Currently Browsing: Editorials
Obama balances education
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Written by Charles Simpson, Co-Editor in Chief
“We need to encourage children to take more math and science and to make sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations,” said former President George W. Bush during a 2006 State of the Union address lauding the No Child Left Behind Act. Recently, this course has been built upon by the Obama administration for a more flexible approach to education, permitting educational focus on subject areas beyond math, science and reading.
With regards to education policy, the Obama administration should be praised for two choices. First: avoiding direct, partisan confrontation with the previous education laws established by former President Bush, namely No Child Left Behind. There were tenets of the No Child Left Behind law worth continuing, and advocating continuation of these positive aspects prevented further inflammation of partisanship on Capitol Hill.
Second: Obama’s proposed reforms remove the United States from an internationally confrontational education policy and moved the U.S. toward a flexible education system that facilitates an effective global balance of skill sets. Simply looking to out-compete the rest of the globe in math and science does not permit specialization at an international level, and does not permit students to strengthen their particular fortes while in school.
Exclusive focus on math and science appeared to be a sound policy after alarming reports comparing the performance of American students to their international peers in these subjects were proliferated in the media. American students were observed consistently lagging behind students in Asia, Europe and numerous other industrialized areas. American students ranked 16 out of 30 countries in the science portion of the Program for International Student Assessment in 2006 and ranked 23 out of 30 countries in math. In another examination of science and math competency, American students placed 25 out of 41, right after Latvia.
Shocking. But this did not necessitate a wholesale refocusing of American academics. We should remember the current strength of the United States in the global economic order is in the services sector. The U.S. does services and innovation best, not manufacturing, development, or even invention. Services and innovation are not areas dictating special or ubiquitous capacities in math or science, but rather require understanding of the humanities and general creativity to achieve success.
Pressuring students to perform well exclusively in math and science chokes this creativity by forcing schools to reduce material to mindless memorization and regurgitation of mathematical formulas, science facts and statistical figures. It also detracts from study in the equally important subjects of history, geography, international affairs, art and music.
For the U.S. to prosper economically, effective education in these subjects will need to be attained. Resisting the urge to incessantly pressure students to achieve in math and science by reducing content to memorization will need to be avoided. Policy makers must remember that while it took comprehension of math and science to produce the portable music player, it took ingenuity, creativity and social knowledge to market the iPod.
Thus, a balanced approach to education is needed. Exclusive focus on math and science is as much a hindrance to students’ eventual economic success as slacking in these subjects. Therefore, it is laudable that educational policy has worked to improve math and science, but it is more advantageous that policy has been adjusted to permit pragmatism in academic focus. Perhaps Obama has remembered it was a degree in law, not number theory or physics, which brought him to prominence.
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Currently Browsing: Editorials
A new face for the $50 bill?
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Written by Noah Fitzgerel, staff writer
Congressman Patrick T. McHenry has issued a formal proposal to Congress to change the current $50 bill from a photo of Ulysses S. Grant to former President Ronald Regan. Reagan, who was in term from 1981-1989 was perceived by many to be one of the greatest presidents in this last century. Reagan has already been honored in many ways, one of which being renaming of the National Airport to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C in 1998.
It is essential that Congress stay focused on the more urgent issues facing this country such as health care, terrorism overseas, and two wars, instead of spending valuable time on debating an issue such as this.
Freshman Gwen Levey said, “Bills like this which are introduced into Congress slow down its progress in passing other more important laws.”
Among the dissenters was freshman Nardos Assefa who said, “Congress should focus on other topics, like the huge recession that we are trying to get out of.”
Congress is already behind schedule as a result of the huge snowstorms that closed down the government in Washington, D.C. in February. While the senators and congressmen in term right now may disagree on many things, most would agree that the economy should take precedence over a face-lift for a piece of American currency.
It is true that President Reagan had a hand in shaping America’s future for the better, but this type of issue should be handled by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This department has had a hand in re-designing the new $5, $10, $20, and $50 bills that are in circulation now. Nonetheless, due to the nature of our times, now is just not appropriate time to address this proposal.
The government gave an updated look to the $50 bill back in 2004. So, if any bill were to be updated, it should be the $1 bill. The $1 bill is in constant use by people all over the world, and according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, up to 45% of bills produced are $1 bills.
Changing the portrait on the bill would cause many problems for the people currently using U.S. denominations. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s website, www.moneyfactory.gov, responded to requests to change the portrait on American greenbacks by saying, “Changing the size or portrait figures would not improve security, but it would contribute to potential confusion for the millions of people around the world.” Bills are updated to prevent counterfeiters from being able to easily replicate money. The Congress, whose duty it is to best serve the American people would not be fulfilling its obligation by even debating this proposal.
