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November 17, 2009 Walt whitman High school 7100 whittier boulevard Bethesda, maryland 20817 theblackandwhite.net

Inside Look Loss of

2 NEWS credit policy
Maryland lawmakers
propose changing high reexamined
school dropout age from
MCPS administrators
16 to 18. propose eliminating
loss of credit penalties
for unexcused absences
6 OPINION
“
bY James Dionne

Students can’t access Starting next year, sleeping in might

the Wikipedia page for sex not be a problem. A group of MCPS
administrators, known as the Loss of
but can visit Sex and the

”
Credit Project Team, is attempting to
City’s homepage. revise the loss of credit policy for the
2010-2011 school year.
The proposed policy would eliminate
the loss of credit system. Currently,

7 IN-DEPTH students lose credit for a class after five

unexcused absences or 15 unexcused
tardies. Instead, students could make
up the work they miss with a 10 percent
penalty.
“A big reason why the county is
looking at throwing out the LC policy
is because in the grading and reporting
policy, misbehavior can’t influence a
student’s grade,” assistant principal
Jennifer Webster said. “The current LC
policy is in conflict with this.”
The current policy disproportionately
affects schools with students who have
Technology and lower attendance rates than ones with
more privileged students, Webster
Communication added.

10 FEATURE
“Some schools have such an issue
with attendance that if they were to LC
photo by SARAH KLOTZ every student who missed five classes,
they would have an astronomical number
Director Christopher Gerken and members of the tech crew put the finishing touches on the of students who would lose credit,” she
Rachel Nussbaum’s set for ‘Into the Woods’. This musical is one of the most difficult to perform and produce, said.
climate guide says which according to producer Erin Pearson, a junior. The team sent a preliminary
rooms are hot and which
rooms are not. ‘Into the Woods’ opens Nov. 19 memorandum May 28 to the BOE to
encourage the creation of a policy that
could work for both low- and high-
achieving schools. The group met to revise
by YASMEEN Abutaleb Bennett, Haruka Nakawaga, Mark the submission Nov. 5 before sending a

14 ARTS The show must

“Into the Woods,” the long-awaited
fall musical, opens this Thursday with
performances running Nov. 19, 20 and
go on! Churchill 21.
“Into the Woods” is a combination
puts on “Chicago” of fairytales that intertwine to form
after censorship an entirely new story. Act One shows
Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella,
battle plagues Rapunzel, Jack and the Bean Stalk and
production. other fairytale favorites having their
dreams come true, while Act Two follows
the characters after their “happily-ever-
after.” The show stars seniors Molly
Herschfeld, Noah Gavil, Tori Sharbaugh
and junior Emily Madden.
An impressive set design, which
includes paper mache trees made out
of wood and chicken wire, creates the
rest of the scene. Junior Erin Pearson,
the producer of the show, says “Into the
Woods” has one of the most complicated
set designs a Whitman audience has
seen.
Tickets cost $8 for students, $12 for
adults and $20 for reserved seating and
can be purchased at both lunches or at
the door. 
final draft to the BOE for official review.
BOE member Patricia O’Neill said
that she will more than likely support a
change to the LC policy.
“Over time it’s been something that
principals, teachers and students say
doesn’t work,” she said. “It’s a problem
not matter where you are.”
The proposal will most likely come to
a vote at the BOE meeting in January.
Some other aspects of the proposed
policy include disciplinary action—like
lunch detention—against students for
see POLICY page 2

Forensics expanding in the classroom, streets

Both students and police benefit from new interest, new technology
by Nalini Tata
Another frantic call. Another crime.  The police pull up
to the scene and begin dispersing the crowd of spectators,
trying to reduce the chance of contamination. Lights flash
as an officer snaps photos of almost everything. Another
officer puts on gloves, removing a broken cigarette butt
and a half-drunk glass of water for DNA analysis.
No, this isn’t last night’s episode of “CSI.” It’s a
potential crime scene investigation for this year’s new
forensics class.
In response to high demand from students and with
enthusiasm from the faculty, science teacher AnneMarie
O’Donoghue and science department director Donald
DeMember added a forensics course to the science
curriculum this year. O’Donoghue, who teaches the class
two periods a day, says she was encouraged to start the
program by other MCPS schools, which have integrated
the class into their curricula in recent years.
Students in forensics have learned about finger
printing and have studied identification methods through
DNA analysis. In the third week of school, they even
participated in a mock investigation, exploring a “crime
scene” for clues and testing results.
Senior Eileen Nalls thinks that such interactive labs
make forensics more enjoyable and interesting than other
science courses.
“It’s not like you’re just sitting in class and taking
notes,” she says, “It’s new and happening.”
Nalls was initially drawn to the course because it
combined her strong interest in science and her love of
forensics shows like “CSI.” However, CSI may not have
taught her as much as she thought.
“[Students] only have a basic awareness, but they
might think they know it all; we get a lot of that from
people who watch CSI,” explains Montgomery County
Police Department forensic specialist David McGill.
McGill notes that real life forensics has nothing Boys soccer advances to
to do with the investigations that are misrepresented
in hit shows like “NCIS,” “CSI” and “Law and Order.” State Finals at UMBC
In reality, forensics is more specialized, with teams of
people performing different tasks, as opposed to one Nov. 20.
person undertaking 20 different jobs on the shows he
calls “outrageously ridiculous.” See theblackandwhite.net for updates.
see FORENSICS page 12 photo by LOUIS WOLFF
2 news November 17, 2009

Students donate Incidents of

55 pints of blood
to area hospitals
by Alex Zimmermann
Over 80 students lined up in the
gym Nov. 5 to donate blood at the
annual fall drive sponsored by the SGA
and Inova Blood Donor Services. The
55 pints of blood Inova collected go to
15 area hospitals.
“The impact is great at the hospital
level,” said Sandi Bourget, the Inova
coordinator of the drive. “We would
be hard pressed to find large places to
go where the people are so willing and
enthusiastic to participate like our high
schools.”
The donation process took about
one hour per donor. Inova staff were
in the gym throughout the day asking
donors questions and testing donors’
blood to ensure they were eligible.
Several students signed up to donate
but were rejected as a result of medical
conditions. Junior Sheeva Norooz said
she was unable to donate blood because
a test revealed her iron level was too
low. Some students also decided not to
donate at all after experiencing a bad
reaction last year.
“When I donated blood last year, it
made me sick,” senior Sarah Klotz said.
“I fainted. I would have done it again if
it didn’t make me sick.”
“A lot of people didn’t do it because
they said they felt too close to the
More than 80 students donated blood for 15 area hospitals during the biannual blood drive.
Inova Blood Donor Services collected 55 pints of blood from students, staff and parents.
weight line,” she said.
Although some students were
rejected, Bourget says that for those
who can donate, the drive is a great
opportunity.
“Researchers are still trying to
‘create’ artificial blood to be used in
severe shortages,” she said. “But,
they have not succeeded yet. Until
that time, we will need and depend
on our community to donate what is
needed.”
The SGA also started promoting
parent participation last year, allowing
them to cut the line of staff and students
in the gym.
“A lot of parents have a less
photo by SARA ALLEN
flexible schedule,” SGA sponsor Sheryl
Freedman said. “We typically encourage
them to come earlier in the day before
school starts so they can come before
work.”
Inova has partnered with the SGA
for the blood drive since November,
2003. They also conduct drives with 13
other schools in Montgomery County,
Bourget said.
“They work with a lot of other
Montgomery County schools,” assistant
principal Jennifer Webster said. “They
try to really play up this competition
and school spirit and have a long-
standing relationship with county
schools.” 
female students
followed by
white vehicles
put community
on alert
Police warn students
to walk in groups, stay
alert, report suspicious
vehicle license plates
by Jessica Gelfarb
Within the first two months of
school, the administration alerted
residents to three reported instances of
students being followed home by white
vehicles, prompting action to improve
neighborhood safety.
The first incident occurred back
in September when a white van began
following a student home from school as
she walked down Clearwood Road. Her
mother witnessed the scene while getting
off a Ride-On bus and approached the
vehicle, but the driver sped off before
she could write down a license plate
number.
Two students also reported being
followed by a white vehicle in the last
week of October. The first incident
occurred near Wilson Lane Oct. 26,
when a man driving a white car began to
drive back and forth, repeatedly passing
a student while she was walking home.
Then the man got out of his car, and the
student ran home.

County administrators want to replace LC policy

continued from page 1 message to inform the community that
unexcused absences or tardies and the formation of
attendance committees to monitor student attendance
more closely.
Although the current policy is county-wide, problems
with enforcement frequently occur.
“It’s supposed to be uniform, but of course it’s not,”
physics teacher Kismet Talaat said. “Different teachers
have different levels of tolerance or record-keeping.”
Courtney Osborne, the school’s union representative,
feels that many provisions of the new plan diminish the
importance of attendance.
“Though the current system is flawed, if you get rid
BOE attempts to raise dropout age from 16 to 18
Members hope new regulation will improve state, county graduation rates
by Rachel Lerner
of the LC policy, you are essentially telling students
that they don’t have to go to school anymore,” she said.
“The only thing worse than a broken policy is no policy
at all.”
She opposes the provision in the policy that would
require teachers to create new exams for students who
skip class. She also believes that an incentive-based
system, in which students receive rewards for faithful
attendance, is nonsensical.
Osborne advocates for a policy that would automatically
generate loss of credit notices, eliminate teachers’
discretion and make the policy more uniform. 
She later called the police to report
the incident. Just two days later, the
administration sent out a Whitnet
another student was followed by a white
vehicle.
Reports of these potential predators
elicited concerned responses from the
community. Dot Lin, mother of senior
Fiona, posted an e-mail message on the
20817 listserv asking if residents had an
interest in expanding the community
watch program.
Currently, the County program’s
primary purpose is to educate people who
live in the area about safety issues. Lin is
potentially interested in expanding the
program so that residents could patrol the
streets and provide an extra set of eyes for
the police, she said.
“I think there have been periodic
problems in the community for a
while,” Lin said. “Everyone needs to be
vigilant.”
Each year, at least one or two students
report instances of a suspicious vehicle
following them home after school,
principal Alan Goodwin said.

