Mar 2003 Newsbriefs

Newsbriefs compiled by Han Hu with additional reporting by Ben Meiselman, Kevin Chang, Nina Feinberg and Jeanne Yang

NEWSBRIEFS
USM to furlough some employees
Leaders from many of Maryland's public universities assembled at the State House in Annapolis on Feb 27 to voice their disapproval of additional cuts to the University System of Maryland's (USM) budget.
On Feb 21, the State Board of Regents authorized Bowie State University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, and Frostburg State University—four of the USM's 13 public universities—to furlough faculty and staff this spring for up to three days to compensate for state budget cuts. USM spokesman Chris Hart said the institutions are using many cost-saving techniques.
A group of legislators plans to cut the USM budget by an additional $38 million. Governor Bob Ehrlich's proposed budget for next year keeps funding at this year's level, which has sustained two cuts since November. Those cuts decreased the system's budget by about 8 percent, from $867 to $800 million.

Blazers plan AIDS Walk
Several students are helping to organize an AIDS Walk in Washington, D.C., on Apr 12 through their involvement in a student organization called the AIDS Treatment Access Initiative. The D.C. AIDS Walk will take place in East Potomac Park and will be followed by refreshments and several musical performances.
The walk aims to raise student awareness and funding for the treatment of AIDS in third-world countries. Proceeds from the walk will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pedriatic AIDS Clinic for antiretroviral programs such as Doctors Without Borders.
For more information, contact senior Tina Peng at tpeng@mbhs.edu or visit www.studentglobalaidswalk.org

$500 worth of calculators stolen
Several graphing calculators were stolen during seventh period from Magnet math teacher David Stein's Applied Statistics class on Feb 25. Six TI-83s, worth a total of approximately $500, disappeared from the classroom while students were in the computer lab.
The thief took only calculators clearly displayed on desks nearest to the door and in the center of the classroom; no calculators were taken directly from inside backpacks. Stein found several spare calculators to temporarily replace the students' stolen ones.
Students expressed concern that a lack of security cameras in the 310 hallway made it possible for the thief to escape undetected. Any information about the stolen calculators should be reported to security or to Stein in the Magnet office.

Northwood's principal named
MCPS appointed Henry Johnson, current principal of West Potomac High School in Alexandria, as principal of Northwood High School on Feb 24. Johnson's term will begin July 1, in preparation of Northwood's reopening in fall 2004, when Northwood will join Blair, Einstein, Kennedy and Wheaton high schools in the Downcounty Consortium. Johnson's appointment is MCPS' latest effort to make all consortium schools equally attractive to students in order to draw a balanced population to each school.

CAP program will continue
Despite rumors to the contrary, the CAP program will remain at Blair as an application-only program when the Downcounty Consortium begins in 2004, according to CAP Director Dolores D'Angelo and Downcounty Consortium Director Walt Gibson. Gibson said the county has "absolutely no intention of removing CAP from Blair. [There are] no circumstances under which we would."

Silver Chips Online sets one-month hits record
In February, 56,782 readers visited Silver Chips Online (SCO) at silverchips.mbhs.edu. That is the greatest number of hits that SCO has ever received in one month. Recently, SCO has seen a steady increase in the number of visits, surpassing 1,000,000 total page views at the end of the 2001-2002 school year.
SCO Editor-in-Chief Jeanne Yang attributed the paper's popularity to its being "current, up-to-date and usually of much interest to our audience."

HONORS
• Senior Christina Feng won first place at the 2003 Maryland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium on Mar 3 and 4, and seniors Linda Xu and Kevin Fang won second place and honorable mention, respectively. Seniors Sneha Daya, Elizabeth Inkellis, Sean Kelly, Sei-Wook Kim, Amanda Way and Xiaoning Yuan also presented their research.
• Blair's team of senior Jared Sagoff and juniors Ning Bao, John Shen, Anran Wang and Stanley Wang won the Maryland region of the National Science Bowl.
• Seniors Joshua Chang, Kevin Fang, Alex Harn, Evan Karlik and Lisa Leung won first place in the Maryland region of the National Ocean Science Bowl.
• In the "When Not to Keep a Secret" essay contest, sponsored by the Montgomery County Medical Society, freshmen Kiran Bhat won first place, Natasha Coleman and Eddie Wang tied for second and Ben Green won third.
• Senior Lisa Leung is one of 250 finalists in the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation scholarship contest.
• Blair's Chamber Choir received excellent and superior ratings at MCPS' Chamber Choir Festival.
• Seniors Lisa Kim, Kurt Schewe and Kristin Hoven represented Maryland in the All-Eastern Band and Orchestra from Mar 6 to 10.

CLUBS AND EVENTS
• Blair's spring musical, West Side Story, will run on Mar 28 to 30 and Apr 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults.
• A Day of Silence will be observed on Apr 9 to recognize silence faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual students.
• The Magnet Research Convention will take place on Mar 27 in the SAC at 6:00 p.m.
• InToneNation, Blair's a cappella choir, will perform with composer Malcolm Dalglish at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage tomorrow at 6:00p.m.
• The Johns Hopkins Engineering Advanced Summer University Program will hold an open house on Apr 3 at the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County campus. RSVP to headsup@jhu.edu

GUIDANCE CORNER
Guidance Resource Counselor Karen Hunt reminds students of upcoming deadlines and recommends all juniors to take the SAT or ACT this semester:
• Mar 21 – Late registration deadline for Apr 12 ACT
• Mar 28 – Registration deadline for May 3 SAT I/II
• Apr 3 – 11th-grade parent meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the SAC to dis-
cuss college application process