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Team Fortress 2's bustling hat-based economy is getting another rare addition, thanks to the launch of Scribblenauts Unlimited. Pre-ordering the game through Steam before it launches next week will get you a choice of Maxwell or Lily's rooster hats, which honestly aren't that much sillier than the other hat options in TF2.
Maxwell's comes in red and Lily's in pink. The hats will be available as soon as you pre-order Scribblenauts, so you don't have to wait for its November 20 release date to don your rooster cap. Scribblenauts Unlimited is also planned for the Wii U, but of course, you don't get to wear a ridiculous looking hat that way.
Steam, Valve's popular portal for PC games, is now available on Linux. The beta client is currently available for Ubuntu 12.04, with more OS variants to be supported in the future. Valve's Frank Crockett explained that "an overwhelming majority of beta applicants have reported they're running the Ubuntu distro of Linux," but Valve plans on supporting additional "popular distros," prioritized by user feedback.
The beta client will become available to "a widening group of users," but the first round is currently reserved for those that have already responded to participate. "Once the team has seen a solid level of stability and performance across a variety of systems, the Steam for Linux client will become available to all users of Steam."
To coincide with the launch of Steam for Linux, Valve has released Team Fortress 2 for the platform. Valve says that approximately two dozen other games are also available to play, but the list is currently inaccessible.
The Linux client also includes support for Big Picture mode. It's all part of Valve's larger bet on Linux as a platform, as the company openly criticized Microsoft's new Windows 8 OS.
Every year around this time, the light-hearted (albeit bloody) world of Team Fortress 2 gets a little bit darker. Past years have brought a horseless headless horseman and Demonman. The fourth annual "Scream Fortress" update brings a necromancer with a grudge and some magic potions in tow.
The update goes live today and lasts through November 8. As usual, it ties into a new comic that plays with the premise. The magician Merasmus will enter haunted King of the Hill maps to terrorize your crew, throwing bombs and booby-trapping the control points. Each time a point changes hands, a random effect will trigger some "horrible fate." Or possibly something good, but you know, more likely the horrible fate thing.
You'll also randomly find spells that you can cast on items in your backpack, giving them magical effects like ghost summoning or flaming footsteps, or more modest ones like repainting your items. One spell promises to make you an evil sorcerer.
The new "Wave 666" replaces your usual Machine co-op opponents with brain-hungry zombies, and you can score two new achievements -- one for beating Merasmus, and one for getting to Skull Island.
When Team Fortress 2 launched its Mann vs Machine update, it finally added a co-op mode to the game. Not content to rest on its laurels, Valve had updated the game with several new tweaks and features.
A post on the TF2 Blog spills the details. For starters, the new update includes two more Tours of Duty to sate those who found the first one too easy or too hard. Operation Oil Spill should prove less of a challenge, and Operation Gear Grinder is for those who laugh in the face of danger.
You can also look forward to new Tour-specific loot, including rusty robot heads for Oil Spill, and 24-carat diamond heads for the Gear Grinder. The update also boasts improved match-making, which lets you select from multiple missions. Finally, after a mission is over, you'll be sent back to the matchmaking screen as a group.
If you've been paying any amount of attention to Team Fortress 2, you've probably noticed that it's home to some of Valve's wackier ideas. The company says it may not have started as a test bed, but it's certainly become one as it's used to experiment with new strategies.
"In the end, TF2 has been ended up being one of the most useful tools we've ever built to reduce risk in our company's future," lead designer Robin Walker said.
"It's been really nice that it's also brought in significant revenue throughout that time, but ultimately, the importance we place on understanding our business and our customers has made it totally worthwhile." Walker told Gamasutra that without TF2, Valve's lack of experience in monetization would be "terrifying."
He says the hidden goal for TF2 was to explore ideas that "were potentially a requirement for the long-term survival of the company." When the game first came out, it appeared that MMOs were going to take over the market, so Valve started building persistent items. When the free-to-play market rose, it used TF2 as a test bed for microtransactions. The gambles seem to be paying off, as the game continues to evolve and remain popular.
Ever keen to experiment with digital distribution, Steam is trying something unusual on XCOM: Enemy Unknown pre-orders with publisher 2K. Rather than offering fixed bonuses, Steam will unlock increasingly fancy goodies as more people pre-order, including extra character customisation options, Team Fortress 2 hats, and a free copy of Civilization V.
Everyone who pre-orders through Steam will help the "reward" drive, which seems to hope it'll inspire a little of that Kickstarter feeling. Customers are fast approaching the first unlock, a pack of cosmetic XCOM pretties including shiny new armour, paints for armour, and a recruit with the classic X-COM: UFO Defense flattop haircut.
The flattop also features, in the second tier, a pack of TF2 goods. This offers that good old flattop for the Soldier, a creepy sort of alien head for the Pyro, and a very swanky medal. Lastly, if loads and loads of people pre-order, everyone will also get a free copy of Civ V, or a gift copy if they already own it.
Of course, Steam's charging the full $50 for XCOM, so you might instead fancy buying it from somewhere that simply knocks a few dollars off the price instead. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is coming to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 9.
After nearly five years of fighting over control points and briefcases of intelligence, the mercs of Team Fortress 2 have a new challenge before them--mechanical monstrosities looking to destroy any and all things bearing Mann Co.'s name. TF2's new Mann vs. Machine mode introduces co-op for the first time, bringing up to six players together to fight back the soulless automatons. To do my part in the fight, I jumped into Shacknews community member re-verse's server to fight alongside fellow Shackers against the robotic menace.
Team Fortress 2 veterans will notice the difference between traditional multiplayer and Mann vs. Machine almost immediately. Cohesive teamwork is emphasized here more than any TF2 game mode to date. Teams need to cover robot spawn points to stop machines in their tracks before they bring a bomb to the player base. Robots employ various tactics, including robot Scout rushes, multiple airblasting Pyros, and Demo grenade spam and teams must adapt to each enemy tactic in order to survive. New voice over lines from each character are a big help, as the characters will yell out if a teammate is down or if an enemy Sniper or Spy has entered the field. Once killed, players can respawn, but any time that passes can be costly given how quickly robots are able to move the bomb up.
While traditional multiplayer sees every class playing a pivotal role in the game, Mann vs. Machine places some weight on certain classes. In particular, success is almost impossible without a Medic and an Engineer. Medics need to be aware of their surroundings at all times and heal teammates quickly, while making sure to upgrade their Medigun or Kritzkrieg between rounds. Engineers' sentry guns can mow down waves upon waves of robots to the point that the robots eventually deploy a sentry buster (a large bomb with legs) to take them down. Dispensers also prove to be invaluable resources, since many players tend to run low on ammo amidst the fracas.
While all of TF2's weapons are balanced to a degree in the game's traditional multiplayer, a number of those weapons may see their usefulness diminished significantly. The Pyro's Backburner, for example, is great for ambushing opponents in multiplayer, but its advantages are reduced during an all-out robotic blitz. The Engineer's Pomsom 6000 ray gun has been called overpowered in the main multiplayer mode, but its buffs are far less useful against the machine menace. And Spies are at an intense disadvantage given the sheer number of targets he needs to cover in order to be effective.
One thing to note is that all weapons can be upgraded in between waves, with upgrades customized to suit each specific weapon. For example, the Soldier can either choose to increase the clip or damage dealt from his rocket launcher or opt to increase the Buff Banner's deployment time. Upgrades are purchased with money picked up from successfully taking out waves or from defeated enemies. In fact, teammates fighting over money drops may be the one instance where they'll fight amongst themselves.
Upgrades are pivotal, as later waves introduce more powerful robots. Larger bosses include a Giant Soldier that only shoots crit rockets, giant Heavies flanked by multiple Medic-bots, and oversized Scouts that bash your brains in with their baseball bat. Another wrinkle includes a colossal tank with an enormous HP bar. Even with Kritz and Buff Banner assistance, the tank can take a lot of punishment and will destroy the base if it makes it that far. Taking out the tank becomes more difficult, considering that the other robots will still be trying to escort the regular bomb to your base, as well.
Team Fortress 2 already has a loyal player base, but Mann vs. Machines has the potential to create an entirely new fanbase. It employs many of the familiar TF2 mechanics that veterans love, while emphasizing a new sense of camaraderie over competition. There are only three maps (Decoy, Coal Town, and Mannworks) for MvM so far, but given how much fun this game mode is to play, I expect that number to rise soon. In the meantime, grab your friends and prepare for the machine uprising.
Field Reports provide our first-hand experience with the latest games, but should not be considered a review. This report is based on the Windows version of Team Fortress 2. The game is now available for PC and Mac.
Team Fortress 2's business model has been fairly simple since it went free-to-play--sell lots of virtual hats and guns--but Valve's trying something slightly different with the new 'Mann vs. Machine' co-op PvE mode, which launched last night. While it's free to play, if you fancy extra special loot, you can pay 99 cents for a ticket which offers the chance to earn unique prizes the likes of which ye have never seen.
The 99-cent single-use Tour of Duty Tickets let you into Mann Up Mode, which is a fancy way of saying it's played on Valve's official Mann Co. servers and you can score snazzy robot parts to wear. You're given a wearable Tour of Duty Badge to track your progress through the three MvM missions, which levels up once you've finished them all. The first time you finish a mission on each badge level, you get a piece of robot-loot, then another piece once you've finished the entire tour.
It's not cheap, though. Tour of Duty Tickets are used up when you complete any mission not already finished on your badge level (but not if you fail or have finished it before on this level). Tickets are still ultimately a hat delivery mechanism, but a bit different to straight selling them. Look, it's complicated, so check Valve's FAQ for the nitty-gritty.
You can also cough up $1.99 for a Squad Surplus Voucher, which will ensure everyone on your Mann Up Mode team will get an item if you beat the mission.
Of course, you don't need to pay a penny to play Mann vs. Machine if you don't want to; player-run servers simply don't drop the special robot-loot. The items are tradeable too, so you can swap your spares for shiny newness if you don't mind being thoroughly fleeced by unscrupulous traders.
Team Fortress 2 is a little overwhelmed by the flood of people trying to smash robots and wear their metallic skulls as trophies, mind, so it may be a while before you can play.
As many Team Fortress 2 fans have already puzzled together, a new co-op mode is coming to Valve's free-to-play online shooter. Called "Mann vs Machine," this new mode has six human players waging "a desperate battle to stop a lethal horde of robots from deploying a bomb in one of Mann Co.'s many strongholds." Essentially, it is a horde mode. With robots. And in typical horde fashion, you'll be able to upgrade your abilities and weapons in between waves. Surviving will let you earn "incredible loot." The new mode will also be accommodated by brand new maps as well.
The mode will unlock on August 15th. To get yourself hyped, here's yet another comic and a brand new trailer:
Valve's up to something again. Team Fortress 2 is, as we all know, an epic tale about the rivalry between two siblings, but now a third brother has appeared on the scene to shake things up. A new TF2 comic and several sneaky in-game secrets hint that something big, shiny and metallic is coming, possibly the long-speculated PvE mode nicknamed 'Mann vs. Machine' by fans.
As one fan's video details, Valve has been dropping hints about robots for some time, from comics and trailers to files casually added to TF2--which Valve knows fans pore over for hints. The most damning of these has been the heads of robot versions of every TF2 class.
After a little code-breaking by fans, Valve released a splendid new comic on Sunday showing a long-lost third Mann brother returning to slay his siblings--the heads of the warring Red and Blu teams--and set a dastardly plan in motion. Huge tanks appeared in the background of several maps over the weekend, so it seems an invasion is coming.
What does it all mean? The popular theory is Valve's releasing a new co-operative mode named Mann vs. Machine, where players fight robotic versions of the TF2 gang. TF2 files do reference something named 'MVM' and robots clearly are coming in some form, but it's mostly speculation for now. After several years of teasing, it seems we'll soon be finding out just what's afoot. If you want in on all the gossip and guessing, the Reddit community's gasbagging up a storm.