County Board of Education members
voted Oct. 26 to encourage the state
legislature to raise the high school
dropout age from 16 to 18 in Maryland
high schools.
Members hope increasing the age will
combat the recent decline in graduation
rates, particularly in schools with large
minority populations, BOE president
Shirley Brandman said.
The graduation rate fell from 93
percent in 2003 to 87 percent last spring,
and more than a quarter of students who
drop out of school are between 16 and 17,
according to MCPS reports.
“Students may disengage from their
learning earlier on because they know that
when they turn 16, they can voluntarily
withdraw themselves,” Brandman said.
“We’re trying to remove the ease with
which they can do that.”
Only state lawmakers can legally
increase the dropout age, and state-wide
attempts two years ago to raise the age
failed. Brandman said she believes that
this effort will be more successful because
the plan the BOE is advocating for doesn’t
include any fiscal aspects, unlike previous
plans.
“We hope that people will look at this
with fresh eyes and recognize that we’re
not suggesting that people do it simply
because it’s going to solve the problem by
itself, but because it’s one critical piece of
Dropout Ages
Young girls are typically the targets
in these types of situations, said county
police officer Gil Lee. Lee advised
and Dropout Rates students to walk in groups and carry cell
phones.
“Citizens shouldn’t approach
the strangers but rather contact 911
Dropout Rate Dropout Age immediately and let us go investigate,”
Lee said. “That’s the bottom line.”
Georgia 38.3 16 The police also urge students to try to
note the license plate number, because a
Maryland 20.7 16 police report will typically not even get
filed if the license plate number isn’t
North Dakota 13.7 16 known, said officer Melanie Brenner.
Pennsylvania 17.5 17 Goodwin noted that these types of
incidents can often be avoided altogether
South Carolina 39.9 17 if students are aware of their surroundings
while walking home.
DC 31.2 18 “Students often listen to their iPods
Nevada 44.2 18 and then become oblivious to what’s
around them,” he said. “A stranger could
Virginia 20.4 18 come up behind them, and they wouldn’t
even know it.”
Officer Arnold Aubrey also pointed
out that without the victim’s first hand
the puzzle,” she said. she said. observations, it’s extremely difficult for
Brandman acknowledges that raising Superintendent Jerry Weast said in a the police to track down a predator.
the dropout age is only one way to fight press release that making it illegal to drop “An officer can’t help the victim if
the falling graduation rates. out of school at 16 or 17 would help more the victim isn’t willing to try and help
“We need to both raise the age so students reach graduation. themselves,” he said.
we create the incentive for students to The state general assembly will Even if students take precautions,
stay with us and find ways to engage meet to discuss the issue in January of predators are out there and dangerous
students and provide them with the next year. Until then, the county BOE situations will occur, Aubrey said.
instruction and tools that will give them members will continue campaigning for “You need to keep your wits and stay
more opportunities when they leave,” the new policy.  calm,” he said. 
November 17, 2009
Westboro Baptist Church
back protesting in DC
By Jamie Norwood
They’re back. The Westboro Baptist
Church, the radical protest group from
Topeka, Kansas that picketed Whittier
Boulevard this past May, is at it again.
Church leader Fred Phelps, who also
runs the controversial websites “Priests
rape boys,” “Jews killed Jesus” and “Anti-
christ Obama,” kicked off a new series of
demonstrations at Sidwell Friends upper
school in Washington, D.C. Nov. 9.
The group continued their protest
tour, making stops at Wilson High school,
Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School, the
Marriott Hotel at Wardman Park, the
Department of Education, the D.C. Field
Office and the White House.
Their full picket schedule is
prominently featured on their website,
godhatesfags.com.
While Sidwell Friends upper school
principal Ellis Turner said in an interview
that he is appalled that WBC protested at
his school, he’s not surprised.
“They’re hateful people,” he said. “We
held a counter protest, standing there
FREE CHIPS
AND QUESO!
news
with some signs. We didn’t give them all
the attention they were looking for.”
Although multiple counter protests
are being held, Turner believes there’s no
stopping the group.
“They’re going to do what they’re
looking for,” he said. “No matter what.”
Westboro Baptist Church members
have mainly religious reasons for targeting
Sidwell, according to their site.
“So, the Quakers are in favor of
abortion, now?” their site boasts. “How
is that nonviolent? Anything to keep the
money rolling in, huh hypocrites?”
Sidwell junior Rachel Gray originally
had no intentions of attending the
counter-protest but changed her mind
prior to the groups arrival.
“It was actually very productive,” she
said. “They’re all so ridiculous. We can’t
let them think they can get away with this
kind of stuff.”
The church later protested at Bethesda
Chevy Chase High School because its
administrators allowed a Gay-Straight
Alliance club.
Sidwell senior Shoshanna Erlich
3
photos by SARAH KLOTZ
Protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church picketed at Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Wilson and
Sidwell Friends schools Nov. 9.
made signs and organized part of her less than five feet away from the fence
school’s counter protest. that separated us from the church
“We definitely made an impact,” she members,” Erlich said. “I found it a little
said. “There ended up being about 150 of ridiculous.”
us. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance; it The church group has many schools
sent out a good message.” listed on their picket schedule.
Students from B-CC, on the other A post from their website states:
hand, showed their disapproval through “WBC will be on hand to address your
a silent protest. children on the fact that you adults have
“We weren’t allowed to talk or be lied to them for all their young lives.”
See you at the
Bethesda
cal tort!
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spunky cashier and the Bethesda
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4 opinion November 17, 2009

Letter to the Editor:

Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize
We’re confused about the Nobel
Peace Prize Committee’s decision to
award the prize to President Obama,
and believe that members of both
parties can see eye to eye on this issue.
written.
But beyond simply awarding
potential rather than concrete action,
the Nobel Committee’s decision
should suggest a peaceful legacy of

Raising dropout While many political pundits say that

the prize benefits not only the president
but also the United States, it’s hard to
the president. However, thus far,
this is not the case. Currently the
Obama Administration is working
age to 18 only see how a prize unfairly awarded can
be to anyone’s advantage.
towards deploying more troops to
Afghanistan—hardly a “peaceful”

part of solution The Nobel Committee justifies its

Flexible schedules and
career planning needed
to support students
by Stewart Longsworth
If the BOE gets its way, state law will
require students to attend school until they
turn 18. The Board has passed a resolution
advising the Maryland General Assembly
to raise the compulsory attendance age
from 16 to 18 across the state. Montgomery
County’s graduation rate is at its lowest
since 1996, and school board members
argue that forcing students to attend
school until their senior year will lower the
number of dropouts. But the resolution,
though well-intentioned, only partially
addresses the issue it wishes to solve.
Requiring students to stay in school
longer is one part of a solution, but can’t
entirely solve the issue of high school
dropouts. County school board and
General Assembly members need to
research and create a comprehensive plan
to keep students in school. Attendance
laws should work alongside flexible
attendance and course options so potential
dropouts can stay on track to graduate.
High school graduation matters. On
average, high school graduates make
a thousand dollars a year more than
dropouts, according to a 2001 study.
Seventy-five percent of inmates in state
jails are high school dropouts, a 2003
national Bureau of Justice report found.
Dropouts are more likely to rely on
government aid to survive.
ELENA TOUMAYAN
graphic by
would require more effort, but are well
worth the time. Several states, such as
Virginia, have successfully adopted a
policy allowing upperclassmen to hold a
job while attending school only part of the
day, keeping students from leaving school
for employment. These options would
strengthen the positive effects a higher
required attendance age would have.
Some studies show that raising
the required attendance age can lower
the number of high school dropouts.
Sophomores or juniors who want to leave
school may change their mind by senior
year, especially with graduation so close at
hand. Yet despite potential pluses, various
states have found mixed results when they
focus on mandatory attendance laws.
To leave school legally, students have
to have a parent’s permission. Raising the
legal dropout age, then, may just make
students run away, making them “truant”
and not technically “dropouts.” This is
exactly what happened when Illinois passed
such legislation—students who couldn’t get
permission from parents anymore instead
just left, dropping out in everything but
name. Even if all sophomores and juniors
stay in school, about 75 percent of high
decision, saying it was rewarding the
president’s “extraordinary efforts to
strengthen international diplomacy and
cooperation between peoples.” This is
the first time that the Committee has ever
awarded the prize to someone for merely
“trying” to resolve conflicts. Compare
President Obama’s “efforts” with those
of the two other victorious American
presidents: Theodore Roosevelt’s
brokering of peace between Russia and
Japan and Woodrow Wilson’s forming
of the League of Nations. Additionally
compare his efforts to those of past
winners Martin Luther King, Mother
Theresa and Nelson Mandela.
“It seems to me that it is an
embarrassment for the Nobel process,”
Princeton University historian Fred
Greenstein stated in a Bloomberg.com
article. He called President Obama’s
win a “premature canonization.” Since
all nominations for the prize had to
be submitted by Feb.1, this means
President Obama was nominated less
than two weeks after taking office.
Social Studies teacher Peter Kenah
also expressed his surprise at such an
early nomination. He adds that it was
an “award for potential rather than
achievement.”
Committee chairman, Thorbjorn
Jagland, announced, “We have in many
occasions given it to try to enhance
what many personalities were trying
to do.”
Yet this potential-based criterion
threatens to delegitimize the Nobel
Peace Prize. Critics have newly-donned
it a “Nobel Hope Prize” and compare
Obama’s victory to a Nobel Prize for
Literature for a book that has yet to be
mission. Many commentators suggest
that the awarding of the prize to
President Obama is a clear sign of
European gratitude for an end to the
Bush Administration. But if so, then
why would the Committee reward a
president who continues the most
controversial Bush Administration
policies? President Obama has done
nothing to change the U.S.’s practices of
rendition, military tribunals, indefinite
detention, and the denial of habeas
corpus to some detainees.
Solutions to the Israeli-Palestine
conflict are still as grim as ever.
Ironically, members from both
opposing groups agree that President
Obama has yet to achieve peace. Fawzi
Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas said
that the only thing that distinguishes
the Obama administration from
its predecessors are “statements,
promises, and hopes.” Israeli politics
professor at Bar-Ilan University says
that the Nobel Committee is incapable
of differentiating “between words and
deeds.”
We’re confused and honestly
concerned that the Nobel Committee
had so much trouble finding a single
peacemaker and had to settle for a
peacewisher. While we recognize the
respect the world has for President
Obama and his message of hope, we
question whether he deserved this
award. Are we alone in recognizing
his inaction and lack of concrete
accomplishment in comparison to past
Peace Prize winners?
-Seniors Ellie Golightly and Beatriz
Forster for The Young Republicans
Club

The state and county can mix and
match from a wide variety of programs
that lower dropout rates. Some options
are fairly easy to implement. For instance,
flexible schedules and career planning
with school counselors can lead to fewer
dropouts because school becomes an
attractive part of the student’s life plan.
Get Organized, an academic assistance
program that acts as a first responder for
students struggling in school, is another
good starting point. Some proven reforms
Corrections
school dropouts are seniors who can legally
drop out when they turn 18.
The school board and other supporters
of a higher attendance age are rushing
the fight to stop student dropouts, using “Students bring new life to greenhouse” from issue two incorrectly stated that
a method that doesn’t work consistently faculty sponsor Melanie Hudock hoped that the greenhouse would become a place
by itself. Their cause is worthy, but in the for students to eat lunch.
end, it lacks the core programs such an “Debate team rocks the Bronx” from issue three incorrectly stated that Sarah
effort needs. When struggling students Houston and Rachel Umans were the first team of girls to win Public Forum debate
find it easier and more attractive to attend at the Big Bronx Invitational. Girls have, in fact, won before.
school, they will continue to learn until
graduation. 

Volume 48, Issue 4

2009-2010
The Black & White is published 10 times a year by the students of Walt Whitman High School, 7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20817. The Black & White is an open forum for student views. Subscriptions for the
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Stewart Longsworth
november 17, 2009 opinion 5

Clarification County policy should do more

My mother just forwarded me
the article in the recent Black &
White about my fraternity. I am
very upset. I was misquoted several
times and feel that the article was
inaccurate and unfairly paints my
fraternity and me in a negative light.
For example the article states "but
Mike Lee ('08), a member of ZBT
at Wash U gives a starkly different
account of Greek life. According to
Lee, things haven't changed at the
ZBT house, where he often parties
all night, picking up beer bottles on
his way to class the next morning."
That is not even close to what I said.
I was asked for an example of one of
the most unusual things I had been
asked to do and I said one time I had
to wake in the morning and go to
the fraternity to pick up beer bottles
before I went to class. In one of the
final quotes about pledging it says
I said "Nothing. That's what I'm
supposed to say." Again, that is not
what I said. My answer was "Nothing.
That's all I'm going to tell you." We
have a pledging program that does
not include any hazing and it is all out
in the open and is available online.
It was wrong to imply that we haze.
False statements about our fraternity
can damage its good reputation and
even possibly result in unwarranted
school sanctions. My involvement
in my fraternity has been one of
the most positive and rewarding
experiences I have had at school and
it is very important to me to fix the
false impression this article leaves.
I would like to know what
efforts will be made to correct this
situation.
Thank you very much for
considering this and please let
me know if you need any other
information.
Sincerely,
Michael Lee
The Black & White apologizes
for any mischaracterization of
Washington University’s Zeta Beta
Tau fraternity. We discovered no
evidence of hazing at ZBT, and
that association was included
inadvertently in the course of
editing the story.
We spoke with both the writer
and his editors about this story.
There is no sure way to determine
exactly what was said during
the interview because it was not
recorded, but the quotes used in the
story match the quotes written in
the reporter’s notebook.
On behalf of the writer
and editors we regret any
mischaracterization of the
ZBT fraternity and Mike Lee’s
involvement in the fraternity.
Sarah Craig, Editor-in-Chief
to protect student victims
by Molly Kaplowitz
Earlier this year, two boys from
Magruder High school were allowed to
return to school after pleading guilty
to raping another student. As of late
October, no action was taken to protect
the victim. Later, the victim moved to
Nevada.
MCPS policy states that if a crime is
committed off campus, administrators
can’t bar the students involved in the
crime from returning to campus. Because
the rape occurred at an off-campus
party, the two boys in the Magruder
case were allowed to return to school.
County policy should be changed so
that regardless of where the crime is
committed administrators can determine
whether a student convicted of a crime
should return to campus.
The current policy doesn’t protect
the victims of a crime, and it leaves other
students in jeopardy.
Ann Kendall, a local psychologist who
works primarily with adolescents, says
that the return of a perpetrator not only
could trigger traumatic responses, but
could make it difficult for the victim to
move past the trauma. If the crime was
well-known, others might feel unsafe as
well.
When a serious crime is committed,
administrators have a say in whether the
students involved can return only if part
of the offense occurs on a school campus,.
During the decision process, the students
charged with crimes are placed on “Home
and Hospital” leave and a teacher comes
to their home to tutor them. When the
school makes its decision, the student is
either transferred to another school or
school district, or remains in his or her
old school.
When a group of five Whitman
students robbed a Bethesda Smoothie
King and were arrested in 2006, they
were placed on Home and Hospital for
the duration of their trial. The students
were later transferred to other schools
to get a fresh start and avoid the crime’s
negative publicity.
On the other hand, in the Magruder
c a s e , a f a r m o re s e rio u s o f f e n s e
was committed off campus, and the
perpetrators pled guilty and were allowed
to return to their school.
Schools should be able to decide on a
student’s return, regardless of where the
crime is committed. No student should
have to sit next to his or her attacker in
class or pass them in the halls, or have to
transfer schools or leave the state to avoid
the presence of his or her attacker.
To avoid psychological issues for
crime victims and to ensure student
safety, MCPS should change its district
policy to allow school administrators to
choose which offenders return to school.
Victims and their classmates deserve a
learning environment where they feel
safe from harm. 