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Chatroulette: a risky business
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Written by Hope Stadulis, Editorials Editor
As a “new game” loads, my friends and I giggle excitedly. Who will we meet today? What will we talk about? Seconds later, the computer screen displays the image of a stranger and we begin to talk with them. When the conversation lulls, we swiftly click the “next” button and greet another person.
Chatroulette is a world-wide chat game that has recently become all the rage among teens and adults alike. With numbers reaching around 35,000 chat goers at any time, Chatroulette has become popular across the globe. It has even been rumored that various celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton have graced Chatroulette with their presence. Its success is no surprise- like Skype, and iChat, it is another program that intelligently utilizes modern technology.
Senior Alex Johnson praised Chatroulette, saying, “It is a really cool concept because you can casually talk to someone who you would otherwise not have the chance to meet.”
Chatroulette’s intentions are simple and innocent. Seventeen year old Andrey Turnovskiy created the site last year, and Turnovskiy said in an interview with the New York Times, “I was looking for a site like this, one that would let me chat randomly on webcams, and I couldn’t find it, so I thought I would try to build it.” Users now have the chance to chat and acquaint themselves with random people from all over the world via video stream.
“I talked to a couple of Australian girls for a while when I went on,” said senior Nick Chuoung.
In theory, Chatroulette is safe-no names and private information are released to any participants. Unfortunately, the Internet is no stranger to all things inappropriate. Chatroulette’s genius is becoming increasingly overshadowed by frequent pornographic content displayed by its users.
“People take advantage of the privacy settings on the site. There is a lot of disgusting content and profanity,” said senior Michelle Kinzer.
Even with the option to “report inappropriate video,” trashy, disturbing images compose a large majority of chats between strangers. Not only do these images taint a developed mind, but they are a threat to the naïve mindset of Chatroulette’s younger users.
“I couldn’t decide If it was worth it. I met a few really cool people, but I was always scared as I clicked ‘next’ that another user would be doing something gross,” said Kinzer.
Turnovskiy’s creation defies the boundaries of time and place that inevitably separate us from coming in contact with people around the world. But even though it borders on a new frontier for video technology, its innocence has been corrupted by perversion. The safety and security guaranteed on Chatroulette is spoiled by improper conduct. There are plenty of alternative sites that offer similar meeting and greeting without abundant abscenity. Omegle.com has recently upgraded to video chatting, and with greater restrictions on inappropriate content, its a socialite’s paradise.
Chuoung said, “Omegle is just like a smaller-scale, more appropriate version of Chatroulette.”
If you are looking to have good, clean fun, I am betting that this is not the roulette game that you should place all your chips on.
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Bounty Hunter fails to capture
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Written by Natalie Johnson
What could possibly be better than bringing your ex-wife to jail? In the movie The Bounty Hunter, Gerard Butler, as Milo, gets this opportunity of a lifetime. Milo is an ex-cop that fills his time with drinking and the occasional bounty hunting job. His ex-wife Nicole, played by Jennifer Aniston, is a high ranking, tenacious crime reporter for the New York Daily News.
Milo is assigned to drag Nicole to jail because she skipped out on her court date in order to uncover the details in a suspicious suicide story. This is practically the entire synopsis of the story. While it is nearly impossible to fill up an entire 106 minutes with this story line, director Andy Tennant manages to do so by throwing in constant bickering between Milo and Nicole, a few action scenes and a trip to Atlantic City.
While the plot synopsis at first sounds somewhat unique, the actual movie is anything but. The plot aims at being unique and different, but the aim misses largely and The Bounty Hunter becomes yet another predictable and typical romantic comedy. Sure, the plot was spiced up a bit with a couple of mediocre action scenes, but overall it was the same old story line.
Throughout the entire movie Milo and Nicole bring up their past memories and mistakes they made in their marriage. Not once was the audience deceived into thinking the two were not going to be together in the end. The movie failed to bring in any element of surprise or astonishment; even the murder case was predictable. All of the loose ends seemed to be tied in the audience’s mind before the movie was even halfway through.
Not only was the movie itself hard to watch, the entire time it was impossible to forget you were watching Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. The characters failed to be unique and different. Gerard Butler could have been playing the crude and heartless Mike from the Ugly Truth while Jennifer Aniston could have been the uptight Beth in He’s Just Not That into You. The characters’ names were forgotten within the first ten minutes of the movie. Instead of delving into the emotions of the characters, you found yourself watching the big time stars Aniston and Butler.
