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Tax issues for employers and employees.
At Prentis & Co we can help employers in the Cambridge area with a variety of tax and employment matters. From PAYE to business motoring, we would be happy to advise you in any way we can.
In this section we consider some of the most important tax issues for employers and employees.
The purpose of the PAYE system is to collect the right amount of tax from your earnings throughout the course of the year. Your tax code – or sometimes a series of tax codes – is used by your employer to work out how much tax to deduct from your earnings.
However, many people can go for years paying the wrong amount of tax – either too much or, perhaps more worryingly, too little – because they have an incorrect tax code. In particular, they may not have notified the tax office of changes in their circumstances that would affect their tax position, such as a change in jobs or acquiring or losing the benefit of a company car, or they may have started or stopped investing in a personal pension plan.
It is important that we check your PAYE code now, because it is much easier to rectify mistakes before the tax year ends. As a first step, though, you can look at your salary slip to see which code is currently being applied.
The letter in the code tells us whether your code includes one of the standard allowances, and you can see if this is right for your circumstances:
L – includes the basic personal allowance
N – taxpayers who are 'transferors' of the Marriage Allowance
M – taxpayers who are 'recipients' of the Marriage Allowance
T – there is usually an adjustment in your code which requires manual checking by HMRC each year – for example, you might have a tax underpayment being 'coded out'
K – HMRC may try to increase the tax you pay on one source of income to cover the tax due on another source which cannot be taxed directly – for example, the tax due on your taxable employment benefits might be collected by increasing the amount of tax you would otherwise pay on your company salary. A 'K' code applies when the 'other income' adjustment reduces your allowances to less than zero – in effect, it means that the payer has to add notional income to your real income for PAYE purposes.
The maximum tax which can be deducted is 50% of the source income.
HMRC will often try to collect tax on other income through your PAYE code but you may prefer to pay the tax through self assessment – contact us, as we can arrange for the adjustment to be removed.
If you are resident in Scotland you will pay Scottish income tax. In such cases your code will start with an 'S' to tell your employer to deduct tax using the Scottish income tax bands on your pay.
HMRC has now started using information received from employers, such as notification of a new benefit to recalculate employee tax codes in real-time. Where a potential underpayment is identified HMRC will make an in-year adjustment to the code for the current tax year, so-called 'dynamic coding', rather than waiting until the following tax year to code out the difference.
Where loans from an employer total more than £10,000 at any point during the tax year, tax is chargeable on the difference between any interest actually paid and interest calculated at the official rate (2.5% from 6 April 2017). Contact us for the latest position.
Expense payments are generally exempt and do not need to be reported to HMRC on a form P11D. However, expense payments can still be subject to review from time to time, including during an employer compliance visit from HMRC.
You may be able to claim tax relief for other expenses you incur in connection with your job, but the rules are fairly restrictive.
An attractive remuneration package might include any of the following:
Most benefits are fully taxable, but some attract specific tax breaks.
Combining qualifying benefits with a properly arranged salary sacrifice can mean considerable savings for both employer and employee. If you get the package right, it can be very beneficial – especially for those with income of more than £100,000 who will lose their personal allowances. If you fall into this marginal category, please talk to us to find out how we can help.
Employer contributions to a registered employer pension scheme or your own personal pension policies are not liable for tax or NICs.
Please be aware that while your employer can contribute to your personal pension scheme, these contributions are combined with your own for the purpose of measuring your total pension input against the 'annual allowance'. Further information is provided in this guide.
Site-based employees may be able to claim a deduction for travel to and from the site at which they are working, plus subsistence costs when they stay at or near the site.
Employees working away from their normal place of work can claim a deduction for the cost of travel to and from their temporary place of work, subject to a maximum period.
The company car continues to be an important part of the remuneration package for many employees, despite the increases in the taxable benefit rates over the last few years.
Employees and directors pay tax on the provision of the car and on the provision of fuel by employers for private mileage. Employers pay Class 1A NICs at 13.8% on the same amount.
This is payable by the 19 July following the end of the tax year.
The amount on which tax and Class 1A NICs are paid in respect of a company car depends on a number of factors. Essentially, the amount charged is calculated by multiplying the list price of the car, including most accessories, by a percentage. The percentage is set by reference to the rate at which the car emits CO2 – please see the table to the right for the 2018/19 rates.
Some employers find it convenient to have one or more cars that are readily available for business use by a number of employees. The cars are only available for genuine business use and are not allocated to any one employee. Such cars are usually known as pool cars. The definition of a pool car is very restrictive, but if a car qualifies there is no tax or NIC liability.
* Diesel cars that are registered on or after 1 September 2017 and meet Euro 6d emission standard are exempt from the 4% supplement.
Rates from 1 September 2019 and are subject to change. Note the advisory fuel rates are revised in March, June, September and December. Please contact us for any updated rates.
A frequently asked question is: would I be better off giving up the company car and instead claiming mileage allowance for the business travel I do in a car that I buy myself? The rule of thumb answer to this is that you are more likely to be better off if your annual business mileage is high.
Another frequent question is: would I be better off having my employer provide me with fuel for private journeys, free of charge, and paying tax on the benefit, or bearing the cost myself? In this case, the rule of thumb answer is that you are only likely to be better off taking the free fuel if your annual private mileage is high. However the cost to the employer of providing this benefit is likely to be high.
Every case should be judged on its own merits, and considered from both the employee's and the employer's point of view. While cost is an important factor, it is not the only one. As an employee, using a company car removes the need to worry about bills or the cost of replacement. As an employer, running company cars allows you to retain control over what may, for your business, be key operating assets.
If your employer provides fuel for any private travel, there is a taxable benefit, calculated by applying the same percentage used to calculate the car benefit to the fuel benefit charge multiplier of £23,400.
You can avoid the car fuel charge either by paying for all fuel yourself and claiming the cost of fuel for business journeys at HMRC's fuel only advisory rates, or by reimbursing your employer for fuel used privately using the same rates.
Many employers and employees have benefitted from significant savings by replacing company cars with employee-owned cars part-funded by mileage allowances at HMRC rates. Where a company vehicle is still appropriate, a van rather than a car is worth considering.
Unrestricted use of a company van results in a taxable benefit of £3,350, with a further £633 benefit if free fuel is also provided. Limiting the employee's private use to only home to work travel could reduce both figures to zero.
Olivia is an owner-director. For her company car she had chosen one with a list price of £25,785. The car runs on petrol and emits CO2 at a rate of 148g/km.
Olivia's company is successful and she pays tax at 45%. Her 2018/19 tax bill on the car is therefore £3,481 (£25,785 x 30% x 45%). Olivia's company will pay Class 1A NICs of £1,067 (£25,785 x 30% x 13.8%).
The company also pays for all of Olivia's petrol. Because she does not reimburse the cost of fuel for private journeys, she will pay tax of £3,159 (£23,400 x 30% x 45%) and the company will pay Class 1A NICs of £969 (£23,400 x 30% x 13.8%).
The total tax and NIC cost is £8,676. Furthermore, as well as paying for the fuel, the company will also need to pay a gross amount of over £12,528 to provide Olivia with the funds to pay the tax.
The government has introduced a new Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme, which operates via an online childcare account. Existing Employer-Supported Childcare (ESC) was set to be closed to new entrants from 6 April 2018, with existing recipients being able to choose to remain in the scheme for as long as their employer continued to provide it, or move to the new TFC scheme. However, the April deadline has subsequently been extended by a minimum additional six months.
ESC, such as childcare vouchers, may be offered in addition to employees' pay or as a reduction in pay (commonly known as salary sacrifice), enabling them to reduce the cost of childcare.
Under the new TFC scheme, relief is given at 20% of the costs of childcare up to a total of childcare cost of £10,000 per child per year. The scheme is worth a maximum of £2,000 per child (£4,000 for a disabled child). All children under 12 years old are eligible (or up to 17 for children with disabilities), but parents must meet certain eligibility criteria.
If you're in the Cambridge area and would like advice on tax planning strategies for your business, including tax and employment issues, please contact Prentis & Co.


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There are many types of arm-grabs in the world. We're talking about those moments when your friend excitedly grabs your arm because a) the movie you're both watching has taken a thrilling turn or b) your favorite player just made a difficult basket or c) a meteor just streaked overhead with drama and flair.
It's the third type of arm grab that's potentially the most satisfying or the most frustrating. If you saw the meteor, too, then you are equally as ebullient. If you missed it? Word has it that it can be hard to clock when the next meteor will show. (Count on more predictable thrills in a movie or more baskets in a game, though.)
Friends and loved ones will likely be doing plenty of arm-grabbery on Sunday, April 21 and Monday, April 22 when the Lyrid Meteor Shower pay our planet a visit. The skinny? "(A)bout 20 meteors per hour" is expected at the showers' peak, says World of Astronomy.
That's a lot of grabbing of friends' arms, for sure, as long as you keep a steady watch.
Another feature of the Lyrids are dust trails that are particularly noticeable. We're inclined to get poetic and call it "star dust" although "meteor dust" would be more accurate.
Look near the constellation of Lyra to see some action.
But here's the bonus: The Lyrids may start up as early as Tuesday, April 16. Call the first ones early arrivals. The celestial scouting party.
If you can't wait for April 21 and 22, there's a Public Star Party at Griffith Observatory on Saturday, April 20. As always, these monthly gatherings are totally free.
Are you set to grab a loved one's arm, meteor mavens, over and over? That's part of the fun of watching for so-called falling stars.