Without TRIO funding, spending on Pell grants pointless

by Stewart Longsworth should have more funding
so they can reach out to more
For disadvantaged students, TRIO is the way to go.
TRIO Programs use federal funding to help low-income,
students.
TRIO opens new doors to Federal Funding (in billions)
first-generation students prepare for and graduate from students, but it reaches fewer
college. By providing academic tutoring, counseling students now than it did six
and financial aid, TRIO gives underprivileged students
a better chance to become college graduates. TRIO
years ago, the Washington
Post reported October 26. TRIO programs, FY 2001 .691
Programs are closely linked to the federal Pell grant This is because TRIO has
program; Pell grants help low-income students pay for
college, while TRIO helps them complete college. If
seen only a one percent
increase in funding since TRIO programs, FY 2009 .848
funding for Pell grants goes up, funding for TRIO should 2003—not even enough to
increase as well, so both can effectively get students into
and then through college by working together.
account for inflation. The Pell
grant program, on the other Pell Grants, FY 2001 9.96
A new bill in Congress is set to increase Pell grant hand, is a multi-billion dollar
funding by $40 billion. Yet the bill passes over TRIO
completely. Congress should provide more funding for
operation that has more than
doubled its funding in the Pell Grants, FY 2009 18.8
TRIO to help new college students make it to graduation; last five years.
otherwise, some of the money used for Pell grants will An investment in TRIO
be wasted on dropout students. is a wiser choice over more
Programs with competitive grants from TRIO are spending on Pell grants. TRIO programs reach students receiving Pell grants would graduate, making
highly effective in getting students into and through more students with less money than the Pell Grant the program more efficient in helping students and
college. Participants in the TRIO-funded program program does. When Pell grants and support programs saving the federal government money in the process.
Upward Bound are four times more likely to receive an like those funded by TRIO work together, the graduation College isn’t very useful to students if they can’t
undergraduate degree than similar students without rate is 10 percentage points higher, according to the graduate. With this in mind, members of Congress
assistance from TRIO, according to the Council for Council for Opportunity in Education. With more money should vote to spend more on TRIO Programs so students
Opportunities in Education. Such effective programs invested in TRIO, a higher percentage of disadvantaged receiving Pell grants can succeed in college. 

Everyone needs to take responsibility for stories

by sarah houston story), there were serious problems with it. The entire ordeal could have been avoided if
Soon after the story was published, Mike Lee the writer had used a tape recorder during the
When Pulitzer prize-winner Alan C. Miller contacted the staff to say he had been misquoted interview. B&W staff must make it a priority to use
ombudsman

