Crosman Chronicles 2015 Winter

ALWAYS FREE

ISSUE NO. 2

CROSMAN CHRONICLES Grease is the Word!: Interview with Miss Hallman

by Robert T. Esgro ’19 and Miss Hallman The Haverford School Middle School Theater Department put on a show! Greased Lightning is coming to town! The show took place on Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31. Here is an interview with the director, Miss Hallman: 1. What is your favorite part of being the director of Grease? The best part about being a director is seeing your cast take the tools you've given them and make wonderful acting choices to develop characters with whom an audience can connect. GREASE, specifically, is FULL of these little "moments" where my actors take what I've taught them and make it their own...They are absolutely hysterical.

2. What are the easiest and hardest parts of directing the show? This is a tough one...For me, the easiest part of directing is, well, directing....I get to work with 50+ talented, dedicated students who love what they're doing as much as I do. The most difficult part is everything that ISN'T directing...Haha...Honestly, the hardest part is that sometimes people don't realize how much goes into planning a show. On top of directing, I do costumes, props, scheduling, and, with the help of Darren Hengst and our awesome stage crew, set design, painting, sound, and lighting.

3. How many schools are involved in the show? Five including Haverford.

4. If a person wanted to get involved in next year's show, what would you recommend they do? Please come see me! We'd love to have you audition. When it comes to auditions....Prepare! I always put out audition information with a list of things you need. As long as you follow those directions, you're going to have a great audition.

See the back page for Haverfordian members of the cast, and we hope you enjoyed the show!

McLaren 650S

By Vincent Scauzzo ’20 Page 4

Chromecast

By Robert Esgro ’19 Page 6

The Sun

By Strawberry Science ’20 Page 4

Automotive Section 50 Years of the Ford Mustang

by Evan Brabson ‘20 The Ford Mustang celebrates its 50th birthday. Yes, it has been around for 50 years. Obviously, they have changed dramatically over time to what it is today. What can 6 generations really look like on a horse, though?

The first edition was built from 1964-1973. To save money, the company used a Ford Fairlane and a Ford Falcon chassis to make the Mustang chassis. They started production in the middle of 1964. It came in a fastback, hardtop, and a convertible models. Of course, you could get a Shelby Cobra edition. The first year was powered by a 260 cubic inch V8 engine, which was soon replaced with a 289 cubic inch V8 engine to get more power. Whether you believe it or not, you could get one with a 101 horsepower 6 cylinder engine.

Finally, in 1968, they produced the iconic Boss 302 V8 engine and a Boss 429 V8 engine was put on the market in 1969. Although this generation was around for almost 10 years, the company made some changes to the body, including making them more ugly. One thing is for sure; they got a lot heavier, but there wasn’t any more power. Ultimately, Ford went from a fast Mustang to a “luxury” Mustang. The cars gained 800 pounds by 1973 and were just not very good cars.

Ford redesigned the Mustang for 1974 and stopped its production after 4 long years in 1978. One problem with the previous one was that it was too heavy and gas prices were going up. So Ford made this “Mustang II” one a lot smaller and, but it was still heavy because of all the safety regulations. It even came in a 2-door hatchback version. The first year came without a V8, so power was lacking. But Ford did stick the Boss 302 engine in the 1975 models and so on. They even made the Shelby Cobra edition. Overall, this was a terrible car. It was smaller, therefore less comfortable, it was underpowered, it was way too heavy for its size, and it is not all that attractive.

Finally, another redesign. This one lasted from 1979 to 1993, so a total of 14 years. This “foxbody” Mustang came with a coupe, hatchback coupe, fastback, convertible, and of course a Shelby Cobra. In 1986, the company needed to give it a facelift because of the increasing fuel prices and the dropping sales. The company suggested making a front-wheel drive Japanese designed car, using a Mazda MX-6 chassis, and wouldn’t offer a V8. If the company really did that, the sales would go down close to zero. Think about it. The Mustang has always been an American designed car, with a V8 and rear-wheel drive. Fortunately, that idea never left the ground. Eventually, the company made some adjustments to the Mustang and kept selling it.