subset: commoncrawl


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The 2017 IRONMAN Athletes' Choice Awards
As you plan your 2018 season, who better to consult than your fellow athletes? Our annual athlete surveys tell the story best: using the information we gather from YOU, our community, we are proud to present our top 10 IRONMAN events across a variety of categories. Read on for the places and communities that will get you excited to race this year—whether you're looking for a pristine swim, a memorable post-race party, or a bike course that will leave you drooling.
Check out the 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 Athletes' Choice Awards.
Overall Satisfaction
1. IRONMAN Maryland: "The city, volunteers, and race director made my first IRONMAN experience everything I dreamed it would be." *Read our story with "IRONMAN Whisperer Gerry Boyle," the man behind IRONMAN Maryland.
2. IRONMAN Wisconsin: "IRONMAN Wisconsin can't be beat. The course is beautiful, challenging and rewarding. The spectators are out of this world, and the course design allows for them to travel around to several spots."
3. IRONMAN Hamburg: "The race itself was just fantastic, I loved it. I loved the build up to it and the special feeling coming down the carpet and the individual volunteer who took us to the Athlete Village."
T4. IRONMAN Vichy: "The support on the course was wonderful and I felt like the locals really got behind the event. The passion of the organizers was also evident , and returning for the final finishers was the highlight of the day."
T4. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "I loved the whole atmosphere. The positive energy and excitement was palpable. The volunteers are amazing and the finish line is incredible."
T5. Subaru IRONMAN Mont Tremblant: "Mont-Tremblant was the best venue for a race I have ever been to. I loved it and so did my family. I'll be back next year!"
T5. Subaru IRONMAN Canada: "The best part of the race was the setting of Whistler. It is a staggeringly beautiful course."
8. IRONMAN France: "The ambience and global feel of this race was unparalleled."
9. IRONMAN Arizona: "Amazing atmosphere, spectators, and volunteers who made the day possible."
10. IRONMAN Wales: "The host city and country, atmosphere, and local support is unreal. No event can complete!"
Overall Swim
1. Mazda IRONMAN Cozumel: "Best open water swim I've had in any event. The water was crystal clear, perfect temperatures, and I could see fish swimming."
2. Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, South Africa: "Love love love the rolling start here, so much better for us first-timers."
3. Subaru IRONMAN Canada: "An absolutely gorgeous venue surrounded by mountains. Every race should be like this."
4. IRONMAN Australia: "The weir [low dam or bridge] crossing is cool, a unique feature."
5. Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga presented by McKee a Family Bakery: "You can't really argue with a downstream swim!"
6. IRONMAN Barcelona: "The swim is so beautiful you almost forget you're racing."
7. IRONMAN Louisville presented by Norton Sports Health: "A chill, relaxing way to start a long day."
T8. IRONMAN Italy: "Wonderful support and organization at the swim."
T8. IRONMAN Wales: "With the Welsh national anthem and Thunderstruck, it was a perfect, and fitting, start to the day!"
10: IRONMAN Maryland: "Very helpful. I used to be somewhat of an anxious swimmer and did not feel like I had anything to worry about during this race."
Overall Bike
1. Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium: "Great bike course. The support and road surfaces made it successful."
2. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "My favourite part of the race was the bike course, and the cheering along Mirror Lake drive on the run."
3. Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, South Africa: "Absolutely stunning and otherworldly."
4. IRONMAN Maryland: "One of the best supported bike courses I have ever been on. The course support was very visible and the staff at the aid stations were very friendly and supportive, and the nutrition was easily accessible."
5. Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship, Cairns: "Sweeping views, good roads, excellent support all around."
6. Mazda IRONMAN Cozumel: "I actually really loved riding on the long, straight road."
7. IRONMAN France: "A beautiful and challenging course."
8. IRONMAN Lanzarote: "If you want some good Kona training, or to feel like you're cycling on Mars, this is the race for you."
9. Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga presented by McKee a Family Bakery: "The motivation at the Chickamauga bike point was my favorite."
10. IRONMAN Mar del Plata: "Great bike course design and support."
Overall Run
1. IRONMAN Louisville presented by Norton Sports Health: "The IRONMAN Louisville run finish at 4th St. Live is best in class."
2. Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship, Texas: "So many opportunities for family and friends to cheer you on along the run course."
3. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "Running around the Olympic Oval and the finish line atmosphere in general were my favorite parts."
4. Kellogg's Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand: "The course and the support received are hard to describe. You really just have to be there!"
5. Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium: "Absolutely amazing run course. The volunteers kept you really pumped up and the section along the Petit Train du Nord was something to look forward to."
6. Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, South Africa: "Perfect in my opinion. Couldn't ask for better."
T7. IRONMAN Wisconsin: "The run loops up State Street really lifted my spirits and Madison is an amazing host city."
T7. IRONMAN Wales: "I felt so safe and looked after by all the outstanding volunteers along the run."
9. IRONMAN Maryland: "I loved the run course for this race. The spacing of the aid stations was fantastic and the fact that we looped downtown Cambridge several times provided much needed energy from the spectators and crowds."
10. IRONMAN Hamburg: "Supergeile Athmosphäre :-)" (Super atmosphere.)
Best Race Venue
T1. Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium: "This is clearly an 'A' race. I can't possibly say enough about the venue, local community, and supporters. This is a race that to me represented exactly what an IRONMAN should be."
T1. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "The Lake Placid venue is magical. The volunteers and spectator support is top notch! I think some of that 1980 Olympic magic has stuck around over the years."
3. IRONMAN Wisconsin: "The city of Madison is just a great place to race. The people make the day what it is."
4. IRONMAN Wales: "Tenby and Pembrokeshire rally together to host this unforgettable event. We loved the overall feel of the venue."
5. Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga presented by McKee a Family Bakery: "Chattanooga does a stellar job with this event. Everything was first-class."
T6. IRONMAN France: "A truly friendly and loving community."
T6. Subaru IRONMAN Canada: "The centralized Whistler village makes this race so group-friendly and a unique experience."
8. IRONMAN Arizona: "I loved how the bike course kept bringing you back to the start point where the energy was."
9. Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, South Africa: "The town comes out for the event like it's a city-wide party. Unreal."
T10. Kellogg's Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand: "There's a reason this race has been around so long. As an athlete you really can't ask for better."
T10. IRONMAN Australia: "Such a great vibe in Port Mac, chilled and relaxed and so supportive."
Best Host City Experience
1. IRONMAN Wisconsin: "Madison as a venue was outstanding! The people involved in the race and the general public were so gracious. I will definitely be back!"
2. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "I seriously couldn't think of a better place to do my first IRONMAN."
3. Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium:"A simply gorgeous location for an IRONMAN, and the people of Mont Tremblant treat you like royalty. I've never seen anything like it."
4. Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga presented by McKee a Family Bakery: "The people and the city of Chattanooga are the best! I have traveled and done many courses and this is my favorite."
5. Mazda IRONMAN Cozumel: "The whole island does an excellent job of hosting from the kids who staff the aid stations to the families cheering."
6. IRONMAN Wales: "Tenby was simply ace. You cannot ask for a better IRONMAN town."
T7. Kellogg's Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand: "Taupo—how do you even describe it? A historical IRONMAN place indeed."
T7. IRONMAN Arizona: "My favorite IRONMAN experience. The town of Tempe really does it up."
9. IRONMAN Maryland: "This was my first full IRONMAN. My only worry is that no future event will live up to Cambridge in terms of how they embrace the race!"
T10. Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship, Texas: "The Woodlands comes together for this race in a really special way."
T10. IRONMAN Australia: "Port Macquarie is classic ... unmatched on the race circuit."
Best Post-Race Celebration
1. Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium: "The finish line is the best in the business. My fifth time going and it still brought tears to my eyes."
2. IRONMAN Maryland: "The videos shown at the post-race celebration never fail to make me choke up. The finish line was fantastic and the last mile or so of the run, too."
3. IRONMAN Sweden: "The whole town comes out and the positivity is infectious."
4. Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship, Texas: "Rockin'!"
5. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "It was my first IRONMAN experience, and it was everything I expected it to be and more. Every detail was accounted for, and Mike Reilly and the crowd at the end are unforgettable."
6. IRONMAN Malaysia: "The awards dinner was so much fun, and I made so many new international friends."
7. IRONMAN Santa Rosa: "Can you get any better than wine country for a way to celebrate such an accomplishment? I don't think so."
8. Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga presented by McKee a Family Bakery: "The activity level at the finish line and at the end of the race was worth the work and suffering."
9. IRONMAN Wisconsin: "I felt like a celebrity the whole darn weekend."
10. IRONMAN Vichy: "This spa town sure knows how to party."
Will Attend Next Year
1. IRONMAN Korea: "It was great for my first time. I'd do this race again."
2. IRONMAN Malaysia: "The volunteers were one of a kind. I was smiling right through to the end."
3. IRONMAN Taiwan: "This race delivered everything I expected and more. I will be back!"
4. IRONMAN South American Championship, Brazil: "I must return to Brazil every year to soak in the life-giving atmosphere of IRONMAN and my Brazilian triathlon community. I have no words."
5. IRONMAN Mar del Plata: "Las personas en Argentina, mui receptivas." (The Argentinian people were so receptive.)
6. IRONMAN Australia: "The experience as a whole was fantastic."
7. Kellogg's Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand: "This will be etched in my memory for a long, long time. Loved it."
8. Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, South Africa: "Seamless. At an event fraught with so much anxiety, the communication and experience was epic."
9. Club La Santa IRONMAN Lanzarote: "This race is a staple on my IRONMAN list, everyone should do it once."
10. SunSmart IRONMAN Western Australia: "My favorite event ever!"
Will Recommend to a Friend
1. IRONMAN Sweden: "Kalmar sure knows how to make athletes feel special."
2. IRONMAN Lake Placid: "The entire experience from venue to race was absolutely amazing! For my first 140.6 experience it was wonderful."
3. Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium: "This was the best IRONMAN experience I've ever had. Just superb—I will be back for sure!"
4. IRONMAN Wales: "Tenby rocks. Challenging course and scenic location is a jewel in the IRONMAN crown."
5. Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship, South Africa: "The fanfare, the support, the friendly city, all just great."
6. IRONMAN Wisconsin: "From day one sign up to crossing the finish line, the organization and support is beyond amazing. Every detail was thought of, making this an absolutely perfect experience for racers and their families. Just awesome."
7. IRONMAN Maryland: "I cannot speak highly enough of this race."
8. Mazda IRONMAN Cozumel: "Cozumel is paradise on earth and the locals give their all for the event."
9. KMD IRONMAN Copenhagen: "A picturesque, colorful European IRONMAN experience like no other!"
10. Club La Santa IRONMAN Lanzarote: "You only live once. Do this race!"
Bonus Categories
Best Music: Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship, Cairns
Best Race Food Selection: Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant presented by Sportium: "Poutine with pulled pork and real beer at the finish?! I need to do another IRONMAN to burn of the calories. THE BEST!"
Best Restaurants: Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga presented by McKee a Family Bakery


