The Black & White Vol. 55 Issue 1

photo courtesy ADAM PRILL

SPORTS FEATURET Princeton basketball commit Abby Meyers makes most of last soccer season / PAGE 14

Walt Whitman High School

CROSSWORD “Election and politics: playing the Trump Card in 2016” / PAGE 15

OPINIONT Pro/Con: School starting after labor day/ PAGE 6

`

Friday, October 7, 2016

Check out the theblackandwhite.net

Volume 55, Issue I

New quarter assessments start in October

by LILY FRIEDMAN & CARMEN MOLINA Beginning this school year, MCPS is implementing subject specific Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs), worth 10 percent of a student’s quarter grade.

All classes with county-created curriculums have RQAs, and each department has a different testing format that aligns with curriculum objectives.

Across the county, each department administers the same test and grades with the same rubric, with exceptions in math, AP courses, and other, higher level classes.

A select group of MCPS teachers created countywide RQAs this summer in cooperation with the central office curriculum staff.

“These are assessments written by teachers who know what’s going on in the classroom,” SMOB president Eric Guerci said. “Your teacher in one of your subjects could have written the assessment or helped to write it.”

The teachers also determined staggered RQA dates to ensure that students aren’t tested in every subject at once, director of secondary curriculums Scott Murphy said.

“

“

These are assessments written by teachers who know what’s going on in the classroom.

-SMOB Eric Guerci

“We took into account where it made sense for students, so they weren’t overloaded,” Murphy said. “We also wanted the assessments to fall in a natural, authentic point in the quarter.”

Each class has a specific window of time to test students throughout the quarter, starting as early as week four in the 10 week marking period.

Because testing begins after just one month of school, some teachers worry they won’t have enough time to teach the tested material.

“In a perfect world, teachers could teach what we think is most important to help students grow,” English teacher Omari James said. “But at the end of the day, if the kids haven’t been taught what they need for an asPhotos by JEFFERSON LUO and MATEI FAWZY After successful regular seasons, the Vikes fall sports teams gear up for post season runs. Visit theblackandwhite.net for updates. sessment, the teacher is partially responsible.

Continued on page 4

Student CEO inspires new generation of entrepreneurs Students sit patiently in a classroom as they await their teacher’s arrival. But when the door opens, the students find that one of their classmates is walking to the front of the room.

Junior Zain Yaqub is the CEO and founder of the Bethesda Entrepreneurship Academy, a local mentoring company where students aspiring to start their own businesses receive guidance from local entrepreneurs.

Yaqub’s mother, a local business executive and founder of a college essay assistance company, inspired Yaqub’s decision to create his own business.

Despite his close ties to entrepreneurship at home, Yaqub struggled to find opportunities in the community to enrich his understanding of the field.

“When I decided I wanted to learn about entrepreneurship, I looked for a local class, but I couldn’t find one,” Yaqub said. “Most local schools, includ-

ing Whitman, do not teach entrepreneurship, so I decided to create a class.”

His class includes monthly seminars that allow students to enroll on a classby-class basis. Yaqub and guest speakers advise students on their business pursuits.

“

“

by AIDEN LESLEY

I’m really excited to be playing a role in creating a community of teenagers who are talking about entrepreneurship and sharing ideas about it with each other

-Student entrepreneur Zain Yaqub

Yaqub reached out to local entrepreneurs and asked them to attend his seminars to speak about their business experiences and companies.

In response, executives from 26 businesses including HairCuttery, The Burger Joint and Georgetown Bagelry agreed to talk to students about skills acquired from their business pursuits.

“I thought it would be hard to find company owners to come and talk to students,” Yaqub said. “But I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was so overwhelmed by their outpouring of encouragement and their desire to help.”

Tony Korson, founder of the athletic training company KOA Sports, was one executive who spoke at Yaqub’s seminars.

“Zain is doing an amazing job getting the group to understand the basics of entrepreneurship,” Korson said. “His class touches on financial management and talks mostly about marketing and acquiring customers. Acquiring customers is the basic building block for any business.”

The class has been successful in the past year, attracting a group of 30 stu-

dents who want to learn about their potential for entrepreneurship.

“I intend to come back,” freshman Henry Mcierny said, “especially because I’m very interested in having my own business.”

Yaqub plans on turning his business over to his younger brother so he can explore other opportunities after he graduates.

“When I go to college, I’m trying to expand to new ventures,” Yaqub said, “I don’t see myself pursuing Bethesda Entrepreneurship Academy for my entire life.”

Throughout his time with the company, Yaqub has been gaining plenty of experience and satisfaction with the business he created from scratch.

“I’m really excited to be playing a role in creating a community of teenagers who are talking about entrepreneurship and sharing ideas about it with each other and with local business owners,” Yaqub said.

Briefs

Google Classroom update links parents to teachers

by ANDIE SILVERMAN As Edline continues to be phased out, Google Classroom is becoming more important to students, teachers and parents.

Now, through Google Classroom, parents can receive daily or weekly email updates on their child’s school work and class activity.

“MCPS has informed schools that we are dropping Edline at some point and they couldn’t get rid of it until parents could access schoolwork information,” IT systems specialist Oriole Sahh said.

To help staff ease into the transition, the school brought in Instructional specialist John Spano to assist Whitman teachers in better understanding the capabilities of Google Classroom.

Some teachers believe the increased usage of Google Classroom helps students complete work and creates a more dynamic learning environment.

“A huge benefit of Google classroom is that students can ask each other for help directly on the forum,” math teacher Laura Evan-Rhodes said. “I can also go online the night before the test and go over questions.”

Whether Google Classroom is the appropriate application to replace Edline is still yet to be decided, but it shows promise as a platform for improved teacherstudent communication.

Wi-Fi filters block social media sites

by PEARL SUN MCPS implemented new filters on the public Wi-Fi this year to limit the amount of time students spend on cell phones.

The Wi-Fi filters block social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.

“Many of the protections are there to attempt to prevent access to sites that are harmful to children, encourage cyber bullying or negatively impact the performance on classroom instruction due to congestion on the network,” MCPS Chief Technology Officer Sherwin Collette said.

But despite MCPS’s efforts, students are still finding ways around the policy and continuing to use their phones.

Some games and messaging apps, like Facebook Messenger, aren’t blocked. To use the apps that are blocked, students have downloaded virtual private network (VPN) apps, which allow students to access any website or application.

Even though the apps have sped up the Wi-Fi and allowed some people to bypass certain restrictions, the Wi-Fi is still slow and it often disconnects.

“The Wi-Fi doesn’t work very well with or without VPN,” junior Terry Zhou said, “So I just turn it off and use data.”

Photo III students capture student life

by ALLIE LERNER Photo III students will now capture student life in photos at two school events; photos are for the front hall entrance. Photo teacher Michael Seymour decided to revise the photo curriculum upon request from principal Alan Goodwin and the PTSA. Administrators want visitors to see students in action, Seymour said.

Previously, only school publications highlighted student life through pictures, but with this year’s project adjustment, all photo III students will have the opportunity to showcase their talents in the main entrance.

Seymour’s goal is for students to take pictures of lesser known events like corollary sports games and child development classes.

“I don’t want them all to shoot sports or Brave,” Seymour said. “I would rather get a nice variety of student life.”

Senior Julia Eisenberg looks forward to the project update.

“I think the assignment gives us an opportunity to try shooting new subjects and different events,” Eisenberg said. “It allows for students to step out of their comfort zone.”

While the photos won’t be available online or for purchase, they’ll be on display between the guidance office and administration office.

NEWS

School upgrades to

by CARMEN MOLINA While students eagerly upload iOS 10, MCPS is upgrading Whitman’s technology this year with a Windows 8 update, additional Chromebooks and the continued transition to Google Classroom.

The Office of Technology decided to update all school computers to Windows 8 this summer in order to continue receiving support from Microsoft, which no longer officially supports Windows 7, the school’s previous software.

“As a large school system and enterprise, we strive to have a reliable and high-performing system for our school communities,” Chief Technology Officer Sherwin Collette said. “Windows 8 has been in the marketplace longer than Windows 10 and has received a few major system updates that improve the reliability in an environment like ours.”

A shorter summer vacation and technical complications delayed the update, which was finalized last week, Whitman IT Systems Specialist Oriole Saah said.

One notable difference between the older and newer software is that the first time a student logs in to a computer with Windows 8, the computer can take up to 20 minutes to set up the students profile and log them in.

If the profile isn’t used on the computer again within 10 days, it will expire and the computer will take 20 minutes to log in again next time, Saah said.

Some students are still largely in favor of the switch to Windows 8.

“It’s important for schools to keep up to date with technology,” junior Katie Shaffer said. “Even though there are a lot of kinks to work out right now, I think it’s better for students to work with software that is similar to that of the real world.”

But other students fear that longer log-in times could significantly reduce the availability of library computers or students’ ability to complete timed inclass assignments.

“You’re going to have a lot less time, and it would be a problem for people who have to print stuff,” sophomore Rohit Gude said.

Saah said she warned teachers of log-in complications before school began and advised them to factor the potential time loss into lesson planning. For some

classes, that means bypassing the school computers altogether and using Chromebooks instead.

“When we do in class essays, for instance, in AP Lang, we want to give you guys the exact time constraints you would see on the actual exam: 45 minutes,” English teacher Ryan Derenburger said. “As great as it would be to have a full sized keyboard and a bigger screen and Microsoft Word, it just cannot work.

So instead we’re relegated to the Chromebooks.”

This year Whitman also received 13 more Chromebook carts, bringing the school’s total to 34. The majority are still allocated to Social Studies and English, though principal Alan Goodwin chose to distribute Chromebooks to science and math departments as well.

“

“

2

MCPS plans to continue the work of connecting classrooms across the county and across the globe - Chief Technology Officer Sherwin Collette

“There were teachers across subject areas that were looking forward to using the Chromebooks, so we’ve decided to spread them out,” Goodwin said.

