County Executive visits Blair

County Executive Doug Duncan visited Blair on May 2 and addressed different issues facing Montgomery County in addition to national matters. Afterwards, Duncan fielded questions from students.

The presidents of the Blair Student Democrats Club, seniors Matt Yalowitz and Nora Toiv, organized Duncan's appearance in an effort to get students involved in the political process. Yalowitz also hoped to dispell the misconception that students are an "apathetic group" uninterested in politics.

Duncan was invited to Blair to speak on behalf of local issues and present the student body with the opportunity to listen and speak "to an interesting political figure," Yalowitz said.

Yalowitz estimates that at least 100 students attended the assembly, and considering it was a Friday afternoon, was "extremely happy with the turnout."

Duncan, whom Yalowitz called a "strong supporter of Blair," began his presentation by telling the audience how he became involved in politics and why he is a Democrat. Coming from a family of 13 children, Duncan was the only child to follow his mother into government.

Duncan responded to students' questions about the deficit and believes that if money is cut, "education will suffer." According to Duncan, higher education has already begun to see the affects of a $60 million cut. Duncan also touched on topics concerning school safety precautions and the effort to create a purple line for the metro, which Duncan supports. The re-vitalization of Silver Spring and creating an "artistic, unique look, similar to Bethesda" was also on Duncan's agenda.

According to Yalowitz, Duncan was "impressed with the depth of knowledge of the students and liked talking to them."