"Sharpies on a Whiteboard". A Poem by Samantha Lozinski

"Sharpies on a Whiteboard"

Friendships are Sharpie on a whiteboard

You can’t just erase them out of your life

Unless you really try

But why would you want to

Friendships will always be there

They make a permanent difference in your life

You can sense friendships

Like how you can sense a Sharpie by the distinct smell

You have a friendship because you want it

And you like everything about the friendship

Sharpies can make a permanent difference on a paper

What if you thought about it like the paper was your heart

And your friendships were the sharpie


NASA Getting Ready For Big Week (Nov. 7-14) by Kale Cunningham 

This week NASA is getting ready for a big week in space, with many events. Let's jump in!


Wednesday: Possible Docking with ISS


Cygnus cargo ship is trying to reach the International Space Station (ISS) with only 1 solar array deployed. Launched on Monday morning, the spacecraft is taking experiments and other supplies to the ISS. But only one of its solar panels is deployed; the other one is stuck. However, Northrop Grumman, the operator, reported to NASA that it can still dock, Cygnus just needs to get rid of some unnecessary equipment to save power.


Thursday: Possible Launch of Weather Satellite and Technology Demonstration


Planned to launch around 4:30 a.m., NASA will be launching the JPSS-2 weather satellite and the technology demonstration. 


Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID)

LOFTID is an inflatable heat shield that NASA wants to use when they send a crewed mission to Mars. LOFTID is supposed to enter Earth's atmosphere and then splash down in the ocean.


Sunday: Moon Orbital Insertion

NASA’s CAPSTONE satellite is supposed to get into lunar orbit; the microwave-sized spacecraft was launched to the moon in June. NASA  decided to take a longer trip, by getting into Earth orbit and slowly raising it. Now after almost 4 months, it’s ready to enter orbit. 

Late Sunday/early Monday: Artemis 1 Launch 


NASA’s Artemis 1 mission will launch the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft  to the moon. Orion will stay in deep space for a record 25 days and then splash down in the ocean on Friday, December 9.  

Hopefully, NASA will be able to complete all of the missions successfully this week! 

(Please note that the launch times, dockings, and orbital institutions could change.) 

To see NASA’s schedule look here! 

https://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/ 

Penn State “Cancels” Founder of White Supremacist Group: Proud Boys’ Event, Due to Violence. By Carrot Dayrat

On the night of Monday, October 24, 2022 the founder of a far right hate group (according to the Southern Poverty Law Center) known as Proud Boys was scheduled to perform a comedy show in the Thomas Building at Penn State University. The performance was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm, but hundreds of protesters had already shown up multiple hours in advance. The protest was initially planned as a peaceful protest, but as the protest continued, turmoil began to spread over campus and things started to get violent, eventually leading to the cancellation of the event. 

The Proud Boys have been part of an ongoing investigation for almost two years, they have been suspected of conspiring the attack on the capitol in protest of current US president, Joe Biden’s swearing in on January 6, 2021.

The group Proud Boys is also known for instigating violence and riots against groups deemed as enemies like the anti-facist and antifa movements. The founder as well as the group in itself has made it clear that they are an extremist and White Nationalist group as they support and make appearances with other hate groups in addition to other known extremists. 

The founder of the group, Gavin McInnes, as well as Alex Stein, a self proclaimed professional troll also known for being the creator of his own podcast which was banned from multiple streaming platforms due to a  consistent violation of the hate speech policy, were both paid to speak at Penn State University. The event cost a total of $7,522.43 that was derived from student fees as well as another $6,500 in additional payments. The Panel approving all the costs was led entirely by students. 

Penn State had invited Stein and McInnes to speak while being aware of the fact that multiple leaders as well as more that two dozen members of Proud Boys had been federally charged over the attack on January 6th. The university stated that they hesitated to cancel the event in order to preserve the free speech rights represented on campus. But as the threat of violence escalated throughout the night, university officials were required to cancel the event.

Image Source: statecollege.com



Our Favorite Holiday Foods By Ella Caldwell & Audra Miller

Here are some of our favorite holiday foods that you should try:

First the main meal:

  1. Turkey

  2. Deviled eggs

  3. Cranberry sauce

  4. Mashed potatoes & gravy

  5. Mac & cheese

  6. Green bean casserole

  7. Rolls

  8. Cheesy potatoes

  9. Apple sauce

  10. Sweet potato casserole 

Next the deserts:

  1. Pumpkin pie with ice cream and whipped cream

  2. Apple pie

  3. fudge

  4. Pecan pie

  5. All types of cookies

  6. Chocolate pie

  7. Cheesecake

  8. Brownies

  9. S'mores bars


Now drinks:

  1. Hot chocolate

  2. Apple cider

  3. Eggnog

  4. Sweet tea

  5. Fruit punch

  6. Juice with sparkling water

  7. Coffee with the seasonal flavors 


Appetizers:

  1. Cheese & crackers

  2. Nuts

  3. Veggie platters

Ukraine Has Homemade Tanks? by Ishaan Pareek

Does Ukraine have homemade tanks?