In addition to the new Chromebooks and Windows 8 update, the school continues to modernize with the transition from Edline into Google Classroom. However, this transition has caused confusion for students as teachers alternate between the two sites.

“It gets confusing to know which one you go to first for information,” freshman Zara Ali said. “I like [Google Classroom] because it’s easier that you don’t have to print everything. Since now we do everything on Google Chrome, it's accessible from everywhere.”

Whitman is scheduled for a school-wide technology revamp in 2018 as part of the county’s Technology Modernization program, which updates the technology of 20 percent of county schools every year, Collette said.

“MCPS plans to continue the work of connecting classrooms across the county and across the globe,” Collette said.

Students PARCC heads on desks

Students fail federal test, score below expectations

by LILY FRIEDMAN Students received Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) scores Sept. 7, and the majority of Whitman students failed to meet expectations.

Whitman’s 2016 average, 716, lagged far behind both the county and state standards, 746 and 741, respectively.

In 2015, the PARCC tests replaced High School Assessments (HSA) for algebra 1 and English 10 classes.

Administered in June, the three hour math and five hour English test combined free response and multiple choice questions. Since both 2015 and 2016 were trial years for PARCC, test completion was the only graduation requirement; scores won’t affect students’ transcripts until the 2017-2018 school year.

Without much motivation, many students didn’t put forth their best effort on the test, junior Ben Tutt said.

“The vast majority of people didn’t care, or try,” Tutt said. “I slept for at least two hours during the test.”

Student morale in 2015 was just as low as this year, senior Emma Cohen-Dumani said.

“I wrote song lyrics for the free-response,”Cohen-Dumani said. “Other people slept or drew, but most people didn’t actually write the prompts.”

The low scores aren’t just a problem at Whitman. Only 18 percent of Whitman students exceed-

ed expectations, and scores around the county weren’t much better: Bethesda-Chevy Chase students earned a 13 percent exemplary rate, according to the Maryland Report Card.

Despite a lack of student effort, MCPS won’t lose federal funding on behalf of low PARCC scores, associate superintendent Erick Lang said.

“There is no current legislation that will tie PARCC scores to funding,” Lang said. “MCPS uses a number of other measures for students achievement including AP scores, graduation rates, HSA scores and SAT/ACT averages.”

Additionally, next year students must pass the test to gradu-

ate, assistant principal Kathy McHale said.

“If kids take it seriously, they’ll do better,” McHale said. “Next year we’ll also spread out testing between one or two weeks instead of taking the whole test on one day.”

Even though passing the test will become a requirement, students’ low motivation may still be a problem, sophomore Rebecca Hirsh said.

“Many students view PARCC as another hoop they need to jump through to complete a class, so administration would have to spark interest and show why it matters to improve scores,” Hirsh said. “For students, testing in general is just taxing and tedious.”

PARCC Performances

graphic by EMMA DAVIS

News

3

Bus focus zooms in with cameras, GPS

by VALERIE AKINYOYENU As part of the “Respect the Bus” campaign by the Montgomery County Police Department and the public school system, MCPS buses will acquire automated cameras and GPS trackers over the next three years to improve safety for over 100,000 students who ride MCPS buses daily.

“Respect the Bus” informs drivers of school bus safety rules in an effort to decrease the amount of passing violations—when a driver illegally passes a stopped school bus from either direction, unless the two are separated by a median. MCPS bus operators reported 800 to 1,200 daily violations in a fouryear survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

“This is a great, big, ugly, 40-foot yellow tube that people act as if they don’t see,” bus driver Tim Stake said.

The first trial of the enforcement program began January 2014. The program placed cameras using Xerox’s CrossSafe technology beside the stop sign arm of 25 buses, according to the MCPS website.

Between 2014-2016, there were about 4,800 documented passing violations.

However, the trial revealed a few program complications. Each camera system cost the police department $10,000 per year for installation and maintenance, said Todd Watkins, director of the MCPS Department of Transportation. Additionally, violations recorded by the stop-arm cameras were sent solely to the police department for review before citations were issued, leaving the system susceptible to oversight.

“Some enforcement efforts have gone well, but we think we’ve been missing some violations on those 25 buses,” Watkins said.

To increase the effectiveness of the program and reduce costs, county officials formed a new contract with Force Multiplier Solutions (FXS), a technology company that offered to equip all 1,287 MCPS buses at no immediate cost to the county. FXS also employs trained technicians who review each recorded passing violation, process vehicle information and then notify the police department for verification, ensuring that violations are accurately accounted for.

The revenue generated from camera violation fines will go to FXS until program costs, approximately $15.4 million, are alleviated. Then, FXS and the police

department will split the money. The consequence for drivers caught on the mounted cameras is only a $125 fine, while a police-issued citation for a passing violation results in a $570 fine and up to three points on one’s driver’s license.

“I’m hoping that that the financial incentive will be enough to change driver behavior,” Watkins said.

FXS’s installation of GPS cameras will help report each bus’ location to the bus system management and store a travel record. Combined with additional exterior cameras, the trackers can also assess the bus speed and report any er-

Graphic by IRIS BERENDES-DEAN

ratic driving.

“Hopefully, the GPS trackers will improve safety standards and help in emergencies,” assistant principal Rainer Kulenkampff said.

The cameras and GPS trackers are currently being tested on seven MCPS buses, but 100 MCPS buses will be equipped with the safety accesories within the next two months of the program.

“It’s going to cost a fortune,” Stake said, “but how much can you value one kid’s life?”

New staff draws on various backgrounds From Lebron James and Degrassi to students and schedules

by ANNA GRAY Bill Toth - Counselor

With 35 seconds left in Superbowl XLVIII, the Steelers made history with a six-yard game-winning touchdown catch. After storming the field, everyone celebrated in the locker room, including former sports analyst and Whitman counselor Bill Toth.

From 1995-2006, Toth served as a Whitman guidance counselor. On a whim, Toth applied for ESPN’s Dream Job campaign. Following a gruelling application process, he made it all the way to the top thirty contestants in the country, after which FOX43 hired him as a sports anchor.

“Hines Ward was holding the Lombardi Trophy, and he asked if anyone wanted to Photo courtsy of BILL TOTH touch it,” Toth recalled. “I put my hand right on the football. My favorite team in the whole world had just won the Superbowl, and I was in the locker room with the players holding on to the Lombardi Trophy.”

Over the course of his career as a sportscaster, Toth interviewed professional athletes such as Ben Roethlisberger, Tiger Woods and Lebron James.

After 10 years, athletic director Andy Wetzel and principal Alan Goodwin reached out to Toth and asked him to return to counseling. After much consideration, he said yes.

“I was ready for a change,” Toth said. “When you’re in the TV business, you’re kind of by yourself. Even in a newsroom, everyone is focused on their own stuff.

There’s not much interaction between the TV personalities, so I missed the environment of working with other people and working with kids.”

Madeline Tanzi English teacher

Photo courtsy of MADELINE TANZI

Two years ago, new English teacher Madeline Tanzi journeyed to Lisbon, Portugal where she taught Advanced English Language to 11th and 12th grade students at Colegio de Sao Tomas.

Despite never studying Portuguese, the private school lured Tanzi in because of its incredible mission, she said.

“The school tried to

marry academic excellence while not forgetting about the relationships between teachers and students and really focusing on the human aspect of education,” Tanzi said. “Education can sometimes become so high-stress and that’s not necessarily true to what education should be.”

When she began at Sao Tomas, Tanzi missed teaching literature. During her second year, the school permitted her to revise the senior curriculum to include English novels, she said.

“My class was the only time that my students heard English all day except when they watched TV or listened to music,” she said. “They were extremely fluent, though.”

Now, Tanzi is adjusting back to life in America. At Whitman, she teaches English 9 and 12.

“The culture is so different,” Tanzi said. “The Portuguese are less formal. They call teachers by their first names. Something that’s really nice is that Americans have a different attitude towards education. I’ve enjoyed that education here is more formal.”

Travis Swiger - Media services technician

Sesame Street, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and Degrassi are just a few of the TV shows and movies that media services technician Travis Swiger has worked on. This year, Swiger will be adding Whitman Drama and TV production to his list of credits.

When working on the TV shows, Swiger was involved in correcting the closed captioning and ensuring commercial breaks were spaced appropriately. When the tapes left him, they aired.

On many occasions Swiger found himself Photo by ANNA GRAY watching Sesame Street three or four times in a day, he said.

“It got annoying sometimes, but it was awesome to see the process,” he said. “I got to see all the shows before they aired. Ned’s Declassified was one of my favorites.”

Swiger’s career highlights include working for NBC during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney at age 19.

He helped with the opening ceremonies, provided the broadcasting support for Katie Couric and Bob Costas, met Mohammed Ali and even flew the Goodyear Blimp.

“There’s a huge difference between what you see on camera and what you see behind the scenes,” he said.

“They both have personalities. Costas was very worried about his hair and how it looked on camera, Couric was nice and easygoing. It was surreal being there.”

Now, Swiger looks forward to sharing his knowl-

edge of TV and drama production with students, he said.

“I really enjoy seeing the students figure out these tricks that I’m teaching them and taking it to the next level,” Swiger said. “By the time the kids leave here, if they’ve worked with me in TV production, it’s neat to see they’re ahead of where I was at that age.”

Katherine Young - History teacher

When summer begins, many teachers look forward to a few months outside of the school environment. But during the summer of 2015, history teacher Katherine Young spent her vacation teaching English at an academic-based summer camp in China.

The program that Young participated in sent American teachers to Suzhou, China to work and explore the culture.

In Suzhou, Young educated 5th grade students; though the experience was daunting at first, she Photo courtsy of KATHERINE YOUNG had a blast, she said.

“It was a cool experience because I normally teach high school,” Young said. “They were super enthusiastic and motivated to learn English.”

At the camp’s closing ceremony, Young directed all her students in a performance of Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.” “They’re not used to seeing music videos, so it blew their mind,” she said.

