Rather than informing the public about current issues the government is facing, this year President Obama’s State of the Union address focused too much bipartisanship and patriotism.

Much of the hour -and-a-half-long speech was spent trying to encourage both parties to work together in Congress. Obama used examples in history to create a sense of patriotism that would overpower the divide the two parties are experiencing.

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Kanye West, Steve Jobs and Yo-Yo Ma may not seem like they have much in common. However, they have all been recipients of the most highly regarded award in the music industry: The Grammy.

Something can be said for any ceremony that invites rap artists, music technology visionaries and classical musicians to the same hall.

But in recent years artists such as Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer of the band Tool, have challenged the concept of the awards ceremony.

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Virginia legislators are on the verge of passing a bill that would change the way schools deal with serious student offenses. Principals in FCPS and throughout the state are not required to call the parents of a student who is in a situation where he or she could be suspended or expelled.

“Parents need to know when our children are in serious trouble, and I believe that this bill eventually will bring state law closer to that critical goal,” Virginia Senator Chap Petersen said in a statement.

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In President Obama’s most recent State of the Union Address, he spoke of keeping students in school until they turn 18 and of making laws against dropping out of high school. While it’s true that research shows a direct correlation between how long one stays in high school and income later in life, making dropping out uniformly illegal is not the best way to help teens. In fact, it’s the wrong way.

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Black History Month sparks annual debate over its existence—a debate alive and well at Marshall, where the month is primarily recognized via facts on the morning announcements.

Senior Micheas Atkilt said he finds the announcements “demeaning.”

“It appears to me like African-Americans had a bad past so let’s give them a month to go over things that nobody cares about,” Atkilt said. He added that this sentiment was patronizing.

Senior Maha Hassan said she disagrees.

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The English department will be adding in IB English Standard Level 1 as a course option for next year. English department chair Martha Noone said the decision came as a result of the FCPS School Board’s vote to add English Honors classes.

The school then looked at “what would be best for students” and decided to add IB SL English as a result, Noone said.

The program was not added before due to Marshall’s small size. Noone said that the course would be accessible for students coming out of English 10.
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The entries had come in. Now it was up to the filmmakers to decide who would win.

After finishing their music video production project, IB Film Study 2 students took part in the Barberellos, a series of awards that recognize filmmakers for their productions.

IB Film Study 2 teacher Pierce Bello said that the idea for the awards came from students who wanted to recognize their peers’ film productions.

Voting occurred in two rounds. The first round had open nominations and the second had students pick from the top three choices for a winner.

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The Lake Braddock/Marshall ice hockey team won 6-1 against Loudon Valley/Woodgrove on Feb. 10.

“I scored two goals, sophomore Dirk Edison scored one and the other three goals came from our teammates from Lake Braddock,” assistant team captain Scott Henning, senior, said.

Henning leads the team with nine goals in seven games. Sophomore Edward Hirka is second with seven goals in eight games.

Despite its win, the team lost a “close game that [it] could’ve won” three days earlier against Robinson/Jeb Stuart with a score of 3-4 on Feb. 6, Edison said.

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Over the past few months, like you, I’ve witnessed careful construction: a foundation poured, leveled, smoothed; supports set, checked, reset; and new wires stretched, tested, aligned. Though I could be describing the new science wing, I’m thinking about all of the developments I’ve seen from the AVID students, along with Taryn Barber, the AVID coordinator, and the rest of the AVID team.

In August, I participated in the AVID orientation, helping push a few kids out of summer stupor while also being surprised at how quickly most were adopting a new view of themselves as scholars.
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Afrequent counterpoint to passionate political leaning speakers among critics is calling them ‘bigots’ or just obtuse.
However, a study by the University of Nebraska found that some people are actually biologically disposed to have fundamentally different political views.

Neuroscientists came to this conclusion by testing patients’ physiological arousal to a liberal and a conservative speaking, respectively.

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