The Rock for El Salvador concert at the Washington Ethical Society on May 11 raised over $600, according to organizer Mairi Rothman. The money will go towards paying for Rothman's trip to El Salvador, where she will train midwifes in emergency procedures and deliver birthing kits. The money will also go towards sending Rothman's daughter, sophomore Sarah Rothman, to El Salvador to help with a variety of community service projects for communities in need.
Here we are, the real heart and soul of Chips, the ever-loving managing editors, and we're ready to answer your questions.
While Lucasarts, producer of all Star Wars games, has a generally excellent track record, their Real-time-strategy (RTS) games, where the player controls groups of units in battle, have generally been weak. From the awful "Force Commander" to the repetitive "Galactic Battlegrounds," which essentially amounted to a Star Wars mod of "Age of Empires," Lucasarts has not had good luck with RTS games. Finally, with "Star Wars: Empire at War," Lucasarts has done the RTS thing right.
Senior Sebastian Johnson will continue on Jeopardy Teen Tournament although he did not win his quarterfinal round yesterday, Feb. 6.
Blair juniors and seniors attended motivational assemblies in the auditorium during third and first period respectively on Friday, Feb. 3. Students were encouraged to work hard in high school and begin looking to the future by administrators and motivational speaker Rodney Saunders.
Blair senior Sebastian Johnson will go one step further in gaining local fame on Monday, Feb. 6, when he is featured on Jeopardy Teen Tour. Johnson, who is currently serving as Student Member on the Board of Education (SMOB) and previously served as Blair's SGA president, was selected as one of 15 people to become quarterfinalists on the teen tour out of about a thousand 13- to 17-year-old applicants, according to Johnson.
"Syriana," directed by Stephen Gaghan and based on a novel by Robert Baer, not only thrills but also manages to throw some serious political commentary into the mix. The movie tells the stories of Bob Barnes (George Clooney), a CIA agent who sneaks in and out of Middle Eastern Countries; Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon,) an oil business analyst; Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright), a corporate attorney who is conflicted about helping with the merger of two large oil companies and Wasim Khan (Mazhar Munir), a Pakistani teenager who is enticed by a cleric's promises of glory.
Throughout my life on the internet, I've come to hate Internet Explorer, I've found that Apple Safari is just not adaptable enough, that Netscape is really slow and that AOL just generally stinks. Finally, after slaving away for years with sub-par internet browsers, I came across a free online browser, and with one tiny 8.6 megabyte download, I was cruising my way across the internet basking in the glory of Mozilla Firefox.
Normand Latourelle, co-founder of Cirque Du Soleil, the Canadian-based acrobatics troupe of much critical acclaim branches out into non-human venues with Cavalia, his newest show. Cavalia, a display of synergy between man and horse is at times awe-inspiring, but it also has stretches of insipid boredom for non-horse lovers.
A splash of color, lights and thumping music from big names like Green Day, The Offspring, 2pac and more accompanies reformed druggies, troubled teens and valiant football players who come to practice through injury who exhort "Be the change," "Don't drink, smoke or do drugs," and "Be a good citizen," on three side-by-side screens in the auditorium at Blair. In this inspirational video entitled, "Be the change," students were encouraged to take a more active role in bettering their community. While this inspirational video presented to the junior and senior classes in assemblies during first and third periods respectively on Tues., Oct. 25, was surely flashy and exciting, it had no real impact on the students and wasted valuable class time.
Administrators conducted three student assemblies yesterday, Oct. 25. Seniors and juniors attended a sessions on citizenship during first and third period, respectively, while freshmen girls discussed sexual harassment and responsible behavior during seventh period.
A smoke detector outside the weight room in the gym hallway necessitated an evacuation today, Oct. 11, after it was hit by a ball and went off, according to Safety Committee Sponsor Mark Curran.
In the last 15 years, American schools have seen increasing cuts in time and money for "nonessential" education in American schools. Classes deemed unnecessary for American students include art, music, physical education and, more recently, classes formerly considered academic such as history and science, according to Jay Mathews' article in The Washington Post, Teachers Stir Science, History Into Core Classes. Stressing only math and reading and trying to divorce skills from content as the American school system seems to be doing is foolish.
Most non-Jews associate Judaism with Hanukkah, the winter festival of lights, however Hanukkah is actually a rather minor holiday, and the two days that MCPS schools have off in October for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, collectively called the High Holy Days, are the most important days of the Jewish year.
Forty Blazers were named as National Merit Semifinalists were released on Sept. 14. Although the Blair semifinalists were notified sometime in the past several days, they were urged to keep their competition status confidential until the nationwide announcement.
Blazers initiated efforts to help support the victims of Hurricane Katrina both individually and as a community after the devastating hurricane made its second landfall on the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, flooding New Orleans. The National Honors Society (NHS) and SGA at Blair started projects to raise money and collect supplies to send to New Orleans.
