The George Mason boys varsity basketball team defeated Freedom-South Riding High School 50-37  Thursday night to take 3rd place in the  Joe Cascio Tournament at Falls Church High. 

The Mustangs played a strong defensive game, executing a man-to-man defense with efficiency, while riding the offensive performance of senior Co-Captains Nate Ogle and Phillippe Griffiths.  Ogle, named to the All-Tournament Team at evening’s end, finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Griffiths had 16 points and nine rebounds. 

November 14, 2011

Two teams from Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School have qualified for the Virginia State Championships of the “FIRST” Lego League Robotics Tournament.  The two teams are the “Plantain Pirates” and the “Bacteria Busters,” which qualified by placing among the top four spots at a regional competition at the Smithsonian Institute on Saturday.  

FIRST is an organization whose mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills.  FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, the prolific New Hampshire inventor who has developed products ranging from the insulin pump to  the Segway personal transportation system. Some 250,000 students have participated in the organization’s competitions.

Members of the Plantain Pirates are, from left, Anja Boneau, Coach Tom Walton, Nick Zaenger, Freddy Bruner, James Gogal, Ben Fong, Jack Walton and Rachel Matz. The team is sponsored by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

While 22 teams competed at the Smithsonian, the next round will draw approximately 100 teams from around the state to compete in the 2011 Food Factor Challenge. Teams will be judged on the performance of their robot to perform missions, the quality of their research and on their ability to work as a team in accordance with the FIRST Lego League core values.

Members of the Bacteria Busters are, from left, Coach Kelly Poort, Lucas Barthel, Nathan Sperry, Sam Updike, Jakob Wegmueller, Coach Rainer Barthel, Andrew Wong, and Ben Salak, pictured below. All attend Henderson Middle School except Wegmueller, who attends Haycock Elementary, and Salak, who attends school in France. The team is sponsored by SAIC.

For the Bacteria Busters, information technology played a role in the team’s makeup, as Ben Salak, a former MEH student now attending  school in France, participated via Skype videoconferencing service.

Ben Salak, a former MEH student now attending Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel school in Paris, France, participated with the Bacteria Busters via Skype.

The two teams will travel to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia in early December to participate in the state tournament.

The mission of the Falls Church Education Foundation is to ensure that our students are prepared to effectively meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Foundation provides all friends of the Falls Church City Public Schools with a means to contribute a legacy of support for the system’s educational excellence.

Information for ordering a pie (apple and more!) is available on this flyer.  Deadline is Monday, November 9, so order yours today!

Falls Church Youth Lacrosse’s U11 Black team won the Northern Virginia Youth Lacrosse League U11B Championship on Sunday, June 12th. After a regular season record of 7-0-1, the team was seeded 4th out of 37 teams and competed in the top-flight tier for the the overall U11B title. After wins against Western Loudoun in the quarterfinal on June 4th and Algonkian in the semis on June 11th, the team outlasted South County Youth Lacrosse 5-4 to take home the title this past Sunday.

Pictured with their trophies are: (front row) Henry Wildman, Jack Felgar, Elliott Levri, Burke McLaughlin, Andrew Tyeryar, Jack MacKinnon, Bryan Gagnon, Will Hammond, Colin O’Leary, Ben Meeks, and Luke Sausville; (back row) Asst. Coach Dave Levri, Jack Gradle, Carson Hopkins, Thomas Majure, Jacob Jafari, Head Coach Steve Smith, Trevor Corn, Nate Spurlock, Asst. Coach Dave Sausville, and Henry Casillas.

By Stan Fendley
June 6, 2011

Last week Falls Church News Press columnist Michael Gardner criticized Falls Church City public school officials for the recent use of police dogs to sniff backpacks at George Mason High School.

Gardner drew a stark picture of the use of drug dogs, saying “The incidences of misuse of dogs; where the animals caused elementary-age children to involuntarily urinate themselves, or poorly trained dogs bit students, or vaguely documented alerts led to strip searches of teenage girls, should give parents pause.”

Huh?  What’s he talking about?  That’s not what’s going on at George Mason.  As Gardner himself points out, in the recent search at GMHS, school officials kept the dogs separated from the students.  The students were instructed to bring their backpacks to the hallway — and then return to class.  Then the dogs were brought in to sniff the backpacks.  When a dog alerted on a backpack, the student owner was called to the school office to discuss the contents of the backpack, and the student’s parents were contacted.  The dogs did not come in contact with the students – and thus, there was no occasion for the parade of horribles Gardner suggests.  No dog bites, no urination, no strip searches.  Given the care that was taken to keep the dogs away from the students, I believe it is unfair to suggest that FC school officials may begin to use dogs in an irresponsible fashion.