Over the course of the trip, Young not only taught for two weeks, but also spent two more weeks sightseeing with her colleagues.

“We learned a little Chinese calligraphy, got to walk on the Great Wall and saw the terracotta warriors out in Xi’an,” Young said.

Young stressed that her experience was extremely gratifying because it inspired her teaching in the United States.

“I learned a lot from the other teachers I worked with,” she said. “They came from a variety of content areas so professionally I have a lot to take away from it that I can bring back into my regular classroom teach- Check out the full story by scanning ing throughout the QR code or going to year.” theblackandwhite.net

4

News

RQAs vary by subject, worth 10% of grade Continued from page 1 English

Instead of taking MCPS formative assessments, on-level and honors English students will take county-made, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) based RQAs during weeks six to eight of the first and third marking periods.

While the test is similar in content to previous county English assessments, once teachers grade the assessments, students will receive teacher feedback on the writing portion.

“Before, with final exams and county assessments, we weren’t able to give them to students to take home because they were secured exams,” English teacher Danielle Fus said. “Now, especially with the writing section, MCPS encourages us to send graded assessments home with feedback, so students can see how they did.”

Alternatively, second and fourth quarter RQA grades consist of countyselected Common Tasks that students will work on throughout the quarter with peer and teacher support. Tasks can range from argumentative essays and creative writing assignments to text analysis presentations.

For the first marking period, Whitman’s English department will administer RQAs between Oct. 24 and 26.

Math & Science

All science and math courses with county-created curriculums have RQAs which largely parallel previous final exams in content.

Science RQAs have two parts, and teachers can choose to administer the test in one or two class periods.

After receiving a lab procedure, science students will answer both free response and multiple choice questions.

“It’s similar to the BCR on the old semester [exams],” science teacher Anne Marie O’Donoghue said. “But instead of writing an essay answer, there’s a couple multiple choice, a couple fill in diagrams and a free response section.”

For math classes with RQAs, honors and on-level classes will have different assessments. Math RQAs will take one period to complete and will be administered during the eighth week of the quarter for all marking periods. Math teachers collectively decided to give their assessments on the same day, math resource teacher Russ Rushton said.

“The format will be mostly problem solving, but depending on the class, there may be some multiple choice,” Rushton said.

AP and other college-level courses may give an RQA, but since it isn’t a requirement, many won’t, Rushton said.

World Languages & ESOL

While most departments will see little change in their curriculum, the world language department is completely restructuring how students learn and test in reaction to RQAs. Language RQAs include four sections: multiple choice, free response, speaking and writing.

“Students will be given a reading that’s probably a little more difficult than they’re used to because it’s a real passage that French people would read,” French teacher Michelle Beach said.

The reading comprehension section consists of both free-answer and multiple-choice questions, and the reading will be reviewed in class beforehand.

“We create questions to guide them through it, and they then use the reading as a springboard for the conversation piece and the writing,” Beach said. “So they’re all interconnected.”

In addition, the oral section consists of a conversation between two students rather than a one-way dialogue to a computer.

Of the four sections of the test, only two will make up the county RQA grade; teachers factor the other two scores into quarter grades based on teacher preference.

Language RQA assessment dates are scheduled within weeks six and seven of the quarter.

While only French and Spanish

Graphic by IRIS BERENDES- DEAN

classes up to level three have countyadministered RQAs, the Whitman language department decided to require all other languages and levels to have teacher-made quarterly assessments.

“Now it’s much more practical,” Beach said. “Students are being assessed on what they know and how well they communicate, rather than being tested on specifics.”

All ESOL levels also take RQAs, and although changes from previous final exams are limited, quarter assessments may more accurately represent student’s progress with the language, ESOL teacher Celia Sandbloom said.

“In English, its about learning the language, not specific content,” Sandbloom said. “It’s hard. If you came in January, which a lot of kids do, then you [were] taking an exam based on the whole year.”

Social Studies

New history assessments for honors and on-level classes will be heavily based on document analysis rather than memorization.

“The tests focus more on a student’s skill than knowledge,” social studies resource teacher Suzanne Johnson said.

In the first marking period, honors and on-level U.S. History teachers will administer the test in weeks six to seven, while NSL Government will test in weeks four to five and Modern World in weeks five to six.

Until students actually take the tests, students and teachers won’t fully comprehend the impacts of RQAs, Johnson said.

“It’s hard to wrap my head around them until we’ve gone through it at least once,” Johnson said.

SENIOR WEEK 2017 OCEAN CITY, MD

HOUSES—APARTMENTS—EFFICIENCIES—ROOMS From 1/2 BLOCK TO THE BEACH & BOARDWALK FULL KITCHENS or FRIDGE/MICROWAVE, ON-SITE PARKING, WIFI

UNITS FOR 2 TO 10 GUESTS EACH

CALL THE BEACH WEEK PROS 866-742-3224 info@ocrooms.com WWW.OCROOMS.COM

the

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.

Recent awards include 2013 CSPA Gold Medalist, 2012 Online Pacemaker, 2010 CSPA Silver Crown and 2010 Marylander Award.

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 1 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/Circulation Simi Gold Managers 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

Ready to speak in Staff Editorial the real world?

Didn’t think so.

Nearly every day, in what high school students often refer to as the “real world,” people are required to speak in public.

Unfortunately, many students lack the confidence to speak in public, in part because they don’t get practice in school. To fix this, Whitman should implement a school-wide initiative for teachers to start grading class participation.

Increased participation will help students overcome one of the most widespread fears in the U.S. Fear of public speaking ranks as Americans’ top personal fear—ahead of death—affecting nearly 1 in 3 people, according to a Chapman University survey.

With the new grade incentive, students will be more likely to speak up in class. This will help them gain confidence and be more comfortable expressing opinions in front of their peers.

Talking in class also leads to consistently better grades and test scores, according to a 2004 Department of Education study of 8th grade students. This is partially because students who participate tend to be more mentally engaged in class. If students need to comment on lessons in order to earn points, then they are forced to be more attentive. This effort to speak in class, according to students in the study, was consistently the most important factor for academic success across subjects—more important than academic ability.

Opponents say that class will turn into a dysfunctional Socratic seminar: people talk over each other in

a frantic bid to earn participation points and contribute shallow comments rather than actually furthering discussion.

However, grading class participation isn’t a radical idea; in fact, it’s already taking place in some classes. Spanish teacher Fabiola Katz gives students points for speaking in Spanish during class which go into their formative grades at the end of the quarter.

The requirement works; it encourages kids to pay attention and participate in class, Katz says. In particular, this is an outlet for shy students to speak up in class more often.

And since students have an entire quarter, not just 46 minutes, to earn points, they don’t end up competing to speak, Katz says.

In terms of how the requirement affects grades, it should amount to around five percent of a student’s quarter grade in order to prevent swinging the grade too much. Teachers should adapt the standard for each course based on the type of class and how much opportunity it gives students to participate. For example, a more lecture-based class, such as a math class, may have a lower requirement for talking—and therefore a lower impact on final grades—because there are fewer opportunities to speak.

Young people across the country fear public speaking and lack the confidence to do it consistently.

And although Whitman can’t prevent death, it’s time the school did its part to combat another top American fear.

Cartoon by ELI SALETAN

The internet will never forgive, but it needs to forget

by TANUSHA MISHRA Remember those embarrassing status updates from your misguided middle school years? They may be back to haunt you. College admissions officers may be perusing your social media profiles right now.

The internet has changed our lives. Information is now overwhelming and everywhere. Yet, at times it would be better if some of this information could simply disappear.

In order to protect citizens in the digital age, the American government should guarantee the right to be forgotten—following the lead of the EU and Argentina.

The right to be forgotten allows those who feel misrepresented by search results to ask search engine company moderators to delink inaccurate or irrelevant material. If the request is approved, the material no longer comes up under certain search engine results, but remains online at the original site.

Guaranteeing this right would benefit students seeking to be admitted to college and adults being considered for jobs. Every year,

many seniors change their Facebook names, fearing colleges will Google them and base admission decisions on student social media profiles. Employers use a similar process to make decisions about prospective employees—nearly 80 percent of recruiters use the internet to find information about candidates, according to ExecuNet.

“

The internet has changed our lives.

Information is now overwhelming and everywhere. Yet, at times it would be better if some of this information could simply disappear.

“

B&W

OPINION

5

Moreover, some information must be removed in order to protect citizens’ well being. “Revenge porn,” releasing explicit images or videos to humiliate someone, is

a despicable practice the right to forget can help alleviate. While we have defamation laws safeguarding citizens from these types of crimes, explicit materials about the victims still remain accesible by search.

Such crimes are even more widespread among celebrities; Leslie Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and Kate Upton have had private photos of them published on the internet without their consent. Under the current system, victims are still linked to the offensive content even after the perpetrators have been prosecuted.

Critics argue that this right to be forgotten would restrict first amendment freedoms—specifically speech and press. However, any information “removed” would remain accessible on the original website; it just wouldn’t be a result on search engines.

Whether the victims are students or celebrities, publicizing inappropriate, personal information isn’t tolerated on any medium. The internet should now be included.

Privacy should be a right, not a privilege. The internet never forgives, but it should forget.

6

Opinion

Should Governor Hogan take the work out of Labor Day?

Y E S

This August, Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order requiring Maryland public schools to begin after Labor Day and end

by June 15. However, earlier in the summer, MCPS issued a proposal to start school a week earlier than the current start date, two weeks before Labor Day. While school districts will be able to apply for waivers to be exempt from the post-Labor Day mandate, Hogan’s order has caused controversy about whether the Governor or the county should determine the school calendar.

by EMMA SORKIN

by MICHELLE SILVER As August winds down, the calm and relaxation of summer dissipate when the gloom of homework, tests and papers sets in.

But thanks to a necessary executive order by Governor Hogan, students, staff and their families will now be able to savor summer for a little longer.

Starting school a week later has widespread support from Maryland residents. Over 70 percent support the move, according to Goucher College polls from 2014 and 2015.

