P. 2 P. 6 P. 12 Beacon Interviews Mayoral Candidates Self-Segregation At Wilson Wilson Students Named to All-Met Team Woodrow Wilson High School January 31, 2014 THE BEACON VOLUME 77 ISSUE 5 In The News Pool Assault Investigation Reveals DPR Flaws Compiled By Emma Buzbee Annie Rosenthal NSA Uses Apps to Spy News and Arts Editor The NSA and British intel- ligence services mine data One of the men accused from smartphone apps such as of sexual assault at the Wilson Google Maps, Facebook, Twit- Aquatic Center in November is ter, and Angry Birds to collect still on the pool’s payroll, and users’ personal information, will be until his case is resolved. according to The New York Both his and a second case of Times. The NSA claims that alleged sexual assault after- they do not target “ordinary hours at the pool are still being Americans.” investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department but have Shooting in Maryland already shed light on flaws in the Department of Parks and Last Sunday 19-year old Recreation’s management. Darion Aguilar entered the Co- On December 16, Ward lumbia Mall in Maryland and 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh shot two people before killing and At-Large Councilmember himself. As The Washington David Grosso met with the Post reported, Aguilar’s quiet interim director of the DPR, a personality and love of cook- ing gave no indication to peers captain from the MPD Special Photo by Isabel Gloss Investigations Branch, and two and relatives of an apparently CRIME SCENE - The Wilson pool is the site of two alleged incidents of sexual assault public witnesses in an extensive troubled mental state. in November. The investigation is ongoing. two-hour DC Council Commit- Egyptian Military tee on Transportation and the residents are informed about about the alleged assaults were partment captain at the hearing Leader is Running for Environment Public Roundtable. incidents and know what has not posted at the pool until said that because the suspects The purpose of the hearing was gone on, to the extent permitted December 9, and that even then in the case were known, MPD Office to discuss the circumstances of course by law enforcement in- the notices were hard to read. had left communicating with According to The New York surrounding the incidents at vestigation, and informed about According to a public witness the public to DPR. When Cheh Times, Egypt’s military-backed the aquatic center and DPR’s what they’re doing at the pool to at the hearing, the most senior asked DPR Interim Director government, disbanded after response. ensure patrons’ safety. pool manager had instructed Sharia Shanklin why notices had public protests three years ago, Councilmember Cheh ex- “The alleged incidents and pool personnel not to respond to not been posted earlier, Shank- is set to make a return. Field pressed frustration about DPR’s DPR’s response to them appear comments. The witness said that lin responded, “The communica- Marshal Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, limited communication with the to me to be somewhat emblem- one pool employee had threat- tion that I engaged in with MPD the military leader responsible public about the incidents. atic of gaps in security and ened to call the police if he came and with the office of the mayor for taking the country’s first “One of my major con- management generally.” and asked about the incident led me to make this decision at freely-elected president out of cerns,” she said, “is that DPR has Among Cheh’s com- again. office, is running himself and done far too little to assure that The Metropolitan Police De- seems certain to win. plaints was the fact that notices CONT. ON PG 3 New Attendance Policy Causes Anxiety Claire Parker Managing Editor It’s 9:15 on a Friday morn- ing, and junior Druex Collins is OUR MAN MANNY standing at the front entrance - Wilson alum is of the school, just inside the hitting the minors. glass doors. It is her first time Emmanuel Burris being part of the small crowd will be joining the of late arrivals held at the front Nationals minor entrance during first period. leagues for the up- Collins arrived at school at 9:08, coming season. 