came to Pyle to talk to his daughter’s class about
his experience as an L.A. Time reporter three years
ago, he probably never thought the visit would
spark an idea for the News Literacy Project.
Started and introduced to Whitman students
in early 2008, the News Literacy Project brings
professional journalists into middle and high
schools to teach students how to evaluate news
and information effectively.
Over 130 retired and active journalists from
around the country have volunteered to come into
classes and teach students to use, as Miller says,
“tools to separate fact from fiction, enabling them
to seek and prize unvarnished truth in whatever
medium and on whatever platform they find it.”
The News Literacy Project brings up some
important ideas, specifically for the Black & White
staff. Many of the professional journalists who
come into classrooms stress the importance of
having a multitude of sources.
B&W reporters should not rely solely on one
source for important information. Interviewing
two people--or even more--about an event will
lead to fewer instances of misquoting and provide
a more balanced view of any situation.
Two issues ago, the B&W wrote a story about
a fraternity at Wash U. The article focused on
sophomore Mike Lee (‘08) and teacher Todd
Michaels, who is an alum. Although I commend
the writer or editor who thought of this idea (many
people I talked to said they really enjoyed the
multiple times. The leaders of the paper took this
very seriously, and checked the writer's notes
during the interview to see if they matched up.
Most of the quotes were the same in the story as
they were in the journalist's notebook. There is no
way to know for certain if the problem occurred
when the reporter was writing down Lee's answers
or if it was just a product of miscommunication
between the two.
these recorders for each and every interview.
Equally serious, one transition in the story
was changed because of an editing error, making
it seem like Lee's fraternity is involved in hazing.
One of the editors changed the phrasing of the
writer's original thought, and it made Lee's quote
imply something that it wasn't supposed to.
Writers should always check the edits that the
editors make, because no editor is perfect and they
don't know exactly what the interviewee meant
by a quote. Writers should treat their stories as
their own possessions; they need to be in control
of the process at all times (think of it as their own
child).
Editors made this very clear right after
the incident, and showed that they are highly
committed to making sure these problems are
avoided in future issues. They also decided to
publish Lee's letter in this issue, which was
necessary to portray Lee's fraternity experience
accurately.
The News Literacy Project stresses that a
successful journalist strives for an objective story.
I know, as a writer, that it is hard to set aside your
vision of how a story will read. The writer and
editors wanted to make the fraternity story much
more lively and interesting for the student body,
and in effect made a connection with hazing that
wasn't valid. Unintentionally, the B&W printed a
story that wasn't objective and presented an idea
that was incorrect. 
6 opinion
Retake policies should be consistent
by Jessica Littman
Each separate course team creates its own retake
policy, presenting a problem for students trying to
manage their classes and grades while having to ask all
their different teachers what their requirements are.
Each department should create basic guidelines for a
consistent quiz or test retake policy in all classes.
As of now, teachers within the same departments can
require students to do anything from extra homework
to attending re-teaching sessions to be eligible to take a
reassessment. This can be troublesome for students who
have to do extra work for one class and not for another,
because it’s easy to get the policies mixed up.
For example, each course in the math department has
a different retake policy, according resource teacher Russ
Rushton. In some math classes quiz retakes are available,
while in others a high test grade replaces a low quiz grade.
This is confusing from year to year as students graduate
to higher classes within departments. It also presents a
problem for students taking more than one class within
a department, because they have multiple policies for
similar classes.
Course teams for every class can change their
reassessment policy at any point. If teachers decide
to create a more lenient policy one year than the year
before, it’s likely that students subject to the new policy
will do better. This is unfair to students who took the
class with the original policy, because they had less of a
chance to do well.
MCPS policy requires all of the same classes to have
the same retake policy. While this is a good step towards
fairness, it isn’t enough. The regulation often isn’t
enforced, and teachers sometimes ignore it. When asked,
Computer blocking system’s net too wide
By Kevin Hoogstraten
If you’re like most students, you’ve encountered
a frustrating problem while using school computers:
when trying to access certain sites, a familiar red stop
sign pops up with the words “access to this page has
been denied.” Federal law requires MCPS to shield
students and teachers from material deemed obscene
or harmful to minors, but the county’s current blocking
system is too broad and sometimes prevents students
from doing class-related work. MCPS should narrow
the scope of its blocking system and instead rely more
on the watchfulness of teachers and support staff to
police students.
The Children’s Internet Protection Act requires
schools that receive federal funding to limit access to
inappropriate material. To comply, MCPS wrote its
own set of regulations and subscribed to a software
program, M86 Security, which blocks websites chosen
by the district.
MCPS currently blocks a large variety of websites
that fall under categories such as “adult/sexually
explicit” and “obscene.” These broad terms inevitably
catch many school-appropriate websites in their net.
For example, students are prevented from searching
for any topic with the keyword “violence,” and aren’t
even allowed to see the search results for “why
violence is bad” on Google. The restrictions imposed
on students are often arbitrary: students can’t access
Read all over...
graphic by ELENA TOUMAYAN
some teachers could not outline their retake policy, and
others had no idea what other teachers on their course
teams do about reassessments.
Some teachers argue that department-wide rules
would be too constrictive, because they want to create
their own policy. However, this standard system would
make grading fairer because students would not have
more chances to reassess one year in a department and
fewer the next. Having each department make separate
adjustments to the rules would ensure that teachers
can still tailor retake policies to the subject matter,
while eliminating unfairness and confusion from the
system. 
the Wikipedia page for sex but can visit “Sex and the
City’s” homepage.
The blocks also prohibit students from accessing
websites needed for research. For example, health
students can’t research the effect of marijuana for class
projects because MCPS blocks all search results and
websites related to marijuana. Even though their policy
states that they only block “recipes, encouragement
or instructions in the use of illegal drugs,” the actual
system goes beyond its intended purpose.
The blocking system is more lenient for staff,
blocking them only from websites that are sexually
explicit or give how-to information about illegal acts.
Students should be similarly free from restrictions on
sites dealing with violence, weapons and drugs. High
school students are mature enough to view such content
without being negatively influenced by it.
According to students, few people are going to spend
class time accessing obviously inappropriate websites
like pornographic sites. Alert teachers naturally prevent
students from accessing such websites, and the new
SynchronEyes technology also deters students. With
these safeguards already in place, MCPS should feel
safe in loosening their search restrictions.
The last thing that MCPS’s computer safety policies
should do is interfere with schoolwork. The county
needs to give students the privilege of less restricted
Internet access if it expects them to make good use of
the Internet. 
Toum ayan
E l e n a
B y:
november 17, 2009
Gray Areas
A sock on the door =
sleeping on the floor
by Zach Schloss
In college, whether it’s a sock on the door, a “DO NOT
DISTURB” sign, a text message with a winky-face or just
loud noises emerging from behind a locked door, it all
means the same thing: someone is having a good time.
If this is your dorm room and you see one of these
signs, you’ve most likely been sexiled. The always reliable
urbandictionary.com’s cleanest definition of sexiling is
“to banish a roommate from the room/dorm/apartment
for the purpose of engaging in intimate relations with
one’s significant other.”
What’s a helpless roommate to do when he needs to
study for an organic chemistry exam but can’t because
another kind of chemistry is going on in the bedroom?
Well, one university has decided that it needs to look
out for this overlooked roommate.
Tufts University has gotten down and dirty on
the issue by claiming that “sexual activity within your
assigned room should not ever deprive your roommate(s)
of privacy, study or sleep time.”
Victor Luo, a writer for the University of
Southern California’s newspaper, The Daily Trojan (a
shockingly appropriate name given the topic, is it not?),
recently commented: “Across the country, sexiling seems
to have become an unspoken allowance — because, hey,
what’s the harm of not being able to enter your room for
an hour or so? Be cool, man.”
I’ll tell you the harm, Mr. Luo. It’s not “cool” for
a college student to reserve his dorm room for himself
for an extended period of time. There are other places to
engage in hanky-panky. Libraries. Closets. Classrooms.
The back seat of a 1972 Chevrolet Camino.
When a college student returns to his dorm after
a long night of partying, he should be allowed to plop
down on that beer-stained sofa, break out the trail mix
and watch the Karate Kid for the eleventh time. In other
words, he should be allowed to live the college dream—a
dream that is being destroyed by selfish, stunningly
handsome roommates everywhere.
Sex may be great for the person having it (or so I
hear), but it can be a painful experience for the lonely
single. Indiana University’s newspaper, The Daily
Student, quotes a freshman who claims that “her
roommate proceeds to wake her up each night by having
sex in the bunk above her,” causing her to have to skip
her morning classes due to lack of sleep.
Yet Tufts’ sexiling ban has been getting a lot of
negative press from news outlets lately, as people are
saying it’s not a university’s place to interfere with the
sexual activity of college students.
But it’s clearly their place to interfere, as currently
roommates are faced with the choice to either be locked
out of their dorm room for hours at a time or to stay in
their room and try to ignore the grunts coming from
the bedroom.
Most colleges acknowledge sexiling but simply
encourage roommates to communicate and discuss
the issue with one another. The Chronicle, Duke’s
newspaper, says, “The solution to these types of
situations is one of basic interpersonal communication,
rather than official University policy.”
But “talking it out” hardly solves the problem and will
just create awkward tension between sexiler and sexilee.
Tufts did a good thing for unloved students everywhere
when they implemented this new policy, no matter how
hard it may be to enforce. I think I speak for nerds
everywhere when I say, Tufts, you da, you da best.
So unless you’re enrolled at Tufts, when you see that
sock, that tie, or that hurriedly scrawled note hanging
from the door, you better turn around and find a friend
who can take you in. You’re not going to be sleeping in
your bed tonight. 
november 17, 2009
TECHNOLOGY
COMMUNICATION
On
sophomore Chandini Jha skims her Facebook Live Feed,
reading status updates and wall posts. When it comes time
to do her AP history reading, she’s easily distracted and finds
it hard to focus on the pages and pages of text.
by carolina milan-ronchetti
As students spend increasing amounts of time
on the Internet, their reading and learning habits
seem to adapt based on the new technologies. While
the Internet gives students access to a wide array of
information, studies suggest that it may introduce new
problems into education, from lower reading levels
and a decreased attention span to complications in the
research process.
A 2007 report by the National Endowment for the
Arts found that reading for pleasure has decreased
among teens. The percentage of 17-year-olds who don’t
read for pleasure has doubled from nine to 19 percent
in the past 20 years.
While some cite the Internet and technology like TV
and cell phones as explanations for the decrease in teens’
reading, Jha says any decrease in her outside reading is
more due to her heavy course load.
“I don’t read books as much, but that’s mainly
because I don’t have time,” she says.
English teacher Susan Buckingham, who has taught
at Whitman for 12 years, says she has yet to see a drastic
change in students’ reading habits and doesn’t expect
changes anytime soon.
“I think reading depends on motivation and the way
you’ve been brought up in homes where people read,”
she explains. “That makes a difference to whether people
enjoy reading on their own, outside of what they’re
assigned from school. We still have plenty of kids who
love to read, and if that is modeled at home, they’re still
going to love to read.”
Writer Caleb Crain discussed America’s increasing
disinterest in reading in his 2007 article for the New
Yorker, “Twilight of the Books.” The Internet contributes
less to the decrease in reading than other technologies
and may actually facilitate wider reading, Crain says.
“When I was writing my article I actually felt that the
Internet had been scapegoated to a great extent and that
the real bad guys were really television and videogames
and that the Internet was a minor character; if anything,
it might even be an ally,” he explains. “I still think that
In-Depth
&
a
typical
afternoon,
question is open, but what concerns me is if the Internet
is evolving to become more like television and less like
magazines and newspapers.”
Freshman Pablo Ramirez spends most of his time on
the Internet reading science fiction stories by amateur
writers, he says.
“I can read that and enrich even more from what
people, who may not be famous writers, put on the
Internet,” Ramirez explains.
Ramirez seems to be an exception and Crain notes
that while people may be reading more, they may be
reading increasingly smaller amounts of text.
“It seems the direction is towards shorter and shorter
pieces of information, and towards not caring so much
whether you know what the source of the information is
and how accurate it is,” he says. “It’s more about being
entertained.”
Junior Jacob Trauberman prefers reading news
articles and exploring links on his AOL homepage to
reading books.
“The Internet makes me read more, just less books,”
he says. “Current events, sports and pop culture are more
entertaining to read.”
Jha notices that her attention span while reading is
shorter, she says, probably because she’s become more
accustomed to the format of writing on the Internet—
usually very graphic oriented with smaller amounts of
text. The NEA study confirms that when teenagers do
read books, they simultaneously use other media, like
the Internet and cell phones.
“If I’m reading a really long book, I just go to the end
and read it because I just want to figure out what happens
quickly,” Jha says. “If I want to read a book or I have to,
I need to keep myself away from the Internet because I
know that if I don’t, I’d go online and procrastinate.”
Senior Nicole Kroeger, who uses the Internet
primarily to watch movies and TV shows, sees little
impact on her attention span but feels it has negatively
impacted her writing.
“On the Internet, you don’t actually write in full
sentences,” she says. “You don’t capitalize, you don’t
put periods. Your writing ends up like an e.e. Cummings
7
poem.”
Technological innovations like copying and pasting
have aided the writing process by making editing easier
and faster.
“Word processing has revolutionized writing,”
she says. “When I was in college, we had to type on
typewriters. If you made a mistake on a page, you had
to start over.”
The accessibility of resources through the Internet
gives students more options when writing research
papers. However, the benefit of having such easy access
to a wide array of resources comes with a caveat, English
teachers Todd Michaels says.
“I don’t think many students are familiar with the
library stacks, and I think that may be a problem when
they get to college,” he explains.
Teachers also complain that the Internet has
popularized the use of websites like Sparknotes.com that
provide free plot summaries of famous literary works.
“Aside from experiencing great texts and novels,
students are missing all the benefit of being challenged
by a text,” Michaels says. “All the cognitive mental skills
that require one to sit with a text, to read it and analyze
it, are now being fed to all of them.”
Sophomore Nathalia Cibotti, however, says that
the availability of information isn’t necessarily a bad
thing.
“It’s pointless to learn something that you can later
access on the Internet,” Cibotti says. “I still have to learn
the stuff because when you take a test you can’t exactly go
on the Internet. But the point of school is to prepare you
for the future, and in the future you will have access to the
Internet, so you will have access to that information.”
The possibility of having more facts online means
more time can be devoted to analysis rather than
memorization. But do students have too much faith in
the Internet?
“The Internet lets us down because we’re so used to
getting everything in a second that we’re not taking the
time to look things up,” Kroeger says. “We’re becoming
a country of the minute, into the now and less into the
future.” 
SHINDUK SEO AND MEGAN DWYER
graphic illustration by
image courtesy COMPUTATIONAL VISUALIZATION CENTER, UTEXAS
8 November 17, 2009
Technology and Communication
Textbooks Jump From Page to Screen
Classroom learning goes digital with frequent updates for online textbooks
by julia weingardt - Cached- Similar
W
hen she heard that the new textbooks for
her AP Environmental Science class hadn’t
arrived yet, junior Nikki Heimberg was
thrilled. But instead of pushing back the assigned work
until the books came, science teacher Kelly Garton just
posted a link to the online textbook on Edline, crushing
students’ hopes of having a homework-free night.
Around the country, online textbooks are growing
in popularity. The digital books, whose subscription
fees usually cost significantly less than print textbooks,
allow students to read, review and print material with
the click of a mouse. Textbooks that were current just
two years ago are now considered outdated as online
textbooks update material more frequently and more
easily.
This year, students have access to online textbooks
in several courses, the majority of which are math and
science. Many teachers have already taken advantage
of the new electronic tools, including Garton, who uses
the online resource to help his students review lessons
taught in class.
“It has the online PowerPoints and it has some
good questions,” Garton says. “I think it’s been
working out pretty well.”
While no history classes currently use online
textbooks, social studies resource teacher Bob Mathis
says that he’s optimistic about the future. The virtual
books’ significantly lower costs could have monumental
effects for the school system, he says.
“For the kids to have the most current stuff using
textbooks is $30,000,” Mathis explains. “Our whole
budget for the school is about $80,000, so we don’t
replace books very often.”
While math and language books tend to be replaced
less often, science and history books need to be
replaced at least every five years, says Giles Benson,
“Creepy. If you’re stalking someone who you’re
good friends with, then it’s an art form. If it’s
someone you don’t really know and you’re trying
to find out more about them, then it’s creepy.”
Alex Purdy, Sophomore
in-de
MCPS director of materials management. “ Y o u
Online textbooks offer an affordable solution to can actually
the expensive, but necessary, need to keep materials highlight
current. Online updates are free and don’t require s t u f f ,
mass reprints. and you
“It’s so much easier to update the online books,” can add
Mathis says. “We can have better, more current, more notes to
up-to-date resources for our kids.” whatever
Some, however, argue that print textbooks provide you want,”
a physicality that virtual textbooks cannot deliver. she says.
“There’s something very visceral about having a F o r
book in your hands,” art teacher Jean Diamond says. individual
While most students use online resources and retail, the
computer programs every day, several are reluctant Kindle costs
to switch to the digital textbooks. At first glance, the $259. It’s
web page formats appear scattered and more difficult a prospect
to navigate than traditional textbooks. that MCPS
“I think they’re kind of confusing,” junior Catherine is currently
Block says. “I’d rather have it right in front of me so considering,
that I can flip through the pages.” Benson says.
Others are more hopeful that the online books will However,
ease the annoyances that come with print textbooks. unlike beepers
“Textbooks are a hassle for kids to carry back and and watch
forth from school,” junior Nicholas Kaufman says. “If calculators,
the kids accidentally lose them they have to pay an digital textbooks
obligation, and some people don’t have the financial are here to stay, Benson says. He believes the
means to pay them.” trend will likely grow until MCPS is entirely “textbook
One way to give students access to digital textbooks free,” but the shift isn’t expected to occur for a few
is through the Kindle, a handheld wireless reading years.
device that has been steadily growing in popularity “It’s something that’s going to be happening,” he
since its release in 2007. explains. “With a student population of 140,000, it
Junior Susan Ryan-Bond bought a Kindle because will probably go slower than what we would like, but
she can adjust the font size to make reading easier. it’s obviously something we’ve got to look at because
She uses it for both English class and for reading the prices of paper and textbooks are vastly going
for pleasure, but believes that many of the Kindle up.” 
functions can be useful in a variety of classes.
Facebook stalking: an art
“Creepy. If you’re stalking your close friends,
it’s okay. That’s why people comment on pictures.
Everybody Facebook-stalks, but no one admits
to it.”
Austin Tucker, Senior
epth November 17, 2009 9

Texting vs. Talking: is Communication Getting Better?