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Assalamualaikum and Peace be upon all of you.
Welcome to my blog.
Welcome to my blog.
The segment of Siamese Kedah Pasai Ma is here again. I'm trying very hard and the best I can to sort the history from the first king until the last emperor. Like I say previously, the more I studied it, the more complicated it becomes.
Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa
Prince Merong Maha Wong Ser founded a new Kingdom of Kedah after receive a letter of appointment from his father, Emperor Sheikh Huang Di. Merong Maha Wong Ser established a new city of Kuala Muda near Sungai Mas after landed at Yan to find the Ayut'ia Palace belong to a faithful son of Nabi Nuh, Wali al-Mustapha. Merong Maha Wong Ser is styled as Sultan Mad Zafar Shah I. He married with Sharifah Mariam, daughter to Syed Jamal al-Jefrey of Bani Hashim. Their married is blessed with a son named Syed Jamalul Alam Badrul Munir styled as Phodiset.
Syed Jamalul Alam Badrul Munir played a major role in expanding the kingdom. According to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, Syed Jamalul Alam has opened a new land named the State of Siam Lancang located in modern Thailand. In Siamese word, Lan-cang means "Gerak Bijak" or "smart move", a brilliant approach by Phodiset to spread Islam without any spills of blood. Siam Lancang is an Islamic state and part of the Kingdom of Kedah at that time covers all the peninsular. Later, the land is called as Malaka. Phodiset later inherited the throne and styled as Sultan Mad Zafar Shah II. He resides at Bukit Tirik Palace, (located at Pagoh, Johor. At that time, Johor also included in the territory of The State of Siam Lancang).
P.S : In Siamese word, Ma-la-ka means "Marilah Niaga" or "Let's do business".
Before 1800s, the Malaysian Peninsular is known as Tanah Malaka.
Syed Jamalul Alam Badrul Munir has a son named Saiyidina Ali. He becomes the King of Acheh in 222 Hijriah. The tomb of Saiyidina Ali Wal Maulana Jamalul Alam Badrul Munir located at Makam Langgar, Tanjung Inggeris, Kota Setar, Kedah.
"The land of Malacca is called a land of Siam, and the whole of Siam, Champa and thereabouts is called China."
Tom Pires, Suma Oriental.
The Map China (in 1603)
The tombs of Kings
The tomb of Sheik Huang Di @ Li Shih Min @ Rum Chin Ser Wong. His name means Tuan yang Mengawal Negara or Guardian of the nation.
The tomb of Merong Mahawangsa @ Waren Wang Ser. Styled as Sultan Mad Zafar Shah I
The tomb of Syed Jamalul Alam Badrul Munir @ Phodiset. Styled as Sultan Mad Zafar Shah II
The tomb of Sultan Sayyidina Ali of Acheh, Masyhur di bawah angin. According to Marco Polo, the people of Perlak have received Islam since 1292 M.

subset: commoncrawl


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(AW) Recently I posted about our intention to post the full Molbank articles on ChemSpider. PMR commented on my potential over-extension of their Open Access nature: "PMR: I also support publishers who make their material available. I don't want to appear churlish, but Molbank use what is effectively a NC (non-commercial) license and this is what concerned me (and others) when I posted about 1 year ago. I don't think it has changed. So sorry, Antony, it's not "as Open Access as they can be" especially if one has to ask permission to mount the material." He may be right.
PMR: If we take the public definitions of Open Access (often called "BBB") then I think all the OA community will agree that NC is not as Open as possible. I'll be writing more in a few days…
What I do know is that I prefer to get into relationship with the groups/people I work with in the community. Simply grabbing their content/data without some connection doesn't feel comfortable. AND, I realize in these days of search engines and scraping that's quite acceptable.
PMR: This is a very valuable point. Yes, simply taking material without asking (and having it taken) "doesn't feel comfortable". I've felt that on several occasions – when I have exposed my/Open Source (sic) BO code (e.g. in Bioclipse) and seen it taken and developed for commercial use I've felt agitated. But I know this is part of the process and if you can't live with Open approaches then you take a different approach. I have also been careful on occasion not to take Open material and carry out bulk download and transformation without alerting the owner (and there normally is an owner or a proxy owner). For example we have long and continuing discussions with the International Union of Crystallography, Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society. IUCr's Acta Crystallographica E is now Open Source. In principle we could download all the papers and mount them on our site. We could even sell them. But we wouldn't do that (although others might). And there could be a trademark issue even though there wasn't a licence issue – we'd need to make sure we weren't purporting to be the defintive site. Note that much of this issue springs from current practice in chemistry. In bioscience it is common and often de rigeur to make your data available to the databanks. The issue of "ownership" of sequences and genes has been publicly fought over 3 decades and I doubt that authors would be values if they added non-commercial (NC) tags to their data.
When I approached MDPI, the publishers of Molbank, they were gracious in their willingness to have ChemSpider support, integrate and utilize their content. This is contrary to some of my experiences with some other advocates of Open Data and Open Access where trying to get their "Open Data" is like pulling teeth. MDPI appear to be the opposite, in my experience.
PMR: If something is Open Data or open Access then you have a legal right to download it. You don't have to ask permission. I can't understand what you are talking about unless it's a veiled reference to the technical issues in downloading CrystalEye data (see below). If it's anything else then please let me know and I'll take it up with them.
I commented on Peter's blog tonight: "Regarding your comment "especially if one has to ask permission to mount the material." I think that's a comment on the fact that I asked permission? I asked permission for the reason that I am focused on building a community for chemists and this includes me staying in relationship with publishers. I think you know this about me from my previous comments about CrystalEye
PMR: I am also interested in building a community for chemists (Blue Obelisk). We also mount data under various data and code licences. Anyone can download it without our permission.
AW: I judge its a better way to Build the Structure Centric Community for Chemists on ChemSpider.
PMR: That's great. I think Chemspider has moved a long way and is fulfilling a useful role. Alone of the chemical aggregators you have taken on board the issues of Open Data – as a result of engagement with the OA community. You have a commercial site which uses Openness as part of it's business model – that'ts fine – it's part of Web 2.0. I have a different agenda – it's not incompatible – just different.
CS: So, while I didn't have to ask for permission, I did. the result was an excellent exchange, newfound relationships and an opportunity to build an enhanced relationship WITH support and permission.
PMR: Again no problem. But the scale of the problem means that it is impossible for individuals to engage with all publishers. First many of them simply fail to answer (this is one of the main problems – many publishers are simply not trying). Even in chemistry there are ca 60 "Open Access" journals. We started going through them and found that the scale was simply too large. However we did get some progress – for example Libertas Academica had a NC licence – we pointed this out – and they immediately changed with enthusiasm. I did the same with Molbank and they made it clear that they understood the issue and didn't want to change it. We know where we are.
PMR: You want Molbank's data – fine. You and then are happy to share it. I imagine you can negotiate how it can be used in your data base. What I assume you can't do is then to release the data as Open. So, for example, I cannot take data from Chemspider or Molbank and put it in a repository where it can be used for commercial purposes. By contrast CrystalEye can be used for commercial purposes.
PMR: a major aspect of this is scale. You've spent 6 months in discussion with one publisher (ACS) about their supplemental data (supporting info). They are not prepared to assert that you can use it and redistribute it. In contrast I have taken it on the assumption that I am legally allowed to use it and post it as Open Data. You don't feel this enables you to re-use my data, so you see immediately the effect of the anticommons (Open Source and the Tragedy of the Lurkers). If data are OpenData (CC-BY or CC0) then these problems disappear immediately. Individual negotiations between parties don't scale, Open data does.
CS: Many bloggers it appears assume that "concerned parties" read their blogs. For example, when you posted this: http://wwmm.ch.cam.ac.uk/blogs/murrayrust/?p=1048 did you make the editors at Molbank aware of the error or did you just scrape their content and blog?
PMR: No I didn't and I don't intend to. There is at least one error in almost every chemical paper I read. The same is true for biology. The quality of the actual publication of data in science is almost universally poor. There are communities (crystallography, thermochemistry, astrophysics, protein sequence, atmopsherics, etc.) where there are some excellent initiatives which chemistry would do well to emulate. But they are almost all initiated by the community and often by no means welcomed by the publishers
CS: I have adopted a new approach of late – when I see issues with peoples data, websites etc I inform them directly to help them clean up errors. I've done this for Drugbank, PubChem, a number of blogsites, and so on. In case you didn't inform them I will send them your blog link tonight…also to the original author since I'm sure they will appreciate it too. This, I believe, is being a member of the community and since the authors and the publishers are taking actions to contribute to the Open Access community it's part of my personal charge to help." I have sent an email to the original author and to the MDPI editors with the hope they might clean the article or post an Erratum. This is what I feel is appropriate as an active member of the community. If you see errors on ChemSpider please do let us know directly. We have a "Add: Feedback" on every record page and do pay attention to your input.
PMR: This is a potentially useful approach – I don't know whether it scales and how you measure the quality. We also are intrisucing a feature on CrystalEye where we use Connotea (and, yes, we've discussed it with friends at Nature) as an annotation mechanism. Note that we could have done this without consulting Nature but it is possible that it would swamp Connotea and we didn't want to do that.
PMR: BTW you often use the word "curating" for your activities and I suggest you really mean "annotation". Digital Curation is about preservation of material and the historical record, not making assertions (however valid) about "correctness". (Chris Rusbridge reads this blog and I'm sure he'll be happy to engage with you).
PMR: I've written enough so I will tackle your concerns about CrystalEye later. Please let me know if that is your only concern or there are other sites. Note, to start with, that it isn't trivial to make data sets easily available whatever the motivation. Open Data states:
As set out in the Open Knowledge Definition, knowledge is open if "one is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it without legal, social or technological restriction."
There are no such restrictions on CrystalEye. It may not be in the form you would like it, and I'll address that later. But you suggest – wrongly – that I and others deliberately make it difficult to access the data. That is not true.


