The Index
The student voice... since 1888
Ευταξια Σωζειν Δοκει
October 2017
Volume LXXX, No. 2
Haverford, Pennsylvania
www.havindex.com
PHOTO BY INDEX STAFF
This summer, Fifth Former Junius Jones launched a pen business. When Jones’ father first showed his son a handmade pen, he was quickly drawn into the pen-making world; as soon as school began, his hobby captivated the Haverford community. Jones’ carpenter father introduced him to the pen business through a small summer project. “One night, my dad came up to me and showed me this wooden pen and asked me if I thought it was cool,” Jones said. “I said, ‘Yeah, Dad. Where did you get it?’ He told me that he made it, and I said, ‘No way.’
“Then he told me that I could make one too. He took me down to the workshop in the basement and brought me over to a pen kit, where he showed me how he made his first pen.” Jones observed his father as he taught him how to make a pen step-by-step. His father first picked the type of wood; he then carved a rectangular block from a larger slab. He cut the wood to fit the dimensions of the pen, drilling a hole through the middle to make space for the pen’s components. He slid a golden filament — a protective internal casing — into the drill cavity and dolloped super glue at the cor-
ners to keep the filament stable. His father attached the wooden pen frame to the lathe, a machine that spins rapidly; the frame was smoothened with the lathe, making the pen’s shape come to life. Jones’ father finally added the accessories, sanded the pen, and varnished the final product. When his father went upstairs, Jones immediately went to work, hastily creating another pen on his own. “The first one I ever made took me a long time; it took me almost two-to-three hours,” Jones recalled, “But the satisfaction when I was done was
so great. And the fact that I could use the pen, something that I created with my own hands, enhanced that feeling.” For Jones, who embraces a good challenge, sculpting the pen on the lathe is the most exhilarating part since it is so difficult. “Learning how to work on the lathe may seem simple, and [may seem like] going back and forth, but it is much more complicated,” Jones asserted, “[Perfecting] the angles and how to take the most wood out in a way that does not break the pen is very hard...” cont. pg. 7
National Merit recognizes thirteen Sixth Formers Neetish Sharma ’19 It comes every year for a portion of our student body. Some do not really understand what it is for. Some take it seriously. However, we all sit for it at some point. Recently, the College Board revealed the results for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Every year, students nationwide sit for the PSAT or the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a standardized test administered by the College Board and co-sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) in the United States. Approximately 3.5 million students take the PSAT/ NMSQT each year on average. Both sophomores and juniors sit for this test during October, but only juniors are eligible to compete for the National Merit Scholarship. The test models an actual SAT, but it has been scaled to a more basic version with a different scoring curve. The test consists of four sections: Reading, Writing and Grammar, Math without a calculator, and Math with a calculator. The test is scored on point scale totaling to a maximum of 1520 points. Each question is worth approximately 10 points, depending on the scoring curve administered each year. When answering questions, there is no penalty for wrong answers. This year, thirteen Haverford School seniors have been recognized for their achievement by the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. Five students — Satch Baker, Grady Nance, Grant Sterman, Samuel Turner, and Kyle Wagner — were named National Merit Semifinalists and will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for one of the 7,500 Merit Scholarship
awards, collectively worth more than $32 million, that will be offered next spring. “I do think that National Merit is a great way to represent yourself and Haverford as someone who excels in academics, which is worth something to me,” says Sixth Former and National Merit Semifinalist Grant Sterman. “My advice to younger students would be this: if you want to do well, you have to take it seriously. With that said, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get a certain score. If you prepare well and are attentive to detail during the test, I’m sure you will do well.” To further advance in the competition for earning the scholarship, students will have to submit an academic record, SAT scores, information
Mr. Kolade provides nuanced take on protesting on pg. 6
about extracurricular activities, and a personal essay. The rigorous selection process is similar to that of the college admissions process, except only 15,000 students are chosen as Finalists from a pool of millions, and of those, only about 7,500 students receive scholarships. On a percentage basis, this averages out to less than 1% of students receiving scholarships. Eight students were also recognized as National Merit Commended Scholars, placing them among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students this year who entered the 2018 competition by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This year the Commended Scholars are Robbie Chen, Spencer Davis, Luke Egan, Eusha Hasan,
Mike Schlarbaum, Benjamin Stallworth, Matthew Tucker, and Gaspard Vadot. “My advice for future test-takers is to do a bunch of practice tests; don’t waste your time learning new material through other sources. Take as many past official practice tests as possible so you become extremely familiar with the real thing,” commented Sixth Form National Merit Commended Scholar Eusha Hasan. “The PSAT definitely helped me perform well on the ACT, and for students who qualify for National Merit, the PSAT is a great opportunity to earn some scholarship money to ease the burden on your parents when you attend college.”
Thirteen students were selected as 2017-2018 National Merit Scholars.
INTEL CHEN ’19
Drew Sterman ’16 and Grant Sterman ’18 provide Notes to Self on pg. 4
PHOTO COURTESY OF DREW STERMAN ’16
MS. DAWN BLAKE