The impersonal nature of texting may cause more distant relationships between parents and students. Though texting can allow
students to check in with parents more easily and frequently, generating more trust between the two.
by andrew wyner - Cached- Similar
You need a ride, you need money for
lunch, you’re staying after school for a
make-up quiz.  Whatever the situation,
you need to let your parents know what
your plans are.  Instead of a quick phone
call, many families communicate via
text.
According to a Cingular Wireless
survey, around 63 percent of parents
nationwide find that communicating
via text is quicker and more efficient.  “I can reach him, and he can reach
However, texting can limit face-to-face
communication within families.
Georgetown sociology professor
Sarah Stiles says that while technology
like texting increases the frequency of
social communication, it can deemphasize
personal relationships.
“Like everything, there are two sides
of the issue,” she says. “On one hand,
technology has estranged people from
spending time face to face. On the other
hand, people can maintain contact with
a wider range of people.”
Texting is useful when senior Dena
Goodman needs to send her parents
little bits of information to coordinate
her plans.
“We text if she wants me home
at a certain time or I need to tell her
something about what I’m doing after
school,” Goodman says.   know what’s going on so they normally
  Junior Michael Nguyen-Mason’s
parents trust him more now that he texts
them several times a day.
“They let me do more things now
because with texting,” he says. “They are
more easily informed,” he says.  parents and children can’t express their
Text messages have only had a positive
impact on his family’s relationship.  “I think it’s less personal because
me more easily because of texting,” his
mother, Doris Nguyen, says.  “The texting
only enhances the relationship.”
Parents like texting because it makes
them feel that they are connected to the
modern technology that their children
use regularly.
“My mom seems to like it because I
think she feels younger,” senior Christina
Carnie says. “Sometimes she texts my
cousin just because she can and she wants
to practice her texting.”
But most students and parents say
that this new method of communication
is less personal.  If kids need to have a
real discussion with parents, calling is
still the best method.
“It’s probably better to call because
with a text you shorten what you’re saying
to them,” Carnie says.  “My parents like to
prefer for me to call them instead.   If
I have to ask a question or explain
something to them, I call.”
Since texting conversations usually
don’t involve extensive discussion,
emotions and true thoughts.      
texts can imply different meanings,”
Carnie says. “When you hear someone’s
voice it’s easier to understand them and
their thoughts”
Vallejo says overall, she has a mixed
reaction to texting.  On one hand, it’s
much more efficient, but on the other, grounds she will text me,” Vallejo says. 
it’s certainly less personal. She adds that the service problem made
“I feel 50-50 about texting,” she says.  it difficult to reach her daughter by phone
“Sometimes I prefer to hear from [my call.  This was a major influence on her
daughter], and I’d like her to call.  But decision to text her children, she says.
sometimes texts are quicker. For Cristina,  Golen says texting was originally in
text messages are much easier.” the children’s territory, so children must
  Parents like Vallejo benefit from be the teachers instead of the parents.  But
texting because the school building parents are trying to acquaint themselves
is known to have bad service for calls.  with modern technology.
However, parents and children can easily “It’s interesting because it’s a time
communicate via text. where there’s a role reversal,” she
“Usually you don’t get good reception explains.  “With texting, the kids teach
at Whitman, so while she’s on school the parents how to do it.” 

Q&A with Vivian Schiller

Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of National Public Radio (NPR) and mother of sophomore Elizabeth Frank, is one of the most powerful women in
media today. Schiller brings a new, tech-savvy perspective to an organization that has grown from an exclusively radio-based news channel to a
nationally renowned news organization with an average of 30 million listeners per week. Schiller took the time to talk with the Black & White about
what it’s like to be at the top of a national media organization.
by julia weingardt - Cached- Similar
Black & White: What are you doing organizations to launch podcasts. We’re the have comments on our website—in fact some news but not reporting the news—a lot of it
to bring NPR into the digital age? most popular news and information podcast of our comments turn out to be reporting in has a political slant one way or another.
Vivian Schiller: First of all, at NPR, on iTunes, and the great thing about it is their own right. Do you remember the story
we re-launched our website. We launched that younger people are listening to the about the boy that was supposedly up in the BW: In an age where the Internet
it over the summer, and there are a lot podcasts or going on the web. balloon a couple of weeks ago? We reported dominates, do you think that radio can still
of things that we fixed. Before it was sort on that story on our news blog (The Two- survive?
of a companion for the radio. Now we’re BW: Do you envision NPR ever Way). Our online readers shared with each VS: I used to be in TV, and I used to be
trying to turn it into a destination in its replacing print media? other various calculations, and they figured in print, and now I’m in radio. I think of all
own right. The second thing we’ve done VS: I hope not. Because I hope that print out before the balloon even landed that the of those three forms of media, radio is the
is launch the iPhone app, which has been media is around for a long time. I don’t want boy could not possibly have been in that most resilient because people can listen to
really popular—we’ve had almost a million us to be the only news organization, I want balloon because it could not have lifted his radio when they can’t be doing other things
and a half downloads. It’s the first news app there to be lots of news organizations. weight. because they’re driving or they’re getting
for the iPhone that’s both a listening and a ready to go to work or go to school in the
reading experience. BW: In what ways can the public BW: What is it about NPR that morning. Radio is something that doesn’t
participate in NPR? makes it more appealing than other radio replace the Internet—they complement
BW: When did you start producing VS: In many ways. First of all, they programs? each other. 
podcasts on iTunes? can share our content- we make it really VS: We report the news. Unfortunately
VS: Podcasts we’ve been doing for many easy because we’re on Facebook. We’re very many other radio services, talk radio services,
years. In fact, we were one of the first news popular on twitter and obviously email. We feature people who are talking about the

form or just plain creepy?

“It’s so creepy. I think people should stick to “Creepy. Stalkers hang out on the computer
their own business and not try to see what other for like ten hours, just looking at pictures of
people are doing because it’s weird.” people that they don’t even know.”

Jake Wohl, Junior Cary Beehler, Freshman

10 feature NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Climate Guide forecasts which rooms are hot, which are not
By Rachel Nussbaum
           
Students zip, button and fasten coats in desperate
attempts to ward off the chill. And then, 46 minutes
later, those same students shed their layers as they
enter a room hotter than the Land Down Under.
To most students, this situation is no surprise.  to the creepiness emanating from the sketchy back
Temperatures inside Whitman fluctuate daily and
seem to depend mostly on what they didn’t wear that
day.
Chorus Room:
Beware: the chorus room is
deceptive. Upon first entering, it’ll
be chilly and jacket-worthy. But
after a while, the classroom must
enter one of “The Twilight Zone’s”
alternate universes, because at the
end of the period it’s hot. So just
be ready to drop the layers as the
clock ticks.
Students complain about frosty lows on the first panic, which doesn’t seem very likely, it’s up to the
floor, boiling heat on the third and general fickleness actual heating and cooling system to put students out
on the second. of their misery. And with the MCPS administration
Some may say that temperatures and class anxiety clinging onto thermostat control like it’s Halloween’s
correlate. From the fear and nervousness radiating last dark chocolate Reese’s, the Black & White has
from math and language classes on the third floor decided to investigate and relay some helpful tips.
Here’s a guide to the school’s extreme climate,
hallway near the cafeteria, the theory is certainly because everyone deserves the right to dress for success
plausible. and distress. 
But until students figure out how to regulate their
C337, Ms. Toth, Biology:
At times, this room is unbelievably
hot. Maybe it’s the angered spirits of
the preserved creatures finally getting
revenge. Maybe it’s not. It doesn’t
matter. Either way, this room is like a
furnace.

C335, Mr. Logun, Physics:

This classroom is 1960’s India-era trippy,
and under the extreme heat, proved to
be around 75 degrees, it’s even possible
that the Beatles theory of Transcendental
Meditation will start seeming plausible. It’s
that intense. But there’s no fighting it, so
just sit back, relax and wait for round eye
glasses to start seeming cool.

W104, Ms. Frank, Science:

In an odd respite from the wintry cold in Whittier
Woods, this science lab is hot. So although you
might want a Unabomber-style ski mask and W122, Mr. O’Brien, NSL:
sweatshirt to keep you warm outside of this room, In this back-Woods classroom, the
inside, prepare to lose those layers. unimaginable happened: MCPS gave
Mr. O’Brien his own thermostat. If
you thought this place was too
isolated for comfort, you were right.
But it’s totally worth it. This place is
a temperature nirvana.
A309, Mr. Kuhn, Calculus:
It’s normal to have trouble
concentrating in math class. But in
here, anticipate double the difficulty.
Cause if you’re not lucky enough to
have grabbed a seat by the radiator
on the first day, then you’ll be too busy C124, Mr. Jacobson, NSL:
shivering to pay attention to proofs At least in the summer and spring
and cosines. some ventilation would warm
this arctic atmosphere. For the
moment, definitely pack a coat.
And hand-warmers wouldn’t be a
bad idea either. 

A209, Ms. Buckingham, English:

Media Center:
When you first walk into this room, it might not seem too
The media center is usually chilly, probably due to the
extreme. But keep walking, all the way to the back wall, and
massive windows on one side. While this window structure
you’ll be singing a different tune. Towards the windows, it’s
looks pretty neat, it isn’t ideal for keeping students warm
actually freezing. So take my advice: the only way to avoid
or focused on studying. It’s also kind of painful for the
frostbite in this room is by sitting near the door. Plus, then
students inside to watch their classmates frolicking in the
it’s easier to run for help when your classmates start turning
courtyard. Windows: overall, a bad idea.

graphic by RALEIGH ROBERTSON

Area author publishes first book at ripe old age of 18

By Hailey SIller
How many people can say they’ve written
14 manuscripts and published a book by the age
of 18?
At least one can. Silver Spring native Hannah
Moskowitz published her first book, “Break,”
this past August with the company Simon Pulse.
“Break” tells the story of a teenage boy on a
mission to break every bone in his body in order
to gain emotional strength and cope with his
problems at home.
Moskowitz says she is pleased with the
public’s response to “Break.”
“It was weird getting used to people talking
about me online at first!” she says. “But since
then, there haven’t been any major surprises.”
Aslera, a customer who reviewed “Break” on
Amazon, recommends the book to any teenager
who likes young adult literature.
She describes Moskowitz’s work as, “Overall,
an excellent, complex novel from a young,
promising author.”
Eager to continue her career as a published
author, Moskowitz is in the process of finalizing
her latest story, “Invincible Summer,” while
studying at Brown University. The book follows
the main character, Chase and his relationship
with his family during their annual summer
beach trips. “Invincible Summer” will be released
in Spring of 2011.
Her own summer experiences during high
school inspired this book, Moskowitz says.
“I think that might be why it’s the closest
to my heart of anything that I’ve written,” she
says.
The hardest part about being an author,
Moskowitz finds, is the writing itself. The first
manuscript took her about a year to write.
“It was very hard,” she says. “The ending took
me forever, even though I knew how I wanted it
to go. I figured it out in one day and wrote the
whole thing at once. My God, it was bad.”
Moskowitz has written about teenage boys,
same-sex relationships, chronic illness, inter-
faith relationships and brothers.
“I think once you write a theme once, it’s
finished,” she says. “Writing the same theme
more than once would feel like writing the same
book twice.”
Moskowitz describes her current project, “All
Together With Feeling,” as a dark version of the
hit Fox TV show “Glee.”
“[It’s] about a high school chorus, told from
the point of view of a soprano, an alto, a tenor
and a bass,” she says.
Moskowitz names writers such as S.E.
Hinton, Joyce Sweeney, John Green and Ned
Vizzini as her inspirations.
“They’re unbelievable, and they all started
young,” she says.
To fellow writers, Moskowitz gives some
advice: “Never believe you aren’t good enough.
Never believe you can’t get better. Market your
manuscript like it’s the best thing on this earth, Hannah Moskowitz from Silver
and do it while you’re writing something ten times Spring (right) published her first
better. Keep going, keep going, keep going.” book, “Break” (above) by the age of photos courtesy UNTILHANNAH.COM
When asked if she thinks of herself as an 18. She is now working on her latest
story, “Invincible Summer.” Visit her
accomplished writer, Moskowitz responds, “Oh website at: www.untilhannah.com
God, no, not yet. I feel like I have the potential
to be, but so far? No, I have one book out. I have
a long way to go.” 
November 17, 2009 feature 11

Sophomore Ketan Jha where do YOU work?