The post-Labor day start date extends the beach and tourism season in Maryland, which could generate an additional $74.3 million, including money from new wages and local tax revenue, according to a 2013 study by Maryland’s Bureau of Revenue.

Furthermore, by beginning school after Labor Day, the weather will likely be more tolerable when the school year begins. This means that students, particularly those in Baltimore County schools without air conditioning, won’t have to endure the heat of classrooms or miss school days due to unbearable heat.

Opponents of Governor Hogan’s plan argue that the post-Labor Day start only has direct benefits to places where tourism would increase over Labor Day weekend, like Ocean City. However, these local benefits, like increased revenue from tourism, are only some of many positive outcomes. Students will benefit from extra time to pursue enrichment opportunities throughout the summer, like summer courses, camps, jobs or internships, and have more time to spend with their families before school resumes.

Labor Day weekend shouldn’t be tainted by stacks of homework. Families deserve to enjoy their summers for one week longer, so MCPS should adopt the Governor’s plan.

In Ocean City, Maryland, Governor Hogan declared that “school after Labor Day is now the law of the land.” This setting happens to be one of the only places where talk of a later start date would have a positive impact.

A study by the Maryland Bureau of Revenue estimates that the extra week of summer tourism would generate an additional $74.3 million in economic activity.

Despite the economic benefits, the proposed start date comes at the expense of students’ education. It fails to take AP exams into account and makes summer longer, shortening other breaks throughout the year.

MCPS should apply for a waiver in order to continue starting school before Labor Day, as we have for years, by either continuing with the current start date or starting a week earlier.

Next year, AP exams won’t start any later, even if Maryland schools start after Labor Day. Students will have even less time to get through a year’s worth of material. 1,157 students took more than one AP last year, many will be directly impacted by a later start date, according to Resource Counselor Frances Landau­.

With the current schedule, teachers rush to cram in material before the May tests arrive. Having extra time before Labor Day would hopefully allow teachers to supplement note-taking with engaging activities in the curriculum.

Additionally, Hogan’s order mandates that schools must adjourn by June 15. This lengthens summer, but if we are required to attend school for 180 days, other vacation days must be cut.

This means shorter winter and spring breaks, as well as the loss of various days off.

While the order was implemented to improve the economy, the negative effects on students will far outweigh the positive, and stress is the last thing we need more of.

N O

Past, present, future make students tense Cliché posters advertising the life changing difference between “let’s eat, grandma” and “let’s eat grandma” are an English-class essential. But do students really understand why commas save lives?

While 30 years ago students spent English classes diagramming sentences, today, words like gerund, predicate and antecedent leave students baffled.

Terms like these, although seemingly useless in the eyes of students today, constitute the basis of the English language.

Yet, the MCPS curriculum neglects teaching advanced grammar concepts, putting students at a disadvantage on standardized tests, classwork and later in the workforce. In order to give

students a complete education, MCPS should provide teachers with comprehensive grammar standards and specific guidance on how these objectives should be incorporated in the classroom.

MCPS supplies English departments with vague curriculum standards and assignments that all classes are required to fulfill. Unfortunately, the county only tacks on grammar as an afterthought instead of making it a priority.

The lack of grammar education comes back to haunt students as upperclassmen; both the ACT and the SAT include writing sections which test grammar skills. Developing these skills in school would save students time and money, as they would no longer have to teach themselves or rely on a private

Volunteering students: think local, act local

by CAMILLE CALDERA Summer 2009: Fifteen high schoolers travelled to Tanzania to build a library—or so they thought. Each night, without the volunteers’ knowledge, locals took apart the completed walls and relaid the bricks.

Voluntourism, slang for volunteer tourism, is a $2 billion industry serving over 1.6 million volunteers annually, according to the research firm Tourism, Research, and Marketing. While some voluntourism trips have been successful, many contribute to the exploitation of the developing world.

Students shouldn’t participate in high-cost, shortduration volunteer trips abroad due to the damaging nature of the voluntourism industry; instead, they should volunteer in their community or donate to international charities.

Although volunteer work abroad seems like the ideal way to help others while travelling the world, teen voluntourists often harm the populations they aim to serve.

tutor to learn these concepts.

Grammar education in English classes would also improve students’ literary analysis skills. Having a grasp on grammar concepts allows students to better identify an author’s stylistic techniques, English resource teacher Linda Leslie said.

Furthermore, the ability to analyze texts increases students’ capacity to write effectively for high-level English courses. Mastering grammar concepts teaches students how to break from traditional sentence styles and alter their sentence structure, ultimately creating a higher quality of work, AP Language teacher Ryan Derenberger said.

Beyond English, grammar skills would also dramatically improve students’ understanding of foreign languages. Most students don’t know

The majority of volunteers are unskilled and only able to perform tasks requiring manual labor, like building schools or clinics. But because developing countries have an abundance of manual labor, volunteers take away local jobs; local businesses aren’t able to compete because voluntourists work for free, the World Travel Guide explained.

“

“

by ELISA MCCARTIN

Although volunteer work abroad seems like the ideal way to help others while travelling the world, teen voluntourists often harm the populations they aim to serve.

Furthermore, volunteers’ efforts often achieve little.

Most student volunteers are unable to understand differences in culture and carry out work that requires specialized skills or degrees, like medicine, teaching and construction. This wastes money and resources; poorlyconstructed buildings intended to be schools and libraries are often left abandoned or turned into barns, antivoluntourism activist Pippa Biddle says. This useless work is encouraged by the profit-motivated companies managing voluntourists.

Companies also fail to plan for the long term. They send voluntourists to build clinics but never send doctors or ensure the community has medical professionals

the English grammar concepts used to explain foreign language parallels, foreign language teachers Isabella Kyser and Yuki Moorman said. They are forced to spend class time explaining English grammar concepts before teaching the foreign language equivalent.

Teachers need guidance to successfully and equally reinstate a focus on grammar education. Establishing clear and specific objectives will assure that all MCPS students possess crucial English skills, instead of leaving grammar education up to the discretion of individual teachers.

Prepositions and predicates may take up precious class time, but MCPS should make grammar a top priority in the curriculum.

to work there. They send voluntourists to teach children English, but volunteers often don’t speak the native language and teach the same skills again and again due to a lack of coordination between trips, a 2014 Huffington Post article reports.

“Orphan tourism” is another damaging sector of voluntourism. Volunteers are led to believe that they help the children, but research has linked the constant arrival and departure of voluntourists to attachment disorders in orphans, another 2014 Huffington Post article details.

To solicit more volunteers and donations, some orphanages subject children to unnecessarily poor conditions and participate in child trafficking, the New York Times reported earlier this year.

Volunteering is important, but impactful volunteer work can be carried out at home without the damaging effects of voluntourism on developing countries’ children and economies. There is significant need here in Montgomery County and Washington D.C., from homelessness to public health.

The thousands of dollars a voluntourism trip costs could also be donated to international charities which are better equipped to invest in long term solutions to underlying development issues.

While would-be voluntourists have noble intentions, students looking to help ought to avoid voluntourism and seek out more worthwhile ways to create positive change.

AD

7

8

how healthy are yo

In-De

by MARY DIMITROV and JENNAH HAQUE

Every Whitman student is required to take health to graduate high school; we all fill out the food pyramid, look at sleep cycles and are told to exercise regularly. But how healthy are we? The Black & White spoke

with nutritionists, personal trainers, sleep experts, students and teachers to hear their perspectives on the state of students’ physical health and what students can do to stay healthy. Additionally, The Black &

How much s Whitman st

NUTRITION T

eenagers constantly crave junk food; our diet is riddled with pizza, cake, candy and soda—or at least that’s how we’re portrayed in countless movies, books and TV shows.

Students have challenged these popular stereotypes; 71 percent of students polled view eating healthy as important, and 70 percent pay attention to their eating habits—as they should be, nutritionist Danielle Omar said.

“If you’re trying to eat healthy, it’s very helpful to keep food logs or to track your intake,” Omar said.

“You can also use your weight and how you feel as a marker. If you’re gaining weight or losing weight, if you’re thirsty all the time, if you have low energy—all these factors can serve as a reflection of your diet.”

Students typically attribute their healthy eating habits to one of two factors: personal motivation or their parents. For junior Jeylan Ulusan, it was her parents.

“My mom has never bought junk food,” Ulusan said.

White surveyed eight English classes, spann to gather information on students’ sleep, fi

“It’s hard to eat unhealthy when she mainly shops at Whole Foods and buys lots of fruits and veggies.”

While the ingredients that go into meals are crucial to consider, so is the amount of food eaten each day.

The average high school male needs between 2,200 to 3,200 calories per day and the average high school female ages needs 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

However, if students are involved in strenuous physical activity, like high school sports, the numbers change for both sexes to about 3,300-3,700 calories daily.

Regardless of caloric intake, how students choose to fuel body has a direct correlation to their performance, Omar said.

“Healthy eating is important for everyone,” Omar said. “Your diet can affect how well you sleep, your concentration, mood, energy level and ability to focus.”

healthy alternatives to daily food choices

rice bowl

romaine lettuce

quinoa

kale

A

sle

t some point during the day, dozing off during Socratic seminars or drooling on AP biology notes is inevitable and the bell ends up doubling as an alarm clock for many students.

According to Sleep Medicine and Neurology Physician Saif Ahmed, teenagers need 8 to 10 hours of sleep to foster the optimal functioning of hormones, appetite, immune system and other bodily processes, not to mention acing their next science test.

Average students gets 6 to 8 hours of sleep, according to the Black & White poll. However, differences in sleep exist among grade levels; the average freshman gets 7 to 8 hours of sleep, while a typical senior tends to sleep for only six to seven hours.

But where do these harrowing numbers stem from?

Is it from too much homework, general procrastination or the classic five-minute Facebook breaks in between assignments?