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Our New York Experience
Visiting New York
I grew up with New York, I think we all did, through movies and sitcoms we all experienced New York from a distance. I was time embark on our New York Experience.
I think everybody should visit New York at least once in a lifetime. I found New York to be nothing I like I expected it to be, yes the monuments are all there waiting for you to see, but it's New York's character that took me by surprise. Now I understand what all the fuss is about, why so many stories and songs praise this dynamic city and like so many others, I LOVE New York!
Arriving in New York
Arriving late at night I will never forget the lights of New York, spreading out as far as the eye could see, like a giant glittering spiders web, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
We had booked a shuttle bus to transfer us from JFK Airport to our Hotel in Manhatten. We waited and waited and kept being told it was on its way, which was fine until 1 am when they turned off all the lights and closed the terminal and we were pushed out on to the street. So here we were two terrified Australians on a dark street in New York City waiting for a shuttle bus that was almost 2 hours late. Thankfully the shuttle bus finally showed up and once we saw the lights of the New York skyline we were so over the moon with excitement that all terror was forgotten.
Getting Around New York
Our choice of transport in New York city was a combination of walking, subway and Hop On Hop Off Bus.
Our hotel was on 27th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue a perfect position to catch the 28th Street subway and the 23rd Street subway lines. We loved our Hotel, it had a funky, rough around the edges bohemian feel, unfortunately they have given her a makeover, changed her name and now charge accordingly.
This is in a great area for exploring New York, it is an easy walk up to the to the Empire State building and many other tourist attractions. We walked from one end of Manhatten to the other and discovered so many different neighbourhoods. We even walked up to Times Square at 1am in the morning when we were suffering from jet lag. I admit walking in New York in the early hours of the morning was a little scary, but there were many people around along the way and Times Square is still jumping, full of light, noise and life, no wonder they call it the city that never sleeps.
The subway is one of the easiest ways to explore Manhatten. We found it the quickest way to get from one end of Manhattan to the other, especially if you want to visit the World Trade Centre Memorial or take the Staten Island Ferry.
Staten Island Ferry
Speaking of the Staten Island Ferry, the ferry is free and passes the Statue of Liberty as it makes its way to Staten Island, it is a great way to see the Statue of Liberty if you are stretched for time. While passing I tried to imagine how immigrants must have felt looking at the Statue of Liberty as they came into New York harbour and a new life in America.
Hop On Hop Off Bus
New York was the first place we had ever used the Hop On Hop Off Bus, and yes it's touristy but you learn so much about the city and it's attractions that I became a Hop On Hop Off Bus convert.
New York Eats
Well where do I start! New York is such a cultural melting pot and this is reflected in the many styles of cuisine, from food cart to restaurant there are thousands of choices, a food lovers paradise on the grandest scale. We enjoyed the deli's that have everything from bakery to salad bar and hot buffet, perfect for picking up a quick lunch.
Eating in New York is like being in the movies, we got to try such things as pretzels off the cart, chilli dogs from Gray's Papaya, massive New York style pizza slices and ate Indian, Greek and Mexican food off street carts.
New York is a capital of fine dining and we passed many beautiful restaurants, but we never had time to try them, we were so spoilt for choices in New York.
La Guardia Airport
After our experience at JFK Airport we were a little wary when it came to catch a flight to Boston from LaGuardia Airport. We took a cab to La Guardia and were relieved to have an uneventful trip to the airport. LaGuardia is closer to Manhattan than JFK and as we were leaving early in the morning it was a quick easy trip.
Would I Visit New York Again
Would I visit New York again? Yes, in a heartbeat Yes! Our New York Experience was one of the most exciting cities I have ever been to and if I were young I would go and live there in a minute.
There is so much to see, Broadway, art galleries, museums, monuments, Central Park and iconic buildings. New York's mix of cultural and social differences create a cast of characters that make people watching a shear joy.
In visiting New York I have discovered that New York isn't all you see in the movies and TV shows, to me New York (Manhattan) is a series of villages where people of the same ethnic background, social beliefs or artistic temperament meet with a sense of community.
New York is one of my favourite cities in the World, where else could you mix with so many cultures, thoughts and ideas without leaving a city. Our New York experience is something I will never forget and hopefully an experience I can repeat someday.
There is no way you can cover the range of things to do in New York city, the task would be never ending but if you have experienced something you want to share I would love to hear your story. Feel free to leave a comment.


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The Bears could wind up starting two rookies on offense Sunday.
Anthony Morgan will start at wide receiver in place of the injured Ron Morris.
``I want to go out and compete with those guys,`` said Morgan. ``The veterans are going to try take advantage of me, but I`m not worried about that. But when they see me out there competing, they are going to say: `There is a good player.` ``