23 minutes late. Under D.C.’s new attendance policy, she will STORY on P. 13 be marked absent for the entire 390 minute school day. The policy, known as the 20 percent rule, is part of DC Illustration by Maria Brescia-Weiler Municipal Regulation 5-A21, ef- Creative Commons fective for all D.C. public schools ers one class period to be 20 cally truant, meaning they have as of June 2013. The policy percent of the day. This, coupled been absent unexcused for more Check out an Olympics preview and defines being present as being with Wilson’s policy of holding than 15 days. At some schools, “enrolled and registered for at students who arrive after 9:10 such as Anacostia and Ballou, more Tiger sports on pgs 11-12 least eighty percent (80 percent) at the door, means that a Wilson nearly half of the student body of the full instructional day,” student who misses only 6.5 is chronically truant. Last year at and mandates that students who percent of the day is considered Wilson, 282 students, or 17 per- miss more than 20 percent of absent. cent of the student population, the school day be marked absent The policy is an attempt to were truants. If the new policy for the entire day. curb D.C.’s truancy epidemic. had been in place last year, While technically the 20 While truancy rates have de- 1244 students would have been percent cut-off under the new clined in recent years, they are considered truant, which would attendance policy is 10:03, the still a problem. According to a have made Wilson’s truancy rate management software schools study by the Urban Institute, 2,500, or 20 percent, of D.C. use called DC STARS consid- CONT. ON PG 3 high school students are chroni- PAGE 2 NEWS January 31, 2014 Follow Up on PTSO Survey Results A new policy of setting aside lack of student preparedness, though that is good, it is not Maddy Taub Junior Editor part of Parent-Teacher Confer- and counseling. Also, he has even half of the parents,” said ence Day for meetings made been addressing different is- Instructional Coach Linda Link to PTSO Survey The Parent Teacher Student by appointment is one of the sues raised by the survey in his Wanner. “With that said, we Results Here: Organization surveyed Wilson survey suggestions that will now weekly message to parents. were glad to hear from the parents in the fall to assess their be implemented. While the survey does help parents and we welcome their http://wilsonhs.org/apps/ satisfaction with the school. By Cahall has been address- school officials to understand criticism and suggestions for pages/index.jsp?uRECID=1 the last Beacon issue, there had ing in-depth some of the main some parental concerns, they improvement.” 27889&type=d&termREC_ already been a meeting with topics of concern in his Weekly said it also may not be a full A summary of the results ID=&pREC_ID=321914 Principal Pete Cahall, the PTSO, Bulletins. In the past five weeks representation of the parents at has been posted on the PTSO and some administrators to he has gone into detail on class Wilson. page on the school website. review how to best address the size, Edline, communication “Four hundred and forty- issues that parents have raised. between parents and students, three parents responded, and al- Mayoral Candidates Talk Education With the Beacon Say the word Wash- Emma Buzbee Staff Writer ington, D.C. to anyone and a vision of America’s famous democratic buildings pops into mind. What often gets overlooked on the national scale is the government of D.C. itself. But to its residents, nothing could be more im- portant than the upcoming mayoral election and its effect Vincent Gray on education. Mayor Gray, in an email interview, says he Vincent Orange According to his 2012 election website, According to a Washington Post Poll before the 2010 believes that to improve the GPA and graduation Vincent Orange is responsible for the creation elections, 89 percent of registered Democrats believed statistics in DCPS, more capable teachers should of the “Educational Policies for Third and education to be a key issue in their voting decision, in be hired, the new Common Core standards must Eighth Grade Students Act of 2005.” This bill, comparison to the still high 80 percent this year. The be enforced, and all schools should have modern enacted in 2006, created graduation require- focus on education was especially sharp in 2010 due to facilities. He acknowledges the issue of education ments for third and eighth graders. Orange’s the controversy regarding the Fenty Administration and inequality in D.C., stating, “We must do more reasoning behind the legislation was that Michelle Rhee. Though many liked Rhee’s tough attitude to ensure that the course offerings and extra- simple regulations early on can be beneficial to and modern renovations for schools such as Wilson and curricular activities are also comparable at every students’ futures. Acts like this can be very im- Deal, citizens in poorer wards thought she favored affluent school.” Gray blames complications and a lack of portant in “early childhood education to reverse areas like Northwest. Mayor Gray won thanks in part to clarity with the school boundaries system on the the devastating trend that is negatively impact- opinions such as this, yet only 38 percent feel he has done fact they “have not been revised in a comprehen- ing the quality of life for our young people and a good job improving schools.