“I think it’s a lethal combination of excess work, procrastination and a yearning for more breaks,” junior Dana Gurland said. “When students are tired from the school day and are overloaded with more homework, it leads to less sleep and more stress.”

Even some of the most productive students find

9

ou?

epth

fitness T

ning all levels and grades, fitness and eating habits.

sleep does a tudent get?

3%

9+ hours

13%

8-9 hours

32%

7-8 hours

hough the endless trek from the first floor to the third floor might seem like a sufficient dose of exercise for some, the climb isn’t close enough to the one hour of daily aerobic exercise the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends.

“Exercise is very important for a healthy life,” physical education teacher Neal Poll said. ‘It’s especially important for teenagers because it brings good balance to the rest of their life.”

Some students have found this balance; 423 students are on a fall sports team this year and 30 percent of students reported they belong to a gym, according to the athletic department.

Exercising regularly can also help students increase productivity, reduce stress, ward off anxiety, alleviate depression, boost self-esteem and improve sleep, according to the CDC. “You feel a lot better partially because of the state your body is in but also because you’re doing something important for yourself and you’re pushing through and persevering outside of the classroom,” English teacher and personal trainer Omari James said. “It’s night and

for how long do you exercise per week?

21% 1-3 hours

30% 6-7

hours

13% 5-6 hours 7% 1%

4-5 hours <3 hours

eep themselves combating sleep deprivation. Senior Jordan Johnson, who considers herself efficient and focused at home, still has to decide between sleep or assignment completion. Homework is only the tip of the iceberg; managing varsity athletics, extracurriculars and college applications still need to be factored in, she said.

“Students shouldn’t have to choose between homework and a healthy amount of sleep,” Johnson said.

“AP classes should test intellectual capacity, not my ability to pull an all-nighter.”

Short-term side effects of a lack of sleep are evident in daily high school life; sleep deficiencies adversely affect grades, general focus, athletic performance and overall mental health. Prolonged sleep deprivation leads to a variety of negative health ramifications: increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke, Ahmed said.

In the midst of homework overload and junior year mental breakdowns, there’s a solution: taking naps of 25 minutes or fewer will help students refresh and regain focus. Another remedy is powering down electronics 30 minutes before going to bed, Ahmed said.

“They should just try to unwind,” Ahmed said. “This will improve their sleep hygiene.”

day; I feel drastically different. Exercise makes me feel good about what I’m doing inside the classroom as well.”

According to the CDC, exercising to maintain a healthy weight decreases a person’s risk of developing certain diseases including type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

But Poll warns against expecting weight loss or muscle gain, because they are both processes that take time.

“The worst thing that a student could do is to try to do too much too soon,” Poll said. “Students get frustrated because they’re not seeing the gains they want to fast enough, but you can’t get discouraged.”

However, some results of physical activity can be instantaneous. Exercise releases endorphins that ease pain and induce positive feelings, according to the CDC. Seventy-six percent of students said they enjoy exercising.

“When I exercise, I feel refreshed and I am more productive,” Ulusan said.

6% <1 hour

32% 4-6 hours 41% 7+ hours

do you consider yourself healthy?

22% no

78% yes

do you go to the gym?

69% no

31% yes Graphic by ANN MORGAN JACOBI

FEATURE

10

Paying to stay alive: how increasing prices are making it difficult to purchase EpiPens

by JENNIE YU Every second counts in the event of a life-threatening allergic reaction.

A dose of the drug epinephrine, delivered through an EpiPen auto-injector, can mean the difference between life or death—if the allergic individual is fortunate enough to be able to afford one.

Since Mylan, the industry’s only EpiPen manufacturer, acquired the product in 2007 from Dey Pharma, the company has been steadily increasing the price. However, its most recent inflation served as a catalyst for reinvigorated protest from consumers.

During this year’s back-to-school season, traditionally the most common time to stock up on EpiPens, consumers found that a set of two pens cost more than $600. At this time last year, they were $400.

“I have two EpiPens in my purse, one in my lunchbox, two in my sports bag, two at my house and two at the school,” freshman Anna Krush said. “Once those all expire, in about 16 months, I’m going to have to buy new ones and it’s definitely going to be extremely expensive.”

Krush, who is severely allergic to

peanuts and tree nuts, said that while she is fortunate enough to have a health insurance plan with coverage, many insurance companies are now restricting the number of EpiPens that one individual can purchase at a time.

“I think the whole medical community has been alarmed with the increase in the EpiPen auto-injector prices,” school nurse Linda Goldberg said. “It’s unfortunate, and I feel the company is putting life-saving treatments out of the reach of many people who need it the most.”

The new reality of high EpiPen prices is inconvenient at best and dangerous at worst, Goldberg said.

“Normally, we require a set of two pens to be stored at school for each individual with an allergy,” Goldberg said.

“This year, however, some students were only able to bring me a single EpiPen, simply because buying yet another set for home would be too expensive.”

Junior Kelsie Oshinsky, who is allergic to almonds, thinks that Mylan’s only course of action should be to lower prices as soon as possible. Although she has never had a reaction severe enough to warrant the use of her EpiPen, Oshinsky

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

Consumers demand change as EpiPens become less accessible after Mylan inflates prices.

would feel unsafe if she was ever denied access to the medication, she said.

“Anaphylaxis is not a condition that will go away, so you can’t just decide to stop buying epinephrine,” Oshinsky

said. “Those EpiPens made by Mylan are the best, and if you can’t afford to acquire them or have them with you when something goes wrong, it would be disastrous.”

Revamped health class introduces guest speakers

by CAMRYN DAHL

Photo courtesy VALERIE MYERS

Junior Valerie Myers works with wolves during her stay at a wolf rehabilitation sanctuary in Colorado.

Call of the wild: junior helps rehabilitate wolves Roasting marshmallows, cooking over an open fire and sleeping under the stars define camping for most high schoolers. But this summer, junior Valerie Myers added raising wolves to that list.

Myers camped in the forests of the Colorado Mountains for two weeks this summer on a service trip through the organization Mission: Wolf. The program teaches students to interact with and appreciate wildlife through working at a wolf sanctuary.

“I enjoyed this experience,” Myers said.

“It really allowed me to open up new parts of myself.”

Kent Weber, co-founder of Mission: Wolf, created this program to bring rescued wolves back into the wild and to provide students with an opportunity to learn about the environment, he said.

“We connect people to nature using handson experiential education,” Weber said, “Experiential education is our trademark for Mission: Wolf. Visitors at the sanctuary learn about wolves and ecology but also get a chance to pitch in and work with their hands.”

With 20 other high school students, Myers lived on-site at a wolf sanctuary in Westcliffe, CO. During the day, the students fed and spent time with the wolves. Students also completed manual tasks, including fixing fences and hauling firewood.

The program forced students to reevaluate

their relationship with the environment, Myers said.

“I came home a lot more aware of my surroundings,” she said. “I realized how much we, as humans, affect the environment.”

Students gained new perspectives on their daily lives, not just on nature.

“

“

by AARON TITLEBAUM

Visitors at the sanctuary learn about wolves and ecology but also get a chance to pitch in and work with their hands.

-Co-founder of Mission: Wolf, Kent Weber

“This trip was truly life-changing,” camper Walker Greenwald said. “Now that I’m back, I’ve been a little more at peace with the world.

I’ve been much less stressed and more relaxed because of what I’ve learned along the way.”

Myers also learned positive skills for her own life, using the natural experience to embrace her identity.

“Awareness has taught me to accept a part of myself as someone who always wanted to be a leader,” Myers said. “It also helped me become more calm with my personality and allowed me to look back and really love life.”

Valerie Myers is a photo assistant for the B&W

Students considering taking an extra AP may want to make room for a variety of guest speakers and hypnotists in their schedule instead.

MCPS has updated the health curriculum with more information about stress management, building upon the 2014-2015 updates.

Principal Alan Goodwin and health teacher Nikki Marafatsos have been instrumental in implementing the change.

Goodwin’s initiative to make mindfulness a school-wide priority factored into Marafatsos’ decision to develop a curriculum that addresses the academic and societal pressures created by Whitman’s environment by including guest speakers.

“Obviously there is a county curriculum that we have to stay true to, but one of the things that Mrs. Marafatsos has done is identify a number of interesting guest speakers to come in and specifically talk about tactics and strategies for stress management,” guest hypnotist Marc Hausman said.

Guest speakers, including Hausman, wellness coach David Martin and quadriplegic Kirk Simon, expose students to new perspectives on personal health and wellness.

Other schools are mimicking this mindfulness approach and emphasis on guest speakers in their own health education programs.

Hausman now speaks at other MCPS high schools including Watkins Mill, Sherwood, Richard Montgomery and Northwest.

“My talk is about how people can use visualization as a tool to manage stress, promote self confidence and enhance their performance both in the classroom as well as in an extracurricular activity,” Hausman said. “This is something you can do very easily by yourself three or four times a day for 15 or 20 seconds just as a way to manage stress.”

Hausman hopes that students take away two lessons: first, if you are experiencing stress, you’re not alone, and second, it’s beneficial to take ownership of your health and wellness, he said.

“Each student is able to connect to the information provided within these presentations because the information is regarding something that has or will affect them directly or indirectly at some point in their lives,” Hausman said. “The guest speakers provide engaging and interactive presentations that allow students to learn in a non-traditional way.”

Students like senior Claire Nagelhout appreciate the introduction of guest speakers into the curriculum.

“It’s interesting to hear someone else’s personal perspective on the issue,” Nagelhout said. “I think that you can understand the unit better when someone comes in and talks about a personal experience with it.”

Marafatsos hopes that guest speakers will not only benefit the students in the class but attract other students to take health at Whitman in the future, she said.

“While each method of learning has its own merit, as a health educator, I am a big proponent to classroom-based learning,” Marafatsos said. “I believe that it is important to take a class like health in school rather than online because there is so much to benefit from face-to-face interactions and conversations with peers regarding so many important topics.”