runs own business by JAMIE NORWOOD

repairing computers
by Sahil Ansari
A cell phone rings, breaking
the relative quiet of the
classroom. Students frantically
reach for their backpacks, but
after realizing the ringtone isn’t
theirs, glance around nervously
for the culprit. Sophomore
Ketan Jha, who, along with some
of his teachers, has become all
too familiar with clients calling
during the day, quietly excuses
himself to go take the call.
Jha runs a one-man business,
Jha Management Consulting, a
company that builds and repairs
computers.
It all started the summer
after eighth grade. Ketan’s
father, Satish Jha, is the CEO
of One Laptop per Child, an
organization that works to give
laptops to underprivileged
children across the world. Satish,
who wanted Ketan to become
involved in the business, had
been sending him emails about
the latest 12-year-old who got
Microsoft-certified. No stranger
to computers, Ketan decided
to join the industry by getting
himself certified, an indicator of
his proficiency with Microsoft
software.
“I said to myself, ‘I should
do something with my life,’” he
says.
After developing adequate
computer repair skills, Ketan
decided to offer his expertise
to the people around him in his
free time. He started by helping
family and friends who were
technologically inept.
As his work progressed,
Ketan realized that he could even
build his own computers.
Junior Matea Dikovic: Rio Grande
Junior Matea Dikovic decided it was time to find a job this
past September and applied to Rio Grande.
After a face-to-face interview, Dikovic got
Today, a year-and-a-half a call saying she was hired.
later, he works anywhere from When she’s done working her shifts,
20 to 45 hours a week and has covering for her co-workers or
about 100 steady clients–a hitting the books, Dikovic finds
number, he says, that’s constantly herself with little time.
increasing. “I tend to pull all-nighters
His work involves building, more often than I would like,”
selling and repairing computers, she says. “But I’m getting used
photo by SARAH KLOTZ to it.”
though he says he tries to ensure
less of the latter. Jha, who runs his own computer repair
“I try to build them so they business, has about 100 steady clients. S e n i o r J C G w i l l i a m :
won’t screw up,” he explains. Georgetown Cupcake
His computers differ from choices he’s made over the past Senior JC Gwilliam has been
commercial Dells and Macs few years. working the cash register at the
in that they run on Open “Personally, I’m proud of original Georgetown Cupcake
Source software, which is most what I’ve done,” he says. “It’s since last year, when his sister
commonly used on an operating sort of a different lifestyle; rather helped get him the job.
system known as Linux. Open than getting good grades, I’m “I figured it’s a good place
Source software provides free, working.” to work,” he says. “The people
more inclusive formats for word Understandably, a student are all really nice, and it’s a
processing, video and music attending meetings and taking good way to make some extra
programs. business calls during the day money.”
A f t e r a s s e m b l i n g h i s comes as a surprise to some of
computers Ketan sells them for his friends and teachers. Junior Katie Gordon: Le Pain Quotidien
anywhere from $800 to $1000. Many of his friends had Junior Katie Gordon applied to be a hostess Bethesda Row’s
He also finds time to work on their doubts about his work, at French café this August. Gordon
smaller projects of his own, for least until he brought a video hostesses, cleans and occasionally
fun. For example, after his Xbox back from the conference he takes orders.
360 overheated, he opened it up, spoke at. Gordon has worked weekends
and designed and installed his “One of the most gratifying for the past two months and has
own cooling system. He is now things is disproving the disbelief,” already had plenty of interesting
the proud owner of a console he he says. “That’s always a kick.” days.
claims is even faster than it was In the free time he has “It’s always entertaining
before. outside of the technological when someone tries to dine and
B u t b e i n g a y o u n g world, Jha also enjoys music; dash,” she says. “The waiters will
entrepreneur who works six he plays guitar, bass and tuba in chase them down the road until
days a week takes its toll on the different bands. they pay.”
life of a high school student. On For Jha, the horizon holds
many days, Ketan comes home, much more than just building
works until 10, then starts his computers. He hopes to attend Senior Grant Horton:
homework, even if this means the Wharton School of Business Bethesda Co-op
getting as little as two hours of at the University of Pennsylvania, Senior Grant Horton was
sleep a night. hired to work at the Co-op two
earn an MBA and eventually years ago. He works the register
“I do find that it interferes land a job in the entertainment
with school a whole lot,” he says. industry. and bags nuts and seeds.
“One does have to find a balance “Getting all of the expired
“Technology will always be food for free is definitely my
of things.” my passion,” he says. “But I want
Still, Ketan doesn’t regret the to experience other things.”  favorite part of the job,” Horton
photos by JAMIE NORWOOD
says. 

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12 feature november 17, 2009

Morgan Mullins works the Suburban ER desk

by Hailey Siller
The waiting room door swings open,
letting in the wail of sirens, as EMTs
usher a wounded patient toward the
emergency room. A schizophrenic man
looks up from his chair and flits his eyes
nervously at the stretcher as it rushes
past, muttering to himself. A harried
mother sinks into the chair next to him,
too preoccupied with her own grief to
notice that her purse is undone.
All of this happens within 30 seconds.
Multiply that by 480, and you have the
senior Morgan Mullins’ job.
Mullins spends four hours on
Tuesdays and Fridays after school
volunteering in the Emergency
Department at Suburban Hospital.
She spends most of her time in triage,
the ER’s waiting room, where she
signs in and calms down patients.
She also offers support to patients’
loved ones, answering questions about
visiting policies and making sure they’re
comfortable.
Mullins says she wanted to volunteer
to help prepare her for a future nursing
career.
“I wanted to get some kind of
experience and volunteering at Suburban
seemed like the best way to do that.”
Her first day volunteering in the ER
proved being a nurse isn’t easy.
“I was pretty intimidated at first by
all of the nurses and doctors rushing
around and all of the sick patients being
brought in by EMTs, but one nurse
was immediately really friendly and
welcoming,” she says.
The nurse let Mullins shadow him
while taking care of his two Level 2
trauma patients and even let her watch
the patients get CT scans.
Mullins notes that the disturbing
experiences she had that first day
showed her that nursing requires a
different kind of mind set.
“It was definitely upsetting to see so
many people who were so sick or hurt,
but if you think about it too much and
let it get to you, it would be impossible
to be in the ER,” she says.
In order to be a volunteer, co- photo courtesy MORGAN MULLINS
volunteer Mort Greenberg says
applicants must be people-friendly and Senior Morgan Mullins works as an emergency room volunteer at Suburban Hospital.
agree to keep everything they hear in
the hospital confidential. He notes that themselves have to feel comfortable. she excites the older population by
volunteers in the ER are supposed to be “I found on my first day that you showing an enthusiasm in younger
at least 18, but that volunteer services have to be optimistic about what will generations for medicine and helping
make many exceptions. happen to all these people or you just others.
“It’s people skills and being courteous have to accept that everyone will die, “People come from all over the
and helping them feel at ease—that’s and with most of the older people, it’s hospital just to come say hi to her,” he
what’s very important,” he says. really just their time to go,” she says. says. “The best part is she’s always got
Mullins adds that in addition to Mullins’ co-worker, ER residence a smiling face and is always willing to
helping patients feel relaxed, workers nurse Stephen Smith, says he believes help. 

Forensics class draws cues from real life CSI technology

continued from page 1
“Solving crime using science teaches
Though ridden with inaccuracies, such valuable skills: applying technology and
shows garner interest in forensics and objective facts, using data to prove or
technology. Director Ray Wickenhieser disprove something to solve a problem,”
of the MCPD crime lab emphasizes the he says.
importance of students studying forensics O’Donoghue agrees that one of the main
early on—even if their interest stems from skills gained through studying forensics
such over dramatization. is deductive reasoning. Students in her
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class have been learning about forensics “Back then, DNA was a new
technology used at the professional level. technology—you needed a whole droplet
Recent technological developments of blood for any kind of testing,” he says
include the Automated Fingerprint “Now you have saliva and smears. Today,
Identification System, a mobile finger we can even get DNA from simple skin cells
printing device that MCPD is currently with touch DNA analysis.”
piloting, MCPD forensics specialist David O’Donoghue realizes that many
McGill says. The Urban Area Security grant students in her class will not go on to
provided by the government shortly after become forensics specialists but a general
the 9/11 terrorist attack funded purchase knowledge of forensic principles is useful—
of the AFIS devices. The funds also paid and, in many cases— necessary.
for the development of a database that “A lot of people in this class will
is used to centralize information about
arrests in North Virginia, Montgomery
become lawyers, and they will come across
something like this in their professional
County and Prince Georges County, says careers,” she says, “Even in the field of
Cunningham. medicine, at some point people will have
The AFIS mobile units allow police to have some knowledge of criminal
officers to swipe prints from unknown investigations.” 
suspects and wirelessly get a “hit,” a
fingerprint match from the database.
“You can get a positive
identification on who
they are in the
street without
having to take
them back to
the station,”
says a police
officer with some
experience using the device.
There are about 15 in circulation in
Montgomery County out of roughly 50 to
60 in the DC area. Already seven or eight
arrests in this area have been made solely
through AFIS, says Cunningham.
Mcgill, who has been doing
crime scene work since 1995,
marvels at the changes he has seen
in the closely related field of DNA
analysis. Unlike fingerprinting, DNA Schools in the area have started offering
analysts can use samples of bodily fluid, forensics classes in recent years.
like blood or urine to identify criminals.

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November 17, 2009
Yale Spizzwinks(?)
serenade chorus classes
by Kirstin Baglien
Eighteen Yalies sing “No Regrets” until
one of them boldly approaches a girl in the
audience. Getting down on one knee, he
serenades her while the other girls in the
audience watch and giggle. Andy Berry
(’09) distracts the suitor with a pretend
phone call -- “Hey Jamie,” he says. “Your
mom’s on the phone. She wants you to stop
trying so hard.”
These men, the Spizzwinks(?), make
up one of Yale University’s oldest, most
prestigious a capella groups. They
performed for seventh and eighth period
chorus classes at Whitman on Nov. 6
because Berry, an alumnus who participated
in musicals and chorus, joined the group
this fall. The group also performed a full
concert at the Church of the Redeemer in
Bethesda the following night, where Berry
used to perform.
The Spizzwinks(?) performed every
kind of song from the oldie “Build Me Up
Buttercup” to the original “The Future
Soon,” written by Spizzwink(?) Jonathan
Coulton.
Berry, after much anticipation, sang
the bass solo in “Ol’ Man River,” his rich,
soulful voice capturing the tone of the song
perfectly.
But the Spizzwinks(?) also livened up
their performance with jokes and skits,
using ridiculous accents and earning
laughs from the audience.
Berry joined the group much like
a pledge would rush a fraternity;
he attended social events with
the members of the group and
attended concerts so that
YOU’LL GET KICKED
OUT OF CLASS.
GUARANTEED!
Feature
Yale Spizzwinks (?) perform at school in honor
of one of their new members, Andy Berry (‘09).
he could learn what the Spizzwinks(?)
were like.
At the end of “rush,” Berry lined up with
all of the other freshmen vying for a spot in
one of the a capella groups. The different
a capella groups had to race toward the
person they wanted and serenade their new
potential group members.
“The groups sing to you and you can
say yes or no,” Berry explains. “It’s a really
crazy evening.”
Berry says that his favorite part of being
a Spizzwink(?) is bonding with the other
members of the group.
“You join this group and suddenly
you have 17 best friends magically,” Berry
says.
The (?) was added in 1913 after Yale’s
newspaper printed an article about
the group. Not knowing how to
spell the name, the paper added
the question mark - and the rest
is history. 
photos courtesyKIRSTiN BAGLIEN
Every student in every major will get kicked out of class at Longwood
University … straight into one of Virginia’s best internship programs.
Required internships or directed research provide real-world experience
before the real world – a guaranteed advantage.
WhyLongwood.com
800.281.4677
admissions@longwood.edu
UMD wins ‘Greenest Campus’
Climate Culture recognizes sustainability efforts,
students pledge to lower carbon footprints
By Alex Zimmerman
Wi th “ g o i ng g reen” b e c o m in g
increasingly trendy on college campuses,
the University of Maryland is doing more
than just promoting recycling and reusing
water bottles. The school recently won
the title of one of America’s Greenest
College Campuses Oct. 14 because the
most students pledged to decrease their
carbon footprints.
Climate Culture, a non-profit
organization dedicated to sustainability
efforts, recognized the improved
environmental friendliness on campus.
The only other school that received
this award was Rio Salado College in
Arizona. sorority that consumes the least amount
“The point was to encourage people
to think about what impact their daily
life has on the environment and small
steps you can take to reduce your carbon
footprint,” said UMD senior and SGA
environmental affairs director Joanna
Calabrese, a senior,
Students participated in an online
survey pledging to reduce their personal
carbon footprint. Although there is no way
to determine whether students followed
through with their pledges, students feel
it’s a step in the right direction.
“It’s stupid to pledge for something
you wouldn’t do because no one is holding
you accountable,” Calabrese said. “The
point was really more to get people
thinking about how their life impacts the
13
photo courtesy GREENREPORT.COM
environment.”
The university will receive a reward of
$5,000 for on-campus green initiatives.
In addition to online pledges, UMD
staff and students instituted several
new programs designed to promote
sustainability on campus. Student
organizations often sit down with
university staff members to discuss plans
for future sustainability efforts, Calabrese
said. In fact, the number of organizations
designed to promote green initiatives on
and off-campus has tripled in the last
three years.
The Energywise UM program
launched in September will award a
pizza party with a DJ to the fraternity or
of energy from September to November as
part of a program called the Green Greek
Challenge.
In the second phase of the program
starting the week of Oct. 26, plan to
monitor energy consumption in 18
campus buildings, including 15 fraternity
and sorority buildings and provide
occupants with detailed reports and
energy-reduction strategies.
“Environmental movements have
gained a lot of momentum nationally
and locally,” Calabrese said. “Students of
our generation are especially interested
because of the impact the environment
will have on us. We’ve seen exponentially
growing involvement in these movements.
I hope it only keeps growing.” 
 14 arts November 17, 2009

The show must go on!