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The Star Market: Is It Too Late for Matthew McConaughey to Be Taken Seriously?
"Would I spend money on him?" says a top agent. "I would not; in fact, I might actively avoid anything he's in. But would I sign him? In a second!"
Some actors become famous for doing one thing, then spend the rest of their careers doing something completely different. Demi Moore's biggest role was as the dewy girlfriend in Ghost, but she followed that up by playing aggressive hardbodies in G.I. Jane, Striptease, and Disclosure. We grew to adore Kevin Spacey's sardonic wit in films like Swimming With Sharks, but after he reached his apex in American Beauty, Spacey misstepped with touchy-feely characters in Pay It Forward and K-PAX. And then there's Matthew McConaughey: Hailed as the second coming of Paul Newman with his breakout role as an earnest lawyer in A Time to Kill, it didn't take long for McConaughey to undermine that totally by presenting himself as an unserious, frequently shirtless ladies' man (both onscreen and off). This weekend, he'll try to recapture that initial promise as a shady attorney in The Lincoln Lawyer, but is it too late for McConaughey to reestablish himself as a real actor? To find out, we spoke to industry insiders to answer the question: If Matthew McConaughey were a stock, would you buy, sell, or hold?
Stock History: 1996's A Time to Kill established McConaughey as a leading man after supporting turns in Lone Star and Dazed and Confused, but aside from the successful Contact the following year, few of his follow-ups (including Amistad, The Newton Boys, Reign of Fire, and EDtv) delivered on that box-office promise. By the time he starred opposite Kate Hudson in 2003's How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, both actors were seen as next-big-things who'd never quite fulfilled their potential ... and then that movie became a smash.
Suddenly a full-blown comedic star instead of a dramatic actor, McConaughey continued to give the people what they clamored for. Like him in rom-coms? Then here's Failure to Launch, Fool's Gold, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past! Do you consider him the Sexiest Man Alive, as People did in 2005? Then surely you won't mind if he airs out his pecs for the paparazzi on a regular basis! And hey, what about that beachy surfer tan — cool, right? If you love that, you'll love him even more when he's orange. Some leading men are determined to stretch from film to film, but McConaughey saved those stretches for his workouts and embraced populism instead.
Market Value: In the romantic-comedy genre, McConaughey is a solid performer who grosses within the $50 to $100 million range, though in a worrisome development, each rom-com has grossed successively less than the last: Since How to Lose a Guy's $105 million, his next four romantic comedies dropped by about $15 million each time. Still, in a waning market for the genre, he outdraws most of his female competition. Other recent efforts haven't fared as well: The big-budget Sahara couldn't crack $70 million, while We Are Marshall and Two for the Money were disappointments.
Peers: Runs with Keanu Reeves (46), Mark Ruffalo (43), Russell Crowe (46), Will Smith (42), and Bradley Cooper (36) — but having been on a bit of a cold streak, "he runs behind all of them."
What Hollywood Thinks: "Yeah, he is behind all those guys, but he's a rugged leading guy who can also do a bit of comedy, and that's extremely rare," says one high-powered agent. "In that respect, you could say he's like a Brad Pitt or a George Clooney — except that he's willing to do a commercial movie, whereas they, for the most part, are not. Would I spend money on him? I would not; in fact, I might actively avoid anything he's in. But would I sign him? In a second! In a fucking second I would! Because while he's 'commerce,' he's also, well, commerce: He does that middlebrow stuff so well, and it plays huge in the red states. For some yutz in South Carolina, anything he's in is their first choice at the Redbox."
One of the talent managers we spoke to is a little harsher: "I just happen to not respond well to him. I think that his career has journeyed as far as the talent has allowed for. I don't know that there are any lessons that could be delivered to him, because I suspect he might have an incredibly astute understanding of who he is and how he's regarded. He might not think there's any problem to fix. So, will he transcend what he's known for? I doubt that will happen. But he's so well-established, he'll remain an entity for as long as he wants."
"I don't think 'movie star' has to equate with 'great actor,'" argues a top publicist. "He reminds me of Meg Ryan a long time ago: 'Isn't he our romantic-comedy guy?' I'm not sure that it's fair, but I don't know if people want to see him expand his chops. He's very marketable in a romantic comedy."
Still, if McConaughey is serious about going serious (and his next role in The Dallas Buyer's Club, where he plays an AIDS-afflicted medicine smuggler, indicates a shift away from comedy), he should begin revamping his image in the place where he's seen most often: magazines. "He'd need to start doing photo shoots and interviews that are less 'pretty,'" suggests the publicist. "I'd have him work with a gritty photographer like Anton Corbjin. You'd want to see the lines around the eyes. You put that out there to convey an image of someone who's strong, rugged, as opposed to 'glossy-pretty.' You'd couple it with an interview that's film-oriented. To change perception, you'd need to start to talk about filmmakers and actors you admire, and talk about it in a way that it's clear that it's something you study and care about, that you have a sense of history of it."
The Analysis: When McConaughey was arrested in 1999 for playing bongos in the nude while stoned, it was jarring, since he'd just come off of serious films like Amistad and Contact. If he was busted for the same today, however, no one would bat an eye. It's a sign of just how much McConaughey has transformed himself in the public eye over the last decade — and maybe even an encouraging sign that it's always possible to change back, if he wants to.
Because here's the thing: He's actually quite good in The Lincoln Lawyer. Employing his natural charisma to make an unsavory character someone you can actually root for, McConaughey delivers a star turn and a dramatic performance. It's pulp, for sure — no matter how well-cast the movie's ensemble is, it's not exactly Michael Clayton — but it's the most compelling McConaughey has been in years. It's possible, with Lincoln Lawyer, Dallas Buyer's Club, and a reunion with his Dazed and Confused director Richard Linklater (in the dark comedy Bernie) on the way, that Hollywood's most famous beach bum has finally put on a suit and grown up.
"It's a challenge for guys who are so handsome," says the publicist. "But you start by saying no to the things where they want you to be 'just pretty.' You don't do it with an inside profile in Glamour or by taking your shirt off in Men's Health. Clooney tried to get out from under the beefcake. He's done a great job. It's all 'I want to be doing good work.'"
The Bottom Line: Lionsgate would be thrilled if Lincoln Lawyer made even as much as one of McConaughey's lower-grossing rom-coms, but if it tanks, will the 41-year-old get cold feet and retreat from his foray into indie dramas?
"He's clearly a very gifted, very capable actor," the agent allows. "His best role yet was A Time to Kill, but he hasn't gone back for that sort of stuff. When he produced something, it was that stupid stoner-surfer movie [2008's Surfer, Dude]. He seems very content with his life, so maybe he's just happy where he is. It's just kind of a shame, because it's really wasted potential."
Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold


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UCLA Mobile Strategy
Mobile Users want Curated Content
The World Wide Web is a vast repository of information with over 1 billion websites. Mobile devices touch the Internet now more than any other type of device. Universities need to be able to share mobile friendly apps and collectively "curate" cloud services across their campus environments in an ecosystem that includes all critical digital assets and tools. Search engines do a reasonable job filtering on content, however, they are much less effective at filtering based on functionality and features. As a primary example, they lack the ability to identify mobile-friendly sites. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the vendor specific "app stores" that pervade the native mobile app landscape. However this vendor driven model of content consumption limits the user community to a vendor managed and specific marketplace, where they take 30% of all revenue. At UCLA we think that mobile software should come from a "Network" of independent "Creation Hubs" with their own "App Stores" that speak a standardized App Sharing Language called CASA the Community App Sharing Architecture.
A Cross Platform Strategy
UCLA supports a Mobile Strategy that is cross platform, working to make the maximum amount of content available to the broadest array of mobile devices. The UCLA Mobile collaborative effort is governed by a campus wide group of stakeholders comprising the UCLA Mobile Steering Committee. The purpose of the UCLA Mobile Steering Committee is to guide, govern and prioritize the ever evolving campus cross platform UCLA Mobile app dashboard as well as it's adjacent cross platform UCLA App Store (conformant to the IMS Global CASA protocol and powered by CASA on Rails). The UCLA App store is eco-system of campus mobile friendly tools that can be shared with other institutions across the UC system and beyond.


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Ivan Reitman on why Kevin Costner was perfect for 'Draft Day'
On the face of it, Kevin Costner is the perfect actor to star in the football-themed Draft Day (out Friday). He has toplined three successful baseball movies (Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and For the Love of the Game) as well as a beloved golf flick (Tin Cup).
So getting the 59-year-old to play the fictitious NFL GM seemed like a genius bit of can't-lose casting.
But it turns out that Costner's sports-film pedigree had nothing to do with director Ivan Reitman casting him opposite Jennifer Garner in Draft Day. It was that other thing Costner is known for. You know, his rugged, all-American (sorry Canada) charm.
"The fact that Kevin has done a bunch of successful sports movies is fine," Reitman tells QMI Agency. "There's something about the cadence of his voice, the way he looks and the way one trusts and believes him when he speaks. It's the quality great movie stars through the classic period of filmmaking have had. He's this iconic American guy that you can follow and know and trust. To me, that's what makes him perfect for this role… So I went off and got him the script."
In Draft Day, Costner's character is GM of the Cleveland Browns, who are coming off a dismal season (sounds like they ripped a page out of real life there). In a bid to put his stamp on the franchise, and save his own skin, Sonny Weaver Jr. attempts to pull off a blockbuster trade to secure the number one pick.
Spoiler alert: Things don't go according to plan.
"I loved the idea that he made a bad decision," Reitman says with a laugh. "Here's a movie star in a sports movie, who starts off by making a terrible mistake… It just seemed like a story that I had never seen before… I loved the pressure on the main character and I loved that combination of the personal stuff and how it affects his professional life.
"It's a very complicated day for him."
In addition to the make-or-break draft day, Weaver Jr. is also grappling with his father's death and the surprising news that he's going to become a dad.
Reitman, who was raised in Toronto, didn't set out to make a football movie. He's not even a sports-movie fan, he says. "I've seen a bunch of them that have made me cry like Hoosiers… But the fascinating thing here is I was able to create a sports event out of negotiations and tension that plays out like a game film without ever stepping on the field."
After making a name for himself with such comedies as Meatballs and Stripes in the late '70s and early '80s, Reitman found mainstream Hollywood success with Ghostbusters, Legal Eagles, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Junior and more. Since the 2000s began, he has been less prolific, producing more and ceding the directing spotlight to son Jason (Up in the Air, Juno).
"When I look back at it, I think it's probably been a mistake," Reitman says. "I should have directed (more). It's what I enjoy doing most, and it's what I like to think I do best… But I'm really proud of Draft Day. I feel like I've found my form again even though this is unlike any of the films I've done before."
Reitman got the two leads he wanted for the film ("Kevin and Jennifer were each the first two people I spoke to for those parts") and made the decision to shoot Draft Day very quickly.
"By the time I got to the end of the script, I knew I wanted to make it. It was a fast decision, but the speed of the decision gave me confidence."
Reitman admits that he had a hard time finding his rhythm with some of his recent films, but maintains that 2011's No Strings Attached (with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher) was a good movie.
"It was better than the reviews and I'm proud of it," he smiles. "Women seem to like it…men… I think it's something to do with the actor (Kutcher) that they don't like him."
After Draft Day, Reitman has opted not to direct the long-gestating third instalment of Ghostbusters.
"I'm looking for something smaller on the more personal side much like Draft Day."
But he'll still produce Ghostbusters 3, which is expected to shoot next year.
"It's a story that plays into the lore and tradition of the original movies," he says. "I think it'll be very satisfying to Ghostbusters fans."
Twitter: @markhdaniell