Feature

11

Album reviews: summer 2016

by MICHAEL GORMAN

Rock veteran Neil Young ‘respects Mother Earth,’ produces latest live album

Artwork by EPIC RECORDS

Artwork by REPRISE RECORDS

‘Major Key’ Rating 3 out of 5

‘Earth’ Rating 3 out of 5

Neil Young released his newest live album “Earth” June 17.

The album features Young’s live performances and incorporates sounds of animals and nature.

The animal noises usually enhance the topics Young sings about throughout the album, but toward the second half, they detract from Young’s vocals.

The first song, “Mother Earth,” starts with Young on harmonica and flows into a tune about how society needs to “Respect Mother Earth and her giving ways / Or give away our children’s days.”

It’s not often that the hook of a song

is composed of raindrops and frog noises, but they come together well for the purpose of this album.

In contrast to the opening track’s inspirational feeling, the second track, “Seed Justice,” voices Young’s outrage against big corporations and factory farmers. With driving guitar chords throughout the song, Young calls for factory farmers to stop their abusive practices and return to more natural methods of farming.

While nothing about this album is groundbreaking, the live tracks will satisfy fans yearning for new takes on familiar themes.

Khaled’s ‘Major Key’ has minor errors Capitalizing on the Snapchat popularity he gained last winter, producer DJ Khaled released “Major Key” July 29.

As with any Khaled project, a few excellent songs are overshadowed by an awful second half of the album. He doesn’t rap a single verse on the whole album but instead jumps in sporadically with a shout of “DJ Khaled!” or “They don’t want me to have another anthem / So I made sure I got another anthem!”

With features from Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Nas, Jay-Z, and J. Cole, the first half of the album is incredible. Khaled’s random shouts Artwork by ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS

Artwork by THE SOUND FACTORY

‘Blonde’ Rating 4 out of 5

‘The Getaway’ Rating 3.5 out of 5

Chili Peppers spice it up in revival of their glory days “The Getaway,” released June 17, is exactly the revival the Red Hot Chili Peppers needed. After the failed 2011 release of “I’m With You,” fans wondered if the band they had grown to love had changed after decades of exceptional music.

For the Chili Peppers, “The Getaway” marked a switch in their style, in part due to their new producer, Danger Mouse. He replaced producer Rick Rubin whom the band had worked with since 1989. Overall, the switch to Danger Mouse has been a success as the production behind the album is a step up from Rubin’s work.

“Goodbye Angels” is the best song on the album, taking listeners back to the glory days

of the band. Although the entire song is fantastic, the last minute is when it goes from great to incredible. Flea, the band’s longtime bassist, performs an exquisite riff which leads into one of the greatest finales of his career.

The inconsistent nature of the Chili Peppers makes for several poor songs mixed in with the classics. “Dreams of a Samurai” fluctuates between heavy metal guitar and soft vocals too often, disrupting the flow of the album and ending it on a negative note.

As a whole, “The Getaway” was a success, but the hit-or-miss style of the Chili Peppers ultimately prevents the release from standing out.

After long wait, Frank Ocean makes waves with new album, ‘Blonde’ After Frank Ocean hinted at a new album in February 2013, saying he was “10, 11, songs into this next thing,” fans were eagerly awaiting its release.

“Blonde” was definitely worth the wait. The stories Ocean tells and the way he changes his voice from song to song make the album an entertaining listen.

The best song on the album is “Nights,” which recounts Ocean’s experiences in a former relationship. The first half of the song is one of the most rap-heavy on the album, but a transition in the middle marks an emotional shift from everyday topics to deeper material, as Ocean reminisces about his past: “Your apartment out in Houston’s

Warm Demanders

Warm demanders are teachers who encourage students to realize and reach their full potential

be doing anyways.”

Cultural Focus

Proficiency

This year, Whitman also updated its annual “Cultural Proficiency Focus:” an initiative developed to help students succeed regardless of their background. It encourages teachers to be aware of how their own racial and cultural perceptions and experiences influences their teaching.

“Most good teachers are aware of not only their own culture but also other people’s and how that impacts teaching,” math teacher Stephen Hays said. “Just knowing where you come from and where others come from, you’re making students feel more comfortable.”

Increasing Spending MCPS’

Per-Student 2017

bud-

get has also affirmed the county’s commitment to support students by raising per-student spending.

The Operating Budget, released June 2016, included a $600 increase in per-student spending from last year, totaling $14,406 per high school student.

“It provides $37.9 million of targeted funding that will allow MCPS to reduce class sizes in many classrooms across the district and accelerate our efforts to close the achievement gap,” according to the MCPS website.

Reducing class sizes allows for more one-onone instruction between teachers and students, ensuring that students receive the support they need.

While the efforts outlined above benefit all students, they’ve also been instituted to address the

Cost per Student

The classroom should be a comfortable environment for all students: a place where they can ask questions, make mistakes and grow. Thanks to new county policy, students are one step closer to comfort.

In order to ensure that all students can reach their academic potential, the county designed several programs to support struggling students, including training teachers to be “warm demanders,” encouraging staff to be aware of their own biases and increasing student spending.

through one-on-one relationships, author on educational equity Lisa Delpit said.

The policy emphasizes the importance of building trust with students so they feel engaged and comfortable participating during class.

“Research says that the factor that is most influential in student success is the relationship, or their perception of their relationship, with their instructor,” English resource teacher Linda Leslie said.

Principal Alan Goodwin is a strong advocate of the policy.

“The warm demander will go after any student who is reluctant and get them to do their work,” Goodwin said. “But they won’t lower the standards for that student. It’s what all good educators should

where I waited / Stayin’ with you when I didn’t have a address.”

Ocean could’ve left “Solo (Reprise)” out of the album. “Solo” was good enough, and the reprise doesn’t build on the first at all.

It’s especially disappointing because the legendary Andre 3000 is featured, and while he brings immense potential to most songs, his tone and speed just don’t flow, making this song one to skip.

“Blonde” is truly a testament to Ocean’s abilities both as a singer and a songwriter, and although a few songs could be left out, this record will satisfy the millions of fans who have been clamoring for a new release.

MCPS Budget per Student

MCPS realigns policies on equity, discipline

by SABRINA MARTIN

detract from the flow of the album, but not enough to ruin the songs.

The best song, “Jermaine’s Interlude,” is performed solely

by J. Cole, and it’s one of his best songs. Cole handles the vocals and the production, singing about the rap industry by advising up-andcoming rappers to take their time to sign to a record label: “The second they ask you to sell your soul / Don’t you do it, don’t you fold.”

The only listenable song after the first five is “Work For It,” featuring Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and Big Sean; the quality of the work takes a significant hit as the album progresses.

Year achievement gap at Whitman. The achievement gap, a significant difference in average scores of students based on race, ethnicity and gender, specifically pertains to the difference in scores of African American and Hispanic students in comparison to their White and Asian peers, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Graphic by EMMA DAVIS

In an address to the Board of Education, MCPS superintendent Jack Smith defined his goal for tackling MCPS’s achievement gap in the near future.

“We must act now to create a school system where academic success is not predictable by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language or disability,” Smith said.

12

Feature

New Bethesda restaurant offers gourmet food for vegans, meat-lovers alike Contemporary layout fosters conversations

by AVA CHENOK Wooden panels line the walls of the restaurant, flower beds fill the centers of the tables and vibrant yellow chairs decorate the room. Upbeat conversation ensues in the open, contemporary space as colorful dishes are placed on the counter accompanying an enthusiastic “order up!”

Modern Market, a farm-fresh eatery, opened in Bethesda Aug. 8 with a mission to create healthy and fresh meals, accommodate customer dietary restrictions and foster a strong sense of community.

“We wanted to bring healthy, affordable food to as many people as possible,” owner and founder Anthony Pigliacampo said. “We thought it would be possible to make high quality food that people wanted to eat and design a restaurant where you enjoyed everything about it that happened to be healthy for you and the environment.”

To produce nutritious food, Modern Market focuses on fresh ingredients.

“Our food is really simple, but the quality of the ingredients is superior to what you would find at the highest end restaurants in town,” Pigliacampo said.

The restaurant makes everything from scratch and doesn’t use artificial ingredients, coloring or extra sugar in its food. It also doesn’t take any shortcuts in the cooking process, which makes for products that are healthier, more aesthetically pleasing and tastier, Pigliacampo said.

Modern Market also goes to great lengths to guarantee that customers’ dietary restrictions are accounted for.

“A vegan friend, a gluten-free friend and a meat eater can all come here and find something that they like to eat,” Bethesda restaurant manager Deb Klein

said. “So you’re not compromising one person for another.”

Senior Hannah Wolstein found that the staff accommodated her dairy-free diet and helped her go through the menu to find something she could eat: sesame tofu and a side of sweet potatoes, she said.

“They have a really versatile menu with lots of options,” Wolstein said. “My diet somewhat limited my options, but they were very accommodating and helpful, and what I got was delicious.”

The eatery isn’t complete without its sense of community.

“Modern Market is really about people,” Klein said. “Not only is it about our customers that we’re trying to take great care of, but it’s about being an integral part of our community and it’s also about our team.”

In the kitchen, the staff refers to each other as members of a sports team: employees are “team members” and managers are “restaurant coaches.”

This creates a bond among the staff that provides for fast service and a powerful group dynamic.

The eatery’s sense of community extends beyond restaurant doors to the farms of different food vendors from all over the country. To emphasize that these vendors belong to the Modern Market family, the restaurant wall is covered with chalkboards that include the suppliers’ names and a matching illustration for their products.

Modern Market’s opening marks a combination of quality ingredients, customer awareness and a strong sense of community to create a specialized dining experience.

“We believe if you focus on the ingredients and focus on the people, all the other elements will fall into line,” Klein said.

Photos by VALERIE MYERS

Modern Market combines contemporary decor and fresh food to create a specialized dining environment.

SPORTS Football stomachs pickle juice to quell cramps

13

by JOEY SQUERI Hungry? Eat a Snickers. Cramping? Drink some pickle juice.