Churchill’s ‘Chicago’ cast
prevails in censorship debate
By Rachel Lerner
Booze. Hail Mary. Mormon. These
words almost got “Chicago” thrown off the
stage of Winston Churchill High School.
After “Chicago” was abruptly canceled
Oct. 26 because of a dispute over dialogue,
Churchill theatre students joined together
to re-establish it as their fall musical.
Principal Joan Benz canceled the
show after Samuel French, the licensing
company that owns the rights to “Chicago,”
informed the school that it couldn’t use
the administration’s edited version of
“Chicago” for their fall musical.
The edited version of the script
eliminated all alcohol references,
including words like “booze” and “flask,”
all swear words and many religious
references – anything from “god damn”
to “Hail Mary” to the word “Mormon.”
Sexual references like “copulated” and
“screwing” were changed to “been with”
and “seeing.”   attended a BOE meeting that night to air
“We were all pretty upset with these
cuts but decided to stay quiet because
we knew that if we complained, it would
come down on our director, Mrs. Speck,”
Churchill senior Thalia Ertman, Mr.
Ertman’s daughter, says.
Despite their attempt to avoid conflict,
while the students were getting ready for
rehearsal Oct. 26, director Jessica Speck
announced that the show had been
canceled due to the licensing issue.
“We were all in a state of shock for a
couple of minutes,” Ertman recounts. “We
looked at each other, not believing that
everything we’d been working for the past
five weeks was being thrown away.”
A teacher came in and explained to the
students how the language of the original
script of “Chicago” was detrimental to
the school’s credibility and reputation,
Churchill junior Ryan Kanfer says.
As soon as the shock wore away, the
students decided that they were going
to fight the administration’s decision to
forbid them to put on the unedited play. photo by RACHEL LERNER
“If the school wouldn’t let us put on
our show, we were willing to find another Churchill cast members lobbied the school board to allow ‘Chicago’ to run with minimal edits.
venue and do whatever it took to perform
it,” Ertman says. able to compromise with the licensing says that the struggle united the cast and
The students and their parents company. crew.
“Another staff member and I called “I actually think that this experience
their grievances with the administration. New York and were told that the publisher brought us all closer together as a cast,
They contacted news agencies, like ABC 7 often worked with high schools to edit crew and band,” Ertman explains. “We all
and the Washington Post. the play so that it would be appropriate worked together to get our show back and
The next afternoon, Benz reversed to present on a high school stage,” she we all were the only ones who understood
her decision. She says she decided to says. the hurt that came with the decision to
reauthorize the performance of “Chicago” “Chicago” will premiere Nov. 13 with cancel the show. ‘Chicago’ is going to be
after she and another teacher were a new, slightly edited script. Ertman wicked!” 

Students host Does Bethesda have

paint-a-thon for
war veterans
BY ADAM GLAZER
Fueled by home-baked chocolate chip cookies,
pizza and soda, students and teachers paint side-by
side to make artwork in the span of four hours that
will brighten up the walls of the homes of soldiers and
their families.
The National Art Honors Society held a paint-a-
thon Nov. 6 to raise money for the Fisher House, a
program that serves about 10,000 military families
annually since its creation in 1990. The students and
art teacher Jean Diamond, who hosted the event in
her room, raised $150 that will go towards supplies
to make the 75 paintings that will be donated to the
organization.
“There is at least one Fisher House at every major
military medical center to assist families in need and
to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of
home in a supportive environment,” the House’s official
magazine states. There are over 30 Fisher Houses in
the U.S. and Germany.
Families residing in the Fisher Houses have
family members who are returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan and will have long stays at the hospitals
for rehabilitation and care. The houses are maintained
entirely by volunteers.
The nearest locations are at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in D.C. and National Naval Medical
Center in Bethesda. These houses are in the process of
merging into five houses on a new campus, which will
have plenty of space for art.
Jan Papirmeister, mother of senior Sarah, arranged
for the painting donation. She worked with Becky Wood
of the Fisher House and Diamond to pull this event
together. After Papirmeister’s son Matt was deployed
to Iraq and the family moved to Bethesda, she knew
she wanted to get involved with both the military and
the community.
“When we settled down in Bethesda, I wanted
to really connect with the military,” Papirmeister
says. “I went to hospitals and expressed interest in
volunteering.”
Papirmeister has been a nurse for over 20 years and
is also an artist. These
factors, combined
with the strong
support for her son
and the troops, have
made the donations
and the Paint-
the hottest guys?
Totalbeauty.com thinks so
by Rachel Nussbaum
Boys, take a bow. As if Bethesda needed another
reason for being the Greatest Place On Earth (move
over, Orlando), it’s official that we’ve got the hottest
guys.
Yes, Totalbeauty.com has just declared Bethesda
the top-ranking City With the Hottest Men. And
with a domain name that carries the weight and
importance of the journalistic tradition, it’s clear that
this title is coming from an illustrious and completely
credible source.
Just to be clear, I’m being sarcastic. Really, take
a look at their reasons.
Art students painted for hours after school Nov. 6 to make “Book smarts? Check. Healthy bank accounts?
paintings for display in family houses for injured vets. Check. Good physiques? Check. Few bad habits?
Check,” reads Totalbeauty.com’s accompanying
a-thon a perfect project for her to start and support.
“For you to be creating this healing art, which will blurb. “The mix of military and government serves
be placed in the houses, is so special,” Papirmeister tells the men of Bethesda well.”
the students as they work on their pieces. Huh? Well, to be honest, the only place I’ve ever
Research has shown that “healing art” can help seen a military man in this city is when the National
reduce blood pressure and stress anxiety, which is Mapping Institute changes guard shifts.
important in the rehabilitation process. And while they certainly do have nice physiques,
Many of the students that attended the fundraiser sadly, I’m not so sure that the same holds true
take AP art classes, but some had little to no prior for Whitman’s guy population. Need proof? Visit
experience with painting. any freshman gym class. I doubt that Totalbeauty.
“I just thought, hey why not, it’s for a good cause,”
says sophomore Chandini Jah, who was trying her hand com dared to venture near there, let alone down
at painting a picture of a flower vase with consultation the locker-room hallway. The gas mask costs were
from some of her more skilled friends. probably too high.
Students, as well as teachers, were excited to be a Still, the undisputedly wise Lifetime channel has
part of this donation. taught me that a guy is only truly attractive if his mind
“I can only imagine what it must be like to be is as hot as his body. And judging by the nonchalant
coming back from war,” says geometry teacher Meg eye roll that follows mention of “The Overachievers”
Thatcher as she paints a tropical seascape. “It’s also and AP class sizes, in terms of book smarts, Whitman
great that these students get the chance to contribute guys are hotter than Ryan Reynolds. Repeated for
because many people tend to forget what’s going on
over there.” emphasis, in terms of book smarts.
Diamond was equally proud. So with bodies and brains balancing out (generally
“It’s doing such a great deed,” Diamond says. “It’s poor and 44th Best Public High School in the
creative, and it’s going to serve a function.” Nation, respectively), that leaves few bad habits and
Not all pieces go on the walls of the homes though, bankability as Bethesda’s claim to hot guy fame.
since regulations are very strict. Paintings can be As longtime/two-month readers of this blog
landscapes, seascapes know, saying that guys have “few” bad habits is
and other restful debatable. Between chair rattling, overusing “that’s
subjects, and artists what she said” and drawing out the word “wow”
must use only soft
colors- no reds or darks for far more syllables than it was ever intended, I
and nothing abstract. wouldn’t go so far as to say that their lack of bad
Since the paintings are habits qualifies Whitman’s guys as the hottest.
meant to be calming and What they’re missing in manners, most of
far from the desert or Whitman’s boys (dads) make up for in bank account
harsh terrains that may size. But weren’t we taught, way back when things
remind the veterans of like ethics mattered that there was more to a man
their war experiences than his wallet? And, call me crazy, but wouldn’t
Students talked someone dating a guy solely for his money warrant
of holding another “Gold Digger” to be hummed as she approached?
Paintathon soon for the
same cause. But who knows, maybe I just haven’t been
“It’s not just about watching “Real Housewives of New Jersey”
being artists,” Diamond enough.
says to the students. “It’s Ultimately, taking all of these factors into
about being contributors consideration, I’m a little bit frightened. Because if
in the community.”  Bethesda has the hottest guys in the nation, then what
photos by ADAM GLAZER does this mean for the rest of the U.S.? 
November 17, 2009 arts 15

Q&A with 1-2-3-4,

LET’S GET BUSY!
David Dobkin Facebook club drums up
(‘87) support for the spirited drumline
by zach schloss

Movie director David Dobkin (‘87) is the

comical genius behind such blockbuster hits
as ‘Wedding Crashers,’ ‘Shanghai Knights’ and
‘Fred Claus.’ He is currently scheduled to direct
an upcoming sequel to the National Lampoon
films.
Black & White: How do you incorporate the
Bethesda area into your films?
David Dobkin: It gets mentioned here and there.
I know in Fred Claus they mention Bethesda at one
point. It always ends up sneaking back in somehow. I
try to give it a shout-out when I can.
BW: Was there a moment when you knew you
wanted to go into directing or was it a gradual thing?
DD: I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with
movies. I just had a sense of liking and understanding
all the different aspects of creating the experience. I
had some really great writing classes at Whitman.
Storytelling is really what it’s about, so that’s
something that can be tracked back to those early
days.
BW: Did you work on movies or films at all as a
kid?
DD: When I was in sixth or seventh grade, I made
a couple little movies. I shot the shots in order one
take at a time and then you just run them, strip the
film, and it’s a movie. They were really crude and
didn’t come out very well, but I had a good sense of
editing and camera back then because doing it that
way forced you to make your decisions very cleanly.
BW: In what ways has growing up in Bethesda
influenced the movies that you’ve made?
DD: When I got the script, Wedding Crashers
was set in Boston and I reset it to D.C. [Coming back
to shoot in my hometown] was the most rewarding
experience I’ve had behind the camera.
BW: How often do you come back?
DD: Probably once every couple of years, although
I’ll try to be back more regularly. I have a two-year old
now, so I’d like him to check out Washington and see
Bethesda.
BW: Is any one of your movies that you’ve created
your personal favorite?
DD: ‘Wedding Crashers’ is the most personal to
me. When I was in high school, I wasn’t a very cool
David Dobkin (‘87) has directed many popular films and at-
tributes his interest in filmmaking to earlier experiences.
kid. I might have been called a bit of a geek. I was
the kid that, a couple of years before, was still playing
Dungeons and Dragons, playing videogames, and
pirating software on my Apple 2 Plus.
For me the story was about how close you are with
your friends and how when you get older, at some
point or another, you rely on your guy friends to be
your support system.
Eventually a girl will find her way into someone’s
heart, and then everybody has to grow and change
because the dynamic changes. You either lose those
friends that you’re close to or you grow.
When I got the script that wasn’t all in there, but it
was very easy to get it to work that way.
BW: What goals do you have for your future as far
as your career goes?
DD: Just trying to continue to make movies that
are fun and entertaining and actually have some sort
of a good learning curve or a message in them. I’m
not very preachy as a director but I do like there to be
something that teaches people about life and change
and how difficult it is and that we’re always in some
version of a moment that is transforming us into the
next chapter.
When I went into art at NYU from high school, I
knew that I wanted to make movies but I didn’t think
it was very important. As the years went by and as
certain movies succeeded, I saw what it was as an
experience for people for an hour-and-a-half to go into
a theatre and have an experience together and forget
about their lives and be transported. That was really
what made me drawn to movies in the first place.
BW: Any recommendations to high school
students who are interested in the movie business?
DD: I would say the most important thing to do
is to create. Make some short movies if you can. Do
some stuff on your own. When you go to college, you
should get a real education, not just a film school
education. If I had just gone to film school I would
have missed a lot. As an artist, you should go for it,
but I also think you should have a back-up. 
photo by STEPHANIE HAVEN
by Stephanie Haven
While most students chat with friends, take new
Facebook pictures and snack on concession food at home
football games, a certain section of the stadium becomes
visibly animated. People strain their necks trying to catch
a glimpse of the disturbance.
As the 15 members of drumline march to the front
of the stadium, students shout in unison with the line,
“One, two, three, four—let’s get busy!”
Some people complain that there isn’t enough school
spirit. But, what students lack in sports-oriented spirit,
the drumline attempts to make up for in awkward dance
moves, catchy slogans and shoulder-shaking rhythm.
The drumline, designed to pump up crowds for the
football games, now has their own cheering section.
Junior Mariana Robertson created the Whitman
Drumline Fan Club group on Facebook Oct. 24 which, as
of Nov. 10, boasts 285 members and is still growing.
“We didn’t expect drumline to be this big of a
phenomenon,” says junior Jonny Schear, drumline
captain. “We have a very active school fan base because
not many people remember a time in Whitman history
where we have had a real drumline before.”
Robertson created the club after talking to friends
about the high level of enthusiasm that many students
have for drumline. Club members attended the drumline
competition at Northwood High School Nov. 14 and will
learn the basic drumline chants—called audibles—so they
can cheer with the band at sports events. Future plans
for the club include selling t-shirts, holding fundraisers
and creating dances to go with the drumline songs.
“I knew people loved drumline, but I didn’t know
they loved it this much,” Robertson says. “I want to get
enough people together so we can intimidate the other
teams.”
Though the fan club isn’t a school-sponsored club
yet, members are serious about holding meetings and
raising necessary funds for the drumline.