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General Programming ConceptsWhile the field of software architecture is vast and volumes of books could be written on the subject, I have chosen to focus on a few important principles that I find to be very important to making a solid game engine. This article alone does not intend to be enough to make a solid core for you game. That is a vast topic and would make a very large article if put in one place but I do hope to help you get one step closer to your goal of completing a game.
CohesionA highly cohesive class is one that has one and only one clear purpose. I think the best way to understand this is to give a bad example of cohesion then suggest ways to fix it.
class Game
Player player;
Enemy[] enemies;
void update()
foreach (Enemy enemy in enemies)
if (Math.abs(enemy.y - player.y) < EnemySightRange && Math.abs(enemy.x - player.x))
enemy.moveTowards(player.x, player.y);
if (input.keyDown('left'))
player.move(-1, 0);
// ... rest of player logic
void draw()
foreach (Enemy enemy in enemies)
So let me point out a few things wrong with this design. First of all, the class Game has knowledge that there is a single player and a list of enemies. Why is this a problem? Because this class is not reusable nor is it very flexible. Let's say we were using this code and decided we wanted to make the game multiplayer. With the current code, we have single player hard-coded into the game class so adding another would likely be a difficult and buggy procces. Also, the enemy game logic is inside the game class as well. It doesn't belong there.
Another subtle problem with this design is that both the player and enemy directly have an x and y variable. This x, y position should be grouped together and the player's position should be accessed using player.position or even player.transform.position where the transform of the player contains information about location, rotation, and size of the player.
The last thing I want to point out is that the game class directly draws the players and enemies and that the player and enemies each have draw methods as well. The problem here is the way the player or enemy is drawn is linked directly with all other attributes of the player. This may not seem like such a problem on the surface but can create problems as things get more complex. It is better to remove drawing code from the player class and putting it into a seperate class.
So when writing your games how can you avoid low cohesion and classes and know when you need to break things up? The best way is to describe what that class does in words. If you cannot do it in one sentence without using the word 'and' then you probably should break up the functionality of the class. In the example above the responsibilities of the game class are updating the enemies and updating the player and drawing the player and enemies. So how do you fix this? First of all, create a generic game object and add components to it that each have a specific task. One component to render it, another to handle game logic, another for physics, (etc...). This is far better than making sublcasses of a game object class to add custom behaviour. More on this later.
CouplingCoupling refers to classes using other classes. An example would be a player class containing a weapon class. In this case the player is coupled to the weapon. To promote good design you want to have classes as decoupled as possible. You cannot, of course, remove all coupling between classes, because at some point one class will have to you use another class, but you want have as few dependencies as possible. So again I am going to give a poor example and show why it is less than ideal.
class PlayerRenderer
Player player;
bool isFlashing;
void draw()
if (Player.collider.isTouchingEnemy())
// draw the player
So this class also has some cohesion problems: the renderer is responsible for colliding against enemies and flashing the player, but I want to focus on the coupling problems. First of all, There is a player renderer. The name of the class PlayerRenderer implies that this class depends on the player but it is also a render system. This class also has a reference to the player collider in it. This means that the drawing system is no longer independent from the collision system and the game logic. Now, changes in the collision system or on the player can effect the render code. Another issue is that the collider class has a isTouchingEnemy method. This means that the collider knows about the enemies in the game. When a program is tightly coupled like this bugs in one part of the system can propagate and cause problems in seemingly unrelated places. By removing theses inter-dependencies you make it much easier to make changes in one part of the code without worrying about the rest. You could change entirely the rendering engine without touching the collider code. Why would this be useful? Well, if you wanted to make a game engine to support both DirectX and OpenGL all that needs to change is the render module. The same thing applies with porting games to consoles. All of the game logic can stay the same, all that needs to change is the rendering system, input sytem, and any other hardware-related systems.
How do you fix the problem in the code above? By making a generic renderer and a generic collider. These classes should have no knowledge about what type of object is using them. You should just be able to give them parameters, such as what image to draw and other parameters such as color and position and the sub system handles the rest. You then write a class that can interact with these different subsystems and orchestrate them together into a single working game. More on the subject later.
The SingletonSingletons are evil. Don't use them. To elaborate on this more, the use of singletons often creates problems for maintaining the code. They create implicit dependencies in the code and often lead to poor coupling. Since the singleton is accessible anywhere in the code, many times it is used everywhere in the code. If at any time you decide you don't want to have only a single instance of a class you are out of luck. The singleton is already all over the code and it will be a difficult process removing it. Another reason, and possibly one of the the biggest for not using singletons, is that they are often used because they are quick and easy and don't require you to think about the design. Meaning you don't have to carefully plan out your code. You simply make all of the major systems a singleton and allow any object to access anything else at any point. This usually ends up putting code where it doesn't belong and makes certain parts of the code do things it shouldn't be responsible for. When I stopped using singletons I found that I was able to come up with much better design decisions in my code. Because I thought more about how variables and objects would be passed around, it forced me to assess my design and think about it more. Do yourself a favor and don't use singletons.
Game Engine DesignSo now that we have discussed some general design concepts lets focus on an example of how to structure the core of your game. Keep in mind that the method I am going to describe is not the only way to write a game engine. There is no one right way to make a game.
Game LoopBefore I get into game objects and scene I wanted to mention the game loop. Simply put, a game loop first updates the game, then draws a frame and continuously repeats those two things. The game loop should regulate the frame rate to match the refresh rate of the monitor and also compensate with larger time steps when the frame rate begins to drop. I am not going to spend any more time on this subject but here is an excellent article on the game loops.
SceneThe scene is what manages all of the game objects. It should receive update and draw messages and pass those onto the components attached to game objects in the scene. A scene represents a level in a game. You can add terrain, enemies, objects, lights, cameras and anything else that belongs in games into the scene. The structure of a scene may look something like this.
class Scene
GameObjects[] gameObjects;
EventDispatcher eventDispatcher;
SceneRenderer sceneRenderer;
void update(float timestep, InputState input)
eventDispatcher.sendEvent("update", timestep, input);
void render()
eventDispatcher.sentEvent("render", sceneRenderer);
void createGameObject()
GameObject result = new GameObject();
// add any component in the gameObject to the eventDispatcher
// so it can receive update and render messages
// if the component doesn't have either method it isn't added
Now the scene is completely decoupled from the specifics of what kind of game this is. This core scene class can be reused in any number of game types and serves as part of the foundation of the game engine. A scene can also contain addons, such as the scene renderer or physics engine.
Game ObjectA game object simply combines a bunch of components. The most common components are going to be the object's transformation, the renderer, physics, and game logic. The game object can also hold a reference back to the scene so the game object can query the scene for information, such as determining if the player is visible to an enemy by accessing the physics engine component of the scene and doing a raycast. The components on a game object should be able to access the other components on the object.
class GameObject
String name;
Component[] components;
Scene scene = null;
// require a game object to have a transform
this.addComponent(new Transform());
void addedToScene(Scene newScene)
scene = newScene;
void addComponent(component)
A transformation holds information about the game object's position, orientation, and size. Other game objects, such the renderer, physics, and game logic will read and write the values stored in the transform.
class Transform extends Component
Vector2 position;
float rotation;
float size;
The renderer can be attached to a game object to cause a shape or mesh to be drawn at the location of the transform. A game object's renderer will interact with the scene's renderer component to draw content to the screen.
class Renderer extends Component
Mesh mesh;
Materials[] materials;
void render(sceneRenderer)
sceneRenderer.drawMesh(mesh, materials);
To add game logic, such as moving the player, you simply create a component to control behavior.
// class to serve as a base class to all behavoir scripts
class Behavior extends Component
class PlayerBehavior extends Behavior
void update(float deltaTime, InputState input)
if (input.keyDown("left"))
this.gameObject.tranform.move(-1.0, 0.0);
// rest of player logic
// ...
class EnemyBehavior extends Behavior
GameObject player;
void init()
// searches the scene for an object named player
player = this.scene.findObject("Player");
void update(float deltaTime, InputState input)
if (Vector2.distance(this.gameObject.transform.position, player.transform.position) < EnemySightRange)
// move towards player
// rest of player logic
// ...
Now all of the player and enemy logic is contained in their own classes and these parts and components can be easily switched out, modified, and extended.


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- 1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
- 1 fresh jalapeño, seeded and cut into chunks (more or less to taste)
- 1 small onion, cut into chunks
- Half a 4 1/2-ounce can chopped green chilies, drained
- 1/3 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (or 1 clove) minced garlic
- Juice of half a small lime
In a food processor, combine diced tomatoes and green chilies with jalapeño and onion. Process until desired texture is reached. Transfer to a bowl and stir in green chilies, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice. Refrigerating for at least one hour will allow flavors to blend.
Yield: 2 cups.
Serving size: 1/4 cup.
Nutrition Facts Per Serving:
Calories: 14 calories, Carbohydrates: 3 g, Protein: <1 g, Fat: <1 g, Saturated Fat: <1 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 174 mg, Fiber: 1
Exchanges per serving: Free.
Tami Ross is a Diabetes Nutrition Specialist and Certified Diabetes Educator in Lexington, Kentucky.