For the past few years, Whitman football players have been drinking pickle juice to prevent muscle cramps during games.

After a 2009 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, when every Eagles player downed pickle juice to avoid cramping in 109-degree heat, football programs across the country began to use the juice to keep their players healthy.

Coaches and trainers have found that the juice contains key nutrients that help keep players cramp-free during strenuous activities.

“You have to get sodium in your body,” football head coach Jim Kuhn said. “Especially when it’s hot.

We use the pickle juice which has a ton of sodium, and it seems to work.”

Sodium and potassium are two of the most common electrolytes used in the human body, and pickle juice contains high amounts of both minerals. A twoounce cup of pickle juice contains over 20 times more sodium and over eight times more potassium than a common sports drink. Combined with water, these electrolytes keep muscles fully hydrated.

Since cramping is more prevalent in hot weather, this year’s especially high temperatures prompted Kuhn to recommend the juice for his players early this season. Each player was advised to drink it before the team’s home opener against Landon, which was played in 94-degree heat.

“Before [the Landon] game, our coach gave us all a cup of pickle juice,” defensive end Dawson Mackay said. “And the only person that cramped was the person that didn’t drink the pickle juice.”

Because of the positive results, the coaching staff has encouraged the team to drink the juice more than just before games.

“We are encouraged to drink the pickle juice on the sidelines during our games, too,” Mackay said. “Less

Photo courtesy of Susan Hornyak

Junior Owen Roegge and senior Dawson Mackay stay hydrated as they watch their team battle Northwest high school.

people are getting cramps than ever.”

The team’s use of pickle juice represents an overall push towards proper hydration and injury prevention before games.

In an average high school football game, a player who plays both offense and defense can lose over seven pounds of water weight in 48 minutes. These fluids cannot be completely replenished during the games; players have to prepare their bodies a full week in advance.

“The biggest thing about hydration is it has to be continuous,” Kuhn said. “You can’t just drink a lot of water Thursday and Friday.”

Players who don’t hydrate properly can face severe consequences, including migraines, excessive cramping, heat exhaustion or even organ problems.

Notably, free safety Elliot Kelly experienced kidney failure due to poor hydration and overheating after a summer scrimmage.

“I was lifeguarding all day and was out in the sun

Juggling soccer and basketball, Abby Meyers commits to Princeton

by AMY NANKIN

Meyers as she’s been playing both sports since she was four.

“Soccer was a sport that I have played my whole life, and it will always hold a special place in my heart, but basketball was always that sport that grabbed me,” Meyers said. “My passion for basketball sprung when I was younger. I enjoyed playing it more, watching it more and just being involved with the sport.”

While her time on the soccer field may be ending, Meyers is excited for the next phase of her life.

“Princeton is a beautiful campus, and the team and coaching staff really made me feel comfortable, welcomed and truly special when I went there for multiple visits,” Meyers said. “Whenever I left a visit, I wanted to go back and never leave.”

After winning the 2016 4A basketball state title and making the Washington Post’s All Met first team, senior Abby Meyers has decided to take her athletic career to the next level by committing to Princeton’s D1 basketball team. But, before her basketball pursuit begins, she’s closing out her memorable soccer career.

“Abby’s probably the most athletic player I’ve ever coached here at Whitman,” girls soccer coach Greg Herbert said. “She’s so gifted in both sports, and I celebrate the fact that she was able to play and do so well in both.”

Meyers has devoted each fall to soccer and transitioned every winter to basketball. During her final season on girls soccer, Meyers is a team captain.

“Abby’s a really great teammate; she’s extremely motivated and competitive,” soccer co-captain Chelsea Cahill said. “Even though she’s committed for basketball, she’s still a very important member of the soccer team and is taking this season really seriously.”

While some coaches believe that their athletes should focus on one sport, coach Peter Kenah and Princeton coach Courtney Banghart both applaud Meyers’ commitment to two sports, Kenah said. They believe that her competitiveness in both soccer and basketball has improved her overall athleticism and prevents her from potential injuries due to overuse of muscles used in basketball, but not in soccer.

With her coaches’ support, Meyers has begun the most important soccer season of her high school career: her last one.

“This year of soccer is going to be a lot more fun and less stressful. I know that I’m playing the sport for the enjoyment and love it, and I hope that it shows in the games as well as the practices,” Meyers said. “Last year losing so early on in the playoffs was tough, and I really didn’t want to end my career on Photo courtesy ADAM PRILL that note.”

Senior Abby Meyers traps a ball out of the air, The decision to pursue basketball blocking out Walter Johnson opponent Sept. 20. rather than soccer was a hard one for

without a lot of water and then played the most I’ve ever played in a football game,” Kelly said. “A combination of heat exhaustion and dehydration caused my body to run out of water and so my kidneys failed.”

Kelly was briefly hospitalized but has fully recovered and is back on the field. Now, he has transitioned into the week-long hydration routine and has not had any other complications.

Players like Kelly and Mackay have seen extended playing time this year, as the football team has far fewer players than in years past. Starting quarterback Matt Clayton believes that the pickle juice has helped keep the team healthy even with the increase in action.

“Since we have such a small team in terms of numbers, a lot of guys have to play both ways and on special teams, so cramping is a huge issue,” Clayton said. “The whole point of pickle juice is to help stop the cramping, and as a whole, we’ve all been cramping less since we started drinking it.”

14

Sports

After two years, turf field reconsidered

by SAM SHIFFMAN Following negotiations and an intense lawsuit that lasted almost two years, a turf field could be installed at Whitman as soon as next year.

While there’s still a possibility Whitman won’t get a turf field, a recent lawsuit between Maryland Soccer Inc. (MSI) and MCPS has made it more likely.

“There’s a strong hope that we will get a turf field —if not next year then the year after,” principal Alan Goodwin said. “So much depends on the processes that have to take place.”

MSI issued a lawsuit against MCPS, complaining that MCPS gave other youth sports organizations more time on new turf fields.

The resolution of the lawsuit has allowed MSI to put $1.2 million into the construction of a turf field at Whitman. In return for the funding, MSI can use the field for 1,000 hours a year for the next 10 years.

Currently, six MCPS high schools have turf, while the other 20 have grass fields. Turf fields have many benefits including keeping fields in better shape and preventing water damage, athletes said.

“The grass begins to die as the weather gets colder, and it becomes a tough surface to play on,” JV football player Yussef Zaki said. “The dirt begins to crack and harden so running becomes more difficult.”

In addition to improving field quality, a turf field will give multiple teams, including the boys lacrosse team, a place to practice at Whitman. Currently, the team practices at Pyle every day in the spring.

While the idea of being able to practice at Whitman excites some athletes, others oppose the installation of a turf field, citing turf burn and the uncomfortably high temperatures on the turf. Field surface temperature can often reach close to 165 degrees fahrenheit on a 94-degree day, according to a study by the University of Arkansas.

While the future of the field remains uncertain, the administration will continue to fight for a turf field, Goodwin said.

“I’m really looking forward to [a turf field],” Goodwin said. “I think it’s good for the community because even after the games, they’ll be able to use it.”

AD

Alumni row to Olympic trials Whitman alumni Gavin (right) and Ian (left) Ross recorded best U.S. times at 2016 Olympic trials.

by DANIEL WEBER Students watched Bethesda native Katie Ledecky take home gold at Rio, yet many don’t realize one of Whitman’s own students trained for the 2016 Rio games.

Gavin Ross (‘14) is an accomplished canoer who has competed in national and international competitions. He participated in the 2016 Olympic trials but was knocked out this spring after placing fourth in the continental qualifiers.

Ross began competitive canoeing in middle school and competed in several countrywide events including the national championships in 2012. He placed first in the 500, 1,000 and 5,000 meter races.

His training intensified when he started preparing for the Rio Olympic trials. Because he was still a senior at the time, Ross and principal Alan Goodwin created a schedule that allowed him to complete all his credits and still have

sufficient time to train.

“Dr. Goodwin was vital for all of that,” Ross said. “I went in and talked with him about what I was doing. He would always sign off and the only condition would be that I would have to come in and tell him how I did afterwards.”

After graduating, Ross began training full time with his brother, Ian (‘11), who also participates in canoeing competitions.

“We trained seven hours every day of the week,” Ian Ross said. “[We had] three paddling sessions almost every day, three lifts a week, and the other days were filled in with running.”

The brothers competed in doubles at the national Olympic trials in May and finished with the fastest U.S. time. They continued to push for Olympic qualification at the continental qualifiers, but finished behind teams from three other countries and failed to make the cut.

Although neither of the brothers ended up in Rio, they made it

Photo courtesy BALINT VEKASSY

into the Olympic pool for the 1,000 meter, meaning the International Olympic Committee could grant them an invitation to compete in the Olympics.

“From May to July, we just had to keep on training because we didn’t know whether or not they were going to pull our names out of the hat,” Gavin Ross said.

“You’re still training seven hours a day, and you didn’t even know what you’re training for at that point.”

This year, due to the Russian National Team doping scandal, many invitations went to teams the Russians had beaten, leaving no spots for the brothers.

Even though the 2016 Olympic season is over, Gavin Ross says he hopes to continue pursuing the sport and his education.

“Right now I’m doing fun races, falling back in love with the sport and going to college in the spring,” Gavin Ross said. “As of right now, I’ll try to make 2020 after a bit of fun.”

CROSSWORD

15

W C R O S S R D “Election and politics: playing the Trump card in 2016”

by JUSTIN BAKER and JOEY SQUERI

ACROSS

1. What a football player runs 6. 0 °C, 101.3 kPa 9. Common units of gold 13. Greek or Roman building designed for singing, but smaller than a full-size theater 14. A finger of the foot 15. To put back to original settings 16. Artery connected to the left ventricle 17. ______ Coulter, political pundit 18. Synonym for stadium 19. What John Lennon said he was 21. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary _______ 23. Semiconductor diode often used in lighting, abb.