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Finally, after 15 years of the same car, the company finally redesigned the Mustang in 1994. This one, however, was built up until 2004. No 2-door weird hatchbacks were built from now on. A 3.8L engine was standard, and the iconic 302 cubic inch V8 was replaced with a 4.6L V8.

The 5th generation brought in the best styling since the original Mustang. The 4.0L V6 was standard, and 4.6L V8 engine with 300 horsepower was standard with a GT. Both offered an optional automatic transmission. In 2010 and 2011, the Ford Motor Company applied a performance facelift to the design, including a few new engines: 3.7L V6, 5.0L V8, supercharged 5.4L V8, and a new 302 cubic inch V8. The 4.6L V8 engine received more power. A new 3.7L V6 engine was produced, which put out a good 305 horsepower and 280 pound feet of torque. Also, a new 5.0L “Coyote” V8 engine was offered, and had 412 horsepower and 390 pound feet of torque to brag about. The Shelby GT500 received the 5.4L supercharged V8 had a whopping 550 horsepower and 510 pound feet of torque. However, a year later, the 5.4L was replaced with a 5.8L supercharged V8, which had an astonishing 662 horsepower. Also, the iconic Boss 302 engine was revived from the dead, but this time, with 444 horsepower and 380 pound feet of torque.

What you have all been waiting for is the brand new redesigned Ford Mustang for 2015. This one has the styling of a supercar and the economy of an economy car. At the moment, there is a 2.3L twin turbocharged inline 4 cylinder engine is offered. It may sound small and underpowered, but 310 horsepower can prove you wrong. It has more power than the 3.7L V6 engine, which puts out a respectable 300 horsepower. The 5.0L “Coyote” V8 engine is still available, with 435 horsepower. Right now, however, there is the regular Mustang and the GT. There might be a Shelby Cobra GT350 edition on the market sometime in the future. One of the most important changes is the redesign receives a new independent rear suspension instead of the old solid rear axle. Now, it doesn’t sound important, but it improves handling and ride quality.

Now, how does it do that? Well, with the solid rear axle, the rear wheels move together. If the right tire hits a bump, then the left tire moves, even if the road is smooth. With an independent rear suspension, the rear wheels move freely of each other. When the right tire hits a bump, only the right tire moves. This is a new standard feature that was never available with any other Mustang.

The McLaren 650S

by Vincent Scauzzo ‘20 The McLaren 650S. You might wonder why McLaren always names their cars after printer addresses.

Well this time is different. They are naming it after how many horsepower it has. That's right. The British sportscar company has given a car 650 horsepower. Now I know you might be thinking that the company makes a more powerful car. They do. The P1. But don't think of this car as being under powered compared their other models because this car goes 207 mph. This car will do 0-60 in 3 seconds. It will also do the quarter mile in 10.5 seconds at 139 mph. Now that's one impressive under powered car. The looks are pretty good, too. They have gone from the basic scientific looks from the 12C to outlandish scientific looks on the S. It looks like the front of the P1 and the back of the 12C. A step in the right direction for McLaren there. McLaren have always been known for being very technical with their cars and the 650S is no exception. A couple things that could be changed are the engine and the interior. I feel as though the interior is getting a bit old and it is time for a facelift. Lamborghini has launched the Sesto Elemento. That car is made entirely out or carbon fiber and has a big V10 in it. The reason I bring this car up is because I wish McLaren would do the same with the 650S. It is a very light car, but it only has a V8. I know, I know "only a V8". I just if McLaren did what Lamborghini did and put a bigger engine in the car than it would bring up the top speed. All in all, this is a very good car and I expect more of this from McLaren.

If you like my articles and you like cars then you might like the show called Top Gear. It is British and it is on BBC America on Monday nights. I have heard the new season (season 22) came out on January 13, 2015.

They have the old seasons on Netflix and they have some specials on On Demand.

Comics, Riddles, and Factoids Section Weird Facts

by Jared Pearlstein ‘19 1.) In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging. It was accused for the murder of a child.

2.) Farting consistently for 6 years and 9 months will produce enough gas to create the energy of an atomic bomb.

3.) Crocodiles can’t stick their tongues out.

4.) A blue whale’s tongue is the size of an elephant.

5.) The loneliest creature on Earth is a whale who has been calling out for a mate for over two decades. The whale’s high-pitched voice is so different to other whales that they never respond.