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History of PARTAGAS
Branded in 1845 by Don Jaime Partagás, Partagás is one of the oldest and most renowned of all Cuban cigar brands. The brand is produced in huge quantities in many varieties; being one of the truly great old Havana brands the demand for Partagas cigars continues to outweigh the supply of the cigars. All of the Partagás vitolas are full, rich, with earthy flavors. The Partagás brand is also strong, making it a cigar of choice for more serious smokers. There is nothing quite as relaxing as lighting up a famous Partagás Lusitania after a heavy meal. As the Partagás brand is consistently outstanding, most Partagas cigars are relatively expensive, particularly the most well known and sought after Partagás cigar, the Lusitania. Partagás cigars won gold medals in at least 3 international expositions held in Paris in the years 1867, 1878 and 1898. Also keep your eye and cutter on the 8-9-8 varnish, another outstanding Partagás creation. In 1998, Partagás cigars were being produced in 11 different Cuban cigar factories.


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|Detonation of Napalm M47 Device, Harvard University, 4 July 1942 (Source: Louis F. Fieser, The Scientfic Method: A Personal Account of Unusual Projects in War and in Peace [New York: Reinhold, 1964])
These signs are real. They are also symptoms of a process. The process follows the same form, the same structure. To apprehend it you will follow the signs. All talk of cause and effect is secular history, and secular history is a diversionary tactic. Useful to you, gentlemen, but no longer so to us here. If you want the truth — I know I presume — you must look into the technology of these matters. Even into the hearts of certain molecules — it is they after all which dictate temperatures, pressures, rates of flow, costs, profits, the shapes of towers …[1]
I wasn't eager to hear Zapparoni's opinion of the army. Very likely he thought of it as a department of his factory, where teams of scientists and engineers worked in overalls – a company of non-horsemen and vegetarians with sets of false teeth who loved to press buttons – and where a half-witted mathematician could cause more damage in a second than Frederick the Great …[2]
The above quotes suggest how the most cataclysmic aspects of war often had small beginnings. Small, in the sense that they sometimes depended on the whims of a few individuals. Small, as they involved that most fundamental of phenomena — the chemical molecule. The sites of such developments were more than just laboratories and universities. Their origins were more than likely institutional, the result of various government-sponsored joint ventures and committees entrusted with creating advanced weapon technologies.
The most powerful and influential of these was the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), which came into official existence on July 2, 1940, more than a year before the United States entered World War II. That year, President Roosevelt appointed Carnegie Institute president Vannevar Bush as the NDRC's first chairman. Original committee members, in addition to representatives of the armed forces and the government, included Roger Adams, head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Karl T. Compton, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, James B. Conant, President of Harvard University, F.B. Jewett, President of the National Academy of Sciences, and R. C. Tolman, the Dean of the Graduate School at California Institute of Technology. Shortly after his appointment, Bush organized the NDRC into five separate divisions, each entrusted with a general type of weapons research.
With Bush's endorsement, Dr. Conant's was the first NDRC division to receive funding. This division's sole charge was the research and development of different types of bombs, fuels, poison gases, and "chemical problems."[3] Bush immediately contacted a group of professors from universities throughout the country to begin work in this area. On October 23, 1940, the committee members met at Roger Adams' home and finalized the very mechanisms that would "draft" prominent scientists into the war effort. Participation in the NDRC structure was highly secretive: each member was to receive the highest security clearances and very wide-ranging powers regarding the nature of their research.
|Louis Fieser's NRDC identification card (1944)
James Conant was present at this conference, and informed Fieser about an unusual series of events at a DuPont plant in Delaware. A group of DuPont scientists, also under NDRC supervision, reported a series of explosions occurring during the production and testing of divinylacetylene, a synthetic drying oil for paints. These scientists found that exposing the oil to oxygen caused a violent, explosive chemical reaction. Conant asked the conference attendees if any of them would be willing to explore the potential military applications of divinylacetylene. Fieser was the first to volunteer.
Fieser enlisted one of his fellow NDRC scientists to work on this specific problem. Dr. E.B. Hershberg, a chemist for the Schering Corporation, had been on the Harvard faculty with Fieser since 1938. Hershberg was also a reserve officer with the Chemical Warfare Service, the branch of the United States Army responsible for the development and testing of chemical and biological weapons. Hershberg was the man for the job, being "experienced in the handling of military explosives, fuzes, poison gases, smoke pots, and grenades."[5] At Harvard, Fieser and Hershberg made small bombs containing divinylacetylene, ignited by a black powder charge. Reminiscing about these bombs, Fieser notes, "We noticed also that when a viscous gel burns it does not become fluid but retains its viscous, sticky consistency. The experience suggested the idea of a bomb that would scatter large burning globs of sticky gel."[6]
By the time Fieser and Hershberg reported the results of this test to the NDRC in June 1941, around the time that the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) assumed all responsibilities over American weapons research, the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe already had months of experience using incendiary bombs against each other's cities. The R.A.F. began bombing Berlin on August 25, 1940, and Germany responded in kind with attacks on London and other major English centers. It thus may not be surprising the War Ministry, who already had valuable contacts within the NDRC, was interested in Fieser's bombs. In July 1941, Major Gerrard M. Rambaut of the British Air Ministry paid a visit to Fieser's and Hershberg's lab. Major Rambaut was responsible for the testing and development of incendiary bombs in England, and was interested in finding a way to increase the effectiveness of R.A.F. ordnance. The R.A.F.'s incendiary bombs relied on a mixture of magnesium and phosphorous, a mixture that ignited upon contact with oxygen, but that did not have the ballistic properties of divinylacytelene.
A month later, the NDRC was reorganized, and Fieser's group was assigned the task of developing chemical spray agents. A result of this reorganization was the NDRC's decision to abandon development of petroleum-based incendiaries in favor of the British-style magnesium incendiary bomb, as well as a type of bomb that relied on a mixture of iron oxide and aluminum to create puddles of molten iron. Fieser, the consummate self-promoter, called Roger Adams at the NDRC and successfully lobbied for additional funds and manpower for the development of gasoline-based incendiaries. The resulting contract between the NDRC and Harvard called for the payment of $359,125 to a project called "Anonymous Research No. 4, OEMsr-179" — thus inaugurating the development and testing of incendiary weapons in the United States.[7]
Global events influenced the results of "Anonymous Research No.4, OEMsr-179." Fieser originally wanted to develop a type of gasoline incendiary that relied on rubber for its jelling properties. In theory, once ignited by a small explosive charge, Fieser's bomb would discharge the flaming, melting rubber in all directions. Although the tests were less than satisfactory, Fieser conceded to the Chemical Warfare Service's desire to use a gasoline/rubber bomb, and suggested that the mix be placed in an M47 general purpose iron casing, the U.S. Army's standard bomb at the time. On November 27, 1941, Fieser telegraphed the Chemical Warfare Service with a set of directions on how to "arm" a shipment of 10,000 M47 gasoline incendiaries en route to Manila:
Cut X lbs. Of smoked sheet rubber or Y. lbs of pale crepe rubber into strips and insert these through the opening in the nose of a bomb. Place the bomb upright and run in gasoline until the level is 3 inches from the top (in order to provide a 5% void). Screw in the burster tube securely and rest the bomb on its side. To ensure even mixing, rotate each bomb 180 degrees at three 1-2 hr. intervals.[8]A Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship containing the bomb shipment only a couple of days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. And by early 1942, Japanese forces controlled all the vital sources of rubber in the South Pacific, a circumstance that affected both Allied and Axis weapons research.
|Mixing Napalm (Source: Fieser)
On July 4, 1942, Fieser and Hershberg performed a static test of the world's first napalm incendiary (see image at top of this post). An M-47 bomb with a phosphorous fuze designed to ignite the napalm was placed in the middle of a small puddle in a soccer field outside Harvard's football stadium. Fieser ignited the bomb with a radio-controlled squib. He described the result as follows:
The performance, from the start, was most impressive. The high explosive cuts the inner well into the ribbons and opens the casing down the entire length. Pieces of phosphorous are driven into the gel, and large, burning globs are distributed evenly over a circular area about 50 yards in diameter.[9]The Chemical Warfare Service tested successive versions of Fieser's napalm bomb at Harvard and at Edgewood Technical Arsenal in Maryland. The official history of the Chemical Warfare Service notes the significance of this test, boasting "A landmark was reached in the history of petroleum warfare."[10] Even more significant is that Fieser's work led to the manufacturing of the M69 incendiary bomb. As stated in The Chemical Warfare Service in World War II: A Report of Accomplishments (1948):
The 6-pound M69, napalm-filled bomb, was the model that made headlines with its spectacular performance in the strategic bombing of Japan. More than 30 million of them were manufactured. Exactly 755,319 clusters of these bombs were dropped on the cities of Japan, each cluster consisting of 14, 38, or 60 of the 6-pound bombs … [T]he attacks on Japanese cities were on so large a scale and such concentrated form that Japanese fire fighting defenses were completely overwhelmed. To have added intimidation would have been gratuitous … Our incendiary attacks destroyed 158 square miles of Japanese industrial areas and left homeless an estimated 8,480,000 persons. Approximately 40 per cent of every city subjected to incendiary bombing was destroyed and because so much of Japanese war industry was in homes, under the typical light housing of the Pacific Islands, the war potential of the nation was seriously crippled.[11]In the decades following World War II, historians have assessed the significance of this campaign of total destruction. The literature has even analyzed the historical exigencies that led United States Army Air Force planners to consider the use of napalm against Japanese cities, conditions that facilitated the switch from "strategic" to "area" bombing. Whatever historical, critical, or analytical lens is chosen to examine the events, it is important to note that incendiary attacks against Japanese cities in 1945 did not distinguish between industry and housing. Japanese civilians and uniformed-personnel were equal in the eyes of the United States Army Air Force.
|Cutaway drawing of M69 incendiary bombs (Source: Fieser)
[1] Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (New York: Penguin, 1972), 167.
[2] Ernst Jünger, The Glass Bees, Louise Bogan and Elizabeth Mayer, trans. (New York: NYRB Classics, 2000), 113-114.
[3] Louis F. Fieser, The Scientfic Method: A Personal Account of Unusual Projects in War and in Peace (New York: Reinhold, 1964), 9
[4] Ibid., p. 10
[5] Ibid., p. 11.
[6] Ibid., p. 12
[7] Ibid., p. 16.
[8] Ibid., p. 24.
[9] Ibid., p. 36.
[10] Chemical Corps Association, The Chemical Warfare Service in World War II: A Report of
Accomplishments (New York: Reinhold, 1948), 69.
[11] Ibid.
[12] To see how this story unfurls, see my two earlier posts on this topic: A Sphinx in Utah's Desert (posted 6 December 2009) and An Ithaca of Sorts (posted 29 June 2010). See also my two published pieces on napalm testing at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah: Enrique Ramirez, "Erich Mendelsohn at War" Perspecta, No. 41, Grand Tour (Cambridge, MIT Press, 2008) and "Fata Morgana" Thresholds No. 33 Form(alisms) (July 2008). Additional material can be found at Charles Sterling Popple, Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) in World War II (New Jersey: Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, 1952). Materials regarding the results of the M69 trials at Dugway Proving Ground are located at the National Archives: ETF 550 E-2844: Military Intelligence Division, Great Britain – "Dropping Trials of Incendiary Bombs against Representative Structures at Dugway, USA, October 12, 1943", Edgewood Arsenal Technical Files Relating to Foreign Chemical Radiological, and Biological Warfare Retired to the Defense Intelligence Agency for Reference Purposes (Entry 1-B), Records of the Defense Intelligence Agency (Record Group 373), and ETF 550 E-2844: Military Intelligence Division, Great Britain, IBTP/Report/128, "Comparison of the Japanese Targets and Test Results at the Building Research Station, Edgewood Arsenal and Dugway Proving Ground, H.M. Llewellyn, M.A. London", Report No. R3583-45, June 29, 1945, Edgewood Arsenal Technical Files Relating to Foreign Chemical Radiological, and Biological Warfare Retired to the Defense Intelligence Agency for Reference Purposes (Entry 1-B), Records of the Defense Intelligence Agency (Record Group 373).