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Drive or walk onto a Washington State Ferries vessel to reach this quaint island town, just 35 minutes from downtown Seattle.
Start the day off right at Blackbird Bakery, a star when it comes to fresh pastries. For lunch, pick up a sandwich heaped high with house-smoked porchetta at Hitchcock Deli. Keep it casual for dinner at The Harbour Public House, a local watering hole serving sophisticated pub fare like steamed mussels in beer. Then finish with a sweet bite at either of two frozen confectionaries: Mora Ice Cream (decadently creamy scoops) and Gelarto (artisan gelato in an array of traditional flavors).
Cute boutiques line the main thoroughfare, Winslow Way, which is just a five-minute walk from the ferry terminal. Browse the array of high-quality yarns at Churchmouse Yarns & Tea, or pick up handcrafted gifts from Salt House Mercantile. Find Asian-inspired apparel and home goods at Plum, and there's no hazard at Danger—just quirky jewelry, art, and gifts.
Make a point to visit Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, which showcases contemporary works from local artists. Find a different kind of art at The Bloedel Reserve. The 150-acre reserve features 12 distinct gardens, including a bird marsh and an award-winning Japanese garden. On your way back to the ferry dock, stop by Eleven Winery for a tasting flight and friendly atmosphere.
Dive into the rich naval history of this port town, only an hour-long ferry ride from Seattle.
Kitsch and comfort food converge at Hi-Lo's 15th Street Cafe, where the walls are lined with vintage Thermoses and hearty brunch fare is always served hot. El Balcon earns raves for its fresh, flavorful Mexican and Salvadoran food (be sure to try the pupusas). For a meal and a view, Boat Shed Restaurant can't be beat with its waterfront deck and classic menu of burgers and fish and chips.
Deck yourself out in fun outfits from the roaring '20s through the totally rad '80s at Ish Vintage Clothing. Seek out more vintage wares of the video game sort at Bplus Retro and More, a haven for old-school gamers. Or stock up on environmentally friendly, handmade bars at F.R.O.G. Soap.
Families love strolling through Harborside Fountain Park, where kids can splash in the water on warmer days. Meanwhile, USS Turner Joy is one way to get up close to Bremerton's Navy roots. The retired destroyer has been turned into a floating museum, where you can stroll the deck and even peer up into the gun turrets. After all that exploring, quench your thirst with a cherry amber or a hoppy IPA at Wobbly Hopps Brewery.
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Welcome to Izumi Saratoga Springs. Izumi Asian Bistro blends traditional culinary art with the modern concept of fine dining in an elegant contemporary atmosphere. The excellence of our service makes our diners feel the most satisfaction and enjoyment in dining.
Experience our distinctive menu featuring more than 80 sensational dishes. Ranging from traditional Japanese favorites. Creative sushi and innovative specialties to classic Thai foods, Pan Asian foods using only the freshest, most natural ingredients.
We welcome any suggestions you may offer in order that we may better serve you.


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On 1 July 2016 millions will remember the Battle of the Somme. Although the bombardment began a week earlier the 1 July is seen as the day the battle commenced. My own personal connection to the battle is not through a family connection but in the journey I made to trace what happened to the lives of the boys from the school I attended in two world wars.
One young man's short life resonated with me during that discovery. Ronald Grundy attended the same school as I did but he also lived a few minutes walk from my home. He had taken a similar journey to me but we were separated by a century. Ronald grew up playing on Wandsworth Common as I did. He sat in the same school chapel pondering upon the greater meaning of life. Yet at 19 he faced a far greater test.
On a July day in 2010 I set out to find out what had happened to him. I visited the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery of Ovillers where a gravestone bears his name. Standing among a line of gravestones separated from the vast majority they face is a stone inscribed with the following words, 'TO THE MEMORY OF THESE 35 SOLDIERS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE KILLED IN ACTION IN 1916 AND BURIED AT THE TIME IN MASH VALLEY CEMETERY OVILLERS-LA-BOISSELLE WHOSE GRAVES WERE DESTROYED IN LATER BATTLES: THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT'. In the flowerbed beside this stone were bees busily seeking out pollen on a fine summer's day, far removed from the intensity of battle that the names on those graves once knew. As I stood there that afternoon I wondered in what ways Ronald's life had 'not been blotted out' by time and how he had been remembered?
The story is one I have written about in a book I am hoping to publish as an ebook later this year but on the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme I wanted people to remember the sacrifices Ronald and the men of his battalion made that morning.
I have written about Ronald and his brother Cecil before and you can also listen to their story here from a BBC World War One episode on the boys from Emanuel School, Battersea.
1 July 1916
On the morning of 1 July 1916 the Battle of the Somme began in full. For Ronald it would last all but eight minutes. By the end of the first day of the Battle Ronald was one of 19,240 British servicemen who were killed in action or died of wounds. It was the worst day in
British military history. The tragedy felt the more from the fact that over half of the 120,000 infantrymen who fought on the opening day were volunteers – members of Kitchener's New Army. This does not mean, however, that they lacked foreknowledge of their potential fates. Those who had been members of their school's cadet or officer training corps and who overwhelmingly were promoted to infantry officers, had been versed in the classical and medieval language of sacrifice from their headmasters' assembly and prize day sermons and so were made aware what was at stake in this titanic struggle. But the shooting range at home was unfortunately ill preparation for facing the reality of the nightmares they fell into.
It was the grief over young men like Ronald that eventually claimed the life of another casualty of the first day – Lieutenant-Colonel Edwin Thomas Falkner Sandys, commander of 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment. On the first day his battalion, out of any involved in the attack, were given the task of covering the greatest width – some 750 yards – of No Man's Land. Their objective – the German trenches at the head of Mash Valley. Sandys was concerned before the attack that the artillery bombardment had not achieved its desired effect and that the wire in front of the German trenches was largely in tact. He believed his men would be cut to pieces. It is believed that he made his objections known but no such concern would have stopped the attack at this late stage.
At the end of the first day thirty-one men of the 2nd Battalion are recorded on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database as having died but Sandys died in September 1916. Sandys had been wounded on the first day and was evacuated to England.
He recovered from his wounds but not his mental torment. The thought that he could have done more for his men plagued him that summer. He wrote two letters which show how his mental state had deteriorated after the attack. In the first, dated 6 September, to Captain Lloyd Jones of the Middlesex Regiment Sandys wrote that he wished he had died with his men on 1 July. He also noted that, 'I have come to London today to take my life. I have never had a moment's peace since July 1.'
In the second letter also dated 6 September 1916 addressed to Captain and Adjutant Reginald James Young of 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment who had been with Sandys in the 1st July
attack, he wrote, 'By the time you receive this I shall be dead.' On the same day as writing the letters Edwin Sandys shot himself in his hotel room at the Cavendish Hotel. Taken to St George's Hospital he died on 13 September 1916. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery.
The official verdict recorded at an inquest into his death was suicide whilst temporarily insane. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
The Officer Commanding "D" Company on 1 July was Captain William James Clachan. Born in Sydney to Scottish parents, William grew up in New Zealand and enlisted at the outbreak of hostilities in 1914. Twice wounded in 1915 he was shot by machine gun fire in his right ankle on the morning of 1 July. He was evacuated to England and on 13 July 1916 whilst recovering in Lady Carnarvon's Hospital for Officers, 48 Bryanston Square, west London, he wrote to his mother describing that fateful 1 July morning: (Please note the following is an extract from a letter which is copyrighted material)
As for the N.C.O.s I shouldn't think a company commander could wish for
better and truer soldiers. The men were perfect. There one aim was to get at the bosh. Our half mile advance was down a very gentle slope, immediately in front of the enemy 1st
line was a sunken road in rather a deep little valley. The enemy trenches were on opposite side of this and then up the hill. The whole of this place was swept by the most
cruel machine gun fire. There were at least twenty guns simply pouring lead on us. I have heard machine gun fire before but never such a crackle as that. Every one simply
carried on ahead with a growing hatred for the bosh. There was nothing theatrical about the men, everywhere as they were hit they simply dropped with a silent plunge,
on to their faces. Crumpled up is the correct description. The farther we went the thinner we got. About half way over we ordered the double. By this time in the right half
of our Battalion only the machine gun officer and little me were left of the officers, followed by such a handful of men, probably about fifty, still following grimly. As our
wounded lying about saw us going on many looked up at us smiled and followed even though they were already hit once or twice. Poor fellows they only stopped two or three
I looked at my watch 7.30A.M. Eight minutes exactly and our Battalion was wiped out. … In
writing to or telling anyone else I simply say we walked into hell.
As for Ronald's fate we know of his last moments leading No. 14 Platoon of "D" Company, 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment from his batman Lance Corporal Walter Noyes. Second Lieutenant Charles Fawcus of "D" Company, a friend of Ronald's in the Middlesex Regiment and who was in reserve on 1 July, asked Corporal Noyes to write to the Grundys explaining how Ronald died on that fateful morning. Charles Fawcus also wrote to John Grundy on 13 and 23 July 1916 with further details concerning the circumstances of
Ronald's death.
In a letter dated 13 July to John Grundy, Charles Fawcus mentions that William Clachan was recovering in Lady Carnarvon's Hospital if he wanted further details about his son's death but we must assume that John Grundy never contacted William as no letter survives in
either the Clachan or Grundy papers.
Dear Sir,
I wrote you a few days ago and suppose our letters must have crossed. I regret I have been unable to learn anymore than I then wrote, as to his burial place and there is still
heavy fighting going on in that district I collected what belongings of his that I could and handed over to the Quartermaster to be put with his kit and sent home. His
revolver and field glasses were brought in, but I am sorry to say his ring and wrist watch must have been left on him. He showed me a map you sent him of the district we were
in, so you know where he was at the time. I think if you wrote to the Graves' Registration Committee they would be able to let you have particulars of his burial place. I have heard from Mr Clachan who was his O.C. CO, and is now in Lady Carnarvon's Hospital for officers, 48 Bryanston Square I am sure he would be very pleased to give you any details he can.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Fawcus.
P.S. Written communications concerning Graves
Registration and Enquiries should be addressed to D. G.
R. AND E. General H/qrs
Letter 23 July, written by Charles Fawcus to Mr Grundy.
Dear Mr Grundy,
I am very sorry to hear you did not receive my first letter. I found what particulars I could of your son's death, and wrote as soon as I heard, as before we parted he have your
address and asked me to let you know should anything happen to him. I have seen his servant and gained all the information I could from him, and you will no doubt be
glad to hear that he could not have suffered, as his death was absolutely instantaneous, he was over the top leading his men, then started to wave his stick and cheer his men
on, when he must have been sniped as he was hit right through the throat and died at once. His servant carried him back through a sap, but found the entrance filled up with sand bags so had to leave him there. I expect you will be able to get full particulars of where he is buried from the G. R. office, am sorry I do not know any further particulars,
and being in the trenches again now it is difficult to hear much. I have asked Noyes who was your son's servant to write to you as he was with him all the time. With deepest sympathy to you over your great loss, which is shared by all of us who knew your son,
Yours truly,
Charles G. Fawcus.
P.S. Two parcels arrived for your son, which I distributed as you said.
Lance Corporal Noyes's letter, 1 August 1916, written to Mr Grundy.
Dear Sir,
I have been requested by Mr Fawcus to give you what information I can concerning the death of Mr Grundy. I was his servant during his brief stay with our company and
was about three feet behind him from the time we left our trench till he was hit. He was killed by a bullet which went in about a quarter of an inch above the collarbone close
up to the neck on the left side and came out through the spine between the shoulder blades. He was dead before he fell and he made no sound, just crumpled up. I dragged him bit by bit until I came to our advanced sap and then I had to leave him so I covered him over with his jacket and brought everything he had that I thought of value and reported him to our Q.M.S. and handed everything to him. Later Mr Fawcus asked if I had seen a ring of Mr Grundy's
but I never gave it a thought to look for anything of that description, too excited I suppose. I will give you as near as I possibly can where he fell. Draw a line from Ovillers
to Aveluy and make a mark about seven-eighths of the way across from Aveluy and then you will have almost the exact spot. There is one thing you can be assured of
and that is that he was buried properly and his grave is marked as I brought him in and left his identification disc round his neck for that purpose. If there is any further information you require, no matter how slight, I shall be only too pleased to give it you if you will write to L/c W Noyes. D Co 2nd Middlesex Regt. B.E.F. France.
I am yours obediently,
L/c W Noyes.
John Grundy wrote to Walter Noyes with a series of six searching questions concerning Ronald's death and on 25 August Walter sent his responses. These questions form part of a chorus of desperate fathers' quests to piece together their beloved sons' last moments.
Question 1: About how far had my son proceeded after
leaving the trench when he was hit?
Noyes's Reply: Roughly about nine hundred yards.
Question 2: Do you know if he was wearing his Dayfield
Shield (underneath) and his top boots?
Noyes's Reply: He was wearing his Dayfield Shield but
not his top boots as they would greatly interfere with the
speed of getting at a wound in the leg or foot.
Question 3: Was he well within sight of the enemy's snipers
and was there anything about his dress or movements (I
understand he was waving his stick) to be likely to cause
him to be singled out by them.
Noyes's Reply: It is my opinion that he was shot by an
enemy sniper as, firstly his dress and movements (he was
waving his stick) at once proclaimed him as an officer,
secondly, we were within almost point blank range (about
100 yards), thirdly all M(achine) G(un) and ordinary rifle
fire was much to low to hit him where he was hit.
Question 4: I understand he slept with 14 Platoon in
Ryecroft St on the night of June 30, and that each platoon
slept with its officer in a separate part of the trenches.
Noyes's Reply: No 14 Platoon occupied four dugouts in
Ryecroft Street, one section to a dugout. Mr Grundy slept
in a dugout occupied by a team of machine gunners as it
was situated with two of his sections' dugouts on his right
and two on his left.
Question 5: Did he see any of his brother officers on the
morning of the 1st before going over the top?
Noyes's Reply: Not to my knowledge.
Question 6: I understand that you went over the top at 7.22 am, at about what time was my son shot?
Noyes's Reply: From the time we left the trench till he was
hit we covered about 900 yds judging that it took us eight
minutes to cover that distance. I could say the time was
7.30 if we, as you say, left the trench at 7.22. I think it was
7.20 but having no watch and not troubling much about
time I am not able to say the exact minute.
Before he died Ronald asked for money to be left to the Emanuel School chapel
and also requested that a trophy be purchased to, 'foster the Inter House spirit'. Ronald allocated the sum of twenty pounds to Emanuel. After his death it was his father who carried out the bequest. The following instructions were given to the engravers:
Dear Mr. Hayco
Thanks for yours of the 4th and 8th. Will you please tell me the cost of Chalice 8 ¾ ¨ no 21 in catalogue solid silver with paten plate inscribed round base 'To the glory of God and the imperishable memory of Ronald Edwin Grundy sometime Prefect of the School, Second Lieutenant 2nd Bn The Middlesex Regiment, who fell near Ovillers July 1 1916 and dying bequeathed this chalice to his School.'
Round the Rim inside (the letters to be filled in with enamel) Drink ye all of this; for this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.
One cannot imagine the thoughts going through John Grundy's mind as his hand moved the pencil across the piece of paper detailing the memorials to his elder sons (Cecil died at Bethune in November 1915). Within a few years he went from bringing a bicycle home for his sons to play with to considering appropriate words to memorialise them for the School they so loved. He may have sat remembering the camping excursions they so often made each summer, which in one sense were moments from yesterday and in another, a long distant memory viewed from across the fissure in people's lives created by the First World War.
One point to note is that Ronald's death was near instantaneous so the words on the chalice, which suggest that he bequeathed it as he lay dying, were, we could assume, an emotive addition created by John perhaps to signify Ronald's devotion to Emanuel.
Ronald's death was memorialised in the Christian notions of Sacrifice and Resurrection. The words on the chalice are those associated with the Eucharist. As with Christ, Ronald's death was not in vain but for a greater cause; he died to save others, 'for many
for the remission of sins,' the sin from which a new generation it was hoped would be saved was war. It would appear that by associating Ronald's death with that of Christ's sacrifice it brings both meaning to an otherwise incomprehensible loss and also provides a means for the family to work through it, being as they were practicing Christians. It also provides a reminder to the next generation of what these young men fought and gave their lives for.
The chalice and paten were accompanied by a memorial plaque which was placed in the "All Souls" side of the School chapel. John requested the plaque from the same engraver and in the same letter he sent to Mr. Hayco.
The Grundy Cup, as it became known, was the last memorial given to Emanuel in Ronald's memory. Again, John Grundy noted the details of the words to be engraved on the cup, which was to be instituted as a cup for shooting competitions. The cup was 'a silver coveredcup surmounted by the figure of a private soldier in the time of the First World War, 1914-18, in full kit with rifle at the slope.' It bears the School Arms and the inscription:
This Cup Was bequeathed to his School by RONALD EDWIN GRUNDY (sometime Prefect of the School) 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd B'n The Middlesex Regiment who fell near Ovillers, July 1st, 1916, as a perpetual Trophy for House Competitions In Marching and Shooting.
"Stand fast, brave hearts; what will they say of this in England."
It was fitting that the first House to win this cup was Howe, Ronald's old House. In 1935 Mrs Grundy, in the presence of Emanuel School pupils, staff and Mr. John Grundy, presented the cup to Richard Kemp Wildey, who was a Company Sergeant Major in the
OTC and also Captain of Nelson House. Interestingly Richard lived in St James' Road, the same road on which the Grundys had lived. Richard lost his life when the Halifax he was piloting crashed on the night of 15 October 1942 on a bombing operation on Cologne.
Tomorrow on 1 July 2016 at 7.28am I will be thinking of Ronald and all those young men who went over the top. May we and future generations never forget them – they didn't get a chance to have a full life – so those of us who do must remember them.
I am hoping to get the Grundy letters published as an ebook – if anyone could help me achieve this goal please get in contact as I lack the funding to achieve it at present.