A video released by the Ukrainian General Staff shows the testing of a homemade tank destroyer or a self-propelled gun. The caption was the following: “MTLB army tractor + MT-12 Rapira anti-tank gun = self-propelled anti-tank gun”

A tank destroyer is a combat vehicle armed with a gun of decent caliber but have limited operational qualities, such as a lack of armor and slowness. A self-propelled anti-tank gun is an gun with a large caliber,and in some cases , can even one shot tanks. The platform's hull is known to be an MT-LB tracked armored vehicle, and the vehicle’s armament is a mounted MT-12 Rapira anti-tank gun. Now the question is can it defend its own against enemy tanks and troops? Even though the Ukrainian General Staff said:

“The system has already been tested and is in the combat zone”

As shown in the video, there was no armor to protect the sides of the turret/gun so the loader would be very vulnerable to small arms fire , shrapnel , grenades ,and other hazards. If this self-propelled anti-tank gun was on the front lines , it would be easily destroyed. Because of this the self-propelled anti-tank gun is probably far away from the front lines, providing fire support. But that still might not save the self-propelled anti-tank gun , because of the pace of combat, a tank could sneak past ukrainian lines and wreak havoc on tanks , and possibly this self-propelled anti-tank gun . A tank could also ambush it and destroy it. Because of these weaknesses, the self-propelled anti-tank gun might not be incredibly effective, though it can still probably punch a hole through a few tanks. It is amazing to see what Ukraine is coming up with in these difficult times.

NATIONAL PUMPKIN DAY POEM: October 26th by Carolyn Frank

A poem by Carolyn Frank for National Pumpkin Day

Spooky season,

Is what they say,

But spooky season,

Is only today,

For the leaves are brown 

And the Pumpkins are fresh.

And we all have worry less

Today will be fun

With corn mazes and treats

WHen we go home 

We’ll carve and eat sweets,

With joy of the season,

That’s only today.




Popular Books Reviewed by Samantha Lozinski

Image Source: Amazon

The Girl in The White Van

This is definitely a well known book at PFMS, when last year in book madness some people got a little upset because this book got runner up by one vote. ONE VOTE!!! 


The Girl in the White Van is about a 16 year old girl named Savannah, who gets kidnapped after her Kung Fu class, (in a white van.) (I know, I know, calm yourselves down. Who would have guessed?!)  which she went to after having a fight with her mothers current boyfriend. He then locks her up in an old trailer space. But she, and another girl named Jenny who has been there for 10 months, need to find a way out, without dying from a dog waiting outside, that is purposely meant to kill anybody his leader tells him too.

I obviously give this a 5/5. I can’t even explain it, besides the fact that I couldn't stop reading it.



We Were Liars

Cadence struggles to remember what happened on her fifteenth summer, and her family is told it is just better to let her remember it on her own. Even though she is on a private island with her cousins and a boy named Gat, all she can ever think about is what happened that summer. 

I would personally give this a 4/5. I’m sorry!! I know this is a popular book, but for me, it was a little bit boring in the middle. I like books where you don’t have one moment where you want to put it down since you are bored. The reason I gave this a 4/5 is because even though it was a little boring, I really enjoyed the ending, and I never would have expected that ending.


Shatter Me

I don’t think this is a super known book at PFMS, but it is on Booktok!! I usually don’t do sci fi books…but there I was!

Shatter Me follows a 17 year old girl named Juliette, who can kill somebody… just with her touch. Nobody knows how or why, and to her it feels like a curse. But the Reestablishment sees it as a gift and an opportunity. And when she recognizes a boy, she finds along the way that he might make things a little easier, even though life is hard for her.

For me, this book is a 4.5/5. I don’t know. I feel like this book is more than a four, but I don’t know if it would be a 5/5. But don’t get me wrong, because this was such an interesting read, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed with my first sci-fi book. And I would still definitely recommend it! I loved the unique use of crossing out words and sentences as if it was a journal or a diary!