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Holiday Foods
This Blog is pleased to join with other GeneaBloggers around the world in presenting this Advent Calendar over the next 24 days leading up to the Christmas celebration - a different topic each day. We will attempt to post on each of the topics. Our invitation continues to be open to other writers to join us here with your comments (See Nov 29, Dec 5, Dec 12, and Dec 19 posts here - laber 'Advent Calendar' - for the topics; or the link in the title, here).
Holiday Foods - Christmas Cookies
Probably the most consistent holiday food through my lifetime has been Christmas Cookies. When I was young, my maternal grandmother, born in Denmark, always made some of her distinctive cookies for family Christmas gatherings well into the younger years of my daughters. My mother also developed her own special Christmas cookies, that my wife subsequently made for many, many years. None of these cookies were very fancy, but they were really, really good, and memorable. My daughters continue to talk of them, as they have grown to have their own families. They have become part of our family heritage.
Families are Forever! ;-)


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written by
Elizabeth Gire and
Corinne A. Manogue
The Paradigms team at Oregon State University has developed a quantum mechanics curriculum aimed at middle division students that begins with a strong emphasis on using operators, matrices and Dirac notation to describe quantum systems. The curriculum begins with spin systems, and this content ordering relies on students being able to understand quantum mechanical operators, eigenstates and quantum measurement without prior instruction on wave functions. We have analyzed classroom and an interview video to identify resources students use when considering these quantum ideas. Identification of such resources will inform introductory curricula that are prerequisite to the quantum Paradigms and inform the development of Paradigms materials that will guide students to use these resources productively.
Published October 20, 2008
Last Modified May 21, 2009
This file is included in the full-text index.
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When I was first out of the Conservatory, I did a two-month stint with a theatre group called Diciembre. It was an established company that had formed during the anxious years of the war, when it was known for its brazen trips into the conflict zone, bringing theatre to the people, and, in the city, for staging all-night marathon shows—pop reworkings of García Lorca, stentorian readings of Brazilian soap-opera scripts, always with a political edge, sometimes subtle, often not at all, anything to keep people awake and laughing through what would otherwise have been the dark, lonely hours of curfew. These shows were legendary among the theatre students of my generation, and many of my classmates claimed to have been present, as children, at one or another of these performances. They said that their parents had taken them, that they had witnessed an unholy union of recital and insurrection, of sex and barbarism, and that they remained, however many years later, unsettled and even inspired by the memory. They were all liars. We were, in fact, studying to be liars. It's been nine years since I graduated, and I imagine that these days students at the Conservatory talk about other things. They are too young to remember how ordinary fear was during the war. Perhaps they find it difficult to imagine a time when theatre was improvised in response to terrifying headlines, a time when delivering a line of dialogue with a chilling sense of dread did not even require acting. But, then, such are the narcotic effects of peace, and certainly no one wants to go backward.
More than a decade after the war, Diciembre still functioned as a loose grouping of actors and actresses who occasionally put on a show, often in a private home, to which the audience came by invitation only. Paradoxically, now that travel outside the city was relatively safe, they hardly ever went to the interior, so when a new tour was announced I auditioned eagerly. It was a rare opportunity, and, to my surprise, I got the part. Only three of us went—me, a curly-haired actor named Henry, and a short, dark-skinned man who introduced himself as Patalarga and never bothered to give me his real name. They were related, sort of—Henry had, at some point in the distant past, married and then divorced Patalarga's second cousin, a woman named Tania, to whom they alluded with the sort of hushed respect that tenant farmers might use when speaking of the weather. The two men had been friends for a long time, as long as I'd been alive, and I was pleased to be accepted into their company. I figured it would be a chance to learn from veterans.
Henry wrote most of the plays, and for that tour we were doing a subtle piece of invective he called "The Idiot President." Though its politics were easy to trace, it was very funny, involving a delicate interaction between an arrogant, self-involved head of state and his servant. Each day, the President's servant was replaced, the idea being that eventually every citizen of the country would have the honor of attending to the needs of the leader. These included helping him dress, combing his hair, reading his mail, etc. The President was fastidious and required that everything follow a rather idiosyncratic protocol, so the better part of each day was spent teaching the new servant how things should be done. Hilarity ensued. I played the idiot President's idiot son, Alejo, a role perfectly suited to my youthful skills, and over the course of our rehearsals I came to love this buffoonish adolescent in a way that I hadn't expected. He was a boastful lout and a petty thief, who was a great source of pride to his father, despite his many shortcomings. The climactic scene involved a heart-to-heart between the servant of the day and my character, after the President has gone to sleep, in which Alejo lets his guard down and admits that he has often thought of killing his father but is too frightened to go through with it. The servant is intrigued—after all, he lives in a ruined country, subject to the President's disastrous whims, and furthermore has spent the entire day being humiliated by him. The servant probes Alejo's doubts, and he opens up, voicing his concerns about freedom, about the rule of law, about the suffering of the people, until the servant finally allows that, yes, perhaps killing the President wouldn't be such a bad idea. For the sake of the country, you understand. Alejo pretends to mull it over, and then kills the startled servant himself, as punishment for treason. He picks the corpse clean, pocketing the man's wallet, his watch, and his rings, and the play ends with him shouting toward the room where the President is sleeping, "Another one, Father! We'll need another one tomorrow!"
Patalarga, Henry, and I left the capital in early March, the day after I turned twenty-one. It was summer on the coast, hot and humid, and we rode a bus up into the rainy mountains to the region where Patalarga was born, a part of the country I'd never seen before. Even at the time, I felt certain that I would never see it again. Everything about my life then—every decision I made or failed to make—was predicated on the idea that I'd be leaving the country soon. I expected to join my brother in California before the year was up: my visa was being processed, and it was only a matter of time. This was a very pleasant way to live, actually. It gave me a kind of private strength that allowed me to withstand certain indignities, confident that everything was temporary. We performed in small towns and villages, up and down a wide and gloomy valley, subject to heavy, freezing downpours that were like nothing I'd ever experienced. The skies swirled with blue-black clouds, and when it wasn't raining the winds blew straight through you. We were greeted warmly in each town, with a certain ceremony and solicitousness that I found charming, and every night the audience gave us a standing ovation that made all our efforts seem worthwhile. Sometimes the villages were just a handful of houses dotting endless yellowish gray fields. Our audience might be a dozen people altogether, a few farmers with ruddy faces, their long-suffering wives and undernourished children, who'd approach Henry after the play, never looking directly at him, and say respectfully, "Thank you, Mr. President."
The cold nearly destroyed me. In two weeks I lost three kilos, and one night, after a particularly energetic performance, I nearly fainted. When I recovered, we were invited to a party at a one-room adobe house on the outskirts of town. Henry and Patalarga were both on edge, drinking more than usual, because this was the town where Tania lived; apparently she'd been at the show, and might reappear at any moment. I was too ill to worry about that: taking a breath was like swallowing sharp knives, and my head felt as if it might separate from my neck and just float away into the threatening Andean sky. But everyone was exceedingly kind, paying special attention to feeding me and getting me drunk. The liquor helped, and it felt nice to be doted upon. When I started turning blue, the owner of the home, a squat gray-haired man named Cayetano, asked if I wanted a jacket. I nodded enthusiastically, and he rose and walked to the refrigerator, standing before its open door, as if contemplating a snack. I thought, He's making fun of me, and I heard Henry and Patalarga snickering. But then Cayetano opened the vegetable drawer and took out a pair of wool socks. He tossed them to me, and when he opened the door a little farther I saw that the refrigerator was, in fact, being used as a wardrobe. There were mittens in the butter tray, sweaters and jackets hanging from a wooden bar nailed to the inside walls. Only then did I notice the few perishables sitting on the counter. In this cold, of course, they were in no danger of spoiling.
The gathered men and women told sad stories about the war and laughed at their own suffering in ways that I found incomprehensible. Sometimes they would speak in Quechua, and then the laughter became much more intense, and also much sadder—or, at least, that's how it seemed to me. When Tania arrived, everyone stood. She had long black hair, which she wore in a single braid, and an orange-and-yellow shawl draped over her shoulders. Older than me but a little younger than my colleagues, Tania was petite, and yet somehow she gave the impression of great strength. She circled the room, shaking hands with everyone—except Henry, who instead received a floating kiss in the air just beside his right ear.
"Are you still acting," she asked when she got to me, "or are you actually that sick?"
I didn't know what to say, so when someone shouted, "He's drunk!," I was relieved. The room roared, and then everyone sat.
The drinking began in earnest now, and soon a guitar appeared from a corner of the room. It was passed from person to person, making a few laps around the circle before finally Tania kept it. Everyone cheered. She strummed a few chords, then cleared her throat, welcoming the visitors, thanking us all for listening. She sang in Quechua, picking out a complex accompaniment, her agile fingers unrestrained by the cold. I turned to Henry and asked him in a low voice what the song was about.
"About love," he whispered, without taking his eyes off her.
As the night wore on, I found myself appreciating Tania's beauty with greater and greater clarity. Henry and Patalarga watched me watching her, alternately glaring and smiling, in a sequence that was impossible to interpret. Much later, when I was finally succumbing to the cold and the liquor, Tania offered to lead me back to the hostel where I was staying. This was noted with feigned alarm, but she ignored it all. The town was small, there was no possibility of getting lost, and we trudged drunkenly through its streets, both of us wrapped in Cayetano's blanket. "You sing beautifully," I said. "What was it about?"
"Just old songs."
"Henry said you were singing about love."
She had a lovely laugh: clear and unpretentious, like moonlight. "He doesn't speak Quechua," Tania said. "Must have been a lucky guess."
We paused at the door of the hostel. I moved to kiss her, but she just patted me on the head as if I were a little boy. "Drink lots of water," she said, "and get as much rest as you can." And then she walked back to the party.
Inside the hostel, the owner gave me a large rubber bladder, swollen with boiling water, and as I prepared for bed I held it in my hands the way one might hold a beating human heart—my own heart, perhaps. I tried to go over my day—what had happened, or what, to my chagrin, had not. But the cold made coherent thought impossible, so I lay down with the bladder pressed against my belly, curling myself around it like a snail. I wondered whether I should have stayed in the city and what my friends were doing at that exact moment. They'd been jealous of me and my tour with Diciembre, and I struggled to remember that. Patalarga and Henry had done this circuit before, were constantly running into old friends. They seemed unfazed by the conditions that were slowly wearing me down. They had lived in the city for decades but did not consider it home.
And it was like this for weeks. In the mornings, weather permitting, we rode to the next town on a rickety bus, or on the bed of a truck piled with potatoes. I'd learned to chew coca leaves by then, had come to enjoy the numbness as it spread over my face, down my neck, and into my chest. The roads were barely wide enough for a horse cart, and often I looked over the face of a crumbling mountain, forcing myself to think of something other than death. Patalarga and Henry recovered from the previous evening with their eyes closed, suspended in deep and peaceful dreams. They were enjoying themselves; me, I was trying to stay alive.
Toward the end of the tour, we arrived at a town called San Germán, which was the remote outpost of an American mining company. The town consisted of a couple of hundred houses that seemed to have been airlifted to the wind-battered top of a desolate mountain, which was surrounded on three sides by even higher, more foreboding peaks. I think it was a silver mine, but it could have been copper or bauxite or something else, and, in a sense, it doesn't matter: all mining towns are the same. They are pitiless and isolated, often situated in places that might be beautiful were they not so extreme, and defined by a kind of human deprivation particular to the industry. In San Germán, thick clouds hung just above us, and I could smell metal in the air. I had never felt so far away from the world. We were more than four thousand metres above sea level, and the altitude rendered me useless. I spent the first day in the hostel, gripping the sides of the bed as if I were riding a roller coaster. San Germán was a small place, and there was very little to see, but Patalarga and Henry sat by my bedside, regaling me with the invented wonders of the town.
"You must get up," Patalarga said. "You have to see this place."
"There's a replica of the pyramids," Henry told me, "and it shines golden in the sunlight."
I opened my eyes and saw his breath gathering in a cloud.
"A miniature Arc de Triomphe," Patalarga said.
"Cafés, tree-lined boulevards, and the night life—you won't believe it! Discos like in Batista's Havana, like Beirut before the war."
I paid them no attention. The room—indeed, my brain—filled with the concussive sound of their voices. I begged to be left alone, and then they disappeared. I closed my eyes again, and for a few hours I didn't move. I just listened desperately to the sound of my own breathing.
When my colleagues returned, they were sullen and angry. I could smell the mud that clung to their boots.
"You tell him."
"No, you tell him."
From my sickbed, I could hear them pacing. "Someone fucking tell me," I said. I had intended to shout, but I was weak, and it came out as the raspy plea of a heart patient. I kept my eyes closed. Someone sat on my bed. It was Henry. Bad news. Our first performance was scheduled for the next night, but there was a glitch. There was no electricity, no light. This was not a temporary condition, as we had been told when we checked into the hostel. The only power still running in town went to the homes of the American engineers, on the other side of the mine. "You should see how they live," Henry said, and described how, behind a high fence, they had created a facsimile of American life. Comfortable suburban homes, neatly paved streets, a baseball diamond.