John Mathwin came to Blair 35 years ago in 1970 as an English teacher. When he took over Blair's journalism program in 1978, there was one section of juniors and one section of seniors, with the seniors serving as the Silver Chips production staff, which consisted of 20 students. Between print, online, business, art and technical staff, the staff of Silver Chips had over 120 students this year in addition to five introductory journalism classes.
One of the Blair Destination ImagiNation (DI) teams placed 25 out of 40 at the DI Global competition held at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville this past weekend, from Wednesday, May 24 through Sunday, May 29. The team competed against approximately 60 other teams in the same age range. According to team member Lynn Abe, there were many ties, resulting in only 40 spots rather than 60. No other Blair team made it to Globals.
Blair graduated an estimated 741 seniors from the Class of 2005 inside the Jericho City of Praise church on the morning of June 2, 2005. The three-hour long ceremony honored the graduating class' perseverance and dedication, according to remarks by Principal Phillip Gainous.
MCPS magnet programs at Eastern Middle School, Takoma Park Middle School and Roberto Clemente Middle School have come into the limelight recently after a group called the African-American Parents of Magnet School Applicants (AAPMSA) asked that the application process for the magnets be halted due to a lack of racial diversity in the magnet programs. The group argued that the programs are inherently racist and accept a disproportionately low number of minority students, especially blacks and Hispanics, according to the Silver Chips Online article Parent group calls magnet program biased.
Peace between Israel and Palestine now seems closer than it has since the beginning of the Second Intifada in September of 2000, possibly closer than it has since the not-quite-good-enough 1993 Oslo Accords. However, for there to be any genuine hope of achieving peace, Israel must be willing to make some concessions to the Palestinians, something that will not happen without President Bush upping the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to make a more concerted effort for peace.
Professional storyteller Noa Baum, born in Jerusalem, Israel came to Blair on Thurs., April 14, to tell her story of Israel and Palestine, "A Land Twice Promised," to some CAP and social studies classes.
Terri Schiavo slipped into a "persistent vegetative state" approximately 15 years ago in February of 1990 after a heart attack caused by a potassium imbalance from bulimia. After two earlier attempts by her husband, Michael Schiavo, to have the feeding tube keeping her alive removed, the tube was taken out Friday, March 18. In the days since, conservatives have slipped into high gear, first asking Florida courts to step in and then, when Florida courts refused to intervene, having Congress pass a bill giving control of the case to federal courts.
Rare is the amazing computer game that captivates you until late at night, leaving you bleary eyed but ready for more in the morning. Rarer still is a quality sequel to that game. Rarest of all are the game and sequel both so amazing that you can't decide which one is better.
Rumors of Takoma Park Middle School's (TPMS) annual trip to Florida being cancelled are not accurate, according to TPMS Principal Jean Haven.
The Instrumental Music concert, featuring Blair's Symphonic and Honors Jazz Bands and Orchestra, originally scheduled for this coming Thursday, March 17, has been postponed until further notice because of a scheduling error.
Shabbat services have just ended at the national convention of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY, pronounced like nifty). Everyone is dressed in their best dress clothes to celebrate the holiday. As the last few notes of the soft, melodic Shabbat melodies die out, I grab my folding chair along with 1,300 other NFTY kids and shove it into a massive pile.
D.C. legislators, including many city council members and Mayor Anthony Williams, announced a push to ban selling video games that depict violence and sexual acts to minors in early February. In Illinois, Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) announced his support for a similar ban in mid-December of 2004. These legislators and others like them are on the right track.
Wherever the band goes, they're there. If the Marching Band goes to perform on "It's Academic," they drive along. If the Honors Jazz Band, Orchestra and Marching Band recruit students at middle schools for next year, they come. If the instrumental music program has a concert, they sponsor a bake sale in the lobby. "They" are the Blair Band and Orchestra Patrons (BBOPs), and they're not superheroes, just committed parents.
MCPS received a gold medal from Expansion Management magazine for the 10th consecutive year for its attractiveness to the business community, according to the MCPS Bulletin.
While great computer games come out each year, like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry, and Sims 2 this past year, I don't really like shelling out $45 to 50 apiece for these games. All too often, we gamers get caught up in the thrill of the moment and don't remember to buy those games we were excited about three years ago but never got around to playing. Even games from several years ago can be fun, exciting, wildly entertaining and greatest of all, dirt cheap.
Jazz legend Louis Armstrong, also known as Satchmo, was born into poverty in 1901 in New Orleans. He had a rough childhood and was sent to "James Home for Colored Waifs," an institution dedicated to reforming troublesome youth, after he fired a pistol into the air on New Years Eve; he was only 11 years old. While there, Armstrong started playing the cornet in the home's brass band. After about 18 months, Armstrong was released, and he started playing at clubs with his mentor Joe "King" Oliver, one of the first jazz musicians.