6.) Winter lasts for 21 years on Uranus Builders of some of Japan’s greatest castle built squeaky floors on purpose to alert people of invaders.

7.) Sloths may be extremely slow, but if forced into water they are extremely good swimmers.

8.) The are 3 different species of goats that are known to snack on poison ivy. To them, it tastes good.

9.) Archeologists have found a 4,000 year old bowl of noodles in China. The remains of the pasta was still visible, and the inside of the bowl was traced with grease, butter, and garlic.

Technology Section Chromecast Review

by Robert T. Esgro ‘19 After about a year of using the Google Chromecast device personally, I can definitely tell you it has some clear pros and cons. The Google Chromecast, the previous being referred to henceforth as simply Chromecast, is a 3-inch, flashdrive-like stick that fits into an High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port, and wirelessly casts information and multimedia from a computer, including music, videos, movies, and the screen itself. The first pro is that the first thing you see on your screen is a slideshow of alluring photographs. In the bottom right corner is the time, and under that, a citation to the photo on the screen. This is great if you have guests, and music or a movie isn’t required at the time. This slideshow is similar to the sleep function on a Mac. After that, our first con pops up. “What do I do from here?”, you may think. Remember that the Chromecast is only made for casting screens, and not as an alternative to regular television. So how do I use it? This is our second con. In order to use the Chromecast, you must have an electronic device (desktop, laptop, smartphone, etc.) with the Chrome browser (or one of the supported apps, ex. YouTube) and an Internet or cellular broadband connection. Our second pro, though, is the fact that if you do not own a functional router, Chromecast provides WiFi in and of itself. The third pro to the Chromecast is its apps. Chrome cast, as well as its own applications, supports hundreds of third-party programs including YouTube, Netflix, HBO Go, Pandora, Watch ESPN, PBS and PBS Kids Mobile, and counting. All that needs to happen when in an app, you tap the Chromecast logo (bottom right), tap the name of your Chromecast, and your TV should turn on automatically and switch to the correct input. The third con is the fact that all of the apps besides YouTube and a few others do not work for Chromecast on a computer, and even if you did have the mobile app for a program like Hulu, you still must pay a subscription fee.

Is Nintendo A Good Gaming Company?

by Lleyton Winslow ‘20 The majority of gaming fan have either an Xbox, Playstation, or Wii U. But most competitive gaming take place on Xbox or Playstation. But what about the Wii U? Most would say that there is not a big competitive community is because of the system itself, and the games that comes with it. Microsoft and Sony are trying to make it so that there console have the best graphics and experience. But the Wii U’s graphic aren’t on par with the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony Playstation 4. The reason for this has been there since the beginning. When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System came out, its graphic weren’t as good as the consoles of the time, but it sold well. The Wii didn’t have graphics to match the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, but sold exceptionally well. But the Nintendo Gamecube’s graphics were matching the original Xbox and Playstation 2, and failed as a system. Nintendo promised that their system doesn’t need to be as advanced to be great. Nintendo has always made up for the graphics with its great game library and family-friendly games. They had always had fun games, especially their mascot Mario Jumpman Mario (Yes, that is his full name). Nintendo has started to produce more mature games, like Zombi U, but they still keep their great, kid-friendly franchises. The competitive community has grown, like their massive Super Smash Bros. players. So to conclude, when you're deciding what system you want to buy what about grabbing that Wii U instead of the Xbox One or Playstation 4. Maybe you’ll enjoy it.

The Battle of B-R5RB Review

by Maxim Kreider ‘21 The battle of B-R5RB was the biggest PvP video game battle in the history of well, video games.

You may be asking, what is the battle of B-R5RB? This battle was fought in the glorious MMO, ( I play it myself), EVE Online. Every big event in the world of EVE is made by player created actions.

This battle was provoked by a very small event. In a sense, an unpaid rent or sovereignty bill. This left the system open and very vulnerable to attack. This was a battle for the star system on B-R5RB. The defenders were the now disbanded N3 coalition, and the now thriving Pandemic Legion. As soon as the bill was left unpaid, skirmishes led up all over the place against the CFC and Russian forces.