Mr. Gardner also makes the charge that the search was poorly executed, but in my view, the opposite seems true.  First, GMHS Principal Tyrone Byrd gave students and parents fair notice some time ago that dogs would be used to search for drugs.  Then, when proceeding with the search, he used trained narcotics detection dogs to conduct sniff tests, a technique blessed by the U.S. Supreme Court almost 30 years ago.  In addition, Byrd has kept parents apprised with email messages providing significant detail.  In my view, that kind of forethought and follow-through indicate good execution, not the reverse.

Byrd is right not to report the detailed results of the search to the community, notwithstanding Mr. Gardner’s call for a report.  Although some may want to know the details, privacy considerations dictate otherwise.  Sharing such information with anyone other than need-to-know school administrators, school board officials, and law enforcement officials could subject the schools and City to even more lawsuits than we already face in other areas.  Given the City’s experience with recent litigation, Byrd is to be commended for avoiding more of it.  [As Gerald Pressman points out in his comment below, it may be in order for Byrd to report generalities, such as numbers, percentages, or funding of the costs.  Personal information,  however, should remain confidential unless release is required at some point -- for example, as a matter of law enforcement.] 

Let’s be honest – we have drug issues at GMHS, and it is the duty of school officials to deal with them.   The safeguards Mr. Gardner prefers — teachers, parental communications, attendance polices, health screenings, and counseling programs — are all good and necessary, but they do not serve the purpose of keeping drugs out of school in the first place.  For that purpose,  the use of drug dogs to sniff backpacks while students are in class may well be the most effective and least threatening technique available.  It provides universal scrutiny on an equal basis, provides deterrence going forward, and avoids physical threat.

If there are alternative methods to be considered, great, but they must be effective and efficient.  We cannot afford for school officials’ time and attention to be inordinately consumed by the few students who bring drugs to school, to the detriment of the many who stay away from drugs and just want to get a good education.  Given the availability of a tool like trained drug dogs which can sniff hundreds of backpacks in minutes, it is reasonable for school officials to use them.

As a parent of a GMHS student, I appreciate the work of Principal Byrd and other school officials to keep drugs out.  It’s one of the most important duties they have, and I urge them to continue their vigilant efforts to accomplish it.

By STAN FENDLEY

July 23, 2010

This week the Falls Church News-Press printed edition number 1,000.  That is quite a feat.  Those of us involved in the Falls Church Times can tell you that it’s a lot of work to put together even an online publication.  A hard copy newspaper is a much bigger operation, and doing it 1,000 weeks in a row is an accomplishment to be proud of.

In this week’s edition, FCNP publisher Nick Benton includes two lengthy pieces about the paper’s history and his reflections on the meaning of a free press.  First, in a story entitled “1,000 Wednesday Nights at the Mighty News-Press,” Mr. Benton relates how the paper began and who helped him along the way.  It’s an interesting story, particularly in light of the fact that newspaper economics no longer work in many cases, causing paper after paper to shutter in recent years.

Mr. Benton started the paper in 1991.  The headline of his first edition was “Rancorous Public Hearing on School Cuts, Tax Increase” – one he could have re-used this spring.

With obvious delight, Mr. Benton writes that when the printer’s wheels began to turn on that first edition, “I began to bellow above the din of the press, ‘Let every tyrant tremble!  The free press is the voice of the people in defense of liberty and freedom everywhere!’”

And he notes that after staying up all night to finish the first edition, he looked outside to see “that the cherry trees lining N. Virginia Avenue [near his office] had blossomed into their full pink radiance.”

“It was a sign,” he said.

Mr. Benton started the FCNP in a small office behind the Exxon station at Broad and North Virginia.  He planned for the paper to be a monthly or bi-weekly publication, but started the second edition immediately after putting out the first one, giving birth to a weekly.

In Mr. Benton’s editorial this week, “A Celebration of the First Amendment,” he speaks to the importance of a free press and his role in it, mentioning a variety of figures including First Amendment author George Mason, White House correspondent Helen Thomas, and recently fired-and-rehired USDA employee Shirley Sherrod.  He goes on to note a number of public officials who accepted his invitation to sign a congratulatory ad that appears in this week’s FCNP, saying “The elected officials have every reason to affirm these things.”

Mr. Benton goes too far, however, when he reports that newly-elected Mayor Nader Baroukh declined the invitation to sign the ad – and pointedly contrasts him with other public officials who did sign the ad.

According to Benton, Mayor Baroukh’s reason for declining to lend his name to the ad was, “As an elected official I should not be in the business of congratulating the media on what it does or does not do.”

I believe Baroukh is right.

