opinions


California dreaming may become reality

By Greg Kohn | July 7, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

As humans continue to test the strength and resilience of Mother Nature, several U.S. state governments have been proactive in limiting their contributions to global climate change. Now the state of California, the leader of the pack, may be able to force the auto industry to manufacture cleaner cars, something the federal government has failed to do.


The "Scooter" Libby cakewalk

By Lucas Alvarado-Farrar | July 7, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

After the U.S. Court of Appeals denied I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's plea to avoid prison time while he worked out his next appeal, it was time for President Bush to step into action and make a decision. He was stuck. The President could pardon Libby – who was convicted of perjury in the Valerie Plame CIA leak affair – to satisfy the unanswered calls from his conservative base or leave the issue alone and allow the court's sentence for the former vice presidential aide stand in an attempt to soothe the Democratic Congress.


A sad strike against student freedoms

By Monica Wei | July 7, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against a high school student last week in Frederick v. Morse, the first major case involving students' First Amendment rights since 1988. However, the Court did not reinforce the famous Tinker precedent that students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate as it should have, choosing instead to create a whole new rule on the First Amendment that allows censorship of student speech advocating illegal drugs.


Git out of Gitmo

By Kevin Teng | June 30, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

White House officials have been discussing the prospect of closing the detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay – an interrogation and holding facility for suspects of terrorism. Last Friday, they finally acknowledged that this issue has become a priority.


A false start with AP exams

By Boris Vassilev | June 10, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

High school is supposed to prepare us for college. Counselors encourage students to take challenging courses, try their best, maximize capabilities and show potential. And what better way to do this than taking and scoring well on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam? Many colleges currently offer exemptions from their first year courses if students score well enough on the respective AP exams. In light of this, students are using these exemptions in order to skip semesters, or even entire years of their college education. But instead of getting a head start on life, students who skip college courses are cheating themselves out of important life education.


Seven tips for 07

By Maya Calabrese | June 3, 2007, midnight | In Humor »

Graduation. After four long years of high school, seniors can finally celebrate…by sitting in a room for what seems like another four, long years. The sad truth is that graduation is like the Academy Awards – without the designer dresses, lavish goody bags or George Clooney.


Gainous's shoes are not an easy fit

By Iliya Smithka, Gus Woods | May 29, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

On July 1, Principal Phillip Gainous will say farewell to Montgomery Blair High School. Now that his decision is final and his departure imminent, the school has turned its attention toward his replacement. As Gainous himself has said, "Nobody is concerned about my leaving, it's who's coming in." Blair's new principal must continue Gainous's precedent of excellent cooperation with vocal students by exercising the administration's obligation of oversight while consistently taking student rights of expression into consideration.


Supporting Service

By Ethan Kuhnhenn | April 26, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

Amid the frenzy of preparing for high school graduation, Student Service Learning (SSL) often becomes an afterthought, a vague notion that settles into the far corners of memory until, for some, second semester of senior year rolls around.


Homework doesn't make the grade

By Simon Kanter | April 24, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

For as long as anyone can remember, there has been homework. It has become an unquestionable constant in our society, a concept so etched into the minds of our collective conscious that it's hard to imagine life without massive take-home packets, book work and essays. But what if we did?


Advanced ego

By Pia Nargundkar | March 27, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

The number and score of students taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams is a) a good indicator of progress in the county b) a testament to how well MCPS is doing compared to the nation c) a testament to better preparation and teaching d) none of the above


Chaos ensues every morning in the student parking lot

By Erica Turner | March 16, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

Imagine that you are driving down University Blvd. toward Blair High School. Your iPod is blasting your favorite song and traffic is flowing well. You turn right to enter the student parking lot and as soon as you enter, you immediately press down on the brakes and come to halt. From the entrance all the way down the far lane closest to University Blvd., there is a long line of cars. Parents are stopping in the driving lanes to drop off their children and it is impossible for you to pull around them.


Minimum wage needs more than just a raise

By Maya Calabrese | March 6, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

For Blazers the typical after school job pays anywhere from $5.15 to $8.00, adding up to just enough for the latest gaming system or pair of sneakers. But what if you had to live on that money? For minimum wage workers this is just the case.


Pro/Con: Should Blair be required to implement OARS?

By Miriam Ragen, Poorva Singal | March 3, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

Blair is one of only a few high schools in the county that has yet to implement the Online Achievement and Reporting System (OARS). In the 2007-2008 school year, MCPS will require the use of this program in all secondary schools.


