How MCPS’ new grading policy is benefiting students during times of uncertainty
As covid-19 cases in the United States continue to soar, surpassing 2 million total, school districts nationwide continue to test and implement different online learning systems to ensure students receive educational instruction despite being locked outside of physical classrooms. In MCPS, the transition to online learning has led to modifications of its grading policy; students now only need to meet at least two of the four requirements conceived by county decision-makers to pass. If a student completes (1) at least 50 percent of their…
How privilege has emerged in protesting
Kathryn LaLonde Silver Chips Ombudsman Kathryn LaLonde Crowds of protestors over 10,000 people strong are gathering across the globe, shouting “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” They protest police brutality against Black lives in light of the recent brutal killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police. A few weeks before these protestors began calling for justice, a very different group of angry Americans gathered at state capitals to protest the covid-19 lockdown. They shouted, “I want my haircut!” …
Balanced perspectives require balanced news
Australian bush fires. The assaniation of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. The impeachment and acquittal of President Trump. A contentious Democratic presidential primary. Fatal plane crashes. A deadly global pandemic leaving at least 119,000 people dead in the United States alone. An economic recession. Videos of deadly police brutality brought to light. Civil unrest nationwide. Peaceful protests in the streets. We are not even halfway through 2020, and headlines about all of these events have dominated national papers. While these sto…
Affecting real change in the age of social media hyper-activism
Does posting a black square contribute to solving systemic racism and police brutality? What difference does it make to tag ten friends in an Instagram story? While striving for social justice, these are the questions that we must ask ourselves. When activism is done solely to boost one’s social image, it is performative, devoid of any real meaning. Emilya Gebru The past few weeks have seen a whirlpool of social justice activity, prompted in large part by the death of George Floyd––an unarmed black man who was tragically murde…
The issue with hoarding
Amid the covid-19 pandemic, many have found themselves struggling to get by. Small businesses are hustling to keep themselves afloat, school districts are scurrying to create successful online learning systems, and medical staffers are working excruciatingly long hours to help those in need. To lessen the spread of the virus and its chaos, state governors have urged citizens to stay home by enforcing stringent stay-at-home orders––some states even administering fines for non-essential travel. This has led many Americans to stockpile on every…
College credit from the couch
Many students looking for academic challenge or to lift the impending weight of student loans value the opportunity to earn college credit in high school. Advanced Placement (AP) exams began in the 1950s as a way for students to take college level classes while attending high school. Currently, they serve as a means to skip introductory college courses in favor of those more specific to one's interest. This year, students not only took AP exams from the comfort of home, but in a fraction of the previous three hour time limit. These limitat…
Healthy productivity in the time of covid-19
How toxic hustle culture has permeated this pandemic ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼ Victoria Xin SilverChips Ombudsman Victoria Xin Now is the time to learn a language, make a YouTube channel, and start your next big coding project. Now is the time to create a garden, paint the next Mona Lisa, and write a book. From the internet, newspapers, and even TikTok, we’ve been hearing these sentiments over and over again: We must maximize the efficiency of our quarantine time. A rampant phenomenon even before this pandemic, toxic productivity culture threw itself into quara…