Although Baroukh was quickly criticized by former Mayor Robin Gardner and former Vice Mayor Lindy Hockenberry for not supporting a local business, it is important to remember that the media is not just another business.  Its business is reporting news and opining on it — most importantly, the news of government.  The media influences government action, and unabashedly so.

As a result, the media can be extremely powerful.  The adage, “Don’t pick fights with people who buy ink by the barrel” is a wise reminder that the person who controls public information wields great power.  This is very relevant in Falls Church City, where Mr. Benton is the only person whose words touch every doorstep in town.  By the mere reach of those words, he is arguably the most influential person in Falls Church City.  And the fact that he would report Baroukh’s decision not to lend his name to a congratulatory ad indicates Mr. Benton’s willingness to use his influence.

That the press is powerful is not necessarily a bad thing.  Its power is necessary in order to offset the power of government.  But – and here is the thing — in order for the media and the government to work properly, they cannot become too cozy.  Government officials kowtowing to the press or vice versa could be a disastrous thing for democracy.

In my view, the FCNP’s ad has the feel of kowtowing.  It is one thing for community members to congratulate Mr. Benton, but it is another when a group of public officials, who may at any time receive the sting of his lash, line up to congratulate him.  Frankly, it makes me uncomfortable, and I think Mayor Baroukh was wise to decline the offer.    Yes, it is part of his job to promote local businesses, but a much more important part of his job is maintaining the proper relationship between institutions, particularly those upon which a democratic system depends.

Therefore, I believe two congratulations are in order.  Mr. Benton is to be congratulated for his remarkable run of a 1,000 weeks of newspapers.  And Mayor Baroukh is to be congratulated for his mindfulness of the appropriate line between government and the media.  May they both continue to do their jobs well.

May 3, 2010

Although he has been a vocal critic of Falls Church City’s lawsuit against Fairfax County over water services, Councilman David Snyder joined his colleagues in a unanimous vote to initiate the litigation in 2007, he told the Falls Church Times this morning.  Snyder justified his vote for the litigation on the grounds that to have done otherwise would have weakened the City’s litigation position.

Snyder’s vote for the “Water Wars” litigation was disclosed in an article in last week’s Falls Church News Press. The News Press went on to endorse Snyder for reelection.

“When the Council debated whether to sue Fairfax County, I advised heavily against it,” Snyder told the Falls Church Times this morning.  “However, once the majority of Council members decided to vote for it, I voted for it, too, because otherwise it would have weakened the City’s litigation position.”

Snyder says that he attempted to get the lawsuit dropped shortly afterward.

“Within two weeks of the time the City filed the lawsuit, I talked to a representative of Fairfax County who was very angry at the fact that there had been no real effort by the City to resolve the dispute through negotiation,”  Snyder said.  “I then came back to the Council and gave my strong advice that we withdraw the litigation.”

Snyder has publicly criticized the decision to sue Fairfax County.  In a 2009 interview with the Falls Church Times, Snyder said, “The City’s litigation against Fairfax County over the water system is an example of the ineffectiveness of the current leadership.  We used to work matters out with Fairfax, but this tradition was broken by the decision to resort to the lawsuit, which was approved by the Council majority over my objection.”

In the recent candidate debated sponsored by the League of Women Voters and Village Preservation and Improvement Society, Snyder also stated his intent to mend fences with Fairfax County if reelected to another term.

This morning, Snyder elaborated on his vote, saying, “It was extremely difficult to be put in a position where if I voted against the lawsuit, it would have weakened the City’s position,” Snyder said.  “It really would have undercut the effort.”

It is unclear if the City communicated the unanimous vote as way to strengthen its hand.

Falls Church sued the Fairfax County Water Authority in federal court in March 2007, alleging that the City had the exclusive right to deliver water services in certain areas of Fairfax County.  A federal district court dismissed the City’s lawsuit two months later, followed by the City’s appeal, in which the lower court was upheld in spring 2008.

In a reversal of the roles, Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA) sued Falls Church City in state court in December 2008, alleging that the City was engaging in anti-competitive behavior by blocking a Fairfax customer from hooking up to FCWA’s lines.  The two sides came to an initial settlement earlier this year but continue to squabble over some issues.

Snyder is the longest-serving member of the City Council, having been first elected in 1994.  He is seeking his fifth term in tomorrow’s election.

April 13, 2010

Falls Church will be the site of a technology conference Friday and Saturday relating to the creation of applications for the new Apple iPad.  The conference, called iPad DevCamp DC, or iPad DC for short, will include discussions of designing, programming and marketing iPad and iPhone applications.  The event will occur concurrently in Falls Church, San Jose and other locations around the world.

