Hispanic Matters

  by Camila Barrios

   If you look at any statistics box of Whitman, you'll notice that a very large population of our school is made up of Caucasian students.  Therefore, it maybe possible that school policy and publications, including the Black and White, fail to reflect the interests of the Hispanic community.  Over the next year, I will write about issues pertinent to the Hispanic community, especially the role of and relationship between the Latino and American cultures.

   I am only expressing one point of view, however. Many of the issues I will be exploring have so many sides, and I invite readers to voice their own opinions about any topics I discuss.

   But first, a little about me. I was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and moved to the United States about 8 years ago.  I visit Bolivia every two years. I absolutely love my country, but I also love living here in the US.  I believe that both cultures have their positives and negatives and I try to integrate the best of both worlds into my own life.
    I will try to write as often as I can, and I again encourage readers to take part in this discussion and suggest topics, argue or agree with me and engage in conversation about all things Hispanic. Everyone is welcome to email me at camila.barrios@gmail.com for the above or any other reasons (prom date requests are always welcome).  I hope that this column will shed some light into our community and help Whitman grow and become a more cohesive and integrated place.

Opinion
12/18/2007 10:34:26 AM
By Julie Mazziotta
   The Black and White Online posted a story in October decrying the rampant vandalism in school bathrooms. Building service workers had painted the bathroom stalls with a latex paint about a week earlier in time for Back-to-School night, but by the next day, the walls were filled with graffiti about students, teachers and rival schools.
12/11/2007 11:06:40 AM
By Maggie Scott
   While walking down the halls, a couple discreetly holds hands as they make plans for the weekend. Just a few yards further, however, two couples are up against lockers making out and groping each other until a teacher steps in to break them up. Although students need to have more common sense about basic behavior codes, school administrators also need to clarify the rules regarding public displays of affection, so students learn what is acceptable and what is not.
12/5/2007 2:40:31 PM
By Julie Mazziotta

    As the environmental movement continues to grow, schools across the nation are making changes to reduce their environmental impact. Whitman and MCPS should follow the lead of other schools by making small changes that save energy and reduce waste.

11/12/2007 6:56:48 PM
By David Biel
   Maryland should ban hand-held cell phone use for drivers of all ages. Talking or texting on cell phones is dangerous for drivers, even those who have extensive driving experience.
11/12/2007 6:54:01 PM
By Jonathan Elbaz
   As teachers distributed report cards last week, some students peeked at their grades and cringed. They couldn’t pull up their C in physics because the last assignment of the quarter was a formative grade, or they couldn’t hang on to their A in English because their summative grade was too low. 
11/12/2007 6:48:01 PM
By Ben Wolcott
   A little over a year ago, an editorial in the Black & White urged students to “rely less on others to perform simple tasks, including throwing away their trash.”
11/12/2007 6:45:43 PM
By Hannah Robbins, Julia Deutsch, and Jackie Kantor
   As October comes to a close, we have come to a couple of realizations. A) Junior year sucks, B) it’s only a quarter over, and C) Dumbledore is gay.
11/5/2007 9:58:27 AM
By Julie Mazziotta
   Ever since the first day of school, a heat wave has swept through Whittier Woods.  Several teachers couldn't turn on their air conditioning systems because contractors incorrectly installed the units when they renovated Whittier Woods four years ago. MCPS must take responsibility for the heating and cooling problems.
Ombudsman

With Anna Isaacs

    In the newsroom, as in all areas of life, communication is key. Everyone is familiar with the often-dire consequences of misconstruing, misinforming, misunderstanding. But none is so dire as the error of a journalist.

    Errors in communication are an unfortunate guest even in the close quarters of B-212. In the last issue, “Africa” got lost in translation and became “Peru” on the front-page photo of history teacher Michael Curran. The Arts story on the Maryland Distinguished Scholar Program left out winners who weren’t Black & White staff—a correction run this issue—giving the quote slot to our own editor-in-chief. A headline that should have read “U.S. News and World Report“ was replaced with “Newsweek.” And in the current issue, a story assigned online about video conferencing was simultaneously assigned in print, leading to a last-minute double-byline under which the two stories were merged.

    In the real world of daily papers, reporters are traditionally self-sufficient in their accuracy: a 24-hour news cycle leaves scant time for a story to be scrutinized by a third party. That practice is common in magazines that publish less frequently. According to journalistic hierarchy, fact-checkers rank as close kin to the paper-shredders and coffee-fetchers. But they’re the indispensable bottom rung that keeps the rest of the ladder from collapsing. 

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