Not only did the characters fail to be distinct, so did their chemistry. It was almost painful to watch Aniston and Butler try to force an onscreen chemistry that obviously was not there. No one was fooled into thinking their relationship went any deeper than the surface. The lack of chemistry between the two was impossible to miss and made the movie that much more boring.
The movie just dragged on and the forced jokes were almost unbearable. Sure, there were a few bright spots, and a couple chuckles from the audience here and there, but the movie failed to captivate audiences overall. It was forgettable, tedious, dull, lackluster and incredibly predictable. You could not help checking the time to see when the lifeless movie would stop dragging on and just get to the point.
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Baseball opens season with win
Photo Credit: David Hookey
Junior Ryan Keck pitches to hitters during a recent practice. Keck is the No. 2 starting pitcher on the team this year.
Written by David Hookey, Sports Editor
With the bases loaded and junior shortstop Jake Barnes at the plate, the Atoms knew they were within one hit of taking the lead on the 6th ranked team in the Northern Region. Barnes did not let this opportunity go to waste as he drilled a 3-2 pitch past the Robinson shortstop to drive in all three runners.
“That’s why Jake Barnes is our number three hitter,” said head coach Ron Abrigo.
That hit, coupled with a stellar performance by senior pitcher Ryan Schubert, earned an Atoms 3-2 victory over the Robinson Rams on Thursday, March 18.
Schubert pitched a complete game allowing only two runs on two hits, while striking out eight.
“I think I pitched very well and I had a lot of command on all my pitches,” said Schubert. “I threw a lot of strikes because I know I have a solid defense that will make plays for me.”
“That is the capability we know Schubert has and there was no better team to do it against than number six in the region,” said Abrigo.
Robinson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and tacked on another run in the top of the sixth to make it 2-0 heading into the Atoms second-to-last set of at-bats. AHS wasted no time in mounting their comeback.
After senior Justin Robson led off the inning with a single, senior Robert Potts was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Senior Nathan Clayton followed with a walk to load the bases, setting the stage for Barnes’ bases-clearing double.
“[The team] played very well,” said Abrigo. “We came together as expected because this performance was really four years in the making.”
Following the win, the Atoms knew that there was still room to improve.
“We need to continue to hit the ball and be more aggressive, said Abrigo. “We also can’t be making baserunning mistakes.”
The Atoms looks to succeed in a very difficult Patriot District this year, with West Springfield, Woodson and Lake Braddock all projected to be very good.
“We definitely want a district championship this year and hopefully we go deep in the region,” said Schubert.
The team will rely heavily on their senior leadership to win them games. This year, the varsity team has nine seniors; Schubert, Robson, Potts, Clayton, pitcher Nathan Reel, outfielder Stefan Marquardt, outfielder Marquis Perez, outfielder Michael Lazar and catcher Kevin Fields.
The team’s next game is at home on March 25 against Lee High School. The Lancers are 0-1 this year after finishing at the bottom of the Patriot District last year.
Following the game against Lee, the team will travel to Hilton Head, South Carolina to play a tournament over the Spring Break vacation.
They will begin with a game against Langley and hope to advance deep in the tournament.
“I think this year’s team has the potential to improve upon our prior year’s record and be a competitor in the district and region tournaments,” said junior starting pitcher Ryan Keck.
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Boys lacrosse overpowers Falls Church
Photo Credit: Carly Bouchard
Junior Andy Craig faces off in the Atoms 18-0 win over Marshall. Craig scored three goals and led the team in faceoff wins.
Written by David Hookey, Sports Editor
Through two games this season, the boys varsity lacrosse team has dominated their opponents. Their goal differential in that span is 34, a statistic that should have other teams in the Patriot District nervous about playing the Atoms later this season.
“Our games so far really haven’t even been competitive for us,” said junior midfielder Andy Craig. “But it’s nice to have momentum heading into our tougher games.”
The Atoms opened the season on March 17, against Marshall HS with an 18-0 rout of the Statesmen. They followed up that dominant performance with a 16-1 victory over Falls Church on Thursday, March 18.
“We shot better against Falls Church; working the ball to get good shots not just cranking it at the goalie,” said head coach Bill Maglisceau.
So far this season AHS has been paced by their starting attackmen with junior Nick Lalande’s 11 goals, junior Nathan Miller’s seven goals and junior Stephen Craig’s six goals.
“Our attack has played exceptionally,” said Lalande.
Despite the team’s decisive victories, the team knows that there is still room to improve.