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3rd Annual Expressions of Courage
at Jameson Health System North Campus
October 5, 2015 - January 2, 2016
Public Reception: November 5, 5-7 pm
Theodore Roosevelt once said "courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength." Whether facing illness or disability as a patient, loved one, or caregiver, it is that courage that is celebrated in the Annual Expressions of Courage photography competition presented by Arts & Education at the Hoyt at Jameson Health System in the Hoyt Atrium gallery. Originally inspired by the New Castle YMCA's Salute to Courage Dinner, Expressions of Courage recognizes the many untold acts of courage of our friends, family, neighbors and/or co-workers overcoming chronic medical conditions every day.
Approximately 50 entries were received from amateur, student and professional photographers in Lawrence County with a short narrative of the subject's character. Prizes were awarded for first, second and third place, as well as six honorable mentions. The selection panel used a variety of criteria to judge the entries including the visual narrative and technical aspects of the composition.
This first place prize was awarded to Emily Matzie for Mason the Train Conductor. Mason is a 14-year-old boy with Autism whose cheery personality and love for those around him shines through his daily struggles.
Second place was awarded to Alexandra Engen for Doug, a portrait of a soldier who was wounded while serving in Afghanistan. Though his injuries have left him unable to speak, there is no mistaking his emotions when he shows off his medals including a Purple Heart. Though he is home from war, the need for courage and bravery is just beginning as he faces physical therapy and treatments.
Third place was awarded to Chelsea Carpenter for Courage, a portrait of a man, Tony Pericelli, who suffered from several strokes leaving his right side paralyzed. Only through perseverance has he overcome his limitations and learned to do daily tasks one-handed.
Honorable mentions were also awarded to Brianna Pilch for Healed, Christopher Medarac for Fighting Cancer with Fire, Franscesca Pucci for Isaiah I, Jody Kind for Enuf is Enuf, Josh Babcanec for Patricia, and Sarah Mandeville for Illusion of Normalcy.
All entries are on display in the Hoyt Atrium at Jameson Health System, 1211 Wilmington Road, New Castle. A public reception will be held at Jameson on Thursday, November 5 from 5-7 p.m.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to meet the photographers and their subjects," says Hoyt Executive Director, Kimberly B. Koller-Jones, "while gaining an awareness of various conditions and how they can affect one's well being. These images will not bring you down, but rather lift you up with their strength and determination." Admission is free and refreshments complimentary.


