The Student News Site of Walt Whitman High School

The Black and White

The Student News Site of Walt Whitman High School

The Black and White

The Student News Site of Walt Whitman High School

The Black and White

Arts writer Laura Rostad traveled to China over spring break to visit some friends. She visited Hong Kong and Beijing.  Photo courtesy Laura Rostad.

The Great Wall, paparazzi and rice hats: A spring break trip to China

By Lucy Chen April 13, 2012

While most of my friends visited colleges over spring break, I was halfway around the world getting a taste of Chinese culture. I traveled with senior Katie Mahaffie and Holy Cross senior Kelly Thiede...

Pablos Parler: Spring break adventures

Pablo’s Parler: Spring break adventures

By Pablo Ramírez April 12, 2012

In this episode, Pablo discusses his experience during spring break while undergoing treatment at the National Institutes of Health and encourages an optimistic outlook on life. Answer the question of...

Graphic by Chris Hodgman.

Hallway posters waste paper, money for little benefit

By Lucy Chen April 12, 2012

This is a public service announcement: plastering posters for your club event on every flat surface in the school may seem like a great way to advertise, but it makes Whitman look like a subway station. More...

Flyer controversy reveals need for new distribution regulations

By Lucy Chen April 10, 2012

Many educators and students protested last month after five schools sent students home with informational flyers from Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays, an organization that maintains that "‘gay’...

MCPS should add personal finance course to graduation requirements

By Lucy Chen March 27, 2012
It would be foolish to play poker without knowing the rules. But it would be more foolish to take out a loan without knowing the principle of interest, yet many Americans are unaware of how financial institutions work.
Junior Marit Bjornlund (right) hosts Gro Borges, a Danish exchange student from Copenhagen, from March 17 to 21. Between shopping trips, conversations at dinner and sightseeing, the two found that they shared both cultural differences and similarities. Photo courtesy Marit Bjornlund.

Discovering cultural differences by hosting a Danish exchange student

By Marit Björnlund March 25, 2012

Perhaps the reason for Denmark’s high graduation rate is that students are paid to attend school in Denmark after they turn 18. That fact was one of the craziest things I learned about the country...

Pablos Parler: College rejection letters

Pablo’s Parler: College rejection letters

By Pablo Ramírez March 20, 2012
Welcome to the first podcast in a new series by graphic artist Pablo Ramirez. While college rejections are understandably upsetting, an anonymous senior dropped off a letter in the Black & White room March 19 to remind seniors that college isn't the ultimate goal in life.
Bollyblog: Where real chai tea comes from

Bollyblog: Where real chai tea comes from

By Eyal Hanfling March 20, 2012

As I walked into my freezing physics classroom, I questioned why I chose to live in India for seven months over the central heating at Whitman. But when I got home from school and started my homework...

Graphic by Billy Lenkin.

My dilemma: are expensive liberal arts schools too impractical?

By Chris Hoogstraten March 16, 2012

I’m a part dreamer, part pragmatist, all burnt-out junior. As I prepare to dive head-first into the college applications process, I feel my competing natures pulling me in opposite directions and potentially...

YOLO, or you only live once, is the name of a popular restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The phrase has become popular recently. Photo courtesy www.insidefortlauderdale.com.

Just remember ‘YOLO’

By Carolyn Freeman March 12, 2012

It’s tattooed on Zac Efron’s hand. It’s hashtagged in hundreds of tweets every day. It’s 2012’s “swag,” the fresh new way to live every day like it’s your last. YOLO — or “you...

Graphic by Billy Lenkin.

Apple responsible for shocking conditions in Chinese factories, consumers should take heed

By Lucy Chen March 6, 2012

Apple has a reputation for being clean: clean designs, clean computers, and up until now, a relatively clean reputation. But the company’s recent reports have exposed its suppliers’ failure to adhere...

Junior Ali Foreman holds a local South African child during a visit to a township. Foreman spent six weeks in South Africa as part of an exchange trip. Photo courtesy Ali Foreman.

South Africa: A desire to help in the future

By Lucy Chen March 1, 2012
As I write my last blog post on my 19-hour flight home from South Africa, I’m filled with overwhelmingly bittersweet emotions.
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