Maryland a step behind in saving lives

By Lois Bangiolo | March 1, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

It can prevent cancer, it can save lives, but in Maryland, it is not yet required for middle school girls. It is Gardasil, the newly released vaccine that protects against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a disease that can lead to cervical cancer. While there is opposition from parents and controversy over how the maker of the vaccine will benefit from state mandates requiring the vaccine, Maryland has made a mistake in not passing the legislation potentially preventing thousands of cervical cancer cases.


YouTube goes overboard

By Johanna Gretschel | Feb. 27, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

A nonstop flow of yelling in Arabic is the only sound in the film as an unidentified object swings in and out of the dark, grainy scene. A few more seconds reveals the object to be the dead body of Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi dictator. That's all thanks to YouTube, a widely popular and controversial home video uploading and sharing service. Now, anyone with a working email address and the savvy to change one's birth year to earlier than 1988 when registering for the site can access the disturbing footage with the click of a button.


snoWatch: Let's boycott the calendar!

By Payal Patnaik | Feb. 25, 2007, midnight | In Humor »

In another epic battle against the snow and ice, Montgomery County quickly cleared the main roads shortly after today's snow subsided. And the school system is fighting another battle between hazard and learning, especially since we've been improving so much by county standards. So we musn't slack, should we?


snoWatch: The mayhem continues

By Jeff Lautenberger, Payal Patnaik | Feb. 12, 2007, midnight | In Humor »

4:30 p.m. Thursday update: Well, our streak of perfect accuracy has finally ended with tomorrow's unexpected closure (who saw that coming, seriously?) You gotta admit though, snoWatch had this storm on lockdown from the beginning and we're in no position to stop gloating about it. Looks like we're getting that "lovely seven day weekend" after all, and despite what Jeff said earlier, he will be back (if it ever snows again) to write snoWatch. Until then, we're out!


Inter-county disconnect

By Rachita Sood | Feb. 8, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

Every workday, thousands of commuters sit through miles of gridlock, crawling along the area's clogged local roads and highways as they face hour long drives to work. The Intercounty Connecter (ICC), a proposed six-lane, 18-mile highway, aims to alleviate this congestion by providing a traffic free east-west route between I-270 in Montgomery County and U.S. Route 1 in Prince George's County.


iRaq

By Julie Zhu | Feb. 5, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

Personal pronouns have been good to us over the years. After all, it was the "I have a dream" speech that helped materialize racial equality and "We will fight on the beaches" that inspired British and American troops to trump the Germans on the shores of France. But in our fast-paced, laptop-hugging, cell phone-glued-to-ear society, personal pronouns have evolved from replacing proper nouns to preceding simple objects as prefixes.


Beating a dead horse

By Jessica Cutler | Feb. 5, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

Enough is enough.


Warming up to clean energy

By Molly Reed | Feb. 3, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

The average American generates about one and a half tons of solid waste per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. But that figure pales in comparison to the five tons of carbon dioxide emissions each person produces annually through their daily actions and activities, as estimated by the Earth Policy Institute.


Holding graduation at Jericho does not violate the Constitution

By Pia Nargundkar | Feb. 3, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

We the people of Montgomery Blair, in order to form a more perfect graduation, establish a site placing the least burden on tax payers, ensure seating for all, provide for the comfort of the aforementioned, promote the general sentimentality worth of such an event and secure this site to ourselves and our posterity, do wish to ordain and establish Jericho as our graduation venue.


Rah rah, go Blair...Tiddlywinks?

By Boris Vassilev | Jan. 12, 2007, midnight | In Humor »

Hang up the football pads, put away the good old pigskin, pack up the baseball glove, and stow the"UPA (Ultimate Players Association) approved 250 gram Frisbee?


Democratic Congress vs. Republican White House

By Iliya Smithka | Jan. 3, 2007, midnight | In Op/Ed »

For the first time since the Republican Revolution in 1994, voters have elected a democratic majority in Congress. Now, with a 51-49 majority in the Senate and a 232-201 majority in the House of Representatives, the Democrats can pass the legislation that they've wanted to for the past 10 years. But with a Republican White House and divisions within their party, they may find it hard to get enough support for their bills. With topics controversial across America and in the Capitol, representatives will vote based on their loyalties: with their party, with their constituents or with their own initiative.


Detention policy gets itself in trouble

By Ethan Kuhnhenn | Dec. 12, 2006, midnight | In Op/Ed »

First came the cowbells, now it's detention. Things are getting increasingly worse for those afflicted with chronic tardiness.

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