Luis de la Rosa demos iPad app developed by DC couple.

According to organizer Luis de la Rosa of Falls Church-based Happy Apps, an iPhone, iPad and Mac consulting company, the event format will be “unconference” or Barcamp-style, featuring content from the participants themselves.

“We want to learn from each other’s experiences and show the area that there is a thriving iPhone and iPad development community,” said de la Rosa.  “We will have attendees from all over the DC area, and hopefully we will build interest in iPad app development right here in Falls Church.”

De la Rosa noted that this event follows a similar conference held last year.

“We held a successful conference here last August called iPhone DevCamp DC,” he said, “and we are glad to be coming back to Falls Church to discuss the cutting-edge technology involved in developing apps for the iPad.”

Space for the conference will be provided by Viget Labs at 400 South Maple Avenue.

Viget Labs CEO Brian Williams

Brian Williams of Viget Labs said, “Any time we get a chance to host well-run events like this, we’re happy to be involved.  I would love to see Falls Church earn a reputation as a tech-friendly city by encouraging more events like iPad DevCamp to take place here. ”

Additional information is available at http://ipaddc.com/, and registration is at http://ipaddc.eventbrite.com/

By STAN FENDLEY

April 10, 2010

Some 50 Falls Church residents probed City and school officials for 90 minutes Saturday regarding proposed tax increases and service cuts, with little consensus emerging.

At the second budget town hall meeting of the year, City Manager Wyatt Shields led attendees through the additional service cuts that will be required to lower his proposed 20-cent real property tax increase down to 15 cents over the current $1.07 tax per hundred dollars of property value.  Numerous attendees spoke against either a 15 or a 20 cent increase.  A smaller group supported the increase in lieu of cutting additional services.

Attendees pressed Schools Superintendent Lois Berlin on whether the schools had made sufficient cuts.  Schools payment for student testing fees for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations was a particular target, with several speakers in favor of charging those fees to the students’ parents.  Berlin responded that the School Board had decided to continue paying the exam fees as a way to encourage more students to take the exams. By paying the fees, the school can require that a student take the exam as a condition for taking the course.  Two school parents pointed out that if the number of students taking the advanced exams were to drop, it would lower George Mason High School’s ranking in the Washington Post Challenge Index, in turn making Falls Church less of a draw for families and thereby lowering property values.

A brief debate occurred between Shields and City Councilman Dan Maller, with Maller saying that approximately $2 million of revenue raised by the tax increase would go to replenish the City’s fund balance.  Maller questioned whether the fund needed to be replenished at this time, although he agreed that it should be restored to a normal level at some point. Shields challenged Maller’s statement, saying that the fund would be replenished out of this year’s taxes, not next year’s.

Tom Kaye, a member of the City’s Long Range Financial Working Group, spoke in favor of restoring the fund balance, asking what would happen if, instead of an economic recovery next year, the City experienced another recession.

Resident Chuck Fulgham suggested a need for more “bottom up” budgeting, wherein the City would determine what residents “must have,” and ensure those services are funded first.  Folger also pressed the question of how the City had been able to survive on smaller budgets prior to the economic boom of the early ’90s.  Shields agreed that services had been added during the good years.  Berlin pointed out that in the case of schools, some of those increased services were mandated by law.

Local businessman Steven Wertime indicated that the increased taxes will hit businesses hard because of their decreased revenues during the poor economy.  “Are we getting to the point where we are no longer financially viable?” he asked.

But the question of viability occurred later in the opposite context.  “I look at all these other [non-school] cuts,” a man said.  “I’m not sure the town can survive all these cuts and still be viable.”

Earlier this week, the City Council considered four alternative budget scenarios Shields constructed in response to Council’s request to explore tax increases less than his originally proposed 20 cent increase.  On Thursday the Council decided to consider only one of Shield’s alternative scenarios — a 15 cent increase which would make no further reductions in the school budget, as shown in Shields’ Tier 3 analysis.  The Council’s decision, therefore, comes down to the “Tier 1″ 20 cent tax increase and associated service cuts originally proposed by Shields,  or the 15 cent Tier 3 tax increase with deeper service cuts.  Tiers 2, 4 and 5, also shown in Shields’ analysis, are no longer under consideration by the Council.

The Council will hold a public hearing on the FY 2011 budget on Monday, April 12, and adopt a final budget Monday, April 26.  Budget suggestions may be sent to budget@fallschurchva.gov.

OUTLOOK FROM THE KITCHEN: During the Town Hall budget meeting, Mayor Robin Gardner, Councilman Lawrence Webb, and most other Council members kept a low profile. Gardner and Webb watched the proceedings from the food prep area at the back of the room. (Staff photo by George Southern)