“We’ve done a decent job on ground balls but we can do better,” said Maglisceau. “We’ve been decent on faceoffs but I expect improvement.”
The team has five captains this year: Miller, fellow junior Bob Stevens, and seniors Stephen Novak, Murat Gokturk and Andrew Sells. Other key players include the Craig brothers, Lalande, newly converted junior defenseman Peter Hagen, senior August McCarthy and senior Travis Briggs.
The Atoms now enter district play, starting away at Lake Braddock before coming home to face district powerhouse West Springfield on April 8.
“West Springfield and Woodson are definitely going to be the biggest games of our season,” said Miller. “We’re going to have to get past them if we want to win another district championship. The key will be to have our reserve players step up because right now our depth could be better. The clearing game will also have to be improved to continue our success.”
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Parking troubles frustrate students
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Written by Kelly McGarey, Co-Editor in Cheif
As I slam the door on my ‘98 Mazda Tribute, turn on the lights and shift into drive, a sinking feeling rises from my cereal-filled stomach.
Heart racing, I slowly lower my gaze. My eyes burn as I read the grainy black digits on the dashboard clock: it’s 6:43 and I’m going to be late yet again. Speeding down the windy neighborhood streets, I quickly pick up two fellow seniors and the daily fight to make it to school on time is on. Breathing deeply, I try to remain calm and avoid thinking about the terrible scene that surely lies ahead. Then I see it: the light from hell. Nestled on a side street off Little River, you would think that Heritage would be less terrifying then its pot-hole ridden feeder. You would be wrong.
This seemingly unimposing road serves as the site of a battleground upon which many AHS students fight every weekday morning. As drivers approach the shopping center, the immense line is a sure-fire sign that tardiness is imminent.
The reason for the delay at this busy juncture is the fact that hundreds of walkers also cross at the intersection of Four Year Run and Heritage. A single crossing guard is responsible for directing traffic and ensuring that every student makes it across the busy road safely. Though this is an important and necessary task, many find the method of entry ineffective. The fact that both walkers and drivers are battling to get through a narrow expanse leads to aggression felt by both sides.
“It’s really difficult to navigate around the traffic coming into the parking lots. I have to be on my guard,” said senior Claudia Arrevalo, who walks to school.
Aside from the difficulties faced by drivers every morning, many were dissatisfied with the response of the county to the parking after the blizzard. As students returned to school after two storms dumped over a foot of snow on northern Virginia, many were surprised to find that though school was in session, their method of transportation would not suffice. Senior MC Larme, who parallel parks on Four Year Run was one of the many drivers who had to make alternate plans thanks to an unplowed parking space. “I’m glad I paid $250 to take the bus because there was [expletive] snow in my spot,” said Larme.
Another flaw in the current parking system is spot thieves. Many parkers have found that if they arrive to school late, their spaces have been filled by miscellaneous vehicles.
“On days that I have to come to school late my spot is quite frequently occupied. Unless I get lucky and taking someone else’s spot its rather inconvenient,” said senior Emma Whitmyre.
Although the current procedures call for students whose spots have been taken to park in the back and alert security, many are unwilling to put in the effort simply resign themselves to taking a gamble and parking in the spot of another student who is currently off school grounds.
Clearly, the current system in place to handle student parking is not working for the students or teachers who drive and walk to school each morning. The back-ups created lead to stress for everyone involved and create safety hazards for walkers and drivers alike. Whether the solution is creating a traffic light at the intersection of Four Year Run, creating parking in an alternate location or redirecting walkers to a safer and more convenient crossing point, some sort of action must be taken to fix the problem.
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Boys tennis dominates early
Photo Credit: David Hookey
Freshman Courage Okungbowa slices a backhand during practice leading up to the Atoms match against Lake Braddock. Okungbowa plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the team.
Written by Kelsey Knoche, Sports X-tra Editor
The AHS boys tennis team’s 2-0 record does not tell the full story. Not only has the team as a whole not lost a match, no player on the team has even dropped a set.
Following a 9-0 rout of West Potomac HS on Thursday, March 18, the Atoms improved their record to 2-0 overall and 18-0 in individual matches.
“We are doing very well this season and I’m very happy with the effort,” said head coach Mike Scott.
“We went into the match [against West Potomac] on a high note from the shutout at Lee,” said senior captain Connor Volk, the number four ranked player on the team. “With our confidence in the top six, we were able to dominate every match. We can’t ask for anything better than 18-0.”