24. It’s commonly said among pirates that there are seven of them 25. Large North American deer 28. How many people would prefer to listen to their favorite artists’ music 30. Small one-handed firearm 35. Herbs and hot water 37. ______, twenties, thirties, forties 39. What you’d call a narcotics trafficker, think Netflix show 40. The keratinous filaments that grow from our skin 41. Separated from the church 43. A stroke on the green 44. After you’ve fixed something: “Good __ ___!”

46. Blues singer ______ Redding 47. Famous missionary who persuaded Sitting Bull to

negotiate a treaty with the United States, Pierre-Jean de ______ 48. If something is necessary, it’s ______ 50. Phrase used to indicate uncertainty about a number 52. The association parents are members of in school, abbr.

53. Room entrance 55. Radians measure its length 57. What politicians often say negative ads are 61. Where firefighters get water 65. Well-blended food 66. When you will get there, abb.

68. The little blue speck 69. A person who pursues intellectual activities may be called _ ____ 70. Possess 71. Mediterranean parsley plant 72. Large collective defense alliance 73. Dirt from a grassland 74. Beatles’ words of wisdom: “___ it __”

DOWN

1. Path you drive on 2. Smell, scent 3. User Equivalent Range Error, abb.

4. Sum 5. What covers your teeth 6. Burning ball of hydrogen and helium 7. 2000 lbs 8. Trump’s running mate 9. “Feel the ______!”

10. A group of games in a match is _ ___

11. Nevada city 12. Spiderman creator, ______ Lee 15. Lorraine Hansberry play, “A ______ in the Sun” 20. Changes to a written work 22. A trip around a track 24. Baracks previous occupation 25. Furniture company ______ Allen 26. A contract to rent a property 27. Hillary’s running mate 29. The President’s main check on the legislature 31. Fools 32. Republican nominee 33. Company of eight singers 34. Slang, “lot of” 36. Scientific Research and Experimental Development, abb.

38. What you do to diffuse your sugar in your coffee 42. Long paper 45. To be married is to be ______ 49. “Se7en” villain John ______ 51. Struggle, difficult experience 54. Black and White stuffed cookies 56. Construction device 57. The distance something covers 58. Common nutritional bar 59. To entrust 60. Disastrous Roman emperor 61. What you hold things with 62. UPenn’s partner institute in Turkey 63. National Transportation Safety Board, abb.

64. Shakespearian “you” 67. Senators per state

Cartoon Hey, What’s up?

THE CEILING!

WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH-

cartoon by JOSH CORBIN

Back Page

16

with UMD football recruiter Marcus Berry

by BEN LEVIN Marcus Berry is in his second year as the Football Director of Recruiting at the University of Maryland. Before working for the Terps, Berry was the Director of Player Personnel at various universities, ,including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he signed two top-25 college football programs. At the high school level, Berry won three Maryland state championships as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Friendly High School in Prince George’s County.

The Black & White: Why is the Department of Scouting so important?

Marcus Berry: Recruitment is the lifeblood of the program.

My job is to find talented players with good character to bring to our program. It won’t matter how good the coaching is, how big, fast or strong the players are. It’s a relationship business, so we create strong relationships with the right players. In a tough division like the Big 10, other great teams want your players, so we really have to sell our team.

B&W: How does the scouting process work?

MB: Each coach has a certain thing they have in their players; head coach Durkin likes length and height. The sophomore and junior seasons are the most important so that

Photo courtesy MARCUS BERRY

UMD recruiter Marcus Berry helps balance college sports and academics

we can find dominant players who are also academically successful. Hudl is a great tool to find these players, so we spend $35,000 to access and evaluate that film. Each year there’s a 75-week window from Sept. 1 of junior year to signing day on the first Wednesday of February to do the bulk of your recruiting. We send mail, emails, even contact by Twitter or Facebook.

We can’t call them until they’re seniors, but they’re allowed to call you.

B&W: What are the differences in each level of football

you’ve worked with, and why do you enjoy working at the collegiate level?

MB: High school is the ground stage, so I wanted to introduce my players to college and ensure academic success.

On the surface, the collegiate level is about recruiting the toplevel players in the country to compete for a championship.

Beyond that, my top goal is to get them a meaningful degree to have a future past football.

Nothing is better than mentoring these kids for a life after football.

B&W: What have you learned from your various positions?

MB: At Friendly, the very first year was an amazing introduction to the job. I honed all of my scouting and recruiting skills during my internships in the NFL. At UNC, under Butch Davis, I learned all about building a great team and how to construct a team with all 85 of the player scholarships. Each place held new information, allowing me to fully understand the process.

B&W: What message would you have for an aspiring college athlete?

MB: Understand that there’s always someone better than you. 1.1 million athletes play college football every year, but the 128 major schools will sign 20-25 players a year, meaning only 3,000 players sign every year on a major college team. I always told players, “the last game in high school is the last game you play for fun.” In college it’ll feel like a job, so it’s essential to have a strong passion, otherwise you’re going to quit. Understand that with that ratio, it won’t be easy. Be ready to compete.

Students tune in, search for perfect music streaming service

Whitman hires first female SRO

by ELEA LEVIN

by ANNA GRAY

Whether they’re creating customized playlists for their friends, catching up on new releases or uploading their own original songs, most students need a streaming service they can depend on anytime they want to access music.

Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Music have proved to be the most popular apps, providing students with a variety of options.

Whitman hired its first ever female School Resource Officer (SRO), Dana Shoulp, at the beginning of the 2016– 17 school year. An SRO is an MCPD officer stationed at a high school who is responsible for student safety.

There are a total of 1,257 sworn-in MCPD officials—227 of which are women, according to Public Information Office Deputy Director Ohene Gyapong.

Working in a field dominated by men, Shoulp feels there’s always pressure to garner the validation of her male counterparts, she said.

“You can’t show any signs of fear,” Shoulp said. “But once you prove yourself, they treat you like an equal.”

Shoulp’s current role on campus inspires students and promotes gender equality, senior and Girl Up member, Charlotte Caldwell, said.

“I think that having a female police officer will show girls who are in a vulnerable point in their lives that women can wear badges and can take on jobs that are typically only given to men,” Caldwell said.

Teachers have been receptive to Shoulp, anticipating that her presence will help dispel predisposed male and female stereotypes.

“When you say policeman, you think of a man,” English teacher Prudence Crewdson said. “Hopefully that will change.”

However, Shoulp wasn’t always in the police force.

Before joining the police department, she worked as a paralegal in a law firm, she said.

“I didn’t like being tied down to a desk, and I wanted a job with diversity where I never knew what my day would be like,” Shoulp said. “I like the excitement.”

When she first joined the force, Shoulp patrolled Bethesda, working the 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift. Her most common cases were responding to house alarms or aiding the mentally ill, she said.

Now, she helps security patrol Whitman’s building and grounds.

Shoulp advises students who may feel out of place to pursue their desires, similar to her position as a female in a male dominated field.

“Once you set your mind to it, do your best,” Shoulp said. “Don’t let anything stop you.”

Spotify

Beginning as a Swedish startup company in 2008, Spotify now offers 30 million songs to over 100 million users. Spotify provides a variety of music, large selection of playlists and extensive radio options.

Discovery Weekly playlist, for example, offers a new selection of customized songs every week.

Unlike many other music apps, Spotify takes a social media-like approach to its program; users can follow artists and their friends.

“I like how you can select what kind of genre you like and can easily find your friend’s playlists, and they can play playlists from your account, which is convenient,” sophomore Arthur Varner said.

Though Spotify generally provides a wide selection of music, some artists are no longer featured on the app. Major artists such as Prince and Taylor Swift pulled their music from the app because the company didn’t provide sufficient royalties.

Some listeners are also dissatisfied that Spotify doesn’t provide access to more up-and-coming artists.

“I wish Spotify was more like YouTube where you could look for more underground rappers and singers,” freshman Stephanie Rodriguez said. “I think it could be improved by adding mixtapes as opposed to just albums.”

Soundcloud

Soundcloud is a space for artists who are just starting out to reach the public and promote their music. While it has music from some major artists, the app mainly provides remixes and original songs.

“I think it’s a disadvantage that Soundcloud doesn’t have as many big-name artists because I don’t have as broad a spectrum,” sophomore Jack Morris said. “But, I can also find new music that no one knows about.”

Student musicians frequently use Soundcloud to share their music with their family and friends.

“You don’t have to have a bunch of people who enjoy your music. It can just be your friends and your family,” said junior Lily Tender, who has uploaded original music to Soundcloud twice. “They’re showing that it’s not just fame that creates good music. It can just be a talented person.”

Apple Music

Apple Music is a streaming service that comes pre-installed on all iPhones, and it’s derived from the original iTunes system. Customers can choose to pay

Free Plan: can’t 4 offline, listen limited number of skips Tuesday

+ – Free Account: 2 hoursxof= sound can be & BW uploaded the

$10/month plan: unlimited skips and downloads (no free plan)

Graphic by MEIMEI GREENSTEIN

for unlimited music and radio instead of buying each song individually on iTunes.

“Apple Music is really innovative and exciting because you can download whatever music you want and just have it on your phone,” junior Katia Goldberg said.

Another distinct feature of Apple Music is its rating system that ensures users’ playlists are best suited for their music preferences. When listeners rate a song five stars, it will show up on future playlists, and when they rate it one star, it will disappear.

Like Spotify’s Discover Weekly, Apple Music offers a “For You” tab that features songs customized to one’s music taste; however, it’s updated and used less frequently, according to users.

Though there may not be a music service that provides every feature possible, streaming apps provide a new level of convenience for listeners.

“I would say I’m able to listen to music more often now because it’s easy to pull up an app and listen to music,” sophomore Aarushi Malhotra said.

“Before music streaming apps I would be limited to what songs I have downloaded on my phone or whatever is playing on the radio.”

Photo by VALERIE MYERS

Leaving the desk, officer Dana Shoulp helps patrol the grounds.