What’s this?

One of several pairs of students walking across campus the other day, the sighted leading the blindfolded.  The answer from Visiting Assistant Professor of Writing Sue Benston:

Baseball Alert:  New York Times profile of Tony Petitti ‘83, who is running the new Major League Baseball TV network.  As the article points out, Tony played catcher while a student here. 

Meanwhile, in the beautiful wilds of western Massachusetts, Cassie ‘97 makes jewelry and laments having moved out of our Alumni Relations ”Young Alumni” organizational category, at least formally.  In my experience — and I’ve had a lot given that I left that category way long ago — “young” is purely a state of mind.  Older, younger, whatever – Cassie seems to be putting her time to good use as evidenced by the lovely work displayed in her online shop.   

Breathtaking photo exhibit:  if you’re at all able and even only moderately interested, a trip to see the new Art Sinsabaugh exhibit here on campus is well worth the effort.  Here’s a blog reference.

Gene Ludwig ‘68:  the next Secretary of the Treasury? With video.

Steve Emerson ‘74 — who also works here at Haverford — is honored by med school alma mater Yale University with the Wilbur Cross award.

President & Prof. Steve Emerson with student Hannah Land.

Steve Emerson included in Philadelphia Inquirer profile of college presidents who also teach.

HC:  a place that fosters an academic environment that isn’t dog-eat-dog, says the Bergen County Record, and that’s the sort of info that’ll help you pick the right college for you.

Haverford’s student smoking policy is among the most permissive in the area, according to the Delaware County Daily Times.

“College Confidential” is a window on the world of college admissions from a consumer standpoint; it’s particularly interesting for those ‘fords who have been out of the game for some time. The site is basically a discussion board about anything and everything college-related.  This student says she’s interested in Haverford and wonders aloud what her chances are.

International Humanitarian Foundation blog reference to Haverford Poli Sci students’ trip to Guatemala.

Swan Field goes from gray to green this month as the rocky substrate gets carpeted with the plush plastic of artificial grass.

The guy sewing it all together — literally — is named Mark Gregory.  He and his daughter Samantha are from Upstate New York.  They’ll be here for the next three weeks stitching together the 15-foot-wide rolls of turf. 

They use a machine that’s adapted from the technology that sews up bags of dog food and charcoal, and if the field holds together as well as those maddening bags, it’ll stay tight and snug forever.  (Tip from Mark: “Don’t try to open those bags by pulling the end of the thread.  Cut it about an inch into the seam and it’ll open right up.”)

Marks says he’s one of only about 200 people in the entire country who make their living stitching turf surfaces.  He has been doing it for four years and figures he’s done 28 fields.  The most recent gig was in Anchorage.  “It sucked,” says Samantha.  Reason for the suckage include snow and constant drizzle in 50-some degree temperatures.  “The sun came out once, ” adds Mark.  “We took a picture of Mt. McKinley 130 miles away.  It was the only day you could see it.”

Here’s how the process works.  With the first giant spool of turf unrolled, its neighbor is unfurled on top of it, face to face:  

The stitching machine — usually operated by Mark Gregory but on this day (and for these 18″ at least) by Haverford’s very own Steve Emerson — connects them like the binding of a book:

Next, the gang grabs the edge and runs on the count of three, opening the “book” so that the second piece is now lying face-up:

The third piece will  be laid face-down on this now-face-up second piece.  It’ll get stitched into place, and on they will go, unroll-stitch-open up-unroll, down the field.  Boundary lines are woven into the surface, but lines on the playing area are sewn in later using 4″ wide strips that Mark and Samantha have cut, by hand, from those enormous spools:  

Mark says he has never screwed up by, say, putting the goal line at the 20, but recalls a job that required him to fix others’ work.  “What a mess!  The lines around the coaches’ box were all crazy.”  Likewise, he hasn’t ever stitched himself to the carpet, though admits blistered fingers from the 350-degree hot glue that keeps edges in place.  “And remember that guy who got caulk in his underarm hair?” recalls Samantha.  (Surely “that guy” hasn’t forgotten, either.)

When the carpet is laid, sand and rubber pellets will get raked into the surface creating a soft pad that mimics the density of real earth.

Mark says he has no idea where the next assignment will take him; as for Samantha, she hits the books at community college later this month and can’t wait to check out of their motel.  “Fleas!” 

Swan Field is named in honor of the late Athletic Director Dana Swan.  Watch this space for details about the dedication ceremony this fall.

Ron Tola runs the department.  Today, we caught him joyriding – ahem, testing — outside Founders Hall: 

That’s one of the gas powered carts in the background.  The scooter costs $800, charges up in 3 hours and typically goes for 2 days on a charge given normal use.  This model isn’t street legal; another version, more high-powered and fully crash-tested, will be good to go on the open road (in the way the golf carts are not, as a group of alums discovered at reunion when Lower Merion’s finest intercepted them en route to the Ardmore Wawa during a midnight hoagie run). 

A team of brass polishers has been tackling the entry to Magill Library.  These surfaces have not been cleaned since 1970.

This lass was laying eggs at the edge of the Duck Pond. Meanwhile, Dean Greg Kannerstein reports, “I have several times seen traffic on College Lane or Railroad Avenue come to a halt for five minutes or so as a turtle inched its way across the road. One year, a turtle on RR Avenue refused to move, and we had to get out of the car and prod it with a *long* stick for quite some time to get it out of there. No way was anyone going to pick it up.”

Excellent roundup of turtle facts here, including:

• The largest snapping turtle ever recorded was 18.5 in (47 cm) (carapace length).
• Weights of 35 to 45 pounds are reached (8 to 14 inch individuals).
• The heaviest snapping turtle ever caught in the wild weighed 68 lbs.
• The older snapping turtles get, the slower they grow, so the biggest individuals are possibly over 100 years old.

According to the poster (a former employee of Special Collections), that white square floating in the water is a cube of shredded wheat…which is probably about an inch long…which would make the head of the guy who’s about to eat it some 9″ long…such that the whole beast is probably bigger than the lid of a trashcan.

Here’s another shot, with geese for comparison. Yikes.