I sat shivering beneath a half-dozen blankets. It sounded nice.
"Don't you have a brother in the U.S.?" Patalarga asked.
"Does he play baseball?"
"How should I know?"
I could barely get the words out. I knew nothing about baseball. In fact, I knew virtually nothing about my brother. He'd left home when he turned eighteen, several years before, and I thought of him only in terms of the visa he was supposed to get for me. It was too cold to waste energy scavenging through childhood memories.
Henry was upset. He spoke quickly, and I could hear the bitterness in his voice. We'd been promised a place to perform for the workers. The workers, the workers—these gallant, dignified men who were our entire reason for existing. We were supposed to do two shows, one for each shift. Our afternoon performance would be unaffected, but the miners on the day shift wouldn't be able to come. If we did a show at night, it would be in the dark—or only for the engineers. The fucking engineers. Henry was getting upset now, as he described men who spent their days nursing Daiquiris, pausing only to take turns whipping the noble miners.
It sounded positively feudal. "Are they really that bad?" I asked.
"Never mind him," Patalarga said. "His father was an engineer."
"Fuck you," Henry said, scowling.
"Henry here was a star on the company baseball team."
"Till he started stealing dynamite to give to the rebels."
"You're lying."
Neither would answer me.
A moment later, Henry was complaining again; this time, he tapped his finger on my forehead as he spoke. It felt like a mallet striking the skin of a bass drum, a strange way of showing affection, and I kept my eyes closed through the operation.
"We've come to this town for nothing. They've made fools of us, and Nelson here is going to die for no reason at all."
They were talking to each other now.
"We've sacrificed a young life—the best this country has to offer!—and we'll have nothing to show for it. Oh, the tragedy of it all! How he has suffered for his art! But what will we tell his mother?"
"You're both very funny," I said. "Seriously."
That night, they dragged me out into the dark streets of San Germán, all but carrying me. My head and body ached, and the earth beneath me seemed unsteady. I walked with one arm slung over Patalarga's shoulder, as Henry pointed out the dim yellow lights on the far slope of the hill: those were the engineers' homes. Behind them, a treacherous mountain peak disappeared into the clouds. I looked at that miserable little settlement and found it hard to feel much antipathy toward the Americans. Nature could have crushed them, and all of us, in an instant.
"Do you see them?" Henry asked. "Can you believe it?"
"No," I said. "I can't believe it."
I would rather have been poor anywhere else in the world than rich here.
We pushed on through the muddy streets. For the play, Henry wore long white gloves, but because of the bitter cold he had taken to wearing them even between performances. They were thin, sateen, probably not very warm, but they looked delicious. Now I noticed Patalarga eying them jealously.
"Give me those," he said finally, pointing at the gloves.
Henry held his hands up, wiggling his white, glowing fingers. "These?"
"I'm the President," Henry said. "I wear the gloves."
Patalarga considered this for a moment. He turned to me. "I found him in an alley behind the cathedral, huffing glue and talking about how mean his daddy was."
I didn't say anything, nor did I let go of Patalarga. Without him, I would've fallen.
Henry didn't appear to be listening.
"All that change we wanted," Patalarga said. "And still the dark-skinned one plays the servant. And still the dark-skinned one dies in the end. Isn't that something?"
Henry shrugged. "It's because you're so good at it," he said.
We made it to San Germán's only restaurant, and by the light of a kerosene lamp ate food warmed by a kerosene stove, so that everything smelled and tasted of fuel. We were in a sour, helpless mood. Henry and Patalarga weren't talking, and it took all my strength just to keep from slipping off my chair and onto the cold cement floor. Still, after a meal and some tea, I had recovered a bit. We were nearly finished when some old miners walked in, carrying their helmets. Even in the dark, Patalarga recognized them from his days as an organizer. They joined our table and spoke in hushed tones about the conditions underground, which had improved somewhat since Henry and Patalarga's last visit. Better ventilation, better safety. Ten-hour shifts, down from fourteen.
"But no electricity."
The miners shrugged. They had hard, weathered faces. "It's coming, and, anyway, the mine is well lit," one of them said. His name was Ventosilla. It was written on his helmet, which he placed on the table. He flicked a switch and the headlamp came on, casting a vivid patch of light on the wall of the restaurant. Ventosilla turned it off and on a few times, and we all stopped to admire it.
He tapped the headlamp with his fingernail. "Halogen."
"And you all have those?" Patalarga asked.
The miner nodded.
My colleagues grinned.
The next night, we performed "The Idiot President" in a large tent made of blankets, by the combined lamplight of fifty miners. There were children and wives in attendance as well, and even a few American engineers who deigned to join the fun. I was feeling better, though not yet myself, whatever that means. I hadn't felt like myself since we'd left the city, since the bus had begun climbing into the clouds, but the sight of this makeshift theatre, abuzz with expectation, the halogen lights flitting every which way, made me hopeful. Backstage was actually just outside the tent, where the three of us stood, freezing and jittery, unusually excited, peeking in occasionally to see the crowd as it gathered.
When the tent was full, we slipped inside, to the relative warmth of the stage. The view was breathtaking: the crowd sitting on a rickety set of bleachers, a bright field of stars gleaming in the heavens. I turned to Henry and Patalarga, and saw that they were lost in it, too. This was the sky we had barely seen, the sky that had been hidden behind thick black rain clouds for the previous six weeks. We were introduced by the local union rep, and this night, like every night, the crowd cheered when they heard the name Diciembre, the lights bobbing up and down, as the miners nodded with satisfaction.
I ceded the stage to my colleagues, and sat just off to the side. They began. With hunched shoulders and a face wracked with worry, Henry imbued his idiot President with a certain deranged gravitas, like Nixon in his last days, or Allende contemplating the tanks surrounding La Moneda. He paced the stage barking nonsensical instructions at his flummoxed servant—and no one has ever owned "flummoxed" as expertly as Patalarga did that night. I knew the whole play by heart, so mostly I concentrated on the miners' headlamps, which together formed a limpid pool of white onstage, shifting ever so slightly as the dialogue Ping-Ponged from one speaker to the other. When I stood, just before my cue to come on, the lights shifted stage right, so much so that Patalarga, standing opposite me, disappeared briefly in the sudden darkness.
Even in the dim light, I could see him smiling.
Toward the end of the play, we hit a rough patch. We could tell instantly. Henry delivered a line that usually got a laugh, but now it fell flat. We were losing the audience—the lights moved up and down, or side to side, wandering, and in an instant we were performing at dusk, when just a moment prior it had been morning. Never before or since has it been so easy for me to read a crowd, to get feedback so transparent and immediate. The failing light energized us, and we rallied. Minutes later, the tent was again quaking with laughter, the stage as bright as a landing strip, and I can note, with not a small amount of pride, that my last lines, the ones I shouted to my sleeping father, the President, were delivered on a fully lit stage, with the complete attention and collaboration of the miners of San Germán and their halogen headlamps. There was no curtain to close, no stage lights to dim, and I stood there for a moment after the play had ended, bathing in the glow, enjoying myself.
Why not?
A few weeks later, I was home again, and for years afterward, when one or another of the productions I was a part of failed, I thought of that night. I was invited on another tour with Diciembre, but it was more out of politeness than anything else. My middle-class life had rendered me unable to handle the rigors of the road. I declined. I'll be leaving soon anyway, I thought, but I never did. Occasionally, I performed with Henry and Patalarga locally, and we remained friendly. Whenever I ran into one of them, at a show, at a bar, on the street, we always embraced, shared a laugh, and spoke fondly of that night in San Germán. I knew that they remembered the performance as well as I did, though they had forgotten other details—my name, for instance. They called me Alejo, without shame or apology. I didn't mind. I liked them both. I had learned from them, and could learn from them still. Of course, invoking San Germán was an invitation to philosophize, but that was precisely the point. I would listen, just as I had on that trip, and watch Patalarga's or Henry's chest swell with pride. You make do. You manage. You take what the audience gives you and return it to them, only better, burnished by love and commitment. They give you light, and you give them truth. Etc. I liked hearing Henry and Patalarga talk, because no one my age ever spoke that way. Not about theatre, not about politics. Not even about love. It made us uncomfortable.
A few years passed, and one day I found myself hopelessly out of work. I'd made too many enemies, taken everything too lightly. My visa had never come, and I could no longer pretend I'd be young forever. My brother called every now and then, but only at my parents' house, and sometimes months would go by without our exchanging a word. I began auditioning for the soap operas I'd sworn I'd never do again: jilted lovers, home-wrecking womanizers. But I didn't get any of these parts. I was going broke. I thought about giving up my rented room and moving home, but the idea was too humiliating. My father, for his part, was relentlessly optimistic. "Your brother will send the visa. You'll go to America. You'll go to California. You'll be in the movies. Write to your brother, remind him," he said, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't think even my father believed it anymore. Still, he kept me apprised of the weather where my brother was, as if I needed to know what clothes to pack. "There are forest fires all over California," he said to me one day. "Hundreds of them."
I just stared at him. That night, I imagined this place I'd never been, its skies blurred with red-brown smoke, and its sun—which was not our sun—setting against the ashy backdrop of a regional catastrophe. I considered the possibility that what my father wanted was simply to have me out of his way. While I was worried about failing him, perhaps he was simply hoping that I would become someone else's problem.
The following week, I found myself reading the script for a small, recurring role on a local soap opera. It was a six-episode run—not bad—after which my character was to be killed, off-camera. He was a police informer, appropriately troubled by the complicated ethics of betraying his friends, a man who lived in the full expectation that these transgressions would cost him his life. The character's name was, to my great satisfaction, Alejo, and suddenly I felt more confident than I had in months. Though this character and the Alejo I had played with Diciembre were two entirely different people, reading the script felt like running into an old friend. How this country has changed, I thought: the son of the President is now an ordinary snitch, a man doomed to look over his shoulder for six one-hour episodes, and then die invisibly, his passing just a footnote to a larger drama that has little to do with him.
I was so excited that I told my parents about the audition. I told my friends. Alejo, I thought, we meet again. I even thought of tracking down Henry and Patalarga, though I hadn't seen them in a year or more, just so we could all have a laugh about it. By then, Diciembre was on semi-permanent hiatus, and the country had become frankly unrecognizable. It was possible to walk the now bustling streets of my city and forget why I'd ever wanted to leave. Global metal prices were at record highs, and the newspapers were announcing seven-per-cent growth. All this prosperity was dispiriting; it was the one thing I'd never expected. I'd never been back to those towns I had visited with Diciembre, though some of my peers had—on vacation, during the dry season, with their spouses and overweight kids, to see a bit of the country as it once was. At the first sign of discontent, the government ran television ads showing images of provincial roadblocks, angry campesinos tossing stones at police, the screen stained an ominous and familiar shade of red. The stern voice-over warned the rural poor to be patriotic, and not ruin it for the rest of us.
Henry and I met on a winter afternoon at a café in Asylum Downs. It was the day before my audition. He had no phone, no e-mail, and I'd got a message to him through a mutual friend who lived in his neighborhood. He seemed genuinely pleased to see me, and gave me a big hug, clapping my back heartily. We sat at an inside table, protected from the damp. It was great to see him—he hadn't changed at all—but where was Patalarga?
Henry rubbed his eyes, and pushed his heavy curls down with his palms. "Our friend," he said in a helpless voice, "is no longer with us."
I was stunned. I sank into my chair. "When?" I managed to ask.
He looked down into his coffee cup. "Nine months ago, ten."
"I know," Henry said, but then he was laughing. "The jerk moved to Barcelona. Imagine!"
"You asshole," I muttered.
"It's just you and me, Alejito," Henry said. "Father and son." He held out his hand. "Laugh!" he ordered. "You were always such a serious boy."
This was a line from "The Idiot President." I took his hand and gave him a weak smile. The shock was draining away—Patalarga was alive, after all, and I should be happy. We sipped our coffee.
In any case, there was other news. Henry had a daughter now, and she had changed his life. He saw her two or three times a week, and dedicated everything he wrote to his little girl.
"So you're writing a lot?" I asked.
Henry shrugged. "Some."
I told him about Alejo the snitch. I even took out the script and talked him through the first episode, where Alejo is caught stealing wiring from a construction site and avoids jail time by offering information on a local street gang. The dialogue was good, nice hardboiled stuff, and I could scarcely contain my enthusiasm. Henry listened carefully, nodding all the while.
"It's glorious," he said. "Written just for you."
"I know," I said. "I really feel like it is."
After a while, Henry said that he had a question, but he didn't want to offend me. He made me promise not to take it the wrong way. "Sure," I said.
He tapped his fingers on the wooden table. "Weren't you supposed to go somewhere?" he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it was all you ever talked about out there." He paused. "Every day, constantly. We figured it was the altitude. We could hardly stand it, Patalarga and I."
Henry nodded.
In my recollection of our two months in the mountains, I had barely ever spoken of leaving. I'd carried the notion with me, of course, but had held this private reassurance very close, like a charm or a lucky coin. Knowing that it would all pass was what had got me through.
"We learned to tune it out," Henry said, "because we liked you. We really did. Still do." He reached across the table and pinched my cheek affectionately. "Son," he added. "So why didn't you leave?"
Outside, a phalanx of pigeons had landed in the avenue's concrete median, swirling like a dust storm around an overturned trash can. I stared at them for a while, admiring their hunger.
"Everything got so good around here," I said.
Henry nodded. "Of course," he said. "That's just what I was thinking."
We said goodbye outside the café, on the busy avenue. Henry wished me good luck, and I promised to let him know how it turned out.
I nailed the audition, and waited optimistically for a callback. I measured the passing of time by the progress of the fires in the distant north. My old man gave me daily updates, and I pretended to listen. Five hundred, a thousand, two thousand fires. After a month, they had burned out, and I was still waiting. ♦


