

10. 1978 slasher film about Michael Myers 11. Biblical garden 12. Hitchcock’s ___ Window 15. Indoor rowing machine 20. One strand of it is three feet long 22. India pale __ 25. Auditing agency

27. Something you can spray on 29. Common explosive 30. Famous mermaid 31. Jogging will burn this 33. To entrust 34. Something screamed before skydiving 35. Units of gold 36. World’s largest continent 37. Slasher in Wes Craven’s “Scream” 39. Seep 43. Home, to a pig 46. Hitchcock’s ___ Birds 48. Country that invented baseball, abbr.

50. Car theft game, abbr.

52. Punk rock subculture 54. Car racing engine variation 56. “Friday the 13th” villain 57. Looked at creepily 58. Golf course architect __ Jones 59. To blunder 60. Fertile soil 62. House made of sticks and leaves 63. Sigh of relief 64. Animal coat mixing whites and color 67. Manipulation of google searches to promote a business, abbr.

69. Harry Potter love interest __ Chang 70. Common suffix to denote membership of a group

The first person to tweet a picture of the completed crossword and tag @bdubbsonline wins a Chipotle gift card!

Back Page

20

Alum dogsleds in Northwest Territories

by AIDEN LESLEY Taking care of one dog is hard enough for most people, but commanding the attention of 40 huskies in the Canadian wilderness is another challenge altogether.

Benjamin Barrett (‘16) is taking a gap semester to live and volunteer at the Arctic Chalet, a bed-and-breakfast in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada, to learn how to dogsled before enrolling at Middlebury in the spring.

“I decided at the last minute that it would actually be a great experience to take a gap semester,” Barrett said. “It’s a really great opportunity to get out into the real world that most people never really consider.”

Barrett works with more than 40 White Siberian Huskies at the Chalet, learning how to train the dogs and prepare them for the dog sledding season which will begin when enough snow falls.

Since he arrived, Barrett has been learning from his employers, Olav and Judi Falsnes, who founded the Chalet to train the dogs.

Since there hasn’t been enough snow to dogsled, Barrett said he has been mostly doing yard work. Soon, however, with the coming snow and long winter in the Northwest Territories, Barrett is looking forward to what he came to do: dogsled.

Although he has never been dog sledding before, Barrett has been learning since he has arrived.

The biggest key, he said, has been developing a working relationship with the dogs, so they listen to his commands.

“As far as connections, there is a mutual respect between me and the dogs, and I can tell they are warming up to me and giving me more respect than when I first arrived,” Barrett said.

While the work is difficult, Barrett said he enjoys working closely with the dogs.

“The dogs are really amazing, and my work with them is definitely the highlight of my day,” Barrett said. “They’re incredibly smart aniPhotos courtesy BEN BARRETT mals, they are well trained and they Ben Barrett (‘16) is taking a gap semester to work with Siberian Huskies in Inuvik, Northwest Canada. Barall have their own personalities.” rett has been training for sledding this coming winter by developing a strong connection with the dogs.

Student photographers burst into workforce

by ABBI AUDAS From the Pocono Mountains to Romania, many student photographers strive to meet one goal: to tell a story. Seniors Michael Barsky and Margaret Nevins and sophomore Matei Fawzy have built off their photography education to capture the world around them.

Photo courtesy MICHAEL BARSKY Photo courtesy MICHAEL BANSKY

Photo courtesy MICHAEL BARSKY

Photo courtesy MATEI FAWZY

Photos by senior Michael Barsky (top and bottom left) and Matei Fawzy (bottom right) showcase artistic talent through refined form and technique. Margaret Nevins captures senior portraits.

Michael Barsky A four-year photography student, Barsky began his photo career shooting for a family friend’s bar mitzvah. For the past three years, Barsky has been building his portfolio by shooting events and designing t-shirt logos for various customers.

Last summer, Barsky traveled to Camp Shohola in the Pocono Mountains to work as a counselor in the camp’s art department, helping campers develop film in a dark room.

As his skills improved, Barsky started to photograph commissioned events, remaining flexible with prices. Now, he charges around $50 per hour.

Barsky learned to present elements of his life through his photographs and plans to continue with photography in college. Before then, he wants to improve his photography skills by networking with other photographers to learn how to better tell stories through photographs, he said.

“They all give me insight and a perspective on how to be lucrative and achieve storytelling through a visual medium,” Barsky said.

Margaret Nevins Nevins works as a portrait and event photographer. She started her career sophomore year by editing birthday slideshows for parties.

After traveling to Poland and Israel last spring, Nevins needed to find a way to pay her parents back

for the costs of the trip, so she turned to photography. She began shooting portraits for seniors who were in search of an alternative to traditional senior photos.

“I started selling $100 senior portraits last year and included all the retouching and digitals,” Nevins said. “I don’t have a business but get contacted when people want me to shoot.”

Nevins has transformed what started as an elective class into a lasting passion.

“It put me in touch with my creativity,” Nevins said. “I only started taking the class by chance and continued because I liked it so much.”

Matei Fawzy Fawzy is a freelance photographer, shooting mostly city-themed pictures.

Fawzy began taking photographs for friends his freshman year.

He doesn’t tend to charge customers; however, he plans to begin charging people with a flexible price range.

Through photography classes, Fawzy has learned how to successfully tell stories through his photos, he said.

“Light composition and all that good stuff will really help you with composing your photos and give you the techniques you need,” Fawzy said.

For inspiration, Fawzy draws on his class assignments which incorporate photography concepts including lines, balance, color and gesture, he said.

Last summer, he visited Romania and shot photos at a local orphanage to learn about the culture while working with the community.

“I can incorporate my own creative skills and do something for someone else and get to see their reactions,” Fawzy said. “Nobody can ask for anything more.”