Freshman Courage Okungbowa leads the Atoms by dominating the two opponents he has faced at number one singles 10-0 and 10-4, respectively. Okungbowa is ranked first in his age group in the Mid-Atlantic region and is a strong contender to win the Patriot District singles title. Juniors Erik Morton and David Hookey hold the number two and three spots, respectively, while Volk, junior JP Ramirez and sophomore Philipos Ousman round out the top six.
“It helps everyone having Courage to solidify our number one spot because it bumps players like Erik Morton and David Hookey, who have both played number one for us, down to two and three,” said Scott. “It really makes our team stronger all the way down.”
The Atoms opened the regular season on March 16 against Lee HS and dominated the Lancers in all aspects of the game. No singles player lost more than five games and the doubles teams overpowered the lowly Lancers.
Following the wins, the Atoms are confident heading into the bulk of their schedule against the strong teams of the Patriot District. The team plays reigning Patriot District champion Lake Braddock today at Lake Braddock Secondary School. On Thursday, the Atoms will take on rival WT Woodson HS.
“Lake Braddock and Woodson are going to be our toughest matches of the year and we’re going to have to split with one of them if we want to make regionals,” said Morton.
The two teams with the best records in the district at the end of the season advance to the Northern Region tournament. At this point, it is a three-horse race between Woodson, Lake Braddock and AHS for the two spots. All three teams are undefeated and all three teams have yet to drop a set in any of their matches.
“We’ve been able to practice for about a month now because we were out there shoveling,” said Scott. “As a result, we’ve had a lot of good practice and we’ll use that to our advantage against our opponents.”
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Medicare, the $250 billion scam
Photo Credit: August McCarthy
President Obama giving a speech about health care at George Mason
Written by August McCarthy, Editorials Editor
Drop your opinions about Pelosicare or Obamacare and pick up this one; stop the $250 billion scam of Medicare. It has become the easiest and most profitable scam that any criminal would die to be a part of.
The scheme is simple. Create a fake business, fill out a phony form, send the bill to Medicare, and collect the money. And before the government double checks to see who is billing them, they pay the bill. Audits to validate each company are too infrequent to discourage even the least motivated crook. Not enough money has been spent in the past to investigate all of the false claims to do the government any good, resulting in enormous amounts of lost money.
The false bills range from electric wheelchairs to artificial limbs, and any other medical supply that one of the 46 million elderly and disabled Medicare-covered citizens might need from the government insurance health program. All anyone needs to make a false claim is a recipient’s name, social security number, date of birth and address: all of which can easily be found with minimal effort and the right resources. “Its been pretty easy. I think that they have found a way in which they have been able to get pretty substantial amounts of money with not a huge amount of effort. And at least until now without the posbilty of a great detection, with much fewer risks,” said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during a 60 Minutes interview.
With the government focused on how much money they should dish out for new health care coverage, a new approach should be taken on how to prevent the loss of billions from being taken right out from under their feet.
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Are the SOL tests necessary?
Photo Credit: Rachel Baker
Senior Tamani Omar reviews for her SOLs during her after school hours.
Written by Haumaira Safi, Staff Writer
It is R1 flex and social studies teacher Jonathan York passes out packets of SOL review to his class. Many of the students groan, but they all begin to work on the packet anyway. Multiple questions, several of which derive from the material that they learned all the way in September, arise. Moments like these are when students realize they should have paid attention in class since the school year began.
“I review all year long. I ask review questions on quizzes and tests all the time, and during flex I do SOL review,” said York.
That is how SOLs are. Once it’s time to take the test, students either know it or they do not. Not to mention that many SOLs inconveniently take place around the same time as final exams, the SAT, and various SAT subject tests. Thus, are SOLs really necessary?
“We do need to have a test to see if students are meeting the minimum requirements. But SOLs are like Trivial Pursuit, there’s way too much information that we have to cover. The big thing is there’s no testing of the skills,” added York.
Students seem to think that the SOLs can be a bit futile. “I think it’s kind of pointless because schools have different ways of teaching,” said sophomore Eliana Sejas.
“They’re whack. I think they’re kind of pointless,” agreed junior Kelvin Galos.
Whether students think they are “whack” or “pointless”, numerous classes require their students to take their SOLs at the end of the year. Since the SOLs are inevitable, they might as well try to prepare as best as they can. In addition to reviewing the class material, students are encouraged to sleep well and to eat a healthy breakfast on the morning of the test. “I try to get some sleep, maybe even eat breakfast,” said Galos.
Galos added that once he’s finished with his SOLs, “I feel relieved that it’s over.”
Regardless the level of difficulty of the SOL varying from one person to another, students indeed have many class resources and review websites that will help them prepare for these end-of-the-year tests.
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