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Explore Singapore
Conveniently situated within accessible perimeters of the most entertaining spots, the things to do in Singapore are endless as well as being exciting.
At a height of 165m, Singapore Flyer is the world's largest Giant Observation Wheel and also one of Asia's biggest tourist attractions. It promises more than just a view, but a panorama that captures Marina Bay's skyline with a glimpse of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia.
Go beyond the screen and Ride The Movies™ at Universal Studios Singapore. Only here can you experience cutting-edge rides, shows, and attractions based on your favourite blockbuster films and television series, including TRANSFORMERS The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle, Shrek 4-D Adventure, Madagascar: A Crate Adventure, Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure and more!
Gardens by the Bay is a park spanning 101 hectares (250 acres) of reclaimed land in central Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden.
Opened in 1973, the Singapore Zoo is home to about 315 species of animals. Trek along foot tracks or hop on to a guided tram to see natural wonders like the endangered white tiger and the world's largest collection of proboscis monkeys as well as orangutans.
Discover the awe-inspiring world of life in the ocean at the world's largest aquarium accredited by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS. Step into S.E.A. Aquarium and immerse yourself in a magical marine world seen through our planet's largest window to the ocean. With more than 800 species of marine animals, the aquarium is home to majestic manta rays, enormous goliath grouper, napoleon wrasse, and other gentle giants of the sea.
Located 15 minutes from the city, Sentosa, Asia's Favourite Playground, is home to an exciting array of themed attractions, award-winning spa retreats, lush rainforests, golden sandy beaches, resort accommodations, world-renowned golf courses, a deep-water yachting marina and luxurious residences. Spread over 500 hectares, the vibrant island resort is ideal for both business and leisure.
Photo credits to YourSingapore.com.


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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the sweet potatoes and then the parsnips into paper-thin slices using a food processor fitted with the thinnest vegetable-slicing blade. If necessary, cut the potatoes in half or quarters lengthwise so they fit into the feeder tube.
Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to coat the inside of a 2-quart oven-proof casserole (a 6 by 10-inch
Pyrex pan works well). Combine the cream, stock, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Place
1/3 of the sweet potatoes in a thin layer across the bottom of the casserole. Layer half the parsnips on top of the sweet potatoes. Repeat this sequence until all of the sweet potatoes and parsnips have been used. Pour the cream mixture over the top. It should reach about 3/4 of the way up the vegetables. Butter a piece of aluminum foil with the remaining butter and wrap the foil tightly over the casserole. Put in the oven and turn tempertature down to 325 degrees.
Bake the casserole 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue to cook another 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife and the top is browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Serve warm.
Copyright Michael Lomonaco 1997
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The WOODWEB Update - #104 (To unsubscribe, click the link at the end of this message) WOODWEB, The Information Resource for the Woodworking Industry, is FREE to all users. Thousands of Knowledge Base Articles, Product Directory, Machinery Exchange, Lumber Exchange, Job Opportunities ... No registration required. www.woodweb.com ================================================= In this issue: => Uploading Images at WOODWEB's Forums is Now Easier (Illustrate your ideas as you post) => Industry News, Sales and Special Offers (Important info on upcoming Midwest Expo) => Knowledge Base Highlights (The latest additions to this growing resource) => Software Connection (Freeware Excel workbook) => Hot Threads (A sampling of current forum discussions) => Technical Advisor at Dust Collection, Safety and Planter Operation Forum (Curt Corum stands by) ================================================= => Uploading Images at WOODWEB's Forums is Now Easier The programmers at WOODWEB have just put the finishing touches on a new and improved image upload process at all of the Forums and Exchanges. When posting messages at WOODWEB's Forums, you can now easily include an image (picture) by clicking the appropriate link at each Forum ... you'll be guided through our new image upload process. You'll find a complete list of WOODWEB Forums here: http://www.woodweb.com/SiteMap.html ================================================= => Industry News, Sales and Special Offers You'll find all the latest important info at WOODWEB's Industry News. Quickscribe has just announced the addition of scribing tool videos to their website: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/industrynews.pl?read=300179 Get inside info on what to expect at the upcoming Midwest Expo right here: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/industrynews.pl and learn about special deals that will be offered at the tradeshow here: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/specialoffers.pl To learn more about the Midwest Expo, click here: http://www.woodweb.com/TradeshowDirectory/TDMidwestTSIExpo.html ================================================= => Knowledge Base Highlights Cleaning stubbornly stuck (and very crusty) glue out of an edgebander can be a daunting task. This article includes details on how owners have emptied out their equipment, with step-by-step photos to go along. http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Cleaning_glue_out_of_edgebander.html How do you miter crown moulding when it lays flat on the chopsaw table? 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He's posted some photos, and is answering questions about his design. http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/cabinetmaking.pl?read=299050 Unique ideas are really flowing this week at the Cabinetmaking Forum. A recent post requests thoughts on bifold pocket doors... Has anyone come up with a successful solution for these? Join in: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/cabinetmaking.pl?read=300431 Are you an ACAD user? A current forum discussion began with a challenge: present your opinions on 2D and 3D, but keep the conversation cool. Whether you've got strong feelings on drawing and modelling, or you take a more middle-of-the-road approach, this thread is an interesting one: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/cad.pl?read=297820 The talk is on toning at the Finishing Forum. Will this technique lend a dark finish to pine without subduing the wood's grain? http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/finishing.pl?read=299471 An enormous anomaly has been dragged into the Sawing and Drying Forum on the back of one participant's truck... Can this monster be preserved? http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/sawdry.pl?read=300070 ================================================= This issue of the WOODWEB Update is sponsored in part by WoodBids.com: Come see WoodBids.com, the premiere auction based website for woodworking machinery. Designed specifically for ease of use for both buyer and seller. Check us out today! WWW.WOODBIDS.COM - Provided by Schmidt Industrial Services, Inc. ================================================= => Technical Advisor at Dust Collection, Safety and Planter Operation Forum Curt Corum is the technical sales manager for Air Handling Systems. He has delivered problem-solving solutions to small shops as well as major corporations. Curt served as technical advisor for the installation of dust collection systems for both ''The New Yankee Workshop'' television show hosted by Norm Abrams, and ''This Old House'' television show hosted by Steve Thomas. Curt has authored, co-authored and served as technical advisor for articles published in Fine Woodworking, Wood & Wood Products, CWB, Woodshop News, FDM, and Cabinetmaker. Visit the Dust Collection, Safety and Planter Operation Forum at: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/dust.pl ================================================= Find out how to promote your company on the Web. If you're a supplier to the wood industry, visit WOODWEB's Media Kit: http://www.woodweb.com/MediaKit/MKindex.html If you're a woodworking professional, visit the Woodworkers Directory: http://www.woodindustry.com/ The WOODWEB Update is Copyright (c) WOODWEB, Inc. 2003 http://www.woodweb.com/


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They are members of Canada's men's basketball team, in Halifax this week training and practising for FIBA World Cup qualifying, which begins in earnest Friday night when they take on the Bahamas at the Scotiabank Centre.
"I'm very pleased with the way we look so far, considering this is really our first day on the court together as a group," Canada head coach Roy Rana said Tuesday afternoon following the team's first practice at the Clayton Park sports facility.
"Fortunately for me I'm familiar with a lot of these guys. I coached them when they were coming up as youngsters. They're great character kids. We have a lot of versatility, a lot of nice players at different positions. I'm excited about this team."
The squad is comprised mostly of pros from European leagues or the NBA's development circuit. Among them is former Acadia Axemen star Owen Klassen, who plays professionally in Greece for PAOK.
Headlining the team are former NBA players Anthony Bennett and Joel Anthony. Bennett was the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013 who now plays for Northern Arizona of the G-League. Anthony spent 10 seasons in the NBA, seven with the Miami Heat, where he won back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and '13.
"This was the first run-around I've had with the guys," the 6-foot-10 Klassen said following Tuesday's practice. "We're trying to run through the plays first. But the fact we haven't been together for long won't be an excuse for us. Every team is in the same boat. All of their players are playing with the club teams as well so we're all in the same situation. We just have to worry about the things that we can control."
Canada is slotted in Group D of the Americas region qualifier with the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Following Friday's matchup, the Canadian contingent will travel to face the Dominican Republic in Santiago de los Caballeros next Monday. That will close out the first stage of first-round qualifying.
The second series of games will be held Feb. 22 in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Feb. 25 in the Bahamas. Canada will host the third series of games June 29 versus the Dominican Republic and July 2 against the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The top three teams in Group D will advance to the second round of qualification.
It's a convoluted, two-year qualifying format for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. The new format has 80 teams in four FIBA continental zones (Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe) vying for one of 31 World Cup qualification spots. (The host team from China automatically earns a spot in the World Cup).
The 16 teams in the Americas region qualifier will compete for seven of those World Cup spots.
"For the average fan it can be a little bit challenging," Rana said of the qualifying format. "But for us, we have a clear understanding of what we have to do. It just takes some time to really look at it."
With the first stage qualifier happening during the NBA season, none of the 11 Canadians playing in the NBA were available for Canada's national team.
But that's not a concern for Rana.
"The reality is, this is what we have to work with," said Rana, who coached Canada to a gold medal at last summer's FIBA under-19 World Cup.
"I'm just focused on these guys and not worried about who's not here. I'm focused on the 12 who are here and I'm excited about the talent and depth that we have. We have some great players in this group of 12."
Rana said he has a limited scouting report on the Bahamas squad. That won't mean Canada will take them lightly.
"I don't know that much," Rana admitted. "We have a little bit of information based on past tournaments. It's a new team just like our team has changed. That's part of the challenge, having to go in and play teams with limited information.
"This is something that's new for us," he added. "I just hope there's a great crowd on Friday that's just energetic and passionate about this team and Canadian basketball."
The FIBA World Cup will be held Aug. 31 to Sept. 15, 2019.