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Jumilla wine route
Bottles of wine
Barrels in a wine cellar
Wine harvest
Barrels in a wine cellar
Contact details
Asociación Ruta del Vino de Jumilla
Plaza del Rollo 1, Oficina de Turismo de Jumilla
30520 Jumilla, Murcia (Region of Murcia)
Tel.:+34 968780237
More info
The Jumilla Wine Route is located in the Region of Murcia. The city of Murcia has an interesting old town, and the surrounding area produces wines which are becoming ever more recognised at a national and international level. This can be seen from the numerous prizes they have received in recent years. Don't miss the chance to explore this attractive route.
Wineries on the route.
- >Bodegas Bleda
- >Bodegas Carchelo S.L.
- >Viña Elena
- >Viña Campanero
- >Bodegas San Isidro - B.S.I.
- >Pio del Ramo
- >Bodega Pedro Luis Martínez, S.A.
- >Bodegas Casa de la Ermita
- >Vinoteria los Chilines
- >Bodegas J.M. Martinez Verdú
What are the wines like?
Jumilla produces strong, expressive wines, mainly using the Monastrell grape. The young reds have strong colours and fruity bouquets. Meanwhile, the mature wines are meaty and stand out for their complex bouquet, with a hint of wood. The rosé wines, for their part, are the colour of rose, raspberry and cherry. They have a fruity aroma and are crisp and tasty on the palate. The white wines are also excellent, produced with the Macabeo grape. They are crisp tasting, with clean, bright colours.
What will I find?
Centre and monuments of Jumilla, with extraordinary artistic heritage, museums, gardens, streets bearing coats of arms, archaeological remains… Fiestas and traditions, such as Easter week, the Wine Harvest festival and the Moors and Christians Fiesta. Stunning countryside areas, such as the Sierra del Carche Regional Nature Reserve, which you can explore on its tracks and trails, ideal for enthusiasts of sports such as cycle touring, paragliding and hang gliding. Also interesting are the Sierra de Santa Ana, Sierra de la Pedrera and Sierra de la Cingla Mountains. Exquisite local gastronomy, with influence from the Mediterranean and La Mancha regions. If you need more information, enquire at any of the tourist offices.
How to get there
The Jumilla Wine Route runs inland in the Region of Murcia, in southeastern Spain. There are various means of transport available to get to there. Murcia-San Javier is the closest airport, 96 kilometres away. Furthermore, there are several railway stations within a 50-kilometre radius, in towns such as Hellín, Cieza and Villena, with daily services to and from Valencia, Alicante and Murcia. Jumilla is between the Regions of Murcia, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia and Valencia. This gives it good road communications. The A-3, A-30 and A-31 motorways link up with the N-334 road, which provides direct access to the town. Distances vary according to your departure point: 355 kilometres from Madrid, 160 kilometres from Valencia, 90 from Alicante and 70 from Murcia.
Wine towns
Jumilla is the focal point for this wine route. The town has been at a crossroads for travellers and cultures throughout history, and is home to establishments, wineries and cellars where you can discover wine culture and the importance the drink has had on Jumilla's history. Furthermore, you can take part in tasting sessions. Use the map on this page to see the destination that comprises the Wine Route.