Within 8 hours, their forces had arrived in the system. At the time, the amount of player pilots in the system had shot up to around 3000. Immediately, the biggest supercapital ships in the game, each worth about (are you ready for this?) $2000 dollars in real life money. Their huge doomsday cannons lit up the whole system in great big bursts. This battle raged on and on for over 11 hours. After about the eighth hour, N3 coalition and Pandemic Legion could clearly see they were losing, and by the end, ended up losing almost all of their dreadnaughts, heavy cruisers, and titans. In the end, 75 titans, 122 carriers, 370 dreadnaughts, and countless other ships were lost in this battle. The grand total of what was lost, $300,000, , or 11 trillion ISK, the ingame currency, worth about $700,000 dollars today because of ingame and real life inflation. So from this, we learned,huge things can be triggered by small ones.

Halo Master Chief Collection Review

by Nicholas Biddle ‘19 The Halo Master Chief Collection allows people to play all of the halo games, which the story revolves around Master Chief, on the Xbox One. Also, gamers can play multiplayer on every map from Halos 1 through 4, and access to halo 5 multiplayer. If you play any of the campaigns, the graphics are the same as it was when it came out. Also, along with the campaigns, anybody can play both Spartan Ops, and multiplayer maps. A new feature to the game is Halo Channel. Players can get news on upcoming events through Halo Channel, and players can watch episodes of Halo Nightfall. People can stream episodes through the channel. Halo Nightfall takes place in between Halo 4 and Halo 5 through the eyes of Agent Locke. A short summary of the story is that he is sent to a planet called Sedra to investigate Covenant activity, but it goes badly and a weapon is activated. It is a biological weapon that only affects humans.

Locke and his team have to stop the weapon from killing people. This game is the game for people who have not played the older campaigns, or for people who just want to play Halo on the xbox One.

Science Section The Sun

by Strawberry Science ‘20 Hey guys! Strawberry Science here. This is the first time I’ve said that it’ll be my pen name. I chose it because I talk about science and like strawberries. Did you know that the surface of the sun is over 9000 degrees Fahrenheit? It’s pretty hot! People tell me its a bajillion degrees. Well, that’s just the surface, so let’s dive deeper. Getting closer to the core of the sun the temperature approaches 90 billion degrees! That’s insane, but that number means nothing at the moment. Let’s look at boiling and melting points of different things. We’ll start cold. Really cold. Liquid nitrogen, boils at -320 degrees Fahrenheit. Chilling, right? Lets move on to something warmer, like water. It boils at 212 degrees.

Now, even hotter, is iron. Molten iron temperatures exceed 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, you’ve heard the Sun is the hottest thing out there. That’s true in our solar system if you’re using its core temperature, but if you’re talking about surface temperature, then we’ve already harnessed it. The plasma torch, reaches the surface temperature of the sun and tops it nine times over! It can achieve these temperatures into such a small space that when the circuit inside it arcs out, it turns the gas to plasma in an area smaller than a pencil tip. This much concentration allows you to cut through a full inch of steel like a hot knife through butter. An inch may not sound like much to you, but if you were to find a normal blow torch that could cut through an 1/8th of an inch of steel you’d be lucky. So next time you’re trapped in your enemy’s prison, always remember carry a portable plasma torch and while you’re breaking out think to yourself, “Galactus, even though you eat planets for breakfast, I control stars for recess.” And as always, thanks for reading.

Where Does the English Language Come From?

by Alexander H. Greer ‘20 English is a Germanic language, a language mainly derived from German. Technically speaking though, English is actually a “borrowing” language, meaning a large amount of its vocabulary comes from multiple languages.

These borrowed words are called ‘loanwords.’ An example of a loanword is ‘bazaar’ coming from Persian bāzār meaning ‘market.’ There are many different kinds of loanwords. For example, collateral adjectives are a special type of loanword that are derived from a different root word than their noun counterpart. An example of a collateral adjective is ‘canine’. ‘Canine’ comes from Latin caninus meaning dog, while the word ‘dog’ itself derives from Old English docga, a term used to describe powerful breeds of dogs. Collateral adjectives are the opposite of denominal adjectives, adjectives that are derived from the same root as their noun counterpart. Some words have both collateral and denominal adjectives. For example, ‘father’: Its denominal adjective is ‘fatherly’, while its collateral adjective is ‘paternal’. This is all very interesting, but it still doesn’t answer the question: Where does English come from? Saying it is strictly a Germanic language would not be entirely true. One could go down the rabbit hole saying that English is a West Germanic Language, the type of West Germanic being North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic, but those specifics do not matter. All that is needed is that English is derived mainly from languages spoken near the 11th Century in areas close to Germany such as the Netherlands, England, and Norway, thus its name of a Germanic language.