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MANHATTAN — The man who drove a getaway car that mowed down an elderly nun in Harlem two years ago has pleaded guilty to her murder, the Manhattan District Attorney announced Tuesday.
Dyson Williams, 22, also pleaded guilty to robbery and assault for slamming into the nun as he fled from police after committing a string of robberies with an accomplice in June 2010, according to the DA's office.
Sister Mary Celine Graham, 83, was killed and four other people were injured in the crash at Lenox Avenue and West 122nd Street.
Williams will be sentenced May 30 and the judge is expected to give him 18 years to life, a source said.
"Murder was not committed with a gun or a knife in this case, but a car," District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. "Before the deadly crash, the defendants in this case had embarked on [a] terrifying gunpoint robbery spree in Harlem. Dyson showed an utter disregard for human life and his actions had tragic and deadly consequences."
Prosecutors are still pursuing a case against William Robbins, 20, who is charged with committing the five gunpoint robberies with Williams in the early morning hours before the deadly crash.
Police stopped the pair's Chrysler Pacifica near West 142nd Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard after the fifth robbery and ordered Robbins, who was driving, out of the car, prosecutors said. After Robbins stepped out, Williams slid over into the driver's seat and raced away, prosecutors said.
Police followed, but by the time they caught up, Williams had already crashed into another car and a group of pedestrians, including Graham, about 20 blocks away.
Prosecutors are still pursuing a murder case against Robbins, even though he was not in the car when it hit the pedestrians.


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September 16, 1993
Signal Mountain Room
University Center
ELECTED MEMBERS PRESENT: Valarie Adams, Jim Avery, Will Bertin, Tom Bibler, Martha Butterfield, Neal Coulter, Lloyd Davis, Robert Duffy, Aniekan Ebiefung, Fritz Efaw, Howard Finch, Jack Freeman, John Garrett, Nick Honerkamp, Larry Ingle, David Levine, Loretta Prater, Mike Russell, Ossama Saleh, Greg Sedrick, Edgar Shawen, Clint Smullen, John Tinkler, Terry Walters, Ling-Jun Wang, Carolyn Wiley, David Wiley, Sally Young
ELECTED MEMBERS ABSENT: Monte Coulter, Susan Davidson, Ken Carson, Doug Kingdon, Molly Kotarski, Renée Lorraine, Clifford Parten, Larry Tillman, Joe Trahan
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT: Marvin Ernst, Jane Harbaugh, Fred Obear, Charles Renneisen, Grayson Walker
AMONG THE GUESTS PRESENT: Bob Bass, Richard Brown, Ray Fox, Bob McNeely, Gail Meyer, Patsy Reynolds, Roy Stinnett
Call to Order
President Tom Bibler called the meeting to order at 3:16.
Approval of Minutes
With respect to "catching up," Professor Garrett said that the minutes should read "that 'the contingency pay increase' of 4% will not 'catch us up.' A 3% cost of living increase is expected, meaning that we might see an increase of as little as 0.8%."
Professor Honerkamp stated that the entire Handbook Committee had met with Katie High and others.
Professor Doug Kingdon is chair of the Academic Standards Committee.
The minutes were approved as corrected.
The Challenger Center
Dr. Bernard Benson began his report on the Challenger Center with a video which explained its use in a sixth grade class. The project was started because families of the Challenger astronauts wanted learning centers for children. Currently, there are fifteen active centers in the United States and Canada.
Funding for the UTC Challenger Center will be achieved in three phases:
l Phase 1 raises one million dollars from McKee Bakery, the City of Chattanooga, and Hamilton County.
l Phase 2 raises one million dollars from several benefactors; this effort is being coordinated by UTC and Chattem.
l Phase 3 raises one million dollars through an open campaign, to be launched once Phase 2 is completed.
The Center is to be located at the corner of Fifth and Palmetto Streets and will take about one-third of the former soccer field (leaving room for two intramural fields). Staff will include a Director (paid for by Challenger funds), a Flight Director from the City and County Schools, and a part-time technician from Chattanooga State. It is expected that about eighteen student jobs will be generated.
In answer to members' questions, Dr. Benson reported:
l that the Challenger Center can fit into the University curriculum in a number of ways. For example, Dr. Tom Gavin's graduate audit class is looking at the project and making financial recommendations; Dr. Patricia Perfetti's class is designing the ecospace; Dr. Steve LeWinter's students are designing a participatory mural.
l that the University has pledged maintenance of the facility.
l that the UC Foundation has not contributed funds yet because they do not contribute to construction costs.
l that faculty members would be invited to explore other ways that the Center could be of use to University personnel.
l that the facility will not be of much tourist interest.
l that elsewhere corporations have used Challenger Centers to evaluate how people work together to solve problems.
l that development of new programs as a result of the Center would come after we integrate it into existing courses.
l that there would be about ninety days of instruction, two flights per day with 35 to 40 children in each "flight." Because children will be through with the facility by 2:00, the Center should not present traffic problems for UTC.
l that UTC is committed to providing security.
Dr. Obear announced that the groundbreaking ceremony would take place October 6th at 9:00 a.m. and that everyone was welcome.
Committee Reports
Committee on Committees
Greg Sedrick reported that Sherry Pals had been recommended as the student representative for Honor Court. Professor Nick Honerkamp moved and Professor Carolyn Wiley seconded the motion that she be elected. The motion carried with one no vote and no abstentions.
Admissions Committee Report
Professor Larry Ingle asked about the status of the report. Professors Butterfield and Bibler recalled that it had been accepted by the Council last spring and that it is being reconsidered at Professor Ingle's request. He has a problem with the policy of allowing the Director of Admissions to admit people with deficiencies because it appears that it asks the Director of Admissions to take faculty responsibility. Professor Ray Hall, current chair of the committee, agreed that the committee was currently operating under the same guidelines as Professor Bass's committee did.
Patsy Reynolds noted that the Board of Trustees gave the Admissions Director such authority. Further, the process works much more smoothly, especially considering the number of applications the office is processing. She supplied some statistics: Of the 175 students admitted by her office with one deficiency, 92 had a fine arts deficiency; this is the first year the Fine Arts unit was required. In addition, her office admitted eighteen with two deficiencies and one with three deficiencies. A student with any deficiency is listed as conditional. The Admissions Office has, however, denied admission to some students it could have made exceptions for. Some of these have later appealed the decision to the committee. This year's freshman class has a higher GPA than last year's, as well as a greater number of guaranteed scholarship holders.
Professor Shawen asked who decided what is referred to the committee. Mrs. Reynolds replied that she, along with the Associate and Assistant Director, makes the decisions; if they are gone, she makes them herself.
Professor Ingle asked if the summer workload for faculty on the committee had been reduced as a result. Professor Hall believed that meeting time had decreased by about one third. Professor Gail Meyer said that because more committee members were able to come to the shorter meetings, there was more consistency of opinion. Meyer also remarked that some of the rules were subject to interpretation and should probably be clarified.
Professor Shawen reiterated that he was concerned with faculty abrogation of responsibility; he did not mean to imply that the student body has been weakened by the rules, as one member suggested.
Enrollment - Dean Ray Fox
Dean Fox reported that enrollment is up 5% in the freshmen class and 6% among transfers. He complimented Patsy Reynolds and her staff for their hard work. These figures are impressive in the face of declining numbers of high school graduates. The freshmen have slightly above a B high school average and an ACT of 22.2. Only 43.5% are developmental (as opposed to 46.7% last year). We have 7,113 undergraduate students. Minority freshman enrollment is 14.8%, up slightly from last year's 14.1%. He reported that our graduating classes were slightly larger last year.
Professor Meyer asked if fee payment would be before the first day of classes, as had been passed by the Council. Dean Fox answered yes. She then asked about the second part of the motion, passed October 15, 1992: that those who had not paid would be purged from the rolls that night so that the rolls we had the first day of class would contain only those who did pay. Chancellor Obear remarked that it had not been forgotten, but was not yet in place. He will report to the Faculty Council when it is in place.
In a related matter, Dean Renneisen reported the need for even more dormitory space. Chancellor Obear noted that two more apartment-like complexes such as those recently opened were planned, as well as a high-rise residence hall. Further, a 400-space parking garage and another food facility are to be constructed. As yet, there is no plan to build married student housing because it would be too expensive the way the dormitories are set up now.
Campus Safety
Assistant Vice Chancellor Richard Brown reported that we have a very safe campus, despite recent violence on the outskirts of campus. His staff has made several security improvements since last year:
l Hunter Hall has an escort service between 5 and 10 p.m.
l All parking lots have been relamped.
l Lighting has been placed around the jogging track.
l The library parking garage has been relamped.
l New lighting has been installed in the Amphitheater area.
Mr. Brown reported that he is on a community task force to look at development of the Martin Luther King Blvd. area so that it will have more residential density.
He urged members of the University community to do three things:
l If you come back to campus at night, inform security that you will be in the building after hours. They will check on you periodically.
l Continue to send a student access list to Brown's office if you desire students to be able to work after regular hours.
l Report anything which seems suspicious to his office.
Chancellor Obear's Report
Chancellor Obear said that much of what he was going to talk about had been covered in others' reports. He agreed to answer questions.
Professor Mike Russell wondered if he had heard correctly at Faculty Meeting that the Freshman Seminar was no longer funded by the UC Foundation. Obear said that he had heard correctly.
He also reported that we will get a 4% raise in January, not 2% as stated at that meeting.
There were no announcements.
Professor Wiley moved and Professor Butterfield seconded a motion to adjourn. It passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 5:06 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sally Young