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Ripon may be a small city, but it has a Big Personality. It has all the benefits of contemporary living; a good selection of accommodation and restaurants, fascinating shops and a wealth of cultural entertainment and events.
Ripon and its locality have many reasons to keep visitors interested and entertained and as well as those in the centre Ripon has an abundance of top class visitor attractions within a 10-mile radius to complement any visit to the City itself. These include the World Heritage site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, Newby Hall (a stately home), the 14th century Ripley Castle, a modern theme park at Lightwater Valley and the village of Masham with its two breweries.
Ideally located to explore the Yorkshire Dales or even the North York Moors, there's always plenty to do in and around the city for the young or not so young! Ripon is therefore a great place to stay or visit whatever the season. Whatever the purpose of your visit; a weekend break, a daytrip with friends, or a family holiday, we hope you'll spend some time "amid Ripon's ancient charms" and discover all that this vibrant City has to offer.


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Here's the first look from the shoot we did yesterday. So excited to have discovered this awesome new label and can't wait to see more of what they've come up with this season. Actual images were taken by Timothy Burgess which we'll share on the blog once they're released.
Address Cremorne, Melbourne, Australia
Dressed by North
Bracelets Dangerfield
Bags Pulp Kitchen
Shoes Jeffrey Campbell
Styling Felicity Schrader
Styling Assistant Matias Mena
Hair and Make-up Mae Taylor


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BALTIMORE—The UMBC women's soccer team (0-6-0) hosts Saint Joseph's at 7 p.m. on Wednesday under the lights of Retriever Soccer Park before traveling to Lexington, Va., to take on VMI Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Last Time Out: The Retrievers fell to cross-town rival Towson, 3-1, on Friday at Retriever Soccer Park. Towson got on the board first in the 29th minute, but the Retrievers tied it up less than 10 minutes later, as sophomore forward Amy Savage (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Wilfrid Laurier) tallied her second goal of the season. Freshman midfielder Lilly Rydon (Stirling, South Australia/Concordia College) and junior midfielder Aly Gazarek (Aldie, Va./Freedom/South Florida) were credited with assists on the goal. The score remained knotted at 1-1 at halftime, but the Tigers scored two unanswered goals in the second period for the win. Senior goalie Mo Van Vlerah (Germantown, Md./Northwest) recorded a season-high seven saves between the pipes.
Scouting the Hawks: Saint Joseph's is 1-3-2 on the season following a 2-0 loss at Penn on Sunday. Goalie Christine Neal recorded five saves, while forward Maggie Lupinski took a team-high four shots. Lupinski leads the Hawks with two goals and four points this season. ForwardsJen Pfeiffer and Mo Hawkins have accounted for Saint Joseph's other two goals, and all four tallies have been unassisted. Pfeiffer has taken a team-high 15 shots. Neal has played every minute between the pipes for the Hawks, posting a 1.23 goals-against average and a .795 save percentage with 31 saves. Saint Joseph's was picked to finish 12th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll after going 5-11-2 last season. Pfeiffer was the top scorer on the 2010 squad with 10 goals and 23 points.
Inside the Series: Wednesday's game marks the first-ever meeting between the Retrievers and Hawks.
Scouting the Keydets: VMI is 2-2-1 on the season following a 1-1 tie with St. Bonaventure on Sunday as part of the Army Soccer Classic. Midfielder Sarah Strand gave the Keydets a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute, but the Bonnies tied it up less than six minutes later, and neither team found the back of the net for the remainder of the match. Goalie Amanda Berrios recorded 12 saves. Strand leads the Keydets with four goals and eight points on the season, while midfielderSimone Jimenez has two goals and two assists for six points. Berrios has played all but 45 minutes between the pipes and has posted a 2.06 goals-against average and a .778 save percentage with 35 saves. VMI was picked to finish ninth in the Big South preseason poll after posting a 3-16-1 record in 2010.
Inside the Series: UMBC and VMI have only met once previously, a 1-0 overtime victory for the Keydets in Baltimore on Sept. 24, 2009. Berrios scored the game-winner in the 94th minute. Van Vlerah recorded five saves for the Retrievers.
Saving the Day: Van Vlerah ranks seventh all-time at UMBC with 159 career saves, two shy of Catie Bukowski for sixth place. In addition, sophomore Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) is ninth with 132. Kadet ranks second in the America East with 6.0 saves per game this season.
Scoring Tandem: Savage and junior forward Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) have accounted for all of UMBC's scoring so far this season, as each have tallied two goals. With an assist as well, Savage is tied for seventh in the America East with 0.83 points per game, while McKee is tied for 10th with 0.80 points per contest.
Follow the Retrievers: Follow UMBC Athletics on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest news, photos and videos from all your favorite Retriever teams. Be sure to check out the women's soccer team on both Facebook and Twitter, as well. Other ways to keep up with the Retrievers include the UMBC Dawg Blog, YouTube and E-newsletters.


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Education expert Rick Hess talked Wednesday about the difficult task of "cage-busting leadership," referring to how educators can push aside antiquated rules and regulations that keep public schools from better teaching and mentoring students.
"We try to say if we had a little more money, coaching, time, the story would be different," he said.
Hess, the director of education and policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, spoke to 700 Denver business and education leaders at the annual Public Education & Business Coalition luncheon. He said the private sector is often faster at eliminating obstacles that impede higher level performance than the public school system.
But that doesn't mean business has it figured out. "The average lifespan of a Fortune 500 company is 50 years," he said.
Hess said business can help public schools with quality control, but business people who get involved with the schools need to understand that a partnership is a two-way street. Business people often bring a unique set of skills to the table — budgeting, finance or information technology systems — and instead of sticking to what they do well, they want to give advice on curriculum.


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Enrollment and Degree Verifications
Enrollment Verifications
Enrollment Verifications may be obtained through the National Student Clearinghouse self-service portal via Student Records in Panthertracks. As a user you can:
- Print a certificate of enrollment that can be forwarded to a health insurer, housing provider, credit issuer, or other student services providers.
- View any enrollment information that has been provided to student services providers by the Clearinghouse.
- View any electronic notifications and deferment forms that have been sent to lenders and guarantors on your behalf.
- View a list of your lenders, as applicable and link to a real-time student loan information detail that some lenders provide.
Additionally, currently enrolled students may obtain an Enrollment Verification by completing the Enrollment Verification Request form and returning it to the Office of the Registrar. Please allow 2-3 business days for processing.
Degree Verifications
The National Student Clearinghouse acts as our agent for providing degree verification data to such agencies as third-party verifiers, credit card companies and credit approval agencies. Please contact the National Student Clearinghouse at (703) 742-4200 for directions to access the current degree data for Prairie View A&M University or follow the link below for more information.


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The mystery of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and its indigenous inhabitants, the Rapanui, has intrigued travelers and archaeologists for many years. Where did these ancient people come from? How did they transport almost 1,000 giant statues from the quarry to their platforms? What cataclysmic event caused them to overthrow all they had erected with so much effort? And most important, what does it all mean?
With the opening of Mataveri airport in 1967, Easter Island became more easily accessible, and many visitors now take the opportunity to pause and ponder the largest and most awesome collection of prehistoric monuments in the Pacific. This is one of the most evocative places you will ever visit.
(On this site we follow the convention of spelling the island name Rapa Nui and its people and their language Rapanui.)
Easter Island lies in the eastern South Pacific Ocean, due south of Salt Lake City, Utah, and due east of Brisbane, Australia.
In winter, the island shares the "Mountain Time Zone" with Denver and Calgary, GMT minus seven hours. In summer, clocks are moved forward two hours.
The Pacific's largest body of archaeological sites is here, an unforgettable World Heritage Site. The island itself is rugged and beautiful, and the people helpful.
The Chilean carrier LAN flies here from Santiago, Lima, and Papeete.
Half of the island's 5,000 inhabitants are Polynesian. Today they are citizens of Chile.
Museo Antropológico,
Hanga Roa:
exhibition, shopping, information
archaeology, scenery, hiking, volcano
Rano Raraku quarry:
archaeology, statues, hiking, scenery
Ahu Tongariki:
statues, scenery
Anakena Beach:
swimming, archaeology, hiking