Isaac Arnsdorf


Name: Isaac Arnsdorf
Position: Print Editor-in-Chief
Graduation Year: 2007
Isaac Arnsdorf is a perfectionistic grammar nerd with no sense of humor. According to co-editor Allie O'Hora, "he enjoys listening to rhythmless, atonal 'music' and reading the encyclopedia." He sleeps with the Manifesto under his pillow.


Stories (15)


From a school zone to a war zone

By Isaac Arnsdorf | April 19, 2007, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Jose Montoya graduated from Blair last spring. He'll most likely be in Iraq by this fall.

Echoes of a distant war reach Blair Boulevard

By Isaac Arnsdorf | March 8, 2007, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Amid endless tracts of golden desert, the solitary upright Pepsi can begged suspicion. Staff Sergeant Richard Walton knew it was laden with explosives. In 2003, when Walton began his tour of duty in Balad, about 45 minutes north of Baghdad, the Iraq war was still in its early stages, and the primitive roadside bombs were easy to spot. Iraq was easy compared to Walton's current deployment — the SAC. "Recruiting is hands-down the hardest job in the Army," he says. Walton, who was scheduled to visit during lunch yesterday, started working at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station on Georgia Avenue last year. His assignment: Blair.

Bomb threat prompts school search

By Isaac Arnsdorf, Allie O'Hora | June 2, 2006, midnight | In ‎Latest »

At 12:04 p.m. on April 20, an unidentified male called the county's emergency communications center issuing a bomb threat to the Blair building, according to a police report filed by Blair Cluster Educational Facilities Officer Ralph Penn.

X3 stands tall

By Isaac Arnsdorf | June 1, 2006, midnight | In Movies »

America's favorite mutants are back in the third chapter of X-Men's Hollywood run, "X-Men: The Last Stand," a film which delivers all the action, suspense, intrigue and cleverness that propelled the first two films. This time, Professor Xavier's leather-suited X-Men try to avert crisis as the development of a "cure" for mutation threatens to spark a war between humans and Magneto's hostile army of mutant emo punks and basement kids.

Any given Thursday

By Isaac Arnsdorf | May 25, 2006, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Building services worker Lyndon Johnson recently had the most disgusting experience of his career. Johnson is no tenderfoot, but nothing could have prepared him for what he faced the morning of April 19. "We had a student do a 'number two' between two vending machines."

Teacher pensions: Solution still pending

By Isaac Arnsdorf | April 6, 2006, midnight | In Op/Ed »

For a state that prides itself on its schools, Maryland's pension plan is an embarrassment and an obstacle to attracting and retaining quality teachers. Maryland's teacher pension plan ranks 51st in the nation - dead last. Retired Maryland school employees receive just 38 percent of their peak salary, half as much as in neighboring Pennsylvania, according to the Maryland State Teachers Association (MSTA).

A presidential aspiration thousands of miles away

By Isaac Arnsdorf | March 2, 2006, midnight | In ‎Latest »

When most Blair seniors consider where they could be in a year, they wonder which college they will attend. But Andrea Mvemba wonders if next year she could be the first daughter of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Escuelas cierran la brecha de aprovechamiento

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Jan. 26, 2006, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Los oficiales del MCPS describieron como progreso el que dos escuelas primarias del condado hayan aumentado las notas en exámenes estandarizados de ambos los estudiantes de la raza blanca y las minorías, de esta manera se va cerrando la brecha de aprovechamiento.

Weast presents 2007 operating budget

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Jan. 26, 2006, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Superintendent of schools Jerry Weast unveiled his Recommended Operating Budget for the 2007 fiscal year on Dec. 14. The $1.8 billion budget exceeds last year's by $122 million, with a $75 million increase in salaries and benefits for MCPS employees.

Two elementary schools decrease achievement gap

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Jan. 26, 2006, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Two Downcounty Consortium feeder elementary schools have raised the most recent standardized test scores of both white and minority students, which MCPS officials commended as progress in closing the achievement gap.

Overdone "Producers" still gets laughs

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Jan. 3, 2006, midnight | In Movies »

The Producers

Feeling budget cuts as hunger pangs

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Dec. 15, 2005, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Suddenly, her world went dark. The mounting stress from working three shifts had induced glaucoma, an eye disease that causes partial or total vision loss. She lost her job because she could not see well enough to operate a cash register. But she still had three mouths to feed.

"Goblet of Fire" burns bright

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Nov. 21, 2005, midnight | In Movies »

The latest screen adaptation of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is the darkest, most action-packed and most gratifying yet. Although still guilty of plot omissions and hasty narrative that has plagued previous movies, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" manages to breathe new life and inject new thrills into the story.

Punchline versus headline

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Nov. 11, 2005, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Baby boomers can still remember when Walter Cronkite was the most trusted man in America. For many teens of this generation, that role has now been filled by Jon Stewart.

County passes health reforms

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Nov. 10, 2005, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Two new healthcare initiatives passed the County Council, one to expand clinics that provide free healthcare to uninsured residents and another to allow county government employees to import lower-cost Canadian pharmaceuticals.



Images (1)


Photo: Dinosaur

By Isaac Arnsdorf | Jan. 30, 2007, midnight | In ‎Latest »

Dinosaurs are sweet.