Interview With Tom Weissenberger

by Seamus McCloskey ‘19 Seamus McCloskey: Did you break any records as a hang glider?

Tom Weissenberger: Yes, I broke the out and turn distance record. You start at a certain point and go to a specified end point and come back again.

SM: How do you launch a hang glider?

TW:You first have to rig your glider. At the launching pad, you always need the wind from the front, so it can become a foot launch. You start running and after two or three steps you are already in the air and then your airborne.

SM: Do you need to take lessons to hang glide?

TW: Yes, there are hang gliding schools where you learn how to hang glide and about weather because you don’t have a engine or motor.

SM: How do you tell the wind speed in the air?

TW: I have my my wind indicator and all other sorts of instruments for my airspeed and the ground speed.

SM: Let’s say if someone asked if they wanted to learn how to hang glide. What advice would you give them?

TW: I would tell the person to Google where the nearest hang gliding school is and phone them to ask how to get started. You can even take tandem flight and ask how you like it and then start going to the school.

Johnny Manziel

by Sam Reisbord ‘20 Johnny Manziel was the only rookie to play less than Jadeveon Clowney, so questions are flying about what the electric young player can do. But the film doesn’t lie, Manziel is explosive. In college, Johnny “Football” was arguably the best quarterback in Texas football history. Using his athletic ability gave him a distinct advantage over opponents. One disadvantage he clearly faced was his size.

Standing at 5’11” Johnny Manziel was one of the smallest quarterbacks in the nation. Passes like the two below will always be intercepted at the NFL level. But there is one other quarterback who is strikingly similar to Mr. Football.

Russell Wilson. Despite both being smaller than Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, both have larger hands than either of them. Both also are also very fast, and elusive as well.

Manziel attempted throws that only worked in college in his short stint in the NFL, but from what we’ve seen he was disruptive none the less. In the photo below, defenders seem to drift away from their coverages to defend the imminent threat of Manziel running, opening up throwing lanes.

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In the photo below, Manziel throws a perfect pass to Jim Dray. Terence West (in pink) was off the far side of the field. Now the deep safety would have normally picked a pass to him off, so we’ll give him a bye on that one. It went for a 24 Yard Gain.

In the next picture, Manziel is in the red zone with Ryan Taylor (yellow) and Taylor Gabriel (blue) shut down. Once again Jim Dray (black) had separation, but from that angle the pass would have been easily intercepted. Josh Gordon (purple) was short and open, but by the time he caught the ball he would only be five yards past the line of scrimmage. Jerry Hughes (Brown) was crashing in and Manziel need to make a decision. At that point Stephon Gilmore (covering Gordon and above yellow) was too close to Gordon and Johnny Manziel was gone.

Touchdown Johnny.

Broken Stove

by Miles Pride ‘21 The broken stove’s heat subsides Parents words turn down allies of suicide In the dark room is the dark void of thought Fragments of pictures of the meat Mother bought A murmuring voice comes in through the dark “Why would you do that?” Came a raspy bark “Would you rather have no parents and live in the street?

All homeless and lonely with nothing to eat?!”