Rock superstar Jimi Hendrix was only in the limelight for three years, but within that time, he managed to change the face of Rock and Roll forever. Hendrix was born in 1942, started playing guitar at age 11 and performed with local rock groups as a teen. At 16, Hendrix left school and joined the Army as a paratrooper, a career quickly ended by an injury he received during a practice jump.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph J. Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1904. His parents died when he was 12, and both he and his sisters moved to Los Angeles, California with their grandmother. Bunche showed his intelligence early on in life when he won prizes for both English and History in primary school and when he was named valedictorian of his high school class. He then attended UCLA from where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and was the valedictorian of his class. In 1928, he received his Masters degree and spent the next six years teaching at Harvard University and working on his PhD.
While large portions of America are getting into the Super Bowl spirit, buying chest paint, getting tons of pork rinds, popcorn and pretzels or spending hours setting up complicated betting schemes, I get into the Super Bowl season the way I normally do -- by exhibiting utter apathy.
Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little in Nebraska in 1925. He was the son of a Baptist minister and an avid supporter of Marcus Garvey and other Black Nationalists. Little's support caused trouble for his family when he was very young; the family's house was set on fire, presumably by white supremacists. The family moved to Michigan in 1929 after Little's father was mysteriously killed when his head was crushed and run over by a streetcar. It was labeled a suicide, but Little later said that he suspected his father was killed by white supremacists. At around the same time, Little's mother was committed to a mental institution.
A 37-year-old man was arrested and charged Monday, Jan. 17, with the recent spree of burglaries and sexual assaults near Blair and other crimes going back as far as two years.
Dan Brown's book Digital Fortress is utterly and totally entertaining. The book will likely keep readers up late into the night, drawing you in and not letting go until the sadly expected and predictable conclusion.
Students for Montgomery County's Future, a local political awareness organization, will launch a program for 30 to 40 current freshmen and sophomores from across the county in mid-January in an effort to increase youth involvement in future elections.
There's a secret draft in this country. Every day, lower-income Americans are effectively drafted into the army, navy, air force and marines. Sure, we don't call it a draft, but due to the attractive benefits offered by the military, joining up is often one of the few ways for poorer teenagers to have any hope of going to college.
Finally, after many months of preparation, hard work, diligence, procrastination and tons of pizza, they made it. By the time they came back to Maryland at the end of their spring sojourn to Tennessee last year, they had won 26th in the world in the "DestiNations in Time" challenge.
Secretary of State Colin Powell resigned today, Monday, Nov. 15 along with three other cabinet members. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to take his place.
Mary Cheney is a lesbian, and we all know it. Now let's move on with this election. In the final presidential debate, on Oct. 13, President George W. Bush was asked whether he believed that homosexuality is a choice. After Bush's convoluted answer, challenger John Kerry said he believes sexual preference is inborn. "And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as," Kerry stated.
An accident occurred this morning near the intersection of Lanark Way and Colesville Road, sometime before 6:35 a.m., involving a small, unloaded school bus and a grey Hyundai, according to Blair security and the Media Services Division of the Montgomery County Police Department.
The student body can still dance if they want to but only according to the school's ban on freak dancing. According to the freak-dancing policy developed by a group of administrators shortly before the 2003 Valentine's Day dance, freak dancing of any sort is not allowed at school-sponsored dances. In the policy, freak dancing is not defined, leaving judgment up to chaperones at the dances.
The girls' varsity soccer team at Winston Churchill High School was forced to forfeit its first two games of the 12-game season after several team members were caught drinking at a party that occurred on Friday, Aug. 27, according to the coach, Haroot Hakopian.
The United States of America holds dear the ideal of people controlling their government. Although direct democracy, where each individual votes on everything, is impractical in a country the size of the US, the government has been set up to be practical and still give a great deal of power to the people. However, in the election of the President, there is insufficient control by the people, mainly because of the archaic mechanism of the Electoral College.
Michael J. Moore's newest documentary is at times shocking, hilarious and poignant, but suffers from much the same problem as his last film, Bowling for Columbine. The film offers overwhelming evidence of a problem with practically no conclusion.
The Fighting Janes perform at Rock for El Salvador, including sophomores Andrew Joseph (far left) and Eric Merchant (far right).
The Defenders of Pluto band featuring, from left to right, seniors Zack Rothman and Jeff Holliday, as well as junior Shaagnik Mukherji, perform at the Rock for El Salvador benefit concert held at the Washington Ethical Society on May 12.
Robo-Grace espousing her favorite phrase.
Principal Phillip Gainous addresses the seniors at Blair's graduation ceremony.
The Blair seniors wait to recieve their diplomas.
Blair seniors engage in the traditional Turning of the Tassels, signaling and end to the graduation ceremony.
Blair seniors wait in line to recieve their diplomas at Blair's commencement ceremony.
Fighting in Freelancer sure is a bunch of fun.