The Running Dream

The Running Dream is about a 16 year old girl named Jessica who loves running, but lost her leg in a car accident, and needs to learn how to keep running, but this time with a prosthetic leg. With her track team helping her along the way, and a new unexpected friend, anything can eventually feel possible. 

I give The Running Dream a 5/5. I remember really liking this book, and I loved how this book really got me thinking about how amputees and people with prosthetic legs are incredible and fascinating. It was written very well.


To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before


Laura Jean keeps 5 love letters in a hatbox (that her mother had given to her), whenever she’s done liking them. But one day those (private) letters are mysteriously sent. She doesn’t know how they got sent, and she didn’t even know they were sent until one of the boys that got a love letter confronts her about it in gym class! And to make a boy jealous, does fake love turn into real love? 

I give this book a 4/5. I really liked this book, and thought it was nice for a romance book to have a little something different than person meets person, they like each other, they date. 

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Every Summer, Belly stays at the beach house. Summer’s are the best for Belly. Winters are meant for counting down how many more weeks until she gets to be with family friends Susannah, Jeremiah, and Conrad. They have been like a second and third brother, and her crushes, to her since her first summer at the beach house. But this summer is different, in an amazing and weird way…

This book was a pretty good book, so I’m going to give it a 4/5. It was really good, but there are other books that I like better, but I will still definitely recommend this book to anybody!

Opinion: All 12 Months Ranked Worst to First by Sam Rockmore

It’s me, Sam Rockmore, the guy who wrote “Echoes of the Fallen” and now here I am to rank the months because why not? Disclaimer: I don’t really feel cold, so that will not be included in my rankings. If you disagree, write your rankings on a piece of paper and put it in a red bin with a white symbol (There’s one in every classroom.)

12. March, the worst of the seasons. First of all, there are no major holidays, except Saint Patrick's Day, which I forgot, so it’s probably not a major holiday. It’s muddy, rainy, gross, and all my precious snow is melting. Sure, the flowers start growing, but I’m allergic to pollen. It feels like there's a spider web in your eye, but the only way to make the pain go away is to lie motionless with a wet cloth over your eyes for half an hour. (It’s not fun.) We’re looking for something, anything, to look forward to, but it simply isn’t there. I. Hate. March.

11. July isn’t great. It’s certainly a huuuuge step up from March, but still not great. It’s got the fourth of July with awesome fireworks, but that’s it. It’s also extremely hot and miserable, people expect you to go outside, with nothing to do or look forward to. It’s just an entire month with nothing to do. Boring.

10. September, nobody likes it, but I’d say it’s better than July. It’s finally cooling down, but there isn’t anything to look forward to except for October. It’s also the first full month of school, which can be hard to get used to.

9. May, the staple of spring. May is hot, has too much pollen, there’s still school, and people expect you to constantly go outside just because it’s nice out. Once again, no major holidays, or anything cool or notable.

8. January. January,  January, January. You ask 5 people the worst month, January is most likely the answer. Sure, it’s bleak, cold, and there’s nothing to look forward to, but you then get to use the massive haul of Christmas presents, or whatever other holidays you guys celebrate, either way, you can have fun with the aftermath. There’s also snow activities; I like sledding, but I know people like Snowboarding, Snowtubing, Skiing, ETC.

7. August is fine. There’s still no major holidays, it’s burning hot, and there is nothing to do. The only thing notable about August is the start of school.

6. June, however, is the end of school, less hot, but still no holidays. Still not very notable.

5. February is nice. It’s a nice break from January, with a nice holiday: Valentine’s day. Granted, it was better when we were younger, with the bag of free candy. It’s still got snow, which is great.

4. November is nice, but not for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the most overrated holiday of all time. In November, I go to Maine to visit my grandparents and my uncle and get my first Christmas presents, which is great.

3. October is great. It’s pleasantly cold, no pollen, the trees are beautiful this time of year, and for my family, two holidays are present, my Dad’s birthday, and Halloween. Halloween is awesome. You can dress like an idiot and get free candy for it.

2. April, you likely don’t agree with the placement, but hear me out. It’s like a second Christmas for my family. My cousin’s birthday, my uncle’s birthday, my grandma’s birthday, my sister’s birthday, and my birthday are all in April. Easter also happens to be my second favourite holiday; free candy, presents, and Easter egg hunts. April is great.

1. December is self-explanatory. No matter what religion, or lack of one, there’s always something in December. My family does something called advent calendars, where you get a tiny present every day from the first to the twenty-third. On Christmas Eve, you’ll get an ornament for the tree. Christmas is such an awesome way to end off the year.

Image Source: Two Buttons Deep