Danny Parris: ‘Cool and Composed’

By Parissa Jaseb
 
Police men on horses stand by as
the school bell signals the end of the
day. Frenzied students stream from
the school doors, many wearing blue
t-shirts printed with the image of
the poet Walt Whitman. As students
strain against the yellow caution
tape and shout retaliatory chants at
protesters across the street, junior
Danny Parris runs around shooting
footage and interviews.
“Cool and Composed,” Parris’
documentary on the Westboro
Baptist Church anti-protest, beat out
hundreds of submissions to win him
a $2,000 scholarship for film camp
from the Burke Festival in May and a
$500 award last month from the After
Hours Film Society Festival.
Parris believes the documentary
appealed to many because they
sympathized with students having to
deal with the Church’s protesting.
“It got attention because
Westboro Baptist Church was being
so ruthless,” he says. “It got a lot of
emotions stirring through people as
they watched it.”
Parris says he first became
interested in filmmaking after
watching a “Top 100 Greatest Movies”
TV special in seventh grade.
“I vowed to watch every movie
on that list,” Parris says. “I never did,
but I got hooked on filmmaking from
then on.”
Parris filmed his first short film,
“Rejected,” with a group of students
in his film class at Imagination Stage.
He also won first place for this film
at the Burke Festival. “Rejected”
centers around two boys who receive
admission offers from a college on the
Parris’ film features clips from the Westboro protesters, news casts and students.
condition that they present a script by
the end of the month. The film follows
the two friends as they struggle to
compose a script.
“I wrote it and co-directed it, and
then I starred in it,” Parris explains. “I
don’t like performing in my own work,
though. I’m not a very good actor.”
Parris says the two boys’ effort
to write a script mirrors his own
difficulties during the writing
process.
“It’s hard to come up with story
plots off the top of my head,” he says.
“I have to give it time, and once I
figure it out, a lot of planning goes
into it.”
Parris’ latest project, “Greedy,”
covers four teenage boys and the
fights, backstabbing and stealing that
follow their discovery of a box filled
with money. The film features Nick
Nazmi (’09), Bennett Clarkson (’09)
and seniors Mark Herschfeld and
Noah Gavil.
“Over the summer I worked on this
“Last year was our first year, and we didn’t know
what to expect at the competition,” Schear explains.
“There was only one kid from Whitman there supporting
us. Hopefully this will help us to have a bigger showing
this year. We’re trying to play some more complex music
and improve our overall score.”
The third annual Northwood Drumline Competition
is open to all schools in Maryland. So far, seven other
schools have signed up: Northwood, Watkins Mill,
Bethesda Chevy Chase, John F. Kennedy, Wooton,
Wilson and Old Mill. The competition will feature
performances from the Washington Redskins drumline
and the Montgomery County Firefighters Pipes and
Drums.
“The competition started as a dream of the
[Northwood] band director,” Northwood music booster
Debbie Frew says. “He wanted to bring drumline to
the attention of the community and make it so there’s
camaraderie among drummers.” 
HARRIET BRODER & ASSOCIATES
film for about four days, six hours CRITICAL READING AND WRITING
each,” Parris says. “I enjoyed every TUTORIAL PROGRAMS
minute of it.”  
  Parris also attended the U.S.
HARRIET BRODER’S TEST PREP
Performing Arts Camp at UCLA this METHOD HAS:
past summer.
“I got to work with all of their
-helped all levels of students from an
equipment and learn from actual Ivy-League bound former President’s
professors who taught there,” he
says. “It was an amazing learning daughter to the struggling student
experience for me.” seeking to improve his reading skills
Parris says daily varsity football
practices have kept him busy this
- boosted students test scores 50-120
school year, but he plans to start on points (SAT, per section), 5-12 points,
his next film after football season
ends. (ACT, per section)
To see Parris’ films online anyone
can go to http://vimeo.com, where he -been the area’s #1 TEST PREP
downloads all his recent pieces.
program sought by serious students for
The festivals can feature anywhere over 30 years!
from 120 to 300 submissions, which
makes it a very competitive scene to
be a part of.
“It’s a lot of fun to go and see what 301.299.4380
other people my age are thinking,” hbatestprep.com
Parris says. 
16 Arts November 17, 2009

Q&A: ‘Gentlemen Broncos’

director Jared Hess
by ryan hauck
Black & White: What do you think it says about
you that there are no “normal” characters in any of your
films?
Jared Hess: Yeah. You know, to me they’re normal
because a lot of them are based on people that I know. To
me it’s normal, but to other people maybe not. Maybe
their lives are perfect. Maybe everybody is really cutting
edge.
BW: You’ve said that the character of Benjamin in
your upcoming movie is based after a cousin, but there
are so many similarities between the character and you.
Surely there must be some aspects of you in there?
JH: Even though I didn’t really write any science
fiction as a kid, I tried to make little science fiction
movies, so I can definitely relate to him in that aspect.
A lot of things that happened to him, including his
relationship with his mom and his dad having died, are
details that are very related to my life as a teenager.
names for things. It’s all very cartoon-y and half-wit.
You just got to deal with certain parts of the anatomy
when you’re dealing with effective cloning. We really
couldn’t get around it: cloning humor.
BW: Videos of Ronald Chevalier went viral over a
year ago. How much an effect do you think these early
efforts will have on the film’s success?
JH: It’s fun getting awareness out there for the film.
It’s fun when people discover it. The internet has really
opened up a whole new way of marketing films, which is
a lot of fun because it can be accessed multiple times.
BW: Where’d you get the title “Gentlemen
Broncos?”
JH: My mom had a weird parenting book called
‘So You Want to Raise a Boy?’ It was just this really
weird ’50’s parenting guide, and the author said there
was a phase of a boy’s life between the ages of 15 and
17 called the Gentlemen Bronco Phase, where young
men apparently like to take their shirts off and mow photos courtesy google images

BW: When you were making these movies as a kid,
at which point did you think, “hey, I could make money
doing this?”
JH: It started off as a hobby, and I just thought if I
could turn this hobby into a career that would be great.
I think all along, you hope to make money doing what
you love.
BW: In terms of success, how do you think this film
will compare to “Napoleon Dynamite?”
JH: You make a movie, cross your fingers and hope
that there are people out there that share the same
comedic sensibility and love for characters like you,
and ‘Napoleon’ showed me that there are. This film, I
think, should totally be that way. I think it appeals to
the same audience without a doubt, and will pull a few
new people in as well.
BW: Why do you think there’s a lot more gross-out
humor in this film than in your previous two?
JH: Maybe I’ve got it out on my sister now. My wife
and I were talking about it. A lot of it has to do with the
fact that she comes from a family of boys, like seven boys,
and she was the only girl. I had five brothers, so there
were six boys in my family. I think silly body humor is
just inherent when there’s a lot of testosterone in a house
full of brothers.
BW: With all the anatomical humor in the film were
you ever afraid of getting an R-rating?
JH: We tried to deal with it from a very cloning,
scientific point of view. We tried to use the scientific
the lawn.
BW: Halley Feiffer is one of the lesser known
actresses in the cast. Do you see her career taking
off in the same way Jon Heder’s did after “Napoleon
Dynamite?”
JH: I hope so, man. She is super talented. I hope
the best for her. She’s really, really funny. She’s played
some very serious roles. She’s so versatile, and did such
a good job playing the crazy, confused high school girl.
BW: Of all the actors in this film, who do you think
did the best job of pulling off “weird?”
JH: Probably Edgar Oliver, the guy who plays Lord
Daysius. He is the most unique man I have ever met
because he is not putting on a voice. When you hear him
say [imitating voice] ‘We’re very sorry Bronco, but we
had to borrow one of your gonads,’ that’s how he talks
in real life. He’s an American original. A whole movie
could be made about that guy.
BW: About Lord Daysius or Oliver?
JH: About Edgar. His life story. A biopic about Edgar
Oliver, and he needs to play himself. He is unbelievable.
That guy is a walking piece of art. A renaissance man.
BW: Your wife suggested in an interview that the
character Ol’ Big Sis could get her own spin-off. Is such
a project actually likely?
JH: [Laughs] She was just kidding when she said
that. She loves that part of the film-the soap opera
trailer.
BW: In 2005, the Idaho Legislature honored you for
involving their state in “Napoleon Dynamite.” Are you
expecting any sort of honors from Utah?
JH: I don’t know. I don’t think they want to claim
it.
BW: You’ve now had a movie that takes place in
Idaho, where you graduated high school, and a movie
that takes place in Utah, where you currently live. You
also lived in Kansas. Do they have a Hess movie on the
way?
JH: A Kansas movie. Dude, maybe that’s it. Maybe
I’ve got an amazing movie in each place that I’ve lived.
Maybe that’s what I should do, and you’re setting me on
a career trajectory. I have to make a Texas movie, an
Arizona movie and an England movie.
BW: What’s your pitch to get people to see
“Gentlemen Broncos?”
JH: Come see a couple of battle stags. Come jump
on a stag. I don’t know. Come get your yeast on. I don’t
know, maybe that’s not the best way to get people to see
the movie. 

SGA
“ ” the leaderSHIP never sinks
SPEAKS Aaron Schifrin
PRESIDENT
Luke Rozansky
VICE-PRESIDENT
Will Brownlee
TREASURER

announcements:
•Whitman Idol is Dec. 10. Lily Durston Julia Weingardt
SECRETARY SECRETARY
•Recycle! Help the school go green.
Class Officers:
‘10
• Get info about upcoming events from the SGA web-
site @ whitmansga.com. Mel Schwed, Nina Slesinger, Brandt Silver-Korn

‘11
•Riddle me this: Why did the pie crust go to the den-
tist? Zach Schloss, Hannah Sherman, Rachel Norris

‘12 Ari Kapner, Danny Milzman, Melissa Kantor

‘13 Leslie Schwed, Valerie Acker, Lindsey Herschfeld