Regretting everything the child sleeps again The mother moves downstairs like it never began Although she is a pursuer of law The meat was eaten raw

The Historic Mayan Ruins of Belize

by Yeshwin Sankuatri ‘20 Belize --emerging from it’s independence-- still has a touch of it’s own authenticity shown in it’s great culture, food, language, and their way of life. Visiting this emerging country was a pleasure and an experience of a lifetime. I learned many things included their way of life and lots of history about Mayan ruins, plant and animal life, and much more. There is so much history to the country that got its independence from the British in only 1981. Although everything was absolutely enthralling the most striking part was our visit to a very famous Archeological excavation site of Mayan Ruins. The rickety ride towards this site -- Caracol-- paid of as soon as we reached this hidden gem.There are many historic archeological sites that have been excavated over the years. These excavations uncovered something that is to be one of the most treasured archeological discoveries. During my trip we went to one of the most esteemed; Caracol. Although one of the most challenging Belize ruins to reach, the trip to Caracol is also one of the most scenic drives. It is the largest known Maya center within the country and holds “Canaa” (Sky Place), the largest pyramid or man made structure in Belize at 140 feet tall. It is located about 25 miles south of the town of San Ignacio in the foothills of the Maya Mountains within the Chiquibul Forest Reserve in western Belize near the border with Guatemala.

Ancient Caracol was occupied as early as 1200 BC. Its greatest period of construction was in the Maya Classic period, between 600 and 900 AD. The town grew into one of the largest ancient Maya cities, covering some 65 square miles with an estimated peak population of about 120,000 or more. Caracol --being a highly populated city-- was very proficient on the battle field. Most close by cities were at least once devastated by the rath and power of Caracol at war. One of Carocol’s most distinguished monuments records a military victory over the army of Tikal --located in Guatemala-- in 562 AD, where Caracol’s Lord Water is shown to have captured and sacrificed Tikal’s Double Bird.

Our next stop was to swim in calm waterfall and call it a day. After a long but beguiling day I couldn’t have wanted any other way but to end the day. The trip to Caracol was absolutely amazing and clearly left a mark.

We made our way from here in the archeological site and rainforest to the shore of Placencia, Belize where we spent a day on the beach and another snorkeling off an island in the one of the biggest barrier reefs in the western part of the world. Our visit to Belize had ended with a ride on a tiny plane-- cessna-- from Placencia to Belize City. It was as if Belize didn’t want us to go because soon after we found out that our flight out of Belize City had been canceled. Although we knew that Belize couldn’t formally say goodbye we took it as another opportunity to take in all of this great country’s beauty.

Turtle Hat

by Alex Hull ‘21

Peer Mediators

Student Council

Brill-Edwards, Nick Clark, Will Griffiths, Will Lemmon, Petey Overton-Clark, Jackson Pham, Kenneth Sharma, Neetish Summy, Zak Weinstein, Jake Whaley, Dan Williams, John Williams, Jon Yoh, Michael

Mike Todd - Franz Carson Rooney - Lesko/Schaaf Bryce Broadus - Rupp Sam Gavula - Skelly/Grossman Zach Schlichting - Faralli Adam Campbell - Reich Eli Rodriguez - Masso/Greytok Alexander Greer - Strong Chris Clark - Potter/Agati William Boyes - McConnon Karam Bambawale - Turner/Suter Henri Wache - Kettering Drew Loughnane - J.Suter/ Krieg Colby Kim - Nelson/Romero Chase Cohen - Jacob

Upcoming Events:

Grease: School Edition Cast List:

Jan. 30 & 31 - Middle School Play: Grease Feb. 16 - Washington’s Birthday: NO SCHOOL Feb. 18 - Form I FCD Meeting Apr. 17 - Middle School Dance @ Haverford

School Activities:

Special Thanks to:

Choir (Mr. Stroud)

Ms. Nelson and Mrs. Jacob

DANNY: Jeff Pendergast KENICKIE: David Hurly ROGER: Sam Gavula DOODY: Thomas Russell SONNY: Neetish Sharma EUGENE FLORCYK: Robert T. Esgro TEEN ANGEL: Alex Leicht JOHNNY CASINO: Graham Rantanen VINCE FONTAINE: Tom White Nate Whitaker Gabe Gowen, Andrew Ellis Alex Hull Henri Wache Judah Weekes Mac Zeller

Book Club (Mrs. Krieg) Math Counts (Mr. Franz) I’m Not Kidding (Mrs. Kettering) Model UN (Ms. Lesko) Newspaper (Mrs. Nelson)

Robert T. Esgro (CoEditor) Alexander Greer (CoEditor)

Math Olympics (Mr. Romero) Dr. Who (Mr. Masso)

Sir Speedy Printing

Diplomacy - Form II (Mr. Schaaf) Company